Away from YYZ

Lucky for you... I did call and check from time to time, but mine was never cleared this year. I watched J availability, and it seems like the J seats were all sold anyways.

EAPflyer

On an upcoming segment run Switzerland-ATH-Spain (I know Greta hates me) the second segment always showed I availability, but the agent was convinced of the married segments rule and waitlisted me for both flights. Strange, because I thought I could upgrade just one segment if I wanted.

Finally, my upgrades went through seperately. The second segment with I availability about 30 days before departure, the first segment about 10 days later. Both upgrades happened after crediting about 5000 miles to my account (holiday outbound and 11 days later holiday flight inbound on *A). I suspected that mileage balance/mileage accrual could have influenced the upgrades, although I could not find a sense in that.

On the whole I must say, since these upgrade vouchers exist I have been lucky in using them. There is not one upgrade that did not get through, although they usually cleared between T-96 and T-72.

Gnopps

Slightly OT but while waiting to board an A3-flight spoke to a M&B gold member travelling in Y. Curious to know if his coupons were out he told me he didn't bother using them as it was too much hassle. He got lounge, etc. anyway through the card.

KLouis

True, I also didn't use any coupons this past year!

unusualtravelblog

Sometimes you get the chance to buy cheap tickets in UTP fares. Paying more than 50€ extra for a ticket just to fly business class is only worth it if you value it that much. My parents without status like it when I can upgrade them for free but would never want to pay more for the benefits just because they do not value it. It is a nice to have but they'd prefer to travel economy, even if it is only €20 more to fly the front cabin.

Xandrios

I don't really agree with that. Flying in business removes all stress factors from traveling, as well as the added comfort of having a wider seat and having both armrests for yourself.

Personally, after having flown exclusively in economy for many years, I really do appreciate being able to fly business. The coupons are a great help, especially if some friends pitch in. Yes it will require a more expensive fare but that's, IMHO, a very fair price to pay.

headingwest

It's a good point, and something I've been thinking about myself recently, with the deterioration of the food in Business Class, plus the full cabins now that they have the bidding system. As I said at the time, if you make something less exclusive, it becomes less desirable. Funnily enough, I actually get a much better feeling out of knowing I've snagged a really cheap fare (like LUX-ATH-LHR for €16), and am getting miles and fed along the way!

The food and drinks in J are probably worth a little less than €20, and the extra room is a nice bonus but not essential. I never choose Flex over Light fares, I rather wait until the first bucket of upgradable fares becomes available. I think my price point for upgradable bookings is around €30, and that is mostly because of the extra status miles towards requalification. Although I must admit, waving goodbye to the aircraft from the bus while the economy passengers are still on board does give me some kind of sadistic gratification!

unusualtravelblog

My secret sadistic satisfaction is the moment you get a private bus in Athens for business class cabin.

I also pay slightly more just to use my upgrade coupons. I wanted to show that some people value some things differently in life (e.g. my parents).

headingwest

And if they don't have status, then I completely understand.

Xandrios

...but if they don't have status they not only get the upgrade on board, but also free luggage (at 32KG) and lounge access. The luggage alone would probably be worth the <50 euro that you'd have to pay extra to get an upgradable fare class no?

I mean I fully get that not everyone travels weekly and a little discomfort (because lets face it, sitting in a narrow seat for hours is not very comfortable) would be fine. But there are more reasons why an (essentially free) upgrade can help. Looking at my parents for example - they fly once or twice a year and every time its a stressful thing, them being at the airport way too early to be sure to have enough time, and so on. Being able to take away that stress is already a worthy result

For someone traveling on a schedule (eg weekly), being able to not have to worry about the size of your carryons, overhead bin space, being able to use the lavatory without waiting in line, etc, probably has a value. For me it surely does.

East_and_West

I tend to agree that the upgrade coupons (and Euro-Business in general) are far more valuable to non-status pax. As a *G I get essentially all J airport benefits pre- and post-flight. Onboard I buy a seat in the front anyway since I have a hard time physically fitting my legs in their free seats in the back of the cabin, and I don't mind their Y service since this is usually of very high standard. Catering is of course better in J, but I although I enjoy a good meal, I don't fly premium classes to gorge on food, so this is a minor consideration for me, especially on a 2-3 hour flight. If I am hungry I can have a bite on the lounge anyway.

So I am not actively going after upgradeable fares. That said, if my flight happens to have been booked on such a fare anyway, I am of course more than glad to cash my vouchers

nk15

This whole discussion I think proves the meaningless of having status or flying J within Europe, with the typical 1-4 hour flights. You may as well not bother. The airport food outside the lounges is far more superior than in the lounges (Europe has gourmet food tradition), and the elite/J benefits are just too limited, and A3 basically has made them useless with the devaluations.

It's all in our minds, really, and mostly lingering remnants of the now gone better days of having status with A3...Unless you obtain status naturally, with no extra cost or effort, it is not worth it.

East_and_West

Couldn't agree more when it comes to flying intra-Europe J, and especially to not actively chasing status. Sometimes get the impression that for some people it would be cheaper (let alone easier) to just buy directly a J tickets the 3-4 times per year they truly need to fly instead of doing all these tedious mileage runs... But of course I may be wrong.

When it comes to *G benefits I have to disagree.

• Fast track must have saved me from dozens, if not hundreds of hours of waiting up to now.
• When travelling HBO in Y on full flights it enables me to find some overhead room for my bag over my seat and deboard immediately, especially if I have a connection flight or train to catch. When travelling with hold baggage priority baggage delivery (when applied) also saves time.
• Although I may have an occasional lunch/dinner there, my main use of lounges is as a place with (relative) calmness, a table with a power outlet for my laptop, and a Wi-Fi connection where I can work in. In a surprisingly large number of airports (including ATH) there is simply no place to do that apart from the lounges. Not to mention that my home airport (ARN) and one of my most used airports (ATH) experience highly seasonal traffic, turning into madhouses in summer months. Then even grabbing a quick sandwich may require a long queue wait. And finding place to sit (let alone work) may be close to impossible.
• In cases of IRROPS *G has saved my… day quite a few times, especially when stranded in intermediate airports and places I 've never been before.
• On SK and LH-group flight *G quite often sends you in the front part of the Y cabin with the middle seat free.
• During the recent SAS strikes having access to Eurobonus Gold line saved from literally hours of frustration holding the line and trying to reach their overwhelmed call center in order to rebook my flight.

I could really go on, but I believe I made my point clear

bearchemist

Finished my trip this weekend and here is the recap of my first upgrade coupon experience:
1. MUC-SKG showed I-class availability on UA website, upgrade was cleared right away (two months out). Flight was credited to M&B the day after.
2. SKG-MUC had no I-class availability on UA website, was put on waitlist when calling Aegean trying to upgrade. It was cleared two days before the flight, and the credit showed up in M&B account two days after the flight.

Overall a pleasant experience. Being able to board directly from the SKG lounge is really good, but transferring there must clear security again which is a nuance.

KLouis

Very true, but not for long: They're building a new terminal building and I expect that both boardings from the lounge and the "new" security screen will be features of the past when finished, a few months from now.