Originally Posted by
Mary2e
The $$$ cost of the upgrade depends upon your status and could be as high as $350-$400 plus the 17500 miles.
This is not accurate. For BF upgrades the
co-pay is determined solely by the fare class that the ticket is booked in (in the OP's case, H). For all BF itineraries other than HNL there is no co-pay for H, but there is for HNL and it is $200 each way (plus the miles, of course) as the OP has learned. With no status and no seats available I believe that the OP's only option is to call frequently and hope for seats to open up.
Originally Posted by
JHIN
ok experts I'm totally confused now - I thought you could purchase any coach far and use your miles to upgrade? Are there rules on what coach fare you buy and an additional fee for using your miles to upgrade? oh my!! upgrading 101 please
If you are flying on a flight marketed as BusinessFirst service then there is no minimum fare class that must be purchased, but you have the
co-pay as described above.
If you are flying on a flight within or between the lower 48, Alaska and/or Canada and are not elite then you must purchase a Y, H, K, M, N, or B fare to be eligible to cash in a
Series 0 upgrade award.
If you are flying on any other non-BF marketed flight then you are eligible for an upgrade from any fare purchased. So IAH-LIM could be upgraded from any fare, even though it is a 752, because it is not marketed as BF service and it is not within the Lower 48/AK/Canada. The upgrade to LIM would be 20K miles each way (10K from Y fare) and would be a
Series 5 upgrade award.
All of this information really is contained on
the CO web page that discusses upgrade awards, if you want/need more details.