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
Sep 12, 2019, 1:26 pm
#2026
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,339
Ive never found bookwithmatrix to work well. It directs me to sites that either do not honor the chosen fare codes, or, are of the likes of priceline...which isnt ideal for European pax.
One (dirty) trick that you could do is using an OTA (or a couple of them simultaneously) to start the booking process for 9 pax each. If you can get them to a point in the booking process that they temporarily hold the availability of PUT classes, you can then use any other OTA to book your desired flights in S..
One (dirty) trick that you could do is using an OTA (or a couple of them simultaneously) to start the booking process for 9 pax each. If you can get them to a point in the booking process that they temporarily hold the availability of PUT classes, you can then use any other OTA to book your desired flights in S..
Sep 12, 2019, 2:24 pm
#2027
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 127
First time trying to use the seat upgrade coupons. Although I can see award availability (MUC-SKG) on both Aegean and United database, the Aegean phone agent replied that there is no upgrade availability so I am placed on the waitlist. Travel is 2 months away, let's see how this play out.
I only realized this when I logged into A3 website to view my booking (two weeks after the first phone call), and found that the duplicate (waitlisted) segments are not what I wanted. Called again and the second phone agent fixed the situation in 5 minutes -- MUC-SKG upgrade is cleared immediately (matching the award space inventory) and SKG-MUC is still waitlisted.
Sep 13, 2019, 5:11 pm
#2028
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: GVA
Programs: A3 *G, LX *G, AF *S
Posts: 761
Two interesting data points from the flight of my wife:
1) I asked for an upgrade of her economy ticket with one of my vouchers. When checking the Aegean website, I saw that until they closed the flight, one business class seat was still for sale. I told my wife that she might be upgraded at boarding. But she told me that the business class seat remained empty. One passenger apparently had a verbal dispute with the stewardess saying that he had submitted a voucher request and therefore wants to sit on the J seat (my wife refrained from saying: errr, me too...). The stewardess said she cannot do anything and he must sit in economy.
2) At OLCI, my wife was assigned seat 4D (first economy row) without any payment for this upfront seat. And OLCI was pretty early, not last minute, so that the seats were all assigned already.
1) I asked for an upgrade of her economy ticket with one of my vouchers. When checking the Aegean website, I saw that until they closed the flight, one business class seat was still for sale. I told my wife that she might be upgraded at boarding. But she told me that the business class seat remained empty. One passenger apparently had a verbal dispute with the stewardess saying that he had submitted a voucher request and therefore wants to sit on the J seat (my wife refrained from saying: errr, me too...). The stewardess said she cannot do anything and he must sit in economy.
2) At OLCI, my wife was assigned seat 4D (first economy row) without any payment for this upfront seat. And OLCI was pretty early, not last minute, so that the seats were all assigned already.
Oct 2, 2019, 2:25 am
#2030
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: GVA
Programs: A3 *G, LX *G, AF *S
Posts: 761
Go to your booking details on the M&B website. It will show 2 flights when you are waitlisted: one in the original booking class, one in "I" class. Once the upgrade happens, the one with the original booking class will disappear.
Oct 2, 2019, 5:40 am
#2031
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: A3*G,BA Silver
Posts: 2,010
Just a quick warning if someone has not mentionee it. If you book LHR to middle east such as Beirut or Tel aviv ticket via Athens then you pay an eye watering tax around 170 euros. Apparently it counts as UK to outside Europe destination that is more than 2.000 miles i think. I rang yesterday to ask if there is space for upgrade London to Tel aviv via Athens and the taxes were about 170 euros... i decided to book London to Larnaca via Athens and book seperate Larcana to Tel Aviv for 60 euros. I then upgraded the London to Larnaca via Athens for 13 euros.
Oct 3, 2019, 6:55 am
#2033
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,339
Because the UK government charges higher airport taxes for business class pax (compared to Economy). So when you upgrade that difference in taxes need to be paid. And A3, of course, charges that to the passenger.
Oct 3, 2019, 2:37 pm
#2034
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LON, ATH
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, OA Gold (in memoriam), Hertz #1 Gold
Posts: 548
What happens to the unused coupons that are waitlisted after my renewal date? I was told over the phone that if the waitlist clears after November then the system automatically uses the ones from the new tier year.
Last time I was in a similar situation that was not the case...
Last time I was in a similar situation that was not the case...
Oct 5, 2019, 11:09 pm
#2036
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: SOF
Programs: A3 Gold, IHG Platinum, Marriott Silver
Posts: 849
Things have changed quite a bit since I last flew A3 in January last year. I made 3 bookings that include 6 upgradeable flights. With only 4 certificates, I picked the 4 I wanted and called Aegean. It seemed that 2 had I availability and 2 did not, so I had to be waitlisted. I was informed that the upgrade will take place later when someone calls me to collect the difference in taxes since the flights were to/from Paris. That happened 5 days later. So, no instant upgrade even for the immediately available segments.
In the mean time, I keep getting e-mails about the Upgrade Challenge, which begs the question - since I'm waitlisted for 2 more flights, what gets processed first - the waitlisted upgrades or the submitted bids for Business Class? If anyone knows, that would put things in perspective. I have another flight on Tuesday, the 8th and since it's ATH-CDG there shouldn't be additional taxes but no upgrade has cleared yet.
Moreover, the flights I took this week posted almost right away, except for the 1 upgraded segment that 3 days later hasn't shown up yet. The system allows me to do Retro Claim as of this morning but when I tried to submit it, the request was rejected. So, no clue what's going on there. I don't remember having this issue in the past. Upgraded segments posted without me having to get involved. I kept a close eye on it, since it would have been my 4th A3 flight and that qualifies me for the lower earning threshhold. Since I'm flying again in a couple of days, I will get past the 4 flights but I wanted it reflected on my account sooner.
It seems like the Upgrade Challenge has shaken things up quite a bit. Since I'm flying in October and I've done that in the past, it's not exactly High Season, so I didn't expect issues when trying to clear for the upgrades. When I asked an A3 agent when will I find out if the waitlisted segments will be processed, she advised me that she didn't know and they could clear at the airport. I explained that I have 6 upgradable flights coming up and only 4 certificates, so it's important to know the availability as I don't want them to go to waste. I hadn't used any in a number of years as previous reservations ended up in GoLight U,P or T class and this year I managed to get S class, so I'm eligible to use them again. As it is right now, I have 1 confirmed upgrade and 3 upgradable flights with 2 waitilisted and one of those may not clear at all as A3 has stopped selling seats on that flight - for Economy and Business, thus, I'm left with 2 flights and 2 certificates that I need to clear. We'll see how that goes as 1 is just 2 days away and nothing has happened yet - may be in a situation when this happens at the airport. With the added waitlisted segment, I'm unable to select seats, so not sure if I'll have issues with Online Checkin later today. That brings me to something I read on the forum few days ago, i. e. that T-45 (Mins) all seats become Free and one can select them. Initially, that didn't work for me but I realized why - I tried T-45 before my first flight, which was in Business, so I didn't need to select a free seat in Economy, however, when T-45 occurred before the flight I was flying in Economy, I went to the app and all 3 types of seats appeared to be free. When I tried to switch to one, the system wanted to charge me on the next screen, so I had to go back, select a Free one, go to the next screen, decline the offered Paid Upgrade and then go back and select a Premium/Extra Legroom that ended up being free of charge. Since I was at the A3 lounge at the time, I requested a reprint of the BP making sure that the electronic BP is not the only proof I have in case someone decided later on to change it. This will be very helpful for the 4 upcoming flights I have that are Economy only and cannot be upgraded to Business.
In the mean time, I keep getting e-mails about the Upgrade Challenge, which begs the question - since I'm waitlisted for 2 more flights, what gets processed first - the waitlisted upgrades or the submitted bids for Business Class? If anyone knows, that would put things in perspective. I have another flight on Tuesday, the 8th and since it's ATH-CDG there shouldn't be additional taxes but no upgrade has cleared yet.
Moreover, the flights I took this week posted almost right away, except for the 1 upgraded segment that 3 days later hasn't shown up yet. The system allows me to do Retro Claim as of this morning but when I tried to submit it, the request was rejected. So, no clue what's going on there. I don't remember having this issue in the past. Upgraded segments posted without me having to get involved. I kept a close eye on it, since it would have been my 4th A3 flight and that qualifies me for the lower earning threshhold. Since I'm flying again in a couple of days, I will get past the 4 flights but I wanted it reflected on my account sooner.
It seems like the Upgrade Challenge has shaken things up quite a bit. Since I'm flying in October and I've done that in the past, it's not exactly High Season, so I didn't expect issues when trying to clear for the upgrades. When I asked an A3 agent when will I find out if the waitlisted segments will be processed, she advised me that she didn't know and they could clear at the airport. I explained that I have 6 upgradable flights coming up and only 4 certificates, so it's important to know the availability as I don't want them to go to waste. I hadn't used any in a number of years as previous reservations ended up in GoLight U,P or T class and this year I managed to get S class, so I'm eligible to use them again. As it is right now, I have 1 confirmed upgrade and 3 upgradable flights with 2 waitilisted and one of those may not clear at all as A3 has stopped selling seats on that flight - for Economy and Business, thus, I'm left with 2 flights and 2 certificates that I need to clear. We'll see how that goes as 1 is just 2 days away and nothing has happened yet - may be in a situation when this happens at the airport. With the added waitlisted segment, I'm unable to select seats, so not sure if I'll have issues with Online Checkin later today. That brings me to something I read on the forum few days ago, i. e. that T-45 (Mins) all seats become Free and one can select them. Initially, that didn't work for me but I realized why - I tried T-45 before my first flight, which was in Business, so I didn't need to select a free seat in Economy, however, when T-45 occurred before the flight I was flying in Economy, I went to the app and all 3 types of seats appeared to be free. When I tried to switch to one, the system wanted to charge me on the next screen, so I had to go back, select a Free one, go to the next screen, decline the offered Paid Upgrade and then go back and select a Premium/Extra Legroom that ended up being free of charge. Since I was at the A3 lounge at the time, I requested a reprint of the BP making sure that the electronic BP is not the only proof I have in case someone decided later on to change it. This will be very helpful for the 4 upcoming flights I have that are Economy only and cannot be upgraded to Business.
Oct 6, 2019, 1:43 am
#2037
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: GVA
Programs: A3 *G, LX *G, AF *S
Posts: 761
Regarding retro claim for upgraded segments: my experience is that most of them clear in the normal time frame (0-2 days), but there are some which don't make it. The last info I received from a customer service agent is that the new procedure is to wait for 10 days before you can retro claim. But best to call in and ask (for those questions, calling in is always the best option - agents are normally very knowledgable and can give you the precise info).
Regarding upgrading: indeed, it seems to me that fewer flights clear automatically. Waitlisted segments clear normally 2-3 days before the flight, if space is available. I cannot say whether paid or voucher upgrade takes priority for clearance, but if I was in Aegean revenue management, I would know which one it will be
Regarding upgrading: indeed, it seems to me that fewer flights clear automatically. Waitlisted segments clear normally 2-3 days before the flight, if space is available. I cannot say whether paid or voucher upgrade takes priority for clearance, but if I was in Aegean revenue management, I would know which one it will be
Oct 6, 2019, 6:30 am
#2038
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: SOF
Programs: A3 Gold, IHG Platinum, Marriott Silver
Posts: 849
Well, when I tried to check in for the flight waitlisted for an upgrade, I ultimately got the message that Check in Failed - to check in at the Transfer Desk. So, I called A3. I advised them that I couldn't check in - probably due to both segments still showing up for one of the flights. I was put on hold and when I opened the app, trying to check in again, the 2nd flight offered me seats in Business, so when the agent came back, I was advised that they upgraded me but still have to wait for the new ticket to be able to check in. And interesting thing happened - A3 uses Amadeus for its checkin - when I tried to check in on the website, I was offered a seat in Economy for the supposedly upgraded flight - they were probably going off the old ticket. On the app, I could see the Business seating but still Check In Failed - probably going off the reservation. I received the e-mail with the new ticket but still was not able to check in. Few minutes later, I received another e-mail with a new ticket number and after that, I finally checked in for both flights in the correct cabins. So, in this case, I ended up being upgraded less than 48 hours before the flight - after the checkin opened. And I'm not sure it would have happened unless I called and forced the issue. But ultimately, I'm happy. I have 2 more upgradable flights and 1 certificate left to use, so I like my odds.
Oct 6, 2019, 11:17 am
#2039
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3*G AC*nobody TK*nobody
Posts: 1,967
Oh well, my last trip is SOL... on waitlist for 3+ months and J was eventually fully booked.
BTW, I tried upgrade on 2 "flights".
Flight #1 , direct flight, which shows a duplicate, I assume the second one is "standby" for J. Easy to understand, no problem.
Flight #2 , a connection flight, the first segment is all Y, but the second segment has J/Y config. Tried to upgrade the second segment only, but it never shows duplicate online (like flight #1 )... yet, at check in counter, the agent seems to know I am on standby J...
BTW, I tried upgrade on 2 "flights".
Flight #1 , direct flight, which shows a duplicate, I assume the second one is "standby" for J. Easy to understand, no problem.
Flight #2 , a connection flight, the first segment is all Y, but the second segment has J/Y config. Tried to upgrade the second segment only, but it never shows duplicate online (like flight #1 )... yet, at check in counter, the agent seems to know I am on standby J...
Oct 7, 2019, 11:20 am
#2040
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: BRU
Programs: A3 *G & FB G
Posts: 640
I'm trying to understand the "logic" of Aegean clearance of the seat coupons.
Called the 16th of September to upgrade 4 different flights I will take with my father in November. 1 flight was cleared upon calling, 3 waitlisted.
One of the 3 waitlists were cleared today, strange that it clears 44 days before the flight. Maybe they have made some I availibility this month?
Called the 16th of September to upgrade 4 different flights I will take with my father in November. 1 flight was cleared upon calling, 3 waitlisted.
One of the 3 waitlists were cleared today, strange that it clears 44 days before the flight. Maybe they have made some I availibility this month?