Originally Posted by
gwilly1974
Hi everyone,
Just a quick question regarding the ability to upgrade from Econ to Biz at check in with Air France. I usually fly purchased Biz directly, but this time around, as I am late booking my flight, I can't justify the cost of Biz. So I am looking at purchasing Econ with the hope that I can get an option to purchase an upgrade at check in, but not sure how the process works, or the likelihood of getting such an option.
I understand it depends on a lot of different factors, but is it likely that I would get that option to purchase an upgrade on a JFK-CDG? Does AF often offers those options?
Any tip or experience with that would be appreciated.
Thanks a lot for the insight.
P.S. I'm Plat on AF and have been for the past few years.
Hello Gwilly1974,
Upgrade upon check-in (either online or at the airport) will depend on the loading factor of the flight. If the J cabin is heavily sold, you might end up with few or no upgrade offer at all, and if so, the price (cash, miles or cash+miles) will be prohibitive!!!
I would suggest you investigate rather the route of purchasing and use your miles to upgrade, and depending on your budget:
- from Economy to Business: you need availabilities in fare class "O", and it would cost you around 25,000 miles (upgrade price in miles are not dynamic unlike outright purchase of award tickets).
- from Premium Economy, if your budget allows it, will still be 25,000 and still requires availability in "O" fare class, if you are booked in either PremEco fare class "A", "S" or "W". If you book in "W" (around ~$300 more expensive than the "A" fare), as a Platinum, you can tap into the "Z/award" inventory, where your likelihood of availability is higher. The upgrade cost would then be 22,500 miles. I do that all the time.
Why don't you call the Plat line so they can check with you, among all the JFK-CDG flights that day which one has the best availabilities in either "O" or "Z/award"? They can issue your regular ticket in Econ/PremEcon, and take care at the same time of upgrading for you with the miles. They are really good and know the drill.
Good luck!
Vinnyc