New policy for paid and miles upgrades (AF/KL) - sept 2017
Aug 16, 2018, 11:42 pm
#451
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 🇸🇬 🇭🇰 🇫🇷
Programs: Many
Posts: 4,749
20k USD is indeed a joke. What is your original booking class?
AF179 MEX-CDG on 5 SEP is currently sold out in W and 8 J seats remains to sell. Given there are 3 open seats in P and it is operated by the A380, it is likely some W pax will be upgraded to J and no award availability will open in J.
If you don't receive an offer to upgrade before OLCI, or during OLCI (note that odds are really low to get such an offer given the loads, specially from Y to J), your best bet is to go early at the airport and ask for day of departure upgrade to J during check in. Pricing varies everyday and you can pay from 100% cash or several mix of cash+miles. Again, it depends on availability.
AF179 MEX-CDG on 5 SEP is currently sold out in W and 8 J seats remains to sell. Given there are 3 open seats in P and it is operated by the A380, it is likely some W pax will be upgraded to J and no award availability will open in J.
If you don't receive an offer to upgrade before OLCI, or during OLCI (note that odds are really low to get such an offer given the loads, specially from Y to J), your best bet is to go early at the airport and ask for day of departure upgrade to J during check in. Pricing varies everyday and you can pay from 100% cash or several mix of cash+miles. Again, it depends on availability.
Aug 17, 2018, 6:55 am
#452
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Currently SJO (but also LON and NYC)
Programs: SkyTeam: AF/KL Gold. Star Alliance: CM Gold; AV Gold; UA. OneWorld: BA Sapphire
Posts: 183
20k USD is indeed a joke. What is your original booking class?
AF179 MEX-CDG on 5 SEP is currently sold out in W and 8 J seats remains to sell. Given there are 3 open seats in P and it is operated by the A380, it is likely some W pax will be upgraded to J and no award availability will open in J.
If you don't receive an offer to upgrade before OLCI, or during OLCI (note that odds are really low to get such an offer given the loads, specially from Y to J), your best bet is to go early at the airport and ask for day of departure upgrade to J during check in. Pricing varies everyday and you can pay from 100% cash or several mix of cash+miles. Again, it depends on availability.
AF179 MEX-CDG on 5 SEP is currently sold out in W and 8 J seats remains to sell. Given there are 3 open seats in P and it is operated by the A380, it is likely some W pax will be upgraded to J and no award availability will open in J.
If you don't receive an offer to upgrade before OLCI, or during OLCI (note that odds are really low to get such an offer given the loads, specially from Y to J), your best bet is to go early at the airport and ask for day of departure upgrade to J during check in. Pricing varies everyday and you can pay from 100% cash or several mix of cash+miles. Again, it depends on availability.
I was aware of loads, having checked on ExpertFlyer. That's why I was just hoping I'd be able to upgrade with cash ahead of OLCI time, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I will do as you suggest and try to get to the airport relatively early on that day.
20K USD IS a joke. However it is not due to my booking class, but rather to the complex itinerary (outbound MEX-CDG-NCE and inbound BER-AMS-PTY). The current selling price for that flight in J is approx 22K -- so it does add up (although that price is also a joke for a tkt in J). Anyway, with that itinerary I'm surprised I managed to get such a good deal on that flight to begin with -- many airlines would not have considered it a round-trip and would have charged two separate one-way tickets (which is probably what happens when they try to price it as a J ticket).
Aug 17, 2018, 6:15 pm
#453
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Eurostar Carte Blanche, SBB-CFF-FFS GA-AG, SNCF Grand Voyageur LeClub
Posts: 7,834
Interesting observation: when I OLCI'd I was offered an upgrade from J to P ((almost 1,000 EUR for a four hour flight without the ground assistance where I would have needed it, at the outstation - no thanks).
When out of curiosity I re-checked this morning, about seven hours before departure, all four seats were gone. Now on board, it turns out that they simply don't service the P cabin at all.
Didn't know that they withdraw offers while check-in is still open.
When out of curiosity I re-checked this morning, about seven hours before departure, all four seats were gone. Now on board, it turns out that they simply don't service the P cabin at all.
Didn't know that they withdraw offers while check-in is still open.
Last edited by San Gottardo; Aug 18, 2018 at 1:03 am
Aug 17, 2018, 7:36 pm
#454
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: US
Programs: FB Gold
Posts: 21
Got quoted $961 or 91,000 miles at check-in just now for an SFO-CDG upgrade from Premium Economy to Biz. I politely declined as it's much more than the usual base 30,000.
Last edited by jejenone; Aug 17, 2018 at 9:17 pm
Aug 18, 2018, 1:39 am
#455
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Paris, France
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue Platinum for life/Club2000 Ultimate, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 21,918
A much better price for CDG-IAD from J to P : €1439. The similar offers I had in the past were always in the €2000-2500 range.
Aug 18, 2018, 7:38 am
#457
Join Date: Jun 2012
Programs: FB, M&B, UA, AA
Posts: 2,484
I'm booked to fly MEX-CGD in Y on September 5th. Would love to get an upgrade to J, but there is no availability with miles. Any idea how I can request a paid upgrade? The website does not give me the option. I've called the airline but they tell me the only way to upgrade is to pay the fare difference to change to business for the entire itinerary (approximately USD 20K -- ridiculous)
any tips?
any tips?
Last edited by atflyer; Aug 18, 2018 at 7:48 am
Aug 18, 2018, 12:52 pm
#458
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: SJC / SFO
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum; Marriott Bonvoy Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 785
Aug 19, 2018, 10:07 pm
#459
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Paris, France
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue Platinum for life/Club2000 Ultimate, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 21,918
Aug 19, 2018, 11:15 pm
#460
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Eurostar Carte Blanche, SBB-CFF-FFS GA-AG, SNCF Grand Voyageur LeClub
Posts: 7,834
Oh, their screens and internet pages say many things. Often contradictory. With AF I have come to adopt a certain mis-trust in what they say or write. That's why I was interested in hearing from people who have actually done and experienced it.
Aug 20, 2018, 6:18 am
#461
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Paris, France
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue Platinum for life/Club2000 Ultimate, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 21,918
— first class lounge access
- personalized welcome and priority service at the airport
I think you have good grounds to fight if you are refused access to the lounge for instance
Aug 20, 2018, 6:43 am
#462
Join Date: Nov 2011
Programs: FlyingBlue Plat
Posts: 500
Last week, I called to inquire about upgrading my TATL ticket from Y to J on KLM on a flight about a week before Christmas this year. I was told that upgrade is not possible, because the seats were not released on this flight "because we expect we will be able to sell these seats to paying customers".
Previously, I used to think that any business class seat is now available for upgrade (although price might be steep). Am I mistaken?
Previously, I used to think that any business class seat is now available for upgrade (although price might be steep). Am I mistaken?
Aug 20, 2018, 9:48 am
#463
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New York
Posts: 453
.
Aug 20, 2018, 10:35 am
#464
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum, JetBlue Mosaic, Hyatt Globalist, Alaska MVP Gold.
Posts: 1,962
Last week, I called to inquire about upgrading my TATL ticket from Y to J on KLM on a flight about a week before Christmas this year. I was told that upgrade is not possible, because the seats were not released on this flight "because we expect we will be able to sell these seats to paying customers".
Previously, I used to think that any business class seat is now available for upgrade (although price might be steep). Am I mistaken?
Previously, I used to think that any business class seat is now available for upgrade (although price might be steep). Am I mistaken?