Originally Posted by findark

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.



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.