dawgnz

Hi All.

I recently flew on UA917 on united economy ticket. At Check In, there was a Polaris Upgrade offer that was to hard to refuse and my wife and I enjoyed ourselves in Polaris.

ANZ have now just given us our status points for the trip and they are only the points for econ ticket and not polaris. Is this correct?
or should I raise with ANZ.

Is the difference between silver and not for my wife. So not nothing.

Thanks

sbiddle

I wouldn't expect to get extra points for a discounted upgrade at the gate on any airline - just like the fact you don't earn SP on an APD upgrade on NZ metal.

The fact it was a discounted rate means the original booking class would still apply.

raznz

APD/SP earn is always based on the original ticket booked, ergo economy.
You can always dispute but they'll ask and look at the ticket number and see it was purchased at economy.

Thai-Kiwi

These are sometimes known as 'cabin upgrades'. As noted above, the underlying fare class you paid for has not changed with this kind of upgrade.

Beano

Precovid I put in two RU for my daughter's economy ticket AKL to London (economy to PE) but it did not go through.
Instead I paid at check-in $4800 additional to the original $1100 for the one way to business.
They provided full SP and AP.

nzkarit

I am assuming that was the fare difference to get a new ticket in Business. Opposed to an upgrade? Hence getting the SPs and APDs.

LyingFlat

It sounds like they reissued the ticket to BP hence the higher APD/SP earn. This is quite common at AKL/SYD/MEL etc. where there are ticketing facilities. At many outstations they don’t have ticketing facilities so instead charge a flat fee for an UG and then DCS transfer the passenger into the higher cabin. It’s in this situation where you earn based on the original booking class.

yotty

Have been caught out by this before. Booked economy on a UA flight LAX > LHR as no business availability at the time. Closer to depature while checking seats, saw that a business seat was now available as the 'upgrade cabin' option showed up.

Upgrade price + original economy ticket price was the same total as a dummy booking in business, so just went ahead and used the cabin upgrade feature online as less hassle.

Only credited SP/APD for original fare as booking class never changed. Lesson learnt.

Tbh, these edge cases are a bit rough though. I understand with things like RUs, or smaller upgrades from say economy to economy+ on UA. But when you're paying thousands more to move cabins expectations change.

House always wins I guess.

SeaProf

I also recently flew UA and upgraded both directions to Polaris from Premium Economy. However, when I checked earn rates, there is no difference between Premium Economy (O, A, R) or Full Economy (Y, B) and Discount Business (P). Thus, upgrading does not earn more Status Points or Air Dollars, even if it does give you a much more enjoyable flight!

keneshhagard

I did a paid upgrade on LH and earned at PE rate.

sbiddle

There are two very distinct issues here.

One being paid upgrades at check-in that are often heavily discounted and do not result in the reissue of the ticket. In this case the earn class will always be the original fare that was paid.

The next is paid upgrades either in advance or at check-in that do result in reissue of the ticket but don't result in the APD/SP earn that may have been expected because the fare is a discount business fare in a booking class that only earns at the full economy rate as an example - this is a scenario that applies on both UA and LH as an example.

LyingFlat

As for the second part, it’s even worse when your ticket gets reissued into a business class booking class that is ineligible to earn any points…

Markhm

well, first world problem. Still had the benefit of a discounted business seat. 😀

Xiaotung

Normally this shouldn't happen. Could be a case where NZ fails to update the partner booking class earn chart. Believe it took a good few years to have OS' P class become eligible, as an example.

LyingFlat

It does pop up occasionally. I believe ET Z class is ineligible to earn APD/SP even though it is a required booking class for several NZ BP fares.