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
Jan 22, 2015, 11:06 pm
#301
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: BA Gold, A3 Gold
Posts: 163
Has anyone ever tried to "refund" an upgrade?
Might seem like an odd question, but now that the rules have changed I am thinking of getting a voucher "back" and use it together with the last remaining one to upgrade me and my partner on a flight.
Might seem like an odd question, but now that the rules have changed I am thinking of getting a voucher "back" and use it together with the last remaining one to upgrade me and my partner on a flight.
Jan 23, 2015, 2:55 am
#302
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 6
@FlyEurope
I thought about the same and I really did not expect it to work but I gave it a try anyway and called the hotline but the agent said that I cannot 'undo' the usage of my coupons and since I booked a GoLight fare the cancellation of the whole ticket would would involve too much of a fee.
Again, I did not expect it to work
I thought about the same and I really did not expect it to work but I gave it a try anyway and called the hotline but the agent said that I cannot 'undo' the usage of my coupons and since I booked a GoLight fare the cancellation of the whole ticket would would involve too much of a fee.
Again, I did not expect it to work
Jan 23, 2015, 6:23 am
#303
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,480
Question: Have any golds had success upgrading on an A3-metal flight, if ticketed on another airline? I'm flying Roundtrip SFO-LHR-ATH, ticketed on UA, but the LHR-ATH legs are on Agean, in O class.
I called in and they said they can only process the upgrades if it's an A3 ticket, but hoping there's some way around that. Would love to use my upgrades!
I called in and they said they can only process the upgrades if it's an A3 ticket, but hoping there's some way around that. Would love to use my upgrades!
Jan 23, 2015, 7:23 am
#304
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: lounge next door
Programs: *A Gold / ST Elite+ / OWS / EK G / HH Diam. / MR Tit / Hyatt GLOB / IHG Diam. / SL Jade / GHA Tit.
Posts: 1,527
Unfortunately this isn't possible, and is highly unlikely to become so in the future. The upgrade is pretty much free to A3 when on its own metal bar a small incremental on food and beverage. On a codeshare, they would have to pay the operating airline the actual cost - in cash - of the upgrade. Clearly if someone has only paid a few hundred in a given currency to sit in Economy/Coach and the cash upgrade price to Business is a few thousand then there's no way it makes any financial sense whatsoever.
Jan 23, 2015, 7:50 am
#305
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: BA Gold, A3 Gold
Posts: 163
@FlyEurope
I thought about the same and I really did not expect it to work but I gave it a try anyway and called the hotline but the agent said that I cannot 'undo' the usage of my coupons and since I booked a GoLight fare the cancellation of the whole ticket would would involve too much of a fee.
Again, I did not expect it to work
I thought about the same and I really did not expect it to work but I gave it a try anyway and called the hotline but the agent said that I cannot 'undo' the usage of my coupons and since I booked a GoLight fare the cancellation of the whole ticket would would involve too much of a fee.
Again, I did not expect it to work
Jan 23, 2015, 8:57 am
#306
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: ZRH
Programs: A3 Gold, AY Silver
Posts: 458
Question: Have any golds had success upgrading on an A3-metal flight, if ticketed on another airline? I'm flying Roundtrip SFO-LHR-ATH, ticketed on UA, but the LHR-ATH legs are on Agean, in O class.
I called in and they said they can only process the upgrades if it's an A3 ticket, but hoping there's some way around that. Would love to use my upgrades!
I called in and they said they can only process the upgrades if it's an A3 ticket, but hoping there's some way around that. Would love to use my upgrades!
There is also no mention in the gold tier benefits about requirements on ticket stock or marketing carrier for using seat upgrades.
Jan 23, 2015, 9:33 am
#307
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,342
The main problem here is that the ticket is issued by another carrier. They cannot modify this ticket other than for operational reasons at the airport (eg last minute cancelation). This is not so much a technical limitation; rather an agreement between airlines.
The fact that it is a codeshare is, if I understand correctly, not an issue. Even if bought through a travel agent it should work. But the ticket number needs to start with '390' (=Aegean) for them in order to modify the ticket at all.
Jan 23, 2015, 9:52 am
#308
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,480
Your comments are valid for codeshares where the operating carrier is someone else than A3, but in this case the OP was asking about upgrading an A3 metal flight. Sure, it was ticketed on UA stock, but the OP doesn't even mention that it is a codeshare. In fact, the booking class O suggests that it is an A3 marketed flight, since booking class O is a first class award booking class on UA.
There is also no mention in the gold tier benefits about requirements on ticket stock or marketing carrier for using seat upgrades.
There is also no mention in the gold tier benefits about requirements on ticket stock or marketing carrier for using seat upgrades.
Xandrios explains everything far better than I could ever manage, although unfortunately for the OP the end result is exactly the same!
Jan 25, 2015, 8:17 am
#310
Join Date: Dec 2009
Programs: A3*G, Marriott Gold, Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium
Posts: 862
So I managed to use 3 out of my 4 upgrade vouchers today (LHR-ATH availability disappeared between looking and booking 
). It was all very easy except the agent initially told me that ATH-LHR had gone as well but then I told him I could see I class availability online (through ANA) and he checked again and said I was right so no problem upgrading me. He said he'd ring me back to save me waiting on the line and did within 10 minutes with everything re-issued. I actually received the updated e-ticket before he rang me back.
I'm very happy with the process all told. Just for reference, I was booked in GoLight in S, P and Q class so GoLight is still fine by the seems of things.
). It was all very easy except the agent initially told me that ATH-LHR had gone as well but then I told him I could see I class availability online (through ANA) and he checked again and said I was right so no problem upgrading me. He said he'd ring me back to save me waiting on the line and did within 10 minutes with everything re-issued. I actually received the updated e-ticket before he rang me back.I'm very happy with the process all told. Just for reference, I was booked in GoLight in S, P and Q class so GoLight is still fine by the seems of things.
Jan 26, 2015, 3:37 pm
#311
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
Of course not, I'm just surprised they don't fly to JFK or other further out of Europe. I saw AUH on the website but looks like it's seasonal?
Anyways with the rate you guys are using the upgrade certs, it's either going to be high in demand down the line or soon to have some changes in redemption rules.
But it barely costs them as it's their own I bucket inventory anyways
Jan 27, 2015, 7:59 am
#312
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,480
A warning: I've just had to ring A3 CS because I was unable to check in for MrsNWIFlyer and my flights - the screen indicated a ticket problem (which, having previously looked at my CheckMyTrip entry, I was already expecting), and that I should check-in at the airport.
I would strongly advise anyone that sees this not to wait until airport check-in - ring A3 and get them to sort it out ahead of time. In my case, the ticket had not been re-issued because the agent had failed to (a) charge me the UK APD increase between Economy and Business and (b) take any upgrade coupons.
Call 1: me to A3, asking them to re-issue the ticket
Call 2: A3 to me, advising an increase in taxes of 6 Euros
Call 3: A3 to me, asking which account I'd like the coupons taken from
Call 4: A3 to me, advising that they'd miscalculated the taxes the first time and they should have been 34 Euros (essentially the £13 difference per person between the APD amounts).
Call 5: A3 to me, advising that actually they need 8 coupons and therefore would have to take from both our accounts.
Would I have wanted to be standing at the airport, possibly dealing with non-A3 staff, with them trying to work out why I was unable to check-in close to flight time? Absolutely not ...
There are a number of reports in this thread about people seeing charges on their PNR record but not actually being asked to pay anything (yet). It might well be they will face the same issues as I did when check-in time arrives. Caveat Emptor ...
I would strongly advise anyone that sees this not to wait until airport check-in - ring A3 and get them to sort it out ahead of time. In my case, the ticket had not been re-issued because the agent had failed to (a) charge me the UK APD increase between Economy and Business and (b) take any upgrade coupons.
Call 1: me to A3, asking them to re-issue the ticket
Call 2: A3 to me, advising an increase in taxes of 6 Euros
Call 3: A3 to me, asking which account I'd like the coupons taken from
Call 4: A3 to me, advising that they'd miscalculated the taxes the first time and they should have been 34 Euros (essentially the £13 difference per person between the APD amounts).
Call 5: A3 to me, advising that actually they need 8 coupons and therefore would have to take from both our accounts.
Would I have wanted to be standing at the airport, possibly dealing with non-A3 staff, with them trying to work out why I was unable to check-in close to flight time? Absolutely not ...
There are a number of reports in this thread about people seeing charges on their PNR record but not actually being asked to pay anything (yet). It might well be they will face the same issues as I did when check-in time arrives. Caveat Emptor ...
Jan 27, 2015, 8:19 am
#313
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
A warning: I've just had to ring A3 CS because I was unable to check in for MrsNWIFlyer and my flights - the screen indicated a ticket problem (which, having previously looked at my CheckMyTrip entry, I was already expecting), and that I should check-in at the airport.
I would strongly advise anyone that sees this not to wait until airport check-in - ring A3 and get them to sort it out ahead of time. In my case, the ticket had not been re-issued because the agent had failed to (a) charge me the UK APD increase between Economy and Business and (b) take any upgrade coupons.
Call 1: me to A3, asking them to re-issue the ticket
Call 2: A3 to me, advising an increase in taxes of 6 Euros
Call 3: A3 to me, asking which account I'd like the coupons taken from
Call 4: A3 to me, advising that they'd miscalculated the taxes the first time and they should have been 34 Euros (essentially the £13 difference per person between the APD amounts).
Call 5: A3 to me, advising that actually they need 8 coupons and therefore would have to take from both our accounts.
Would I have wanted to be standing at the airport, possibly dealing with non-A3 staff, with them trying to work out why I was unable to check-in close to flight time? Absolutely not ...
There are a number of reports in this thread about people seeing charges on their PNR record but not actually being asked to pay anything (yet). It might well be they will face the same issues as I did when check-in time arrives. Caveat Emptor ...
I would strongly advise anyone that sees this not to wait until airport check-in - ring A3 and get them to sort it out ahead of time. In my case, the ticket had not been re-issued because the agent had failed to (a) charge me the UK APD increase between Economy and Business and (b) take any upgrade coupons.
Call 1: me to A3, asking them to re-issue the ticket
Call 2: A3 to me, advising an increase in taxes of 6 Euros
Call 3: A3 to me, asking which account I'd like the coupons taken from
Call 4: A3 to me, advising that they'd miscalculated the taxes the first time and they should have been 34 Euros (essentially the £13 difference per person between the APD amounts).
Call 5: A3 to me, advising that actually they need 8 coupons and therefore would have to take from both our accounts.
Would I have wanted to be standing at the airport, possibly dealing with non-A3 staff, with them trying to work out why I was unable to check-in close to flight time? Absolutely not ...
There are a number of reports in this thread about people seeing charges on their PNR record but not actually being asked to pay anything (yet). It might well be they will face the same issues as I did when check-in time arrives. Caveat Emptor ...
Now, just a quick question, were your tkts issued online on the A3 website. What happens if your tkts were booked on a 3rd party site? I ask because I used 4 coupons to upgrade myself and a travel companion, BCN-ATH & ATH to CDG, no taxes nada, 4 coupons deducted.
Jan 27, 2015, 9:07 am
#314
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,480
There probably is no tax difference for BCN or ATH, so it may well be you have nothing to pay.
However, you still need A3 to take your upgrade vouchers.
If you've had an e-mail from A3 with a different ticket number, then probably everything's set and you're fine. I never had that, so I was suspicious all along - hence why I took the precaution of doing everything early rather than waiting for airport check-in.