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
Dec 9, 2021, 12:38 pm
#2311
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,339
That kind of sucks. Though after all those AF runs I can imagine that even A3 Y is not too bad 
Just kidding of course.
Have you been able to get/use your AFKL upgrade coupons yet? Is the upgrade procedure very different from A3?
Just kidding of course.Have you been able to get/use your AFKL upgrade coupons yet? Is the upgrade procedure very different from A3?
Dec 9, 2021, 2:07 pm
#2312
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 1,320
One thing I noticed is that they have massively slaughtered I-class availability on some routes. On ATH-AMS for example, after March, there are a few days (in a row) in April...and a few days (also in a row) in July that have I availability. Besides that, until the end of the summer season..absolutely nothing. Its very obvious that they are artificially manipulating I class availability.
Dec 10, 2021, 12:15 am
#2313
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Seat 1L these days :)
Programs: AF Platinum/AY LUMO/SK EBG/baEC S/HYATT Globalist/MR LTP/A3 *G/HH Dia/IHG plat
Posts: 7,957
The Ultimate upgrades wont come till apr1 I beleive when the status changes.
As it is I enjoyed MY A3 and AF Y experiences on A3 I had a row of three seats just for me.
The one thing I dont like at all is even A3 gold have to pay for seat selection...
I was actually going to let my A3 status drop but I will see for another 16months now and decide. Next week is my SAS Diamond run the maddness has to stop 🤣
Dec 10, 2021, 3:14 am
#2315
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,339
Those routes have been like that since the very first time they introduced the S22 plan. Having already gotten wait-listed with vouchers for next summer, I find this to be a bit nerve-cracking... But it's still early and in the past I was usually booking summer flights in February or later, so we'll see...
But at the same time it sucks! Like you I am used to upgrade my flights at time of booking for some piece of mind. That is very difficult now. I was supposed to fly the AMS route today but had to postpone last night. Having already booked a bunch of flights for Jan/Feb/Mar and plans for Easter (April) are unclear at this time... I had to go to July as those are the only days with I availability. And no P class availability all summer either. So I pretty much paid for a new ticket (in change fees, and fare upgrade from a discounted P to regular U). Meh. Well at least I didn't lose the upgrade coupon..
yeah this was a very last minute idea booked the whole trip feeders hotels and all at a whim 😏🤣
The Ultimate upgrades wont come till apr1 I beleive when the status changes.
As it is I enjoyed MY A3 and AF Y experiences on A3 I had a row of three seats just for me.
The one thing I dont like at all is even A3 gold have to pay for seat selection...
I was actually going to let my A3 status drop but I will see for another 16months now and decide. Next week is my SAS Diamond run the maddness has to stop 🤣
The Ultimate upgrades wont come till apr1 I beleive when the status changes.
As it is I enjoyed MY A3 and AF Y experiences on A3 I had a row of three seats just for me.
The one thing I dont like at all is even A3 gold have to pay for seat selection...
I was actually going to let my A3 status drop but I will see for another 16months now and decide. Next week is my SAS Diamond run the maddness has to stop 🤣
And yes, fully agree on the A3 seat reservation fees. With AFKL at least you get Eco Comfort for free as Plat. Though admittedly, AFKL status is a little harder to achieve than A3. What advantages does SAS Diamon have over A3 Gold? As both are *G so theoretically should offer similar value?
Dec 10, 2021, 7:21 am
#2316
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Seat 1L these days :)
Programs: AF Platinum/AY LUMO/SK EBG/baEC S/HYATT Globalist/MR LTP/A3 *G/HH Dia/IHG plat
Posts: 7,957
In a way it makes sense. They are reserving these seats, waiting for a very busy and profitable summer. Can't really blame them looking at how things seem to be headed this winter. Can't imagine this will be a very profitable couple of months coming up..
But at the same time it sucks! Like you I am used to upgrade my flights at time of booking for some piece of mind. That is very difficult now. I was supposed to fly the AMS route today but had to postpone last night. Having already booked a bunch of flights for Jan/Feb/Mar and plans for Easter (April) are unclear at this time... I had to go to July as those are the only days with I availability. And no P class availability all summer either. So I pretty much paid for a new ticket (in change fees, and fare upgrade from a discounted P to regular U). Meh. Well at least I didn't lose the upgrade coupon..
I'm curious to hear about your experiences with AF upgrades when those come in. Should those also be valid upgrading from C to P? That would be incredible value.
And yes, fully agree on the A3 seat reservation fees. With AFKL at least you get Eco Comfort for free as Plat. Though admittedly, AFKL status is a little harder to achieve than A3. What advantages does SAS Diamon have over A3 Gold? As both are *G so theoretically should offer similar value?
But at the same time it sucks! Like you I am used to upgrade my flights at time of booking for some piece of mind. That is very difficult now. I was supposed to fly the AMS route today but had to postpone last night. Having already booked a bunch of flights for Jan/Feb/Mar and plans for Easter (April) are unclear at this time... I had to go to July as those are the only days with I availability. And no P class availability all summer either. So I pretty much paid for a new ticket (in change fees, and fare upgrade from a discounted P to regular U). Meh. Well at least I didn't lose the upgrade coupon..
I'm curious to hear about your experiences with AF upgrades when those come in. Should those also be valid upgrading from C to P? That would be incredible value.
And yes, fully agree on the A3 seat reservation fees. With AFKL at least you get Eco Comfort for free as Plat. Though admittedly, AFKL status is a little harder to achieve than A3. What advantages does SAS Diamon have over A3 Gold? As both are *G so theoretically should offer similar value?
The difference is theoretically upgrades complimentary on SK though they are not frequent. At my last Diamond membership I think I got one comp upgrade.
Free drinks and snacks from the Buy on board trolley in GO(Y)
Exit seats free on longhaul
Mileage does not expire while EBD so that resets the clock for me on a unhealthy amount of SAS points
I am sure there are some other benefits too, but I will have to look them up. I have been out of the SK game for a while so a bit rusty...
It will only require one trip in plus to get their diamond due to the 4x promo so I figured why not...
Dec 13, 2021, 4:13 am
#2317
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: 39000ft
Posts: 956
Worked as expected. Approx. 2+ days before the flight, Expertflyer sent me notification for I availabilty wide opening (in this case 2 seats). For some reason, the upgrade was not processed automatically (it's this case that if you also try to check-in, it cannot proceed), so I had to call in. Agent confirmed that the upgrade is approved but ticket is not issued (said that sometimes it happens) but within 10 minutes I had the new ticket in my mailbox. Now i am debating whether I should try the hummus chicken breast or the veal.
Dec 13, 2021, 11:21 am
#2318
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Flying between BER, ZRH, EZE, COR
Programs: LH SEN, UA 1K, A3*G, AR Platino, BA Gold
Posts: 113
I had a BER-ATH in P/Flex, which I INVOL rebooked to a BER-SKG-ATH in H Fare Bucket.
When I called to upgrade the BER-SKG leg, they told me to pay the full fare difference to the H bucket in order to proceed the upgrade.
It took 2 HUACA in order to find fix that.
Seems super weird?
When I called to upgrade the BER-SKG leg, they told me to pay the full fare difference to the H bucket in order to proceed the upgrade.
It took 2 HUACA in order to find fix that.
Seems super weird?
Dec 13, 2021, 6:32 pm
#2319
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,566
Not super weird! It sounds like you got a somewhat stupid (or new or inexperienced or sleepy or tired or frustrated or, or, or) agent on the phone the first time(s). Since this problem was solved after HUACAs, all's well that ends well.
Dec 15, 2021, 7:57 am
#2320
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: UK
Programs: A3 *G
Posts: 349
Just to update this information once again, I can now confirm that this is indeed how the process works due to having had to change these flights again (don't ask!). I therefore saw the process in action and am able to add the following details:
- When your flight is waitlisted for an upgrade due to married segments despite there being I class seats available, your reservation won't change initially (i.e. there won't be a waitlisted I class segment added).
- Once the segments have been unmarried, the "waitlisted" segment will appear on the reservation and the I class inventory will "disappear" from general view, as it has now been allocated to your reservation.
- At this point, you can ring up A3 to have the reservation cleaned up and the new tickets issued in I class.
I monitored the process very carefully from the time I changed the flights to when the upgrade was cleared, as I found the whole thing very interesting. It happened exactly as I expected but this time, I did not panic when the 3 I class seats disappeared. I simply rang the agent who had been dealing with the ticket back and she sorted everything out.
I hope this further information helps clarify the process better. I'll update the wiki accordingly too.
On a side note, I love that A3 will put you through to the original agent you dealt with as long as you have their name. That saves so much time compared to having to explain the situation over and over again to different agents.
- When your flight is waitlisted for an upgrade due to married segments despite there being I class seats available, your reservation won't change initially (i.e. there won't be a waitlisted I class segment added).
- Once the segments have been unmarried, the "waitlisted" segment will appear on the reservation and the I class inventory will "disappear" from general view, as it has now been allocated to your reservation.
- At this point, you can ring up A3 to have the reservation cleaned up and the new tickets issued in I class.
I monitored the process very carefully from the time I changed the flights to when the upgrade was cleared, as I found the whole thing very interesting. It happened exactly as I expected but this time, I did not panic when the 3 I class seats disappeared. I simply rang the agent who had been dealing with the ticket back and she sorted everything out.
I hope this further information helps clarify the process better. I'll update the wiki accordingly too.
On a side note, I love that A3 will put you through to the original agent you dealt with as long as you have their name. That saves so much time compared to having to explain the situation over and over again to different agents.
In my experience 90% of the time my upgrade clears, but my wife is currently still waitlisted on a flight that did have award availability at the time the upgrade was requested.
The agent at the time told me there was no availability and that she would be waitlisted. I rang again now (a month later and no award availability) and still same response, she'll have to wait and see.
Flight is in 4 days and there are still revenue J tickets available.
Annoying as she could do with the extra luggage with it being Christmas etc.
Once at the airport if revenue J are still available, should she just ask the check-in agent for an upgrade? Anyone know the likelihood of her getting it?
Dec 15, 2021, 10:26 am
#2321
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: DK
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Silver
Posts: 869
But is there a clear link between award availability and coupons?
In my experience 90% of the time my upgrade clears, but my wife is currently still waitlisted on a flight that did have award availability at the time the upgrade was requested.
The agent at the time told me there was no availability and that she would be waitlisted. I rang again now (a month later and no award availability) and still same response, she'll have to wait and see.
Flight is in 4 days and there are still revenue J tickets available.
Annoying as she could do with the extra luggage with it being Christmas etc.
Once at the airport if revenue J are still available, should she just ask the check-in agent for an upgrade? Anyone know the likelihood of her getting it?
In my experience 90% of the time my upgrade clears, but my wife is currently still waitlisted on a flight that did have award availability at the time the upgrade was requested.
The agent at the time told me there was no availability and that she would be waitlisted. I rang again now (a month later and no award availability) and still same response, she'll have to wait and see.
Flight is in 4 days and there are still revenue J tickets available.
Annoying as she could do with the extra luggage with it being Christmas etc.
Once at the airport if revenue J are still available, should she just ask the check-in agent for an upgrade? Anyone know the likelihood of her getting it?
The coupon take out of the same I inventory that award seats are taking from. The coupons can clear up to 2 days before departure as that is when bids for upgrades clear and if J seats are still available coupons start clearing. Of course not every seat will be guaranteed to turn into I availability last second.
I haven't experienced A3 just upgrading people at check-in for free without an operational reasons. If your coupon doesn't clear by T-48 then the only way to J is by paying extra during the check in process if seats are available but it isn't cheap.
Dec 15, 2021, 12:54 pm
#2322
Join Date: Nov 2015
Programs: A3*G
Posts: 128
Yes.
... The coupons can clear up to 2 days before departure as that is when bids for upgrades clear and if J seats are still available coupons start clearing. Of course not every seat will be guaranteed to turn into I availability last second.
I haven't experienced A3 just upgrading people at check-in for free without an operational reasons. If your coupon doesn't clear by T-48 then the only way to J is by paying extra during the check in process if seats are available but it isn't cheap.
... The coupons can clear up to 2 days before departure as that is when bids for upgrades clear and if J seats are still available coupons start clearing. Of course not every seat will be guaranteed to turn into I availability last second.
I haven't experienced A3 just upgrading people at check-in for free without an operational reasons. If your coupon doesn't clear by T-48 then the only way to J is by paying extra during the check in process if seats are available but it isn't cheap.
Dec 22, 2021, 10:01 pm
#2323
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,566
I booked our flights (HER-ATH-ZRH) in late September, asked to upgrade the international leg in October and were put on the WL. Two and one days before departure two days ago, I received emails asking me whether I wanted to proceed with an "Upgrade challenge" which I disregarded. When checking our bag I was told, without my asking anything, that the voucher-upgrade did not go through but that there was a chence we would get upgraded at the gate in ATH. Indeed, this is what finally happened and we flew in business class: 24 seats, of which 19 were empty... The good thing about this last minute upgrade was that we... didn't get an extra luggage allowance, thus my wife didn't pack lots of stuff for the short stay abroad.
Dec 23, 2021, 10:34 am
#2325
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,339
One of my Coupon-upgraded flights in February just got cancelled. If at all possible I'd rather wait choosing an alternative until close(r) to departure, as it would give me the option to move the flight further out if I'd need to postpone.
However... I-class availability is VERY scarce. I've read that nowadays with IRROPS they have the ability to move bookings off a canceled flight onto a new one without re-ticketing - even if the booking class is not available on that new flight. Does that also apply to upgraded flights at all?
If that does not work I can, of course, wait until VERY last-minute assuming I-class opens up then. But that is a little risky (Though I don't expect flights to be full mid-Feb, you never know). The alternative is that I move the flight now, to a new date with I-class availability (of which there are only like 2 in a 2-week period)... but that rather limits me in case I decide to postpone the trip (Depending on the Covid situation at that time).
However... I-class availability is VERY scarce. I've read that nowadays with IRROPS they have the ability to move bookings off a canceled flight onto a new one without re-ticketing - even if the booking class is not available on that new flight. Does that also apply to upgraded flights at all?
If that does not work I can, of course, wait until VERY last-minute assuming I-class opens up then. But that is a little risky (Though I don't expect flights to be full mid-Feb, you never know). The alternative is that I move the flight now, to a new date with I-class availability (of which there are only like 2 in a 2-week period)... but that rather limits me in case I decide to postpone the trip (Depending on the Covid situation at that time).