Originally Posted by
grp57
Hey guys, thanks for your quick replies. I find now that I rarely get a confirmed upgrade at the time of booking, and typically am playing Russian roulette at the boarding gate. At least with the new AC mobile app, you can view the upgrade queue, and you can get a good handle on the likelyhood of the upgrade.
If you're frustrated with the inability to confirm upgrades in advance, how much flexibility do you have with your travel plans? Are you willing to travel through another AC hub, such as YVR or YYZ, to get a better chance at an upgrade?
A couple of strategies come to mind:
- Since you can cancel for free (I think?), make multiple bookings on the planned day of travel, e.g. YYC-LHR and YYC-YVR-LHR. Waitlist both. Day of travel, if you're upgraded on one, cancel the other. If you're waitlisted on both, keep whichever one looks more likely, or the direct, depending on how much you care about the upgrade. This will keep an FP credit in limbo for a while, but doesn't cost anything
- Book an indirect route that you can upgrade at time of booking, e.g. YYC-YVR-LHR, then SDC to the direct, if available. No SDC fee for Latitude. If you're SE, you may get lucky and find a concierge manages to find a way to keep your confirmed upgrade even if R=0
So, given the situation where both eUps and Aeroplan points get you waitlisted, when it comes time to board the flight, do either of you know if there will be any priority difference between the two methods of upgrading? I am sure AC has put some system in place that will give preference to the eUps they dole out to their frequent flyers.
To be clear, there's no preference for eUps or SAUA, because you can't waitlist SAUA. If I space is available, you can make the upgrade. If I space is not available, there's no waitlist. You would have to monitor I space all the way from booking until shortly before your flight to see if any opened up, but 850 and 844 are brutal to find I space on, so you're unlikely to have much luck with this.
If you're looking to lessen eUp usage on these Flex flights, could you do an upfare? e.g. spend money out of pocket (assuming that you "have" to book Flex due to some sort of employer policy or something like that?) to move to a higher Flex fare, a PY fare (or Latitude, although that's usually hugely expensive)? A higher Flex fare could significantly cut the required eUps. An N/E fare wouldn't save you any eUps, but maybe sitting in PY would be acceptable, especially if it were a daytime flight. It would also significantly increase your odds of getting the the upgrade, if you were to request one.
Originally Posted by
canadiancow
In the context of intercontinental Latitude bookings, it would be P, not R.
Originally Posted by
yyznomad
Correct. Based on P, taken from R, regardless of R.
Hey, FOTSGs, you're both wrong. Either R or P is sufficient to upgrade an international Latitude (or PY Flexible) booking. P0 R1 = upgradeable.
I can't believe I'm having to correct
you two, of all people! For shame!