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
Mar 18, 2015, 5:58 am
#376
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: MAN,TLV
Programs: Silver:BA,VX,AB, QF. Gold:A3,RJ,AZ,GF, EY,SPG,Marriott,Choice, Carlson. Dia/Plat:HH,IHG,BW,Accor
Posts: 1,965
I used one of my upgrade coupons to upgrade a friend flying TLV-ATH-LHR, and they required him to pay 4 euros for TLV airport tax because of the upgrade to business, but when i upgraded a month ago the same route for me, i paid nothing extra. Like the wiki says, sometimes they charge the tax, sometimes not...
On the second leg to LHR, there was no availability for the complimentary upgrades, but his luggage is 2 Pieces all the way to LHR.
Just one query: On the reservation details online, it says 2 pieces of 23kg but on the phone they told me numerous times that it is 2 pieces of 32kg. I assume the call centre overrides the details online (which is probably a mistake due to the complimentary upgrade)?
On the second leg to LHR, there was no availability for the complimentary upgrades, but his luggage is 2 Pieces all the way to LHR.
Just one query: On the reservation details online, it says 2 pieces of 23kg but on the phone they told me numerous times that it is 2 pieces of 32kg. I assume the call centre overrides the details online (which is probably a mistake due to the complimentary upgrade)?
Last edited by benberg2013; Mar 18, 2015 at 7:15 am
Mar 18, 2015, 6:23 am
#377
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,479
In answer to your question, there is no reason why companion fares would not qualify for upgrade - they book and credit into normal fare buckets.
However, bear in mind that companion fares are only available on domestic routes, so the upgrade benefit is absolutely tiny - on a 50 minute flight, a Business Class meal consists of a very small snack presented on china and a minature bottle of wine of the standard provided in international Y at best.
Mar 18, 2015, 9:00 am
#378
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,567
...Just one query: On the reservation details online, it says 2 pieces of 23kg but on the phone they told me numerous times that it is 2 pieces of 32kg. I assume the call centre overrides the details online (which is probably a mistake due to the complimentary upgrade)?
Mar 19, 2015, 2:44 pm
#381
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 3
upgrade not possible
I tried to use my upgrade coupons to get the business class TXL-ATH and return for 2 pax. I called aegean totally 3 times. at the first time i was told there was no seats available for the segment TXL-ATH and for return only 1 seat and i should call later if i want 2 seats. the next day i called again. TXL-ATH not possible. But for return I could get 2 seats upgraded. After the phone call i checked my travel plan online. the booking class for ATH-TXL was changed to I. And a day later Aegean called me again and told me, it was a mistake to upgrade my flight ATH-TXL. Because I didn't book a public fair which the aegean offers online. The fair which I booked through an online travel agent was a non-public fair, which aegean couldn't see how much i paid. I argued that according to the rules of m&b the gold member only need a valid and paid economy class ticket which aegean is the carrier. The lady told me "valid" means public fair. What a nonsense!!! They refused to upgrade my flights. I was told for next time I should call aegean to ask what the public fair is in order to get a upgrade.
Mar 20, 2015, 12:39 am
#383
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,479
I tried to use my upgrade coupons to get the business class TXL-ATH and return for 2 pax. I called aegean totally 3 times. at the first time i was told there was no seats available for the segment TXL-ATH and for return only 1 seat and i should call later if i want 2 seats. the next day i called again. TXL-ATH not possible. But for return I could get 2 seats upgraded. After the phone call i checked my travel plan online. the booking class for ATH-TXL was changed to I. And a day later Aegean called me again and told me, it was a mistake to upgrade my flight ATH-TXL. Because I didn't book a public fair which the aegean offers online. The fair which I booked through an online travel agent was a non-public fair, which aegean couldn't see how much i paid. I argued that according to the rules of m&b the gold member only need a valid and paid economy class ticket which aegean is the carrier. The lady told me "valid" means public fair. What a nonsense!!! They refused to upgrade my flights. I was told for next time I should call aegean to ask what the public fair is in order to get a upgrade.
I would certainly be extremely upset if someone processed my upgrade and then took it away from me. On that point alone, there's a really good case for A3 to re-instate it as a gesture of goodwill and an attempt at service recovery. At the very least, call back and (politely but stringently) make the point that you're extremely unhappy and escalate this through the food chain until you reach someone that can help. If you're a reasonably high spending Gold member that comfortably qualifies each year, use that as leverage. A3 genuinely does have a good customer service culture so take advantage of that.
For the future, of course, you and we need to understand why a particular fare bucket is invalid - it's certainly the first report we've seen. We'll need some more details from you though.
Where did you book the ticket?
What was the fare bucket on the e-ticket receipt?
Who is the ticketing carrier (what are the first three numbers on your ticket number)?
Are you in the travel trade, and have a non-rev ticket?
Please do come back to us and let us know both how you get on, and the details behind your booking.
Mar 20, 2015, 4:06 am
#384
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,567
For example, I know that Greek airlines historically issue heavily discounted tickets (non-public) for merchant marine crew members flying home or back to their ships. Often, tickets of this kind are actually sold by TAs at very low prices without them having looked at, and verified the credentials of the customer. OA used to deny boarding if, at CI, you could not prove that you were a sailor!
Mar 21, 2015, 3:28 am
#385
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,182
Mar 25, 2015, 3:09 am
#387
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: PAS, Paros Greece
Programs: A3 *G
Posts: 1,375
Just a quick note about the coupons...
I just got my Silver to Gold upgrade and I noticed that all the unused coupons in my account are now showing "Expired". Of course, I got a bunch of new "Gold Seat Upgrade", "Gold Companion Ticket" etc. but, if anybody was thinking of saving the Silver ones to use later - don't. The expiry dates still show as November 2015 but they show as status "Expired" and can no longer be accessed. Luckily I'd already used the seat upgrades so it's no great loss really but I was planning on making a booking with the companion vouucher this week. Hope this saves somebody losing out...
I just got my Silver to Gold upgrade and I noticed that all the unused coupons in my account are now showing "Expired". Of course, I got a bunch of new "Gold Seat Upgrade", "Gold Companion Ticket" etc. but, if anybody was thinking of saving the Silver ones to use later - don't. The expiry dates still show as November 2015 but they show as status "Expired" and can no longer be accessed. Luckily I'd already used the seat upgrades so it's no great loss really but I was planning on making a booking with the companion vouucher this week. Hope this saves somebody losing out...
Mar 25, 2015, 3:31 am
#389
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,479
Yes, they expire when your status year expires (or when your tier upgrades from Silver to Gold, when they'll be replaced with a nice, new, much shinier version which will themselves expire at the end of your Gold year).
Mar 25, 2015, 4:32 am
#390
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: MAN,TLV
Programs: Silver:BA,VX,AB, QF. Gold:A3,RJ,AZ,GF, EY,SPG,Marriott,Choice, Carlson. Dia/Plat:HH,IHG,BW,Accor
Posts: 1,965