Mar 9, 2015, 6:33 am
Last edit by: Gnopps
*** MOD NOTE: Please do not remove ***
A friendly reminder that Flyertalk is not a marketplace, and nothing may be offered (or solicited) for sale or barter within the general forums - which includes offering vouchers for free. For those with sufficient posts and length of membership, trading/exchange is allowed solely within Coupon Connection, and then only in accordance with the specific rules of that forum.
Please do not attempt to solicit, sell or trade upgrade vouchers within this forum. Posts will be deleted and the members concerned potentially subject to disciplinary action. **Please note that this includes directly using the PM system to do so without first posting in Coupon Connection**. Thanks for your co-operation.
A friendly reminder that Flyertalk is not a marketplace, and nothing may be offered (or solicited) for sale or barter within the general forums - which includes offering vouchers for free. For those with sufficient posts and length of membership, trading/exchange is allowed solely within Coupon Connection, and then only in accordance with the specific rules of that forum.
Please do not attempt to solicit, sell or trade upgrade vouchers within this forum. Posts will be deleted and the members concerned potentially subject to disciplinary action. **Please note that this includes directly using the PM system to do so without first posting in Coupon Connection**. Thanks for your co-operation.
Criteria
- You must be travelling on A3 or OA metal - codeshares are not included.
- The original ticket must be issued on either A3 (390) or OA (050) ticket stock.
- Only revenue (paid) tickets, in fare classes other than U, P & T on a GoLight fare basis, can be upgraded, but not redemption tickets.
- All flights on the ticket must be on A3 or OA metal.
- There must be award availability in I-class for the upgrades to clear. You can check this by logging in to M&B then going to https://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbon...t/spend-miles/ The results page will initially be a calendar. To see Business availability, you have to click through to the next step. (You can also use a free or paid tool such as ANA website, UA website (looking for saver award space), Aeroplan, AwardNexus or ExpertFlyer to check for availability.)
- One coupon per person per journey leg is required - so, for example, TXL-ATH-SKG and return via the same route would require four coupons per person.
- Anyone can be upgraded using the coupons - you do not have to be travelling on the same booking or even the same plane.
Procedure
- Call A3 to request the upgrade. The phone numbers are listed at https://aegeanairlines.custhelp.com/ (most of them should go to the same call centre in Greece).
- If successful, a new ticket will be issued (with a new number). The PNR will remain unchanged.
- You are liable for any extra taxes applicable to Business Class (e.g. APD from the UK). Sometimes this gets charged, sometimes it doesn't - if it's due and you're not charged because the agent forgets, you've just been lucky.
- If there's no immediate I-class availability, you can ask to be waitlisted for upgrade. The ability to waitlist was reported to have been removed in August 2016, but was again possible in September. Check with the agent - option available on May 2018.
- in case you requested to be waitlisted for upgrade and want to check if the customer care agent made the changes on your booking you can check the reservation on checkmytrip.com (click here), the leg you requested the upgrade will be shown here as ”Waitlisted”.
- If you wish to upgrade one segment of a multi-segment trip (e.g. XXX-ATH-YYY) and there is availability on the leg you wish to upgrade, you may still have to be waitlisted due to married segment issues. The process of clearing the waitlist is somewhat confusing and may result in frustration due to the availability seeming to disappear but in reality, this may mean that the segments have been "unmarried" and the availability has been allocated to your reservation. See post 2272 and the update in post 2294 for more details.
Benefits
- No matter what the fare basis of the original ticket, you receive full Business Class benefits after upgrade.
- This includes lounge access (useful if you're upgrading someone other than yourself who has no status, or if you've run out of Silver lounge vouchers) and full baggage allowance (it applies for first leg as well, in case you are upgraded only on the 2nd leg of your trip - confirmed on the etix).
- Because the ticket books as a redemption, the free car hire is not included.
Mileage/segment earning
- You will earn at the underlying rate of your purchased ticket in economy, not at a business class rate. Because status miles are awarded, this also counts as a segment for re-qualification purposes.
- The flights may credit automatically, but may take longer to credit than tickets that have not been changed. They may also credit as 0 miles, and later change to the correct rate. If the flights have not credited properly after a few weeks then calling A3 will rectify this rapidly.
Expiry
- The vouchers expire at the end of your membership year - they do not carry over, even if status is retained. A new set is issued every year.
- It is the date when you use the voucher that matters. It can upgrade a flight that takes place after expiry as long as you apply the voucher before.
- On upgrade from Silver to Gold, any remaining Silver upgrade coupons expire, but they are replaced by four Gold ones which expire at the end of the Gold membership year.
BEWARE
- Once you have upgraded your seat, your ticket will be reissued. Suddenly, this ticket may be VERY expensive to change. If, for instance, you later decide to travel on a different date, you will probably be required to rebook into Business, even if Economy was available for new bookings. A3 will charge you the difference from your original Economy fare to a NEW Business fare. Plus fees, taxes and whatnot. Update 18/08/2021: this appears to no longer be the case, as an upgraded ticket was changed and the underlying Economy fare was used for the upgraded segments. The coupon was "removed" from the old dates and "reapplied" to the new dates.
- Coupons will not be returned/reinstated. Once a coupon is applied, it is gone for good (the T&Cs printed on the coupons allow for date and time changes, but not route changes).
- If you want to provide your coupons to upgrade a friend's travel, it is advisable to call in yourself. Your friend can call in if they know your name, birthdate, M&B-number and the email address associated with your account. That means: Anyone who knows these particulars can use your coupons without your knowledge. They do NOT need the coupon numbers.
- Crediting upgraded segments to another program will likely fail, as it will be reported as I-class. It may be possible to retro-claim the miles.
Seat upgrade coupons
Oct 26, 2017, 7:48 am
#1531
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,342
I'm a little confused. If I uderstand correctly you flew LCA-ATH-VIE and were upgraded on both legs. However was that because you asked to use a voucher, or did these upgrades happen out of the blue?
It sounds a little strange that they would upgrade you if economy was not full. So I am suspecting that these upgrades were requested at some point?
It sounds a little strange that they would upgrade you if economy was not full. So I am suspecting that these upgrades were requested at some point?
Oct 26, 2017, 9:38 am
#1532
Join Date: Sep 2010
Programs: AZ FA+, A3 G, AB G | IHG RA, HGP D, FPC P, Accor P, BW D, HH D, Eleva, GHA P, 1862 Voyager
Posts: 1,852
I'm a little confused. If I uderstand correctly you flew LCA-ATH-VIE and were upgraded on both legs. However was that because you asked to use a voucher, or did these upgrades happen out of the blue?
It sounds a little strange that they would upgrade you if economy was not full. So I am suspecting that these upgrades were requested at some point?
It sounds a little strange that they would upgrade you if economy was not full. So I am suspecting that these upgrades were requested at some point?
There’s been some positive changes in policy it seems.
Now you can get possibly upgraded so long as there is space in Business.
For my case - I wanted to use my upgrade coupons. But ‘I’ Inventory was not available. So I put myself on waitlist and none of them cleared.
However I was subsequently upgraded for two sectors.
One upgrade was processed the night before (possible oversold flight)
, and the other was at the gate.
My experience differs slightly from the post #1510 as the upgrades were given but my coupons were not used. I was rebooked into C class and not I class.
Nov 2, 2017, 10:06 pm
#1533
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,670
The new UPT restriction is a disaster...I don't know if it is worth using my coupons anymore, if I have to pay $120 more to upgrade in a 2-hour flight...Geez...I can't bring myself to pay $100 more for an upgradeable fare for a slightly better meal...What a disaster, first year all 4 my coupons unused...How could they do this? This is half of the program value out of the window...
Last edited by nk15; Nov 2, 2017 at 10:57 pm
Nov 3, 2017, 1:12 am
#1534
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: PAS, Paros Greece
Programs: A3 *G
Posts: 1,375
The new UPT restriction is a disaster...I don't know if it is worth using my coupons anymore, if I have to pay $120 more to upgrade in a 2-hour flight...Geez...I can't bring myself to pay $100 more for an upgradeable fare for a slightly better meal...What a disaster, first year all 4 my coupons unused...How could they do this? This is half of the program value out of the window...
As for paying $120 more for a better meal - well, that's a worst case scenario. On a shortish flight, you could pay around $35 more for a Flex fare to get your upgrade. Even though I'm ultra-well organised, from time to time I find myself buying S class fares anyway.
The best use of the vouchers, for me, is to upgrade my non-Gold friends who would normally buy a P ticket and then pay 30 Euro extra for a bag. For them, the upgrade costs maybe 10 Euro extra (GoLight+bag vs. Flex) and they gain not only the better meal, but lounge access and a second 32kg bag. Very handy for the ones who are visiting family for birthdays, Christmas etc. I can be sure that the 32kg bags always return to Greece with a nice gift for me too!
So, 10 Euro for 41kg extra luggage, lounge access and the meal (and drinks!) is the other end of the spectrum from $120 for a meal. Just saying.
Nov 3, 2017, 2:12 am
#1535
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Rhineland-Palatinate
Programs: *A Gold (A3), HHonor Gold
Posts: 5,701
The new UPT restriction is a disaster...I don't know if it is worth using my coupons anymore, if I have to pay $120 more to upgrade in a 2-hour flight...Geez...I can't bring myself to pay $100 more for an upgradeable fare for a slightly better meal...What a disaster, first year all 4 my coupons unused...How could they do this? This is half of the program value out of the window...
Nov 3, 2017, 3:14 am
#1536
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,567
Nov 3, 2017, 4:27 am
#1537
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Rhineland-Palatinate
Programs: *A Gold (A3), HHonor Gold
Posts: 5,701
Ah OK, that is what I thought too. I personally think this is a still a very good deal. And now with the ability to use them at the gate, regardless of I availability, this has become better.
Nov 3, 2017, 7:22 am
#1538
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,670
Nov 3, 2017, 7:52 am
#1539
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,670
I partly agree - and I haven't used three of my vouchers yet this year (9 months in), but it was a "VERY VERY good" deal to have an upgrade on such cheap fares. Now it's just "good", imo.
As for paying $120 more for a better meal - well, that's a worst case scenario. On a shortish flight, you could pay around $35 more for a Flex fare to get your upgrade. Even though I'm ultra-well organised, from time to time I find myself buying S class fares anyway.
The best use of the vouchers, for me, is to upgrade my non-Gold friends who would normally buy a P ticket and then pay 30 Euro extra for a bag. For them, the upgrade costs maybe 10 Euro extra (GoLight+bag vs. Flex) and they gain not only the better meal, but lounge access and a second 32kg bag. Very handy for the ones who are visiting family for birthdays, Christmas etc. I can be sure that the 32kg bags always return to Greece with a nice gift for me too!
So, 10 Euro for 41kg extra luggage, lounge access and the meal (and drinks!) is the other end of the spectrum from $120 for a meal. Just saying.
As for paying $120 more for a better meal - well, that's a worst case scenario. On a shortish flight, you could pay around $35 more for a Flex fare to get your upgrade. Even though I'm ultra-well organised, from time to time I find myself buying S class fares anyway.
The best use of the vouchers, for me, is to upgrade my non-Gold friends who would normally buy a P ticket and then pay 30 Euro extra for a bag. For them, the upgrade costs maybe 10 Euro extra (GoLight+bag vs. Flex) and they gain not only the better meal, but lounge access and a second 32kg bag. Very handy for the ones who are visiting family for birthdays, Christmas etc. I can be sure that the 32kg bags always return to Greece with a nice gift for me too!
So, 10 Euro for 41kg extra luggage, lounge access and the meal (and drinks!) is the other end of the spectrum from $120 for a meal. Just saying.
Nov 3, 2017, 9:07 am
#1540
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,567
Yea, but this takes a lot of planning and luck. This year none of my routes for me or relatives had J class, or I availability. Also don't have much firm plans for future flights past expiration...Other times can't even get S fares and have to go higher, but I could use a cheap award instead...Pretty rough all around.
Last edited by KLouis; Nov 3, 2017 at 9:12 am
Nov 3, 2017, 2:32 pm
#1542
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,670
Nov 3, 2017, 3:51 pm
#1543
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Rhineland-Palatinate
Programs: *A Gold (A3), HHonor Gold
Posts: 5,701
A few posts back in this thread. Basically if there are any seats available in Business you can ask the agent at checkin to upgrade you. No need for I availability. Same restrictions as online with regard to original fare classes. Due to lack of report, we don’t know yet if the upgraded segment earns miles at the original fare or for a C fare.
Nov 5, 2017, 12:45 am
#1544
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Singapore
Programs: A3 Gold, SQ Gold, AT Gold, Accor Silver, HHonors Diamond, I Prefer Elite, DISCOVERY Titanium
Posts: 472
A few posts back in this thread. Basically if there are any seats available in Business you can ask the agent at checkin to upgrade you. No need for I availability. Same restrictions as online with regard to original fare classes. Due to lack of report, we don’t know yet if the upgraded segment earns miles at the original fare or for a C fare.
Nov 5, 2017, 1:30 am
#1545
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: PAS, Paros Greece
Programs: A3 *G
Posts: 1,375
But at least two people have stated that the "at check-in" upgrades have earned them double points as if the ticket were booked in C class. This is probably in error and likely to stop soon, I'd say.