for the upgrades, it is indeed as I was told some months ago : a very simple and flexible process. You buy a ticket in Eco or PE and you call the TA to upgrade at the time of booking. Upgrade is confirmed instantly. There are of course some conditions for the original booking class and the upgraded booking class - see below. But almost all booking classes are eligible for upgrades, so this is very good.
Premium Eco to Business
Original booking class : A, S, W
Upgraded booking class : Z, I, D, C (i
t means that if your flight has only J fare available, you cannot upgrade)
Eco to Business (all flights, except to/from USA, Canada, Mexico)
Original booking class : Y, B, M, U, K, H, L, Q, T, N, R
Upgraded booking class : Z, I, D, C (
it means that if your flight has only J fare available, you cannot upgrade)
Eco to Business (flights to/from USA, Canada, Mexico, including LAX-PPT)
Original booking class : Y, B, M, U, K, H, L, Q, T, N, R
Upgraded booking class : Z, C (
I have trouble to understand the logic of not having I and D here, as C is a “higher” booking class/fare)
KL flights, long-haul
Eco to Business (all flights, except to/from USA, Canada, Mexico and DEL)
Original booking class : Y, B, M, U, K, H, L, Q, T, N, R
Upgraded booking class : Z, I, D, C
Eco to Business (flights to/from USA, Canada, Mexico and DEL)
Original booking class : Y, B, M, U, K, H, L, Q, T, N, R
Upgraded booking class : Z, I
Utimate pax have 2 upgrade vouchers/year. One voucher = one way. So if you want to upgrade a return trip, you use your 2 vouchers. Vouchers are transferable to a travel companion traveling with you.
If you have a long-haul flight involving a medium-haul connection/feeder (e.g. CDG-AMS-JFK), the medium-haul segment will be upgraded also and overall you use one voucher. If you have 2 long-haul flights in connection (e,g. DXB-CDG-JFK) and want to upgrade the 2 segments, you need 2 vouchers.
Vouchers are usable only on
AF- or KL-marketing and operating flights.
Overall, a very good and flexible system IMO but one can regret the limitation to 2 vouchers/year. Four would have been a better number IMHO
. Indeed, if you travel round trip with your better half, you cannot upgrade the whole trip for 2. But we can see this as a beginning
Another point for improvement is the current impossibility to use a voucher on a AF/KL-marketing flight but DL-operating. What’s the point of a metal-neutral JV ?
For the Hertz new benefit, no real new info. The TA said each Ulti member will receive an e-mail from Hertz with a link to suscribe to the program.