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 2, 2016, 11:49 am
#946
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,900
I just tried to upgrade BRU - ATH - HAM (booked on one ticket). While there is no availability in I for BRU - ATH, there is availability for ATH - HAM.
However, the agent said in case of a "connection ticket", there needs to be availability on both flights.
How does this make sense? The scenario could as well be that I absolutely want to fly Economy on the first flight and Business on the second flight...
However, the agent said in case of a "connection ticket", there needs to be availability on both flights.
How does this make sense? The scenario could as well be that I absolutely want to fly Economy on the first flight and Business on the second flight...
Mar 3, 2016, 5:23 am
#948
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
Mar 3, 2016, 7:28 am
#949
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Mannheim / Berlin
Programs: Gold: A3, AB, AZ
Posts: 36
The Aegean agent said, that they are awaiting confirmation regarding the upgrade of the second leg and that I should call back in two days.
Mar 3, 2016, 7:54 am
#950
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,900
Update: According to checkmytrip, the first leg (no availability in I) has been upgraded to business, while the other leg (with availability in I) is still booked in economy.
The Aegean agent said, that they are awaiting confirmation regarding the upgrade of the second leg and that I should call back in two days.
The Aegean agent said, that they are awaiting confirmation regarding the upgrade of the second leg and that I should call back in two days.
Mar 13, 2016, 10:33 am
#951
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Cyprus
Programs: LH SEN, A3*G, TK*G E+, ALL/Accor Plat
Posts: 644
Yesterday, I arrived late for a LHR-LCA flight that had been booked in non-changeable go light P class and upgraded to I with a free voucher. I quite expected Aegean to require me to purchase an entirely new ticket but they offered to rebook me on a later connection flight to LCA via ATH. All I had to pay was a €20 service fee and an upgrade charge to change the ticket from P to S class. Even more surprisingly, Aegean agreed to reinstate the free sector upgrade from LHR to ATH so I flew in business I class. This was not a mistake by an inexperienced agent as lengthy discussions were held with the duty supervisor. Perhaps the WIKI text at the beginning of the thread may need to be modified a little?
Mar 13, 2016, 12:09 pm
#952
Join Date: Dec 2013
Programs: AY+ Plat, A3*G
Posts: 672
Yesterday, I arrived late for a LHR-LCA flight that had been booked in non-changeable go light P class and upgraded to I with a free voucher. I quite expected Aegean to require me to purchase an entirely new ticket but they offered to rebook me on a later connection flight to LCA via ATH. All I had to pay was a €20 service fee and an upgrade charge to change the ticket from P to S class. Even more surprisingly, Aegean agreed to reinstate the free sector upgrade from LHR to ATH so I flew in business I class. This was not a mistake by an inexperienced agent as lengthy discussions were held with the duty supervisor. Perhaps the WIKI text at the beginning of the thread may need to be modified a little?
Mar 17, 2016, 4:16 am
#953
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 11
Flew 2 different flights with upgrade coupons a month ago, miles where not posted initially so i claimed them through the website... but only 1 of the 2 flights was credited.
So yesterday i called Aegean to claim the miles, was on the phone for 1 minute and this morning the miles where posted!
It seems like the upgraded flights are still not posted automatically
So yesterday i called Aegean to claim the miles, was on the phone for 1 minute and this morning the miles where posted!
It seems like the upgraded flights are still not posted automatically
Mar 17, 2016, 4:29 am
#954
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,480
Flew 2 different flights with upgrade coupons a month ago, miles where not posted initially so i claimed them through the website... but only 1 of the 2 flights was credited.
So yesterday i called Aegean to claim the miles, was on the phone for 1 minute and this morning the miles where posted!
It seems like the upgraded flights are still not posted automatically
So yesterday i called Aegean to claim the miles, was on the phone for 1 minute and this morning the miles where posted!
It seems like the upgraded flights are still not posted automatically
.Retroclaim was similarly swift though - a matter of a few working hours to show up in my account.
Apr 4, 2016, 2:11 pm
#955
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: TK E+
Posts: 398
Problems applying upgrade coupon
I called A3 to ask if there's upgrade availability on a certain flight departing from ATH, and was told that yes, there are 4 upgrade seats available. I verified I can upgrade this segment using a single voucher even this is the second segment of a connecting flight.
I then made the economy booking online and immediately called in to ask for the upgrade to be applied. The rep almost immediately told me she's sorry, there's "no availability". I explained that an hour or so ago there were 4 seats available for upgrade, and then she changed her explanation to "Yes, there's availability but because the booking has married segments I have to put in a request for another department to change the fare. It's a technical issue." Then she took my phone number and said they'll call me after processing this to tell me "if there is availability" (!!)
Anyone else encountered such supposedly sneaky practices of trying not to honor an upgrade coupon? Any advise how to get the upgrade to be applied?
I then made the economy booking online and immediately called in to ask for the upgrade to be applied. The rep almost immediately told me she's sorry, there's "no availability". I explained that an hour or so ago there were 4 seats available for upgrade, and then she changed her explanation to "Yes, there's availability but because the booking has married segments I have to put in a request for another department to change the fare. It's a technical issue." Then she took my phone number and said they'll call me after processing this to tell me "if there is availability" (!!)
Anyone else encountered such supposedly sneaky practices of trying not to honor an upgrade coupon? Any advise how to get the upgrade to be applied?
Apr 4, 2016, 7:45 pm
#957
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,567
This is a first, in the sense that nobody in this forum has yet reported an unwillingness of A3 to honour the upgrade vouchers. Therefore my comments:
Considering that often business class consists of eight seats, four seats available for upgrade is also a first. Usually there are no more than two, and occasionally they'll free a few more around a day or two before the flight. As for the married segments, if one flies from HER (my home base) through ATH to an airport abroad, neither I nor any of my friends/family has ever been told that you have to upgrade both legs!
I can see a number of reasons why you got this obviously wrong info from them, and we'll know more once you answer Air Rarotonga's questions. Clearly, the first reason that comes to mind would be a new agent who's not been trained well-enough; HUACA would solve this.
Considering that often business class consists of eight seats, four seats available for upgrade is also a first. Usually there are no more than two, and occasionally they'll free a few more around a day or two before the flight. As for the married segments, if one flies from HER (my home base) through ATH to an airport abroad, neither I nor any of my friends/family has ever been told that you have to upgrade both legs!
I can see a number of reasons why you got this obviously wrong info from them, and we'll know more once you answer Air Rarotonga's questions. Clearly, the first reason that comes to mind would be a new agent who's not been trained well-enough; HUACA would solve this.
Apr 5, 2016, 7:10 am
#958
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: TK E+
Posts: 398
My routing was all international, with the upgrade request for ATH-DME.
A short while ago they confirmed my upgrade.
I suspect that this may have had something to do with the fact that I bought the ticket via expedia which has a 24 hrs free cancelation option (for an otherwise non-refundable ticket), and tried to apply the upgrade within this time window.
A short while ago they confirmed my upgrade.
I suspect that this may have had something to do with the fact that I bought the ticket via expedia which has a 24 hrs free cancelation option (for an otherwise non-refundable ticket), and tried to apply the upgrade within this time window.
Apr 5, 2016, 7:24 am
#959
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,751
The explanation you were given by the agent (married segments) is the more logical one.
Apr 6, 2016, 7:11 am
#960
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
Booked cheap ticket with OTA - i think Bravofly, then upgraded with coupon. Then unable to travel, so called aegean who cancelled ticket, said would receive refund within 1 month. Waited, still nothing, called again, A3 said to speak to travel agent, because they booked the ticket. TA sending me to A3 because ticket was upgraded and re-issued.
Any ideas?
Any ideas?