Originally Posted by
godbreath
Planning a trip to Japan in January and I have an option to leave from SFO or SJC. Does one of the airport have better star alliance upgrade/seat availability over the other?
Star Alliance upgrades are pending I inventory are available for upgrade to business and O inventory for upgrade to first. But also check the applicable booking classes from economy very carefully, it is only from relatively expensive booking classes you can process upgrades with points from another Star Alliance carrier.
You can look for the general availability of awards in J and F (F only from SFO) to get an idea of how availability is on the routes Normal awards go against the same inventory.