avmca2050

She was connecting from YYZ and OLCI was opened this evening (Sunday) at 9:30 pm EDT for Monday YYZ-YVR (LMU declined for $349), then connecting to AC17 YVR-HKG departing YVR at 2:00 am PDT Tuesday (LMU accepted for $849), I think that is 30+ hr. She is on T+ fare.

zkzkz

The original fare is not relevant. $850 is $850 for the upgrade regardless of how much was already spent.

If I offer you a coffee for $10 is that a good deal if I already gave you a $10 breakfast for free?

I'm not sure how much an upgrade on YVR-HKG is worth but it's definitely a flight where it's worth something. How much it's worth is independent of how much you've already spent today on other things like your ticket.

YEG USER

I think it depends on your point of view; the base fare could be relevant. I've got a trip planned YEG-YYZ this summer. I've already booked myself in T+, and have booked 2 J aeroplan tickets for family members.

Based on previous posts, it appears that the typical LMU price for this is approximately $300. At the time of booking, the price difference between T+ and Lat is $400. I could book a Lat fare and confirm an upgrade now, but I've decided to roll the dice and try for a LMU. For me, I want to sit up front and am trying to do so in a way where the final all-in price will be lower than if I had bought a Lat fare to begin with. Of course, the possibility of a repeat of last year's special deal where you could use a NAU on T+ fares also entered into my decision making process.

Argonaut1000

YVR-LAS $219 Tango Plus

Clipper801

There is of course the issue of certainty (upgrade confirmed at time of booking) vs. aerolotto since LMUP may not necessarily be offered and it is somewhat of a "waste" to use a SSWU for a <4-hour YEG-YYZ trip. At the end, it's a personal choice. When comparing $400 to have the upgrade confirmed to those with no status and have to pay full business, it's a steal.

zkzkz

If by "point of view" you mean it could be relevant before you buy the original ticket then sure. But once you've paid for the ticket and that money is non-refundable then it's no longer relevant to the value proposition of the upgrade.

So you've already decided the upgrade is not worth $400, it might still be worth $300 or not. It doesn't make it any more worth $300 if you happen to have found a cheap Tango fare though. Or any less if you happened to have paid extra for a more expensive fare.

lcohen999

$349 LAS-YYZ redeye, passed, got op-up...

Shame I wasn't so lucky elsewhere in LAS!

payam81

Interesting. The reason I asked is cause I've always thought the rule for OLCI with connecting flights was 30 hours prior to the departure time for the last flight as mentioned on AC:

Restrictions:
Within the 24-hour period prior to departure of all your flights; and

* at least 30 minutes prior to departure for flights within Canada
* at least 1 hour prior to departure for flights between Canada and the USA
* at least 1 hour prior to departure for flights between Canada and other countries
* if you have a connecting flight, up to 24 hours prior to departure time of your final connecting flight

payam81

How is it not relevant? If you got a cheap T+ fare and you get lucky with an LMU for a reasonable price on such a busy, not to mention long, flight it IS a good deal anyway you look at it compared to what you would have to pay for a J, C or Z fare. Fact is a cheap T+ + LMU is usually < J, C or Z, that's how I look it at anyway.

zkzkz

Because you're not comparing the two options you have. The options you have are T+ for $x or T+ + LMU for $x+$y. Either way the $x is already spent.

Just to be clear I'm not disputing whether a cheap fare + LMU ends up being a good deal. I'm just saying that once you've spent the money on the cheap fare it's no longer relevant how cheap it is to judging whether to take the LMU.

I fall back to my analogy of the $10 coffee. Whether I've previously given you a $10 breakfast for free, or for that matter a RTW plane ticket doesn't change the value proposition of the $10 coffee. You're only being asked whether you want the coffee, not the whole package.

The question of whether you should take the Z fare or buy T/T+ in hopes of an LMU is another question. But that doesn't change whether you should take the LMU or not once you've already rolled the dice with the cheap fare. That ship has left and now the only question is whether the upgrade is worth what they're asking for it.

If I'm still not being clear all I can say is I hope to meet you guys one day at a poker table

payam81

That made me chuckle. ^

No, I get your point. However, while the upgrade itself can be valued separately, the total cost of the service should also be weight in. Alas, I think $849 for a HKG flight could be hot as hell when economy is full or just cool when economy loads are low and you could get a whole row to yourself, which incidentally, I find a lot more comfortable than the J Pod.

ciana

I am on the side that it does make a difference to me what I paid initially for the ticket. I paid $530ai for YYZ-CDG in March. I was offered an LMU for $699. My reasoning was 530+699 = $1229 for my ticket with my overnight in J. A great deal to me. I took it. If I had paid $1100 for my ticket + 699LMU then $1799 would seem too much for me and I would have turned it down. To me the total I paid for the ticket did make the reason I took the LMU.

TVTravels

The total price also has to do with a person's budget.

Let's say I have $2000 budgeted for YYZ-NRT which fares can range depending on your flexibility. If I have to by a fare that comes in at say $1800ai and am offered an upgrade for $849 It's over my budget and either not worth it or even not possible.

But if I got a $1100ai fare then I can do the upgrade within my budget and I'm flying upfront for what I was already prepared to pay.

This can be even more relevant to people traveling on the company dime who just care about how much they are going to expense back.

I don't disagree with your view. I think we all chose different views at times to try and justify what we want to do :-)

Clipper801

We need to keep in mind that LMUP may not be offered on every flight.

The option of buying T+ and then purchase LMUP is available only if AC offers that option for that flight. It's a different kind of aerolotto from using cert.

I had a situation where I'd have been prepared to buy LMUP if offered at a reasonable price. It was not offered. I ended up waitlisting using a cert. and I won.

There yet?

YOW-YYZ $99
YYZ-CDG $749

@OLCI, about 12 hours prior
T+
x2 (self + spouse)

declined both