Originally Posted by
atflyer
Since the implementation of the new revenue based pricing 1.5 years ago, when I asked for upgrades I usually was quoted a number FB miles that was equal to booking business with miles from scratch.
This.
It is just a convoluted, more expensive way to end up with a mileage J seat....with no guarantee you will be successful.
You should
never think - Aha! I want to travel in J using miles! But first, I will hamper my chances by tying myself into a particular flight by buying an economy seat on that flight! And only after purchasing my ecnomy seat, looking into whether I can upgrade it!
If the flight you booked for cash in economy wasn't showing cheap availability for an outright J seat, then you can be sure your quote for a mileage upgrade will be similarly excessive.
If you have an economy seat already, well and good, try to upgrade it (and pay almost as much as you would have paid for an outright redemption direct into J). But if you are starting from a position where you have nothing booked, then it makes no sense to go via the intermediate step of buying an economy ticket, and then hoping to be able to upgrade. In that situation,
you should look for, and book, a J redemption outright using miles only. Ideally, you need to be flexible when doing this, so that you can move your dates/times/destinations/origins to the extent that provides the best value.
Mileage upgrades should only be sought by those poor unfortunates who are forced to fly longhaul economy on tickets provided by their employer. For everyone else, tying yourself voluntarily to the anchor of an issued economy class revenue ticket is torpedoing your chances of getting a J seat using miles. You lose all flexibility on dates/times/destinations/origins once you have committed to that purchased economy ticket.