Upgrade on Air France
Jun 5, 2015, 6:51 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: United Premier Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 53
Upgrade on Air France
I was wondering if anyone has had any success in upgrading a paid economy ticket to business on Air France.
I called Air France to book a paid economy ticket with a fare class of: Y, B, M, U, K, H, L or Q for a flight IAD to CDG.
The agent said that on Air France you cannot book from economy to business. You can only upgrade to premium economy. Does that sound right to you all?
I called Air France to book a paid economy ticket with a fare class of: Y, B, M, U, K, H, L or Q for a flight IAD to CDG.
The agent said that on Air France you cannot book from economy to business. You can only upgrade to premium economy. Does that sound right to you all?
Jun 6, 2015, 2:36 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
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Posts: 28,721
From the T&Cs:
On Air France, when there is a Premium Economy cabin, this means from Economy you upgrade to Premium Economy rather than to Business; the number of miles required is less than the number of miles required to upgrade from Economy to Business (in cases where there is no intermediate premium economy cabin):
https://www.flyingblue.com/long-haul...onghaul14.html
Originally Posted by Flying Blue
3.9 A Member can request an Award Upgrade for an eligible flight on an airline offering this Award as defined in FB Communication subject to the condition that the Member has a confirmed (not waitlisted) and issued full-fare ticket. A Member can redeem Award Miles for only one Award Upgrade per flight. It is thus impossible to have a double Award Upgrade from Economy to First Class.
https://www.flyingblue.com/long-haul...onghaul14.html
Last edited by irishguy28; Jun 6, 2015 at 2:42 am
Jun 6, 2015, 3:04 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: United Premier Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 53
From the T&Cs:
On Air France, when there is a Premium Economy cabin, this means from Economy you upgrade to Premium Economy rather than to Business; the number of miles required is less than the number of miles required to upgrade from Economy to Business (in cases where there is no intermediate premium economy cabin):
https://www.flyingblue.com/long-haul...onghaul14.html
On Air France, when there is a Premium Economy cabin, this means from Economy you upgrade to Premium Economy rather than to Business; the number of miles required is less than the number of miles required to upgrade from Economy to Business (in cases where there is no intermediate premium economy cabin):
https://www.flyingblue.com/long-haul...onghaul14.html
Oh well I guess it is UA for me.
Jun 7, 2015, 1:18 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: France
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Posts: 3,119
On Air France, when there is a Premium Economy cabin, this means from Economy you upgrade to Premium Economy rather than to Business; the number of miles required is less than the number of miles required to upgrade from Economy to Business (in cases where there is no intermediate premium economy cabin):
https://www.flyingblue.com/long-haul...onghaul14.html
https://www.flyingblue.com/long-haul...onghaul14.html
The table I see gives the number of miles required from economy to premium as well as from economy to biz.
I do not see the restriction you are mentioning (I had actually never heard of such restriction). Is it new?
Jun 7, 2015, 2:11 am
#5
Join Date: Jan 2010
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Posts: 1,280
I cannot find this info on the page you are pointing at.
The table I see gives the number of miles required from economy to premium as well as from economy to biz.
I do not see the restriction you are mentioning (I had actually never heard of such restriction). Is it new?
The table I see gives the number of miles required from economy to premium as well as from economy to biz.
I do not see the restriction you are mentioning (I had actually never heard of such restriction). Is it new?
I didn't find out about the rule later, after I already did some upgrades from eco to business. So sometimes the AF agents didn't even know, but there all well trained now I guess (or computer says 'no!'
)
Last edited by kevinflyaway; Jun 8, 2015 at 12:16 am
Jun 7, 2015, 5:01 am
#6
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FB allows you to upgrade only to the next available class of service. If you fly with KLM, that always means from Economy to Business, since KLM doesn't offer anything in between. On Air France flights where Premium Economy is sold (as a class in between), you can only upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy (as already stated). In order to upgrade to Business, you would have to purchase a Premium Economy, A or W fare (S = cheapest and doesn't allow for upgrade).
I didn't find out about the rule later, after I already did some upgrades from eco to business. So sometimes the AF agents didn't even know, but there all well trained now I guess (or computer says 'no!')
I didn't find out about the rule later, after I already did some upgrades from eco to business. So sometimes the AF agents didn't even know, but there all well trained now I guess (or computer says 'no!'
)
Jun 7, 2015, 10:04 am
#8
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: PWM/CDG
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Posts: 789
That's really odd. I would double-check with Flying Blue (possibly the AF team on social media, they're usually more efficient). I have upgraded from Y class to Business in the not so distant past.
In the quote from FB's T&Cs, they mention first class, rather than business:
You could also try to call again and talk to another agent.
In the quote from FB's T&Cs, they mention first class, rather than business:
A Member can redeem Award Miles for only one Award Upgrade per flight. It is thus impossible to have a double Award Upgrade from Economy to First Class.
Jun 7, 2015, 1:03 pm
#9
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Flying blue web site is extremely confusing about this question :roll eyes:
When you go to the page spend miles/upgrade awards, you 1st have
So as AF has W on all LAX flights (no 744 on this route for at least 6-7 years), it is clear from this statement that you can upgrade from Y to J. Then below 
:
While this paragraph is perfect for KL case and AF 744-operated flights, it is overall questionnable for AF and especially taking into account the example for LAX given above.
What a mess for such a simple case...
When you go to the page spend miles/upgrade awards, you 1st have
For example : AF (with AF logo) Paris to Los Angeles : 15,000 miles to upgrade from Economy class (booking class Y) to business class.
:
Benefit from extra comfort on board your next flight
An upgrade allows you to travel in a higher travel class than the one for which you originally paid. Instead of paying a higher rate, Flying Blue members can enjoy the privileges of a higher travel class by paying for this upgrade with Miles. In this case, it is called an 'upgrade award'.
You can request an upgrade award for the travel class that is directly above the one you originally booked. In other words, you can upgrade from Economy to Business Class, but if you want to travel in First Class, you must have a Business Class ticket.
An upgrade allows you to travel in a higher travel class than the one for which you originally paid. Instead of paying a higher rate, Flying Blue members can enjoy the privileges of a higher travel class by paying for this upgrade with Miles. In this case, it is called an 'upgrade award'.
You can request an upgrade award for the travel class that is directly above the one you originally booked. In other words, you can upgrade from Economy to Business Class, but if you want to travel in First Class, you must have a Business Class ticket.
What a mess for such a simple case...
Jun 10, 2015, 9:25 am
#10
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At least for international, not only do you have to buy the right class of AF economy (generally, one of the higher fares) to upgrade to business with miles, there needs to be upgrade space available (e.g., O). Can't really be done online, have to call in. Though you can check for O on specific flights using expertflyer.
Jun 10, 2015, 10:47 am
#11
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At least for international, not only do you have to buy the right class of AF economy (generally, one of the higher fares) to upgrade to business with miles, there needs to be upgrade space available (e.g., O). Can't really be done online, have to call in. Though you can check for O on specific flights using expertflyer.
Jun 10, 2015, 10:56 am
#12
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Jun 10, 2015, 1:51 pm
#13
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Jun 10, 2015, 2:07 pm
#14
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Jun 12, 2015, 9:10 am
#15
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I did this last June on an IAD-CDG flight that had PE. The website still says "Also make sure that the flight for which you want to arrange an upgrade award is in one of the following booking classes: Y, B, M, U, K, H, L or Q." also, "For Example Paris to Los Angeles: 15,000 Miles to upgrade from Economy Class (booking class Y) to Business Class."
So, basically only from full fare economy, so not cheap and more than PE. I was looking for upgradeable flights last March and was told there was some O available upgradeable from Y, but only on some KLM and DL flights with connections, so chose to fly UA which had R available at booking. Of course, I haven't found any O since then, so maybe they just stopped offering it. If Y to business upgrades can't be found, I may just top up my FB miles from a CC and use them up on an award ticket. Ever since the strike, there seem to be few AF TATL business fares at competitive prices on my routes and times, so if I cannot upgrade on full fare economy, I may not be flying much AF in the future.
So, basically only from full fare economy, so not cheap and more than PE. I was looking for upgradeable flights last March and was told there was some O available upgradeable from Y, but only on some KLM and DL flights with connections, so chose to fly UA which had R available at booking. Of course, I haven't found any O since then, so maybe they just stopped offering it. If Y to business upgrades can't be found, I may just top up my FB miles from a CC and use them up on an award ticket. Ever since the strike, there seem to be few AF TATL business fares at competitive prices on my routes and times, so if I cannot upgrade on full fare economy, I may not be flying much AF in the future.