CdnFlier

Don't suggest to them that they raise PE fares!

agjil

Thanks for the update.
Sadly Tango fares don't seem to be eligible for PE upgrades, and the required credits are just a little lower than Y -> J upgrades.

Ben Lipsey

The lowest fare eligible for upgrades will continue to be Flex. As for the credits, this is true at the moment however the PE grid will remain as released today while the J grid will increase as per the 2015 Altitude changes. No co-pays will apply to PE upgrades.

Diabeetus

The number of eupgrade credits required is a lot higher than I would have expected. Especially with the devaluation in earning them.

agjil

Good point about no copays for PE upgrades...this is especially good news for non-SEs.
Hopefully this will make international travel somewhat easier for those who can't/won't upgrade to J.
Thanks Ben!

gcashin

Thanks for the info. Are there any plans for a similar approach for Premium rouge on flights within North America or Sun Destinations?

In many cases, the level of service on Premium rouge doesn't justify the same number of eUpgrade credits as a mainline upgrade, especially with the 2015 increases (particularly on the 319's with the blocked middle seat). Any plans for a separate grid for Premium rouge upgrades for North America flights?

kerfluffer

What is the pecking order for these upgrades (hell, even for the J upgrades)?

Does a E50K on a Y fare trump a SE100 on Flex?

canadiancow

So if I'm flying, for example, SFO-YYZ-DUB, I have to do two separate requests, and end up paying 15 credits for SFO-YYZ (Y to J), and then 13 for YYZ-DUB (Y to PE), for a total of 28, whereas if YYZ-DUB had a J cabin, I would only pay 21 total?

Can you elaborate on the priority and how all this will work? Does someone waitlisted for J have priority over someone waitlisted for PE for the PE cabin?

An issue I see is that if there is no R availability, but there is PE upgrade availability (by the way, what's the fare class for PE upgrades), I waitlist for J, someone else confirms a PE upgrade, and then both cabins are full at the gate. Now I get to sit in Y because I wanted J, but would have been happy with PE.

Or can you confirm an upgrade to PE and still waitlist for J?

Premium rouge in North America is treated as J. The level of service is supposed to be identical to mainline, just with worse seats.

kerfluffer

I would like to see a flowchart on priority for J and PE.

agjil

I believe status trumps fare class.
However, for Y/B (latitude) tickets, you can request an upgrade any time instead of having to wait till a few days before departure, there is a good chance the E50K on the Y fare will get upgraded before the SE on the flex fare, unless no upgrades clear in advance and everything gets sorted out last-minute before the flight leaves...then the SE will get the upgrade ahead of the E50K.
Tango fares are not eligible for upgrades.

And welcome to FlyerTalk.

Geoflying

Bovine canuck's questions were exactly those that immediately came to my mind. So it is hard to believe that the bright minds at AC who worked all this out haven't thought of them as well. Hope we get a quick and succinct answer

yvr76

What determines PY upgrade space? Is it E, N or another capacity controlled fare class?

HometoYYZ

Depends on circumstances.

Before the seven-day window, assuming the flight has positive P/Z space, Latitude trumps all regardless of status, because you can confirm instantly.

Within seven-day window, Latitude CAN trump Status, if there's positive P/Z space but not positive R space.

If it comes down to the waitlist, SE100 on Flex beats E50 in Latitude.

At least that's my understanding of how it currently works, your mileage may vary, void where prohibited by law, etc.

Ben Lipsey

To answer some questions:

1) Fare class. Upgrades will book into N class, which will also remain as the PY Lowest fare.

2) Order. Upgrade order remains the same for upgrades to the J cabin with respect to status, fare, etc.

3) What if J doesn't clear? The system is set to prioritise upgrades to J as upgrades to J, and upgrades to PY as upgrades to PY Therefore when the flight closes and the automated system runs, upgrades will clear first into the respective cabin. If somebody is on the upgrade list for PY they will clear into PY (availability permitting) before someone listed for J who doesn't get their J upgrade. If there is still space in the PY cabin after the PY waitlist clears, the system will onload any pax listed for J into the PY cabin (and deduct the appropriate number of credits).

I know some of you may find this last part contentious while others may prefer this method, indeed I don't believe there is any way to please everybody. We chose to do it this way because we wanted to make sure those that chose to list for PY had a fair shot. As mentioned previously, no copays will apply to the PY cabin and the credit requirement grid announced today won't be changing come next year.

Geoflying

Thanks for the quick response Ben

Will there be the ability to list for J but choose NOT to go into PY in this situation? (i.e. "I want J or nothing since I want to preserve my credits if I don't get into J")