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
Nov 7, 2016, 11:09 am
#1246
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Middle Earth, and often worse
Programs: BAEC Silver, A3 Gold
Posts: 2,220
Enjoy the A3 flight. OOPPSS, you have already flown. And your feedback?
I fly A3 on Dec 17th: IST-ATH-LHR. Got a nice upgrade with my coupon on the ATH-LHR sector. It WILL be nice. Similarly - with upgrade - back (LHR-ATH) on Dec 31st.
and ^
I fly A3 on Dec 17th: IST-ATH-LHR. Got a nice upgrade with my coupon on the ATH-LHR sector. It WILL be nice. Similarly - with upgrade - back (LHR-ATH) on Dec 31st.
and ^
Nov 7, 2016, 1:01 pm
#1247
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 3,926
So tomorrow morning I fly from LGW to ATH and have managed to use my upgrade coupon. Not flown A3 in J so looking forward to it. Used the coupon just for the flight experience as I have *A Gold so can use lounges and have extra bags on that.
My return is in a non-coupon upgradable booking class so will need to go back to Y which is fine.
My return is in a non-coupon upgradable booking class so will need to go back to Y which is fine.
Nov 12, 2016, 2:19 am
#1248
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 5
Anyone with information about how accurate the "spend miles" check out of the FAQ is about upgrade availability with vouchers?
In my case I booked a flight with A3 and tried to upgrade with the voucher and I'm now on a waiting list. Before booking I called the agents and they told me there is availability and this is also the case if I try to book a C flight by miles.
Last time I did an upgrade it was immediately confirmed. Therefore it seems there is some discrepancy between the availability of flights based on miles and voucher upgrade?
In my case I booked a flight with A3 and tried to upgrade with the voucher and I'm now on a waiting list. Before booking I called the agents and they told me there is availability and this is also the case if I try to book a C flight by miles.
Last time I did an upgrade it was immediately confirmed. Therefore it seems there is some discrepancy between the availability of flights based on miles and voucher upgrade?
Nov 12, 2016, 2:37 am
#1249
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,477
Anyone with information about how accurate the "spend miles" check out of the FAQ is about upgrade availability with vouchers?
In my case I booked a flight with A3 and tried to upgrade with the voucher and I'm now on a waiting list. Before booking I called the agents and they told me there is availability and this is also the case if I try to book a C flight by miles.
Last time I did an upgrade it was immediately confirmed. Therefore it seems there is some discrepancy between the availability of flights based on miles and voucher upgrade?
In my case I booked a flight with A3 and tried to upgrade with the voucher and I'm now on a waiting list. Before booking I called the agents and they told me there is availability and this is also the case if I try to book a C flight by miles.
Last time I did an upgrade it was immediately confirmed. Therefore it seems there is some discrepancy between the availability of flights based on miles and voucher upgrade?
The availability of award seats (I class availability) and those for use with upgrade vouchers should be identical - they are one and the same pot.
Of course, availability can change from minute to minute, so it is possible that between checking, making the booking and asking for the upgrade someone got in ahead of you - there are, after all, a very limited number of redemption seats on each flight.
Did you check for award availability after being put on the waitlist, or before?
Nov 12, 2016, 3:06 am
#1251
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,477
Nov 14, 2016, 12:24 pm
#1255
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Posts: 20
But I had no luck: they said me they will send my claim to a specific department to upgrade or not my ticket. I'll have to call them again in 3 days.
I think I'll call again now just to ask again... :-)
Nov 16, 2016, 9:51 pm
#1257
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,567
Nov 17, 2016, 1:46 am
#1258
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: PAS, Paros Greece
Programs: A3 *G
Posts: 1,372
I made another upgrade this morning on ATH-LHR for January. A very smooth and efficient process as usual. A few notes:
1) The agent asked me to remain on the line on hold until the new ticket was issued, which extended the total length of the call to nearly 3 minutes
She said I would receive confirmation by email but despite this I never actually received an email, although the new ticket number and I class are showing up online.
2) Before processing the upgrade she deliberately reminded me of all the rules (voucher will be lost if you cancel the flight, the flight can be changed but only through the call centre with a fee and the voucher can be moved to the new flight but will be lost if there is no upgrade availability) and then checked if I wanted to go ahead under those terms. I haven't been asked all that before. I think it's a good idea for those who may not be sure of the exact rules.
This was on a P class flex flight btw, which confirms that these upgrades still work (although I'm sure we didn't doubt it).
1) The agent asked me to remain on the line on hold until the new ticket was issued, which extended the total length of the call to nearly 3 minutes
She said I would receive confirmation by email but despite this I never actually received an email, although the new ticket number and I class are showing up online.2) Before processing the upgrade she deliberately reminded me of all the rules (voucher will be lost if you cancel the flight, the flight can be changed but only through the call centre with a fee and the voucher can be moved to the new flight but will be lost if there is no upgrade availability) and then checked if I wanted to go ahead under those terms. I haven't been asked all that before. I think it's a good idea for those who may not be sure of the exact rules.
This was on a P class flex flight btw, which confirms that these upgrades still work (although I'm sure we didn't doubt it).
Nov 17, 2016, 2:04 am
#1259
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,340
Nice!
I also had some segments upgraded recently and did not receive an email with the new booking. Easily fixable, aegean now even has a page to request a new e-ticket confirmation, but it does make you wonder if everything went OK.
I also had some segments upgraded recently and did not receive an email with the new booking. Easily fixable, aegean now even has a page to request a new e-ticket confirmation, but it does make you wonder if everything went OK.
Nov 17, 2016, 5:13 am
#1260
Join Date: Nov 2012
Programs: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Posts: 20
Maybe I'm too anxious (as I've said, I've been searching business inventory at awardnexus). This time getting the upgrade wasn't so straightfoward as the last year: at my last experience, upgrade was given instantly - even the ticket was issued at the same time I was talking on the phone.
This time aegean operator said me even if there was business seats upgradable with miles for that flight, coupon upgrades were not available instantly because they wouldn't share the same inventory. Hence, he would leave this question for FFP department to decide. Now I have the ticket in hands. :-)
This time aegean operator said me even if there was business seats upgradable with miles for that flight, coupon upgrades were not available instantly because they wouldn't share the same inventory. Hence, he would leave this question for FFP department to decide. Now I have the ticket in hands. :-)