Upgrades for Cash on AF??
Dec 14, 2011, 4:22 pm
#31
Join Date: May 2007
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Dec 14, 2011, 9:46 pm
#32
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Location: Hong Kong, France
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€139 is an extremely good deal. PV is basically Y, but Affaires is a totally different product: Alomst twice the space, lie-flat seat, decent food,...
AF has a very difficult time getting decent load in its J, in part because of the poor product (anyone paying big money is looking for good product), in part because of the economy. And their A388 has so many premium seats that it must be distressing for them.
Many airlines are offering good deals on their premium products because of the slowing economy. To my Asia region, you can get EK Biz from CDG at 1700 nett. From HKG you can fly luxurious SQ J for €2800 nett (used to be over €4000). And we are talking about 13hours flight, not 7 hours as from JFK. So AF has to do something and get some money.
I don't know how much you paid for PV, but if you had your PV fare plus 2x139, you probably end up with a reasonable discounted Z fare. Y seems quite full on AF006, so they'd rather get 139 than opup pax for free.
AF has a very difficult time getting decent load in its J, in part because of the poor product (anyone paying big money is looking for good product), in part because of the economy. And their A388 has so many premium seats that it must be distressing for them.
Many airlines are offering good deals on their premium products because of the slowing economy. To my Asia region, you can get EK Biz from CDG at 1700 nett. From HKG you can fly luxurious SQ J for €2800 nett (used to be over €4000). And we are talking about 13hours flight, not 7 hours as from JFK. So AF has to do something and get some money.
I don't know how much you paid for PV, but if you had your PV fare plus 2x139, you probably end up with a reasonable discounted Z fare. Y seems quite full on AF006, so they'd rather get 139 than opup pax for free.
Last edited by brunos; Dec 14, 2011 at 9:52 pm
Dec 15, 2011, 10:29 pm
#33
Join Date: Oct 2006
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Dec 16, 2011, 1:33 am
#34
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Dec 16, 2011, 2:51 am
#35
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This is not an information that is available, at least not exactly. Even when an airline is fully booked in Y, it will often state some seats available in Y (e.g. Y9), simply because of yield management. For example it will still sell some seats in expensive economy fare buckets when the flight is already fully booked in economy (or overbooked) 1) because there will be cancellation and 2) it can upgrade pax to higher classes. The way many of us use EF is to count the number of seats not assigned on the seat map. This does not work too well in Y (as some pax do not get seats preassigned), but works well in higher classes.
Dec 16, 2011, 6:30 am
#36
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This is not an information that is available, at least not exactly. Even when an airline is fully booked in Y, it will often state some seats available in Y (e.g. Y9), simply because of yield management. For example it will still sell some seats in expensive economy fare buckets when the flight is already fully booked in economy (or overbooked) 1) because there will be cancellation and 2) it can upgrade pax to higher classes. The way many of us use EF is to count the number of seats not assigned on the seat map. This does not work too well in Y (as some pax do not get seats preassigned), but works well in higher classes.
Dec 16, 2011, 10:04 am
#38
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Exactly. Plus Y9 B9... N7 R2 doesn't give you any information on seats truly left: they are neither additionable nor fully superimposed, nor do airlines say by how many seats they are willing to oversell across circumstances. Seats shown as available on the seatmap is an equally poor indicator of actual availability: many people won't pre-assign a seat at all (especially on European airlines). AFAIK, only airlines' professional systems provide actual loads on given flights and no freely available tool does.
But you are quite right that systems available to TA and the public only post availability up to 9.
Dec 16, 2011, 3:22 pm
#39
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Köln/Deutschland
Posts: 393
Today I got a call from Air France. And even if my English is not so good I've done it! Now I fly in Affaires. 
After the call i got only one small E-Mail ("Your upgrade to the
Affaires cabin"). Is that normal, shouldn't I get also a new "Memo Voyage Billet PDF"?
After the call i got only one small E-Mail ("Your upgrade to the
Affaires cabin"). Is that normal, shouldn't I get also a new "Memo Voyage Billet PDF"?
Dec 16, 2011, 6:50 pm
#40
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 950
This is not an information that is available, at least not exactly. Even when an airline is fully booked in Y, it will often state some seats available in Y (e.g. Y9), simply because of yield management. For example it will still sell some seats in expensive economy fare buckets when the flight is already fully booked in economy (or overbooked) 1) because there will be cancellation and 2) it can upgrade pax to higher classes. The way many of us use EF is to count the number of seats not assigned on the seat map. This does not work too well in Y (as some pax do not get seats preassigned), but works well in higher classes.
Exactly. Plus Y9 B9... N7 R2 doesn't give you any information on seats truly left: they are neither additionable nor fully superimposed, nor do airlines say by how many seats they are willing to oversell across circumstances. Seats shown as available on the seatmap is an equally poor indicator of actual availability: many people won't pre-assign a seat at all (especially on European airlines). AFAIK, only airlines' professional systems provide actual loads on given flights and no freely available tool does.
I usually agree with you, but my experience on LH is a bit different regarding seat maps. The post was about giving availability in LH premium cabins. I found that on LH, business pax tend to always assign seats. And if they (or their TA) do not do it directly at time of booking, most airlines preassign them a seat. So the seat map is quite accurate about available seats in J or F (and Y+).
But you are quite right that systems available to TA and the public only post availability up to 9.
But you are quite right that systems available to TA and the public only post availability up to 9.
Thanks all for pointing out how you are using EF to estimate loads
Dec 16, 2011, 6:53 pm
#41
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 950
i don't think tickets are re-issued
Dec 17, 2011, 12:28 am
#42
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I think tickets are reissued but the PNR is unchanged. I would think that you will get a new memo voyage once the ticket is issued (with a new ticket number). In any case check on manage my booking on the AF website. Sometimes one need the new ticket number to OLCI.
Dec 19, 2011, 7:45 am
#43
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Hello, I got this email today for my Dec 25th YUL-CDG (then onwards to Malaga) flight on the A380, 298 euros from regular economy to Affaires. I paid around CAN$750 for this ticket so I really hope I get in on this.
Also only lowly Ivory in FP if that matters
EDIT: Corrected price, it was 298 euros,
Also only lowly Ivory in FP if that matters
EDIT: Corrected price, it was 298 euros,
Last edited by Admiral Ackbar; Dec 19, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Dec 19, 2011, 10:03 am
#44
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: PAR
Posts: 117
pretty good offer, since the Y fare must be a bit more than CAN$750..