Originally Posted by
suzshe
I have booked two economy RT tickets in April IAD-CUN. I am hoping (anticipating) complimentary E+ seats. Foolish?? Pre-Status I would've purchased E+ seating but I have not done that for this trip because I am expecting Premier Silver perks. Foolish??
Especially to a leisure destination like CUN you should have absolutely no problem picking good E+ seats at check-in.
Originally Posted by
suzshe
Does the timing of my IAD-SYD booking influence my waitlist status?
Is it likely that Business Saver awards will become available closer to travel time - and therefore we should wait to book?
Is it likely at all that we will receive an upgrade? Perhaps it is better to book now at lower rates ($896+$550+30,000 miles) and hope for the best.
Members with the same status and fare class are sorted by time of upgrade request, with earlier being better. However, by far the best strategy for an upgrade is to confirm it at booking. Australia has been a plentiful source of R (upgrade) space recently. Use Expert Mode and make sure you only search SFO/LAX-SYD/MEL as standalone segments. IAD-SFO/LAX will
not have R space and this will cause the whole trip to show R0 if searched together.
Business Saver awards are much harder to come by, although waitlisting on a day when the flight is R9 is not the worst strategy.