BOH

Um, actually NOT anytime soon at all. It will not even fly in 2008 now.

King Chung Huang

I called AC yesterday within the 4-day (midnight) window to request an upgrade on AC 8, HKG-YVR, Nov 16. At first, the agent insisted it had to be 96 hours before departure, not the midnight of 4 days before. After some persistence, she put me on the upgrade waitlist. Looking at the booking online, there's no indication of being on an upgrade waitlist; upgrade status is -. Is that normal for a called-in upgrade request?

King Chung Huang

I called AC and the agent said I'm waitlisted, and that it doesn't always show correctly on the website. Guess that's just the way it is.

intlbizman

wow i wish i found this site years ago when the upgrade program was worth it and i was actually flying a lot.

my question is... with the recent "cut backs" in top tier status at Air Canada... does anyone seriously buy Y M U class fares to get upgraded? I mean $5500 to go from Toronto to Hong Kong in feb 2009 for an upgrade ticket? Isn't that how much it used to cost to fly out buy a restricted executive class ticket?

i made prestige for 2009 and i'm almost insulted by the "benefits". unless i was traveling on business, i highly doubt i'd shell out that much money 3.5x the cost of economy for an upgrade ticket. and even if i were traveling on business i doubt i'd get approved for spending that much more on a plane tix in this economy.

by the way, wouldn't i get more room with 2x economy seats?

The Lev

For $5,500 see if you can get a business class ticket on Cathay.
Air Canada's upgrades were a good deal to HKG when:
- You could buy M class for $2,200
- You could upgrade on a H fare with a SWU (up to 2 years ago)
- There was only one kind of upgrade cert and it worked on all fares

A J seat occupies roughly twice the real estate of a Y seat, but you get more room to lie down in the J seat.

Machdiamond

I see those questions still unanswered, so here goes:

- A pass upgrade can be made over the phone if for some reason it does not work online. As far as a certificate upgrade is concerned, it can only be made over the phone. And once a Latitude pass flight is upgraded with a certificate, further modifications or cancellation can only be made over the phone.
- Cancel your reservation (not just the upgrade) over the phone, then rebook online. Make sure there are enough seats available, as the seat you just released will remain listed as occupied.

CanadianPie

Where's the value in this upgrade scheme? In reading some of the upgrade threads, I'm starting to wonder where the value is in buying a YMU fare and using a SWU to get the automatic upgrade vs. just booking in Executive First.

I tried this out with my favorite (albeit my only) run to HKG on some phantom dates for my travels next month. YWG-YVR-HKG RT.

Latitude Plus (U) was $4442.77 and using a SWU, I would of been able to upgrade immediately to the front cabin.

Executive First (Z) was $4482.77.

The difference between the two fares is only $40. Am I missing something here? I would of thought that using an SWU would provide more value/benefit. Why burn a SWU if you're only saving $40 for technically the same product? I recall some FT'ers indicating that they would never use a SWU since they never buy YMU fares and I can only assume that this is probably one of the countless reasons.

I'm going to try a couple more routes and see what happens.

zorn

In percentage of fare terms, for most routes in North America there is a big difference between Latitude and Executive if you book online.

Whether one thinks Executive in North America is worth paying anything above Tango Plus is of course a matter of opinion. Personally I would consider paying for Latitude for YYZ-YEG or longer as generally good value.

Executive First fares to SYD ex Canada are usually about 2.5 times that of Latitude Plus fares. YYZ-SYD-YYZ for 4200 in the big seat is pretty good. If you have 4200 to spend anyway.

My son wishes to add:

@:-)

CanadianPie

LOL. Nice! Tell your son, ^!

Just checked some other routes I will be flying next year within Canada and I can see where the value is with the UG certs.

Case in point, YWG-YVR:

T+, playing aerolotto on the 4-day u/g window and SSWU: $460
Lat, with instant SWU u/g: $964
Executive class: $2273

Ya, that's more like it. Would I ante up to the Lat fare for a time of booking UG. Probably. I guess it also depends on whether or not I'm willing to play aerolotto to get the front cabin.

Cdn <)

ALW

The one time I did this, because the site was down and they said to, the phone agent put it through as a cert upgrade. My TA and AC both said it should be no problem, it was showing as complimentary, but the gate agent was looking for a cert (I was still basic then). So make sure you get the right kind of upgrade and if your BP prints with "CERT", I'd consider cancelling and rebooking if there's space to do that.

=aw

Machdiamond

I have done it over the phone without the CERT note. There was a time agents were often confused with pass booking situations. In my experience this is no longer the case.

cannon_fodder

I've booked what I thought was a completely upgradeable Latitude itinerary for August 15th YYZ-YVR-OGG and returning August 29th OGG-YVR-YYZ. But, when I went to manage my bookings I see that only the YVR-YYZ segments are upgradeable (all flights are in U class). I'm an Elite member while my wife has no status.

Thanks to the first post I have tried to use the 2009 certificate numbers but regardless of using the SWU or SSWU I get an error saying that: "A North America upgrade certificate is not eligible for international travel. (68021 - 10650)"

While my wife is very excited about our first trip to Hawaii, I know she doesn't travel that well on long flights. I'd like to get all segments in business, but especially the YVR-OGG legs. Is it that they haven't released seats yet or for that fare price they simply won't allow me to upgrade?

Also, can I assume that a NA upgrade certificate does not apply to Canada/US to Hawaii?

ChrisA330

As per the T&C's on the cert:

2009 Air Canada Top Tier North America Upgrade Certificates are valid for:

an upgrade to Executive Class;
travel within Canada or between Canada and the Continental U.S.;
travel on scheduled flights operated by Air Canada or Air Canada Jazz;
travel until February 28, 2010;
flights with an eligible fare option/booking class

margarita girl

Did you pick SWUs as part of your '09 package? If not, you can get 2 at 20K miles and 2 more at 40K miles.

cannon_fodder

Yes, I did pick SWUs and not any NA certificates. I used a lot of SWUs in 2008 but no NA certs. I expect that I will be Elite again before our trip to Hawaii.

Does anyone have any experience successfully using SWU to upgrade a U class fare for the YVR-OGG or YVR-HNL legs of a trip originating/ending at YYZ?