Originally Posted by
kymiller
Looking to fly SFO to SYD end of Feb. Dates are flexible. My wife is 1K and has GPUs. Was thinking of booking a W economy fare and applying GPU. Any tips on best chance to clear? Perhaps other strategies?
Fares and loads are very unlikely to go up a lot in the next three months. Scope out SFO-SYD, SFO-AKL, LAX-SYD, and possibly LAX-MEL and IAH-SYD for all dates that would be acceptable to you. If you want to be fully invested, keep a table of inventory and watch it change day to day. You'll get a sense fairly quickly of the lay of the land, and feel whether or not R will or won't open.
Book into open R if at all possible; otherwise go for the most PN, etc etc. Mon/Tue/Wed are much better shots than other days of the week.
Originally Posted by
kymiller
Unfortunately I'm flying out there separate from her so no way around separate itinerary. Is it not the case anymore that if a 1K is sponsoring my upgrade my spot on the queue is the same as a 1K? Or does it divert to my status, which is zilch?
If never on the same PNR, she will have priority according to her status, mixed among all supported upgrades (GM with GPU is behind Silver on miles+cash). This increases the value of snagging open R.