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 27, 2016, 10:56 am
#902
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: OTP
Programs: AF/KL platinum, Turkish gold, QR gold
Posts: 1,572
Jan 28, 2016, 2:12 pm
#903
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: London, United Kingdom
Programs: BA GGL, Aegean Gold, Hilton Diamond, AmanJunkie
Posts: 54
Request rejected
Same here just had my request for coupon upgrades for Larnaca-Athens for flight 8 months from now rejected - kind of reinforces unfortunately miles + bonus gold is a pretty third rate programme .... they told me call back in 3 months again - sounded like the epitome of a joke programme ....
Last edited by NWIFlyer; Jan 28, 2016 at 2:33 pm Reason: Remove offensive reference to Greece as a country
Jan 28, 2016, 2:54 pm
#904
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
Same here just had my request for coupon upgrades for Larnaca-Athens for flight 8 months from now rejected - kind of reinforces unfortunately miles + bonus gold is a pretty third rate programme .... they told me call back in 3 months again - sounded like the epitome of a joke programme ....
Last edited by djjaguar64; Jan 28, 2016 at 6:32 pm
Jan 28, 2016, 11:58 pm
#905
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Paris, France
Programs: A3*G, Accor ALL Gold
Posts: 597
Same here just had my request for coupon upgrades for Larnaca-Athens for flight 8 months from now rejected - kind of reinforces unfortunately miles + bonus gold is a pretty third rate programme .... they told me call back in 3 months again - sounded like the epitome of a joke programme ....
Jan 29, 2016, 12:24 am
#906
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,476
Same here just had my request for coupon upgrades for Larnaca-Athens for flight 8 months from now rejected - kind of reinforces unfortunately miles + bonus gold is a pretty third rate programme .... they told me call back in 3 months again - sounded like the epitome of a joke programme ....
You are therefore relying on A3 to create more space especially for you. I would be surprised if any airline did that as far out as your flight date (particularly for a summer month) - revenue will wait to see how sales go first, because clearly if they can sell seats for real money that's going to take priority. Unlike many other European airlines, A3 can't create near unlimited J space by moving the curtain back to the exit rows - it's very rare to see more than four rows, so that's probably a legacy limitation of their plane configuration.
The advice to check again in a few months seems helpful to me - they are indicating to you that your booking may yet be upgraded as the flight date draws closer and demand is better known. I'd take that advice and call back - you may be pleasantly surprised.
Please let us know how you get on - it'll be a good data point for how the system works, and what extra availability is like on a given route at a potentially busy time.
Jan 29, 2016, 12:36 am
#907
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Paris
Programs: Miles&Bonus *G
Posts: 318
I don't know the typical J loads on this route, but this means either no award space was made available on this flight, or (possibly more likely) the initial couple of seats have already been taken by someone else.
You are therefore relying on A3 to create more space especially for you. I would be surprised if any airline did that as far out as your flight date (particularly for a summer month) - revenue will wait to see how sales go first, because clearly if they can sell seats for real money that's going to take priority. Unlike many other European airlines, A3 can't create near unlimited J space by moving the curtain back to the exit rows - it's very rare to see more than four rows, so that's probably a legacy limitation of their plane configuration.
The advice to check again in a few months seems helpful to me - they are indicating to you that your booking may yet be upgraded as the flight date draws closer and demand is better known. I'd take that advice and call back - you may be pleasantly surprised.
Please let us know how you get on - it'll be a good data point for how the system works, and what extra availability is like on a given route at a potentially busy time.
You are therefore relying on A3 to create more space especially for you. I would be surprised if any airline did that as far out as your flight date (particularly for a summer month) - revenue will wait to see how sales go first, because clearly if they can sell seats for real money that's going to take priority. Unlike many other European airlines, A3 can't create near unlimited J space by moving the curtain back to the exit rows - it's very rare to see more than four rows, so that's probably a legacy limitation of their plane configuration.
The advice to check again in a few months seems helpful to me - they are indicating to you that your booking may yet be upgraded as the flight date draws closer and demand is better known. I'd take that advice and call back - you may be pleasantly surprised.
Please let us know how you get on - it'll be a good data point for how the system works, and what extra availability is like on a given route at a potentially busy time.
I've never had an upgrade refused (5 coupons used so far), and this included extremely busy flights like ATH-BRU (and sometimes putting the request a few days before the flight).
Remember that you need to ask to get on the waiting list (not now- later, when the flight date is closer).
Jan 29, 2016, 7:37 am
#908
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
When to be waitlisted
This is spot on. Getting A3 to create more business class space 8 months in advance seems illogical.
I've never had an upgrade refused (5 coupons used so far), and this included extremely busy flights like ATH-BRU (and sometimes putting the request a few days before the flight).
Remember that you need to ask to get on the waiting list (not now- later, when the flight date is closer).
I've never had an upgrade refused (5 coupons used so far), and this included extremely busy flights like ATH-BRU (and sometimes putting the request a few days before the flight).
Remember that you need to ask to get on the waiting list (not now- later, when the flight date is closer).
This is good to know. I need to use my UG coupons for CDG-ATH and don't see the availability for April. So when I call do I ask to be placed on the waitlist or call back closer to departure?
Jan 30, 2016, 9:45 am
#909
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
In my recent 3 experiences putting on waitlist, I've always got a call back within 3 days confirming the upgrade.
Basically, when sonething is put on waiting list, they reconsider to put more award space on the flight.
So call them ASAP.
Jan 30, 2016, 4:29 pm
#910
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Paris
Programs: Miles&Bonus *G
Posts: 318
I would say definitely call ASAP.
In my recent 3 experiences putting on waitlist, I've always got a call back within 3 days confirming the upgrade.
Basically, when sonething is put on waiting list, they reconsider to put more award space on the flight.
So call them ASAP.
In my recent 3 experiences putting on waitlist, I've always got a call back within 3 days confirming the upgrade.
Basically, when sonething is put on waiting list, they reconsider to put more award space on the flight.
So call them ASAP.
@djjaguar64 if you do call now, let us know what happens (i.e. will they put you on the waiting list or tell you to call back closer to departure). And don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the upgrade
Jan 30, 2016, 7:31 pm
#911
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: YWG
Posts: 2,272
Ended up being the only person in C lol.
Jan 30, 2016, 8:19 pm
#912
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
I would say definitely call ASAP.
In my recent 3 experiences putting on waitlist, I've always got a call back within 3 days confirming the upgrade.
Basically, when sonething is put on waiting list, they reconsider to put more award space on the flight.
So call them ASAP.
In my recent 3 experiences putting on waitlist, I've always got a call back within 3 days confirming the upgrade.
Basically, when sonething is put on waiting list, they reconsider to put more award space on the flight.
So call them ASAP.
Jan 31, 2016, 3:40 am
#913
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,892
Same here just had my request for coupon upgrades for Larnaca-Athens for flight 8 months from now rejected - kind of reinforces unfortunately miles + bonus gold is a pretty third rate programme .... they told me call back in 3 months again - sounded like the epitome of a joke programme ....
If you feel it is a third rate club maybe another *A program might be better for you with the same requalification levels etc... I find them far more willing to help and assist than other supposedly superior programs especially BA Gold over the last 18-24 months.
Feb 1, 2016, 7:34 am
#914
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: HAM/ZRH/PEK
Posts: 6
- yesterday booked TXL-ATH for 2 Person in may
- email came 1 minute later...
- Then I called Aegean, 10-15 seconds Music only!!!
- checked the ticketNr, M&B Nr. and answered some questions,
- "please hold on"
- 30 seconds music!
- "You will get an email with new ticketNr."
- Thanks bye...
3 Minutes in total.. bravo!
The Email came 5 minutes later with class I on it....
- email came 1 minute later...
- Then I called Aegean, 10-15 seconds Music only!!!
- checked the ticketNr, M&B Nr. and answered some questions,
- "please hold on"
- 30 seconds music!
- "You will get an email with new ticketNr."
- Thanks bye...
3 Minutes in total.. bravo!
The Email came 5 minutes later with class I on it....