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
Dec 12, 2014, 5:40 am
#121
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,567
Dec 12, 2014, 6:53 am
#122
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ZRH
Programs: A3*G, BA silver, HH Gold
Posts: 44
I upgraded CPH-ATH-RHO and back and they said nothing about a fee. But when viewing the booking at expedia it shows 30EUR as price now instead of the GoLight ticket price. Neither charge shown on my visa card yet though.
Dec 12, 2014, 7:52 am
#123
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: FTL, A3*G
Posts: 19
Would please tell me if You had to use one coupon or two for that flight? Cheers!
Dec 12, 2014, 2:30 pm
#124
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: BSL, BCN
Programs: A3*G, IB
Posts: 106
I upgraded both legs of my modest "segment run" BCN - ATH - ZRH (GoLight, expedia) with 2 coupons and the whole thing did not take longer than 4 minutes on the phone which was answered immediately. No additional costs and the new e-ticket arrived within 5 minutes. I am impressed and looking forward to my first A3 flights.
Dec 12, 2014, 11:03 pm
#126
Join Date: Apr 2006
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Lifetime Bonvoy Platinum, HHonors Gold , TK Gold, MH Plat, QR Plat
Posts: 100
I finally managed to use my coupons! Yes the wait on the phone may be long during peak hours, but the agents are all pleasant and very friendly. International legs are rebooked in I class.
What concerns me now, is since I class doesn't earn any miles, will that count towards my 4 sectors A3 minimum to requalify A3 gold will less miles...we shall see
What concerns me now, is since I class doesn't earn any miles, will that count towards my 4 sectors A3 minimum to requalify A3 gold will less miles...we shall see
Dec 13, 2014, 3:25 am
#127
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 668
I finally managed to use my coupons! Yes the wait on the phone may be long during peak hours, but the agents are all pleasant and very friendly. International legs are rebooked in I class.
What concerns me now, is since I class doesn't earn any miles, will that count towards my 4 sectors A3 minimum to requalify A3 gold will less miles...we shall see
What concerns me now, is since I class doesn't earn any miles, will that count towards my 4 sectors A3 minimum to requalify A3 gold will less miles...we shall see
Dec 13, 2014, 3:49 am
#128
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,342
An upgrade to I class is just like any other (paid for by miles) upgrade. I have never heard of an FFP not giving credit for the original (paid) fare.
But yes, to be 101% sure a confirmation of the first experiences would be useful.
In any case, some nice Aegean Business flight reviews / trip reports would be great! Not just for the people flyign A3 regularly, but also to advertise their product somewhat (And hopefully land them some new customers)
But yes, to be 101% sure a confirmation of the first experiences would be useful.
In any case, some nice Aegean Business flight reviews / trip reports would be great! Not just for the people flyign A3 regularly, but also to advertise their product somewhat (And hopefully land them some new customers)
Dec 13, 2014, 3:53 am
#129
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: homeless 2.0
Programs: A3 Gold, LH FTL
Posts: 1,065
The question that why an airlines native FFP shouldnt give credit for the base booking class escapes me. The only real experience would be to check if other *A airlines with less than stellar FFP IT would give too.
Dec 13, 2014, 1:30 pm
#130
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,900
Upgrades count to your 4 as you still bought a normal economy ticket. You most likely will need to do a retro claim for your original booking class to get the miles though.
Dec 13, 2014, 3:28 pm
#131
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: BSL, BCN
Programs: A3*G, IB
Posts: 106
Probably not necessary to reclaim. A3 issues a new e-tkt that still shows the original fare base "PNOBAGD/UPGR".
Dec 14, 2014, 3:27 am
#133
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,900
Well it is if they do not post to your account and I know of at least 2 cases where it has happened last week. Others can report back over the coming days and weeks.
Dec 14, 2014, 5:48 am
#134
Moderator: Aegean Miles+Bonus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: AMS / ATH
Programs: AFKL Plat, A3 Gold
Posts: 7,342
Great example: I am flying ath-ams today. Booked through Paris with 1:10 transfer time. The AF flight to Paris has 45 minutes delay so I went to the ticketing desk - and I didn't even have to explain what I was hoping they would do. The guy instantly rebooked me on the direct klm flight to Amsterdam.
Another time I arrived a little early - and after asking they rebooked me on the earlier flight for free. Even though I only arrived at the airport 30 min before departure of that flight with check in already closed!
These things are rare when flying within Europe. Common sense says that these things should be standard..but I dare you to try the same at AMS, CDG or other major airport. They will send you away laughing about that you dared to ask.
Of course it helps that I am flying out of ATH bi-weekly for many years, so many of them at least recognize me. But I don't think that's the main factor here
One general rule applies at all time. Be nice to the agents, and they are nice to you. When you start your question with a 'hi how are you?' instead of pushing your demands and/or wishes, you will see that almost anything can be arranged. (Within the boundaries of what is allowed of course).
Last edited by Xandrios; Dec 14, 2014 at 6:44 am
Dec 15, 2014, 4:35 am
#135
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Mannheim / Berlin
Programs: Gold: A3, AB, AZ
Posts: 36
I called Aegean last week for the upgrade of two flights (FRA-SKG & ATH-FRA) which was a smooth experience.
(Non flex fare w/ 0PC luggage booked via a external travel agent to aegean business using the Gold Coupons...)
However they called today to inform my about the change in taxes: 1,15 Euro have to be paid extra.
Checkmytrip already shows the flights being booked in business and the other flight segments now show 1PC of luggage and "Economy" instead of "Economy Restricted".
(Non flex fare w/ 0PC luggage booked via a external travel agent to aegean business using the Gold Coupons...)
However they called today to inform my about the change in taxes: 1,15 Euro have to be paid extra.
Checkmytrip already shows the flights being booked in business and the other flight segments now show 1PC of luggage and "Economy" instead of "Economy Restricted".