Originally Posted by CO 1E
One suggestion I would have would be to see if your company would be willing to pay the CO upgrade fees every now and then in lieu of buying an extra seat. You could then use your miles to upgrade to BF, if you were so inclined. For example, instead of purchasing two $1300 or $1400 coach tickets, purchase one $1300 ticket and pay $900 in fees to upgrade the two segments. That actually would save $400 or $500, but you'd have to spend your own miles. In addition, the EWR-Asia routes are notoriously difficult to upgrade. If your upgrade doesn't clear, you'll watch the BF cabin go out full of non-revs from your seat in coach.
What do you mean by non-revs? I just returned from China this past Tuesday, I flew PEK-EWR, I paid $450 for the upgrade plust 25K miles, it didn't clear. When I boarded the plane there were 8 empty seats in FC..I don't understand this..I am currently Gold Elite, should be Plat by the end of November, two more trips to China planned this year alone plus one trip to Vegas..
The one thing about CO out of EWR you could get flights, in COACH, to HKG/PEK from EWR for under $900, which isn't bad. Also I don't mind using my miles to upgrade, but like you said FC upgrades are very difficult to come by especially on these routes..