What are my chances if I book a M fare from LHR->YUL return of being able to upgrade at the 4-day *E window? I have no idea how hard it is to upgrade this flight. I'm looking at doing this March 25 -> April 5 (+/- a day either way).

I also have to fly from DUB->SFO next month, April 11->25. Am I crazy to fly DUB -> LHR -> YYZ or YYC or YUL -> SFO? Just to cross my fingers and get upgraded? I could get any number of one-stop flights but would never get upgraded on any of them. Is my best bet for getting upgraded on this to go via YYC? Or YYZ? Or some other less common gateway?

I find it really disturbing that I'm being asked to pay nearly double for the flight for the *chance* of upgrading. If I don't get upgraded I'm effectively throwing my money away.

I wouldn't be bothered at all if I could book a regular fare and then if i get upgraded pay the fare difference to an eligible fare. Or if I could be refunded the fare difference if I don't get upgraded. But paying for something which is subject to availability and then having them keep my money even if it's not available seems wrong in so many ways.

I do these routings all the time for business trips to Europe as my corporate travel policy doesn't not allow paid J, but I can buy upgradable Y if it is within +/- $2K of the lowest Y fare for the routing. It all depends on what you want - I like sleeping and not arriving like a total zombie, hence the lie-flat from YYC/YUL/YYZ to Europe helps me arrive more refreshed and less likely to fall asleep before dinner at my arrival destination.

If you don't want to risk it with an M fare, why don't you just pay a little bit more for a B Lat fare and guarantee the upgrade? That seems to make way more sense to me.........$1300 K each way from DUB-SFO and return, can confirm you in J for <$3K when then J fares one-way are $5200K+......

Both LHR-YYC/YYZ-SFO and the return on AC metal are showing plenty of R space right now, so you'll have a guaranteed upgrade rather than playing Aerolotto with an M fare.

And honestly, you really shouldn't be criticizing a system that allows you an opportunity to take advantage of a $10K return ticket for <$2500K return on an M fare, just because you have to wait for 4 days to confirm. They've given you several other options to obtain that J seat, and in these case the Lat fare is a no-brainer if you really want it. Not only is it a cheap way to score a lie-flat J seat, but its also refundable in case of last minute travel emergencies. Makes complete sense to go with a B fare vs. M fare.

You want a guarantee, by Lat fares on flights with R space or by a J, C or Z fare.

Want to save cash? Sit in Y or play Aerolotto. Or use a SSWU on your cheap fare.

If I were you I�d consider myself very lucky to be able to travel from the UK!

Latitude fares are incredible low at the moment:

April 11 - April 25
LHR-YYZ/YVR-SFO
$1400 all-in r/t
booking class B (plenty of R availability, upgrade confirmed at time of booking)

Add another $200 for DUB-LHR and you should have a great trip!

Subscribe to a service where you can track upgrade space and even set alerts if space becomes available- there are several mentioned across FT. I have found it the best way to keep sane re options, and to take control of my travel.

I agree with the OP: I don't like paying extra for a ticket that I have to wait until the upgrade window opens up (or even worse - the gate) to see if I got the upgrade. I've no problem waiting if I've paid the cheapest price.

I haven't looked at the change fees, but what about booking the cheapest T+ fare then phoning 4 days before to upgrade to a T+ M fare if there's space available? If the change fee + fare difference brings it up to the cost of a Latitude fare then I'd book that now.

Agree with you and the previous poster, I don't understand how OP can be complaining about this when saving $8K or so. Those fares are a bargain!

They're a fantasy as far as I can tell. For about 1,000Euro I see an M fare which may be upgradable or may just leave me trying to explain to my boss why I spent more than double for the same economy ticket others flew in. I would indeed be happy to pay those prices for a confirmed upgrade or to pay if the upgrade clears. I'm just not happy paying it and not getting anything.

As far as I can see a Latitude fare would be 3,000 Euro which is just ridiculous. How do I find these 1,400$CDN latitude fares Shareholder points out?

On ac.com - $1268 today, Latitude a/i rt LHR-SFO, sweet I wish I got such deals for YWG-STR/ZRH.

??? Have you even tried ac.com for the dates you highlight??
Because the answer is right there.......

R/T DUB-SFO Depart Apr. 11th, return Apr. 25th
€2012.52
For all flight options, so you can tailor make your pick of flights that you want.

However, if you do the booking as LHR-SFO only, you'll drop the cost in half to about€1 000, and then just do the DUB-LHR segments as a separate Y round trip.

So no, that is NOT ridiculous. If you want your whole trip on one itinerary and PRN, then €2012.52 for a confirmed time of purchase up grade to J is a freakin' steal.......considering the Z fare is €3085.52 and the full J fare is €8000+ Euro. If you are flexible and can split it into two PRNs, then €1 000 is a freakin' steal x 100!!!

So you've been given a lot of helpful information - if you're not able to book on AC.com because of corporate policy, that might be problematic. But if you can, there are several options that will get you into J for your round-trip, immediately at the time of purchase, for a cost of €1000-2000 depending on how you book your DUB-LHR segment (I did the booking as if I was based in Ireland).

Oooh. Thanks. I totally agree 1,000 Euro for a confirmed upgraded flight is a pretty good deal. Thanks that really is helpful. I didn't realize just how much I was being thrown off by looking at DUB-SFO.

Looking at BMI's prices I'm beginning to understand why the prices for latitude through to Dublin are so high though. BMI charges up to 500 Euro for a flexible return ticket DUB-LHR which honestly is pretty ridiculous for a 1h puddle hop. It makes a whole lot of sense to book an inflexible ticket for that leg.

Ooooh, I remember why BMI flexible economy is expensive. They've phased out business class for their local flights. I'm not sure if that includes Dublin or not but if it does that means AC's latitude fares are effectively including a business class fare component for DUB-LHR.

.....

Since I don't want to start a new thread, and this one is similar, I'll ask my question here...

My dad (no status) will be in Europe this summer for a vacation. I'm planning on meeting up with him for the last week of his trip. I'd like to use a pair of my SSWU to upgrade the 2 of us on the return from Dublin to Edmonton. Since DUB-YYZ is sold as all Y, I will not take that flight. My thoughts are that I could fly DUB-LHR-YEG or DUB-LHR-YYC/YVR/YYZ/YOW/YUL-YEG (I could even possibly route via FRA, etc.).

We're looking at coming back Aug 29 or 30. Seatcounter is showing R9 on almost all trans-atlantic flights for both dates; of course this will change as the travel date approaches. I'm curious to know if anyone might have some advice as to what routing/date might give the best chance of an upgrade at the 4-day window. Routing through YYZ offers many more J seats, however there are also many more status pax travelling YYZ-LHR. The LHR-YEG nonstop would likely offer less competition from other elites, however there is only 1 flight.

Any advice that could be given would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

IME routing through CDG or FRA is substantially more expensive.

Recently I've been buying tickets from LHR and buying separate tickets from DUB-LHR. This has the downside of leaving me unprotected in case of volcano or other delays but gives me the option of picking Aer Lingus flights which are much more frequent than the BD flights and usually cheaper as well.


No experience going to YEG. From my limited experience the flight to YUL often have more R space than the flights to YYZ though. Of the flights to YYZ the 8:30am flight seems to have more R space than the later ones, but there's no flight from DUB that can make that connection.