John26

Ever run into this?

In the picture below, First Class Upgrade and First Class are the same price. First Class books into D class, but First Class Upgrade books into K class (Economy).

Why am I asking? I'd like to use the Companion Certificate for travel around Thanksgiving when prices are high. Can't use that on First Class.

K class would be instant upgradeable for MVP Gold if available, but this is the week of Thanksgiving and with all the timeshares down in PVR First will sell out with paid fares. Guess I am out of luck! (oh and normally I wouldn't use a Companion Certificate for a fare this low but the other segment we need is $612 one way (books into Y class).

Thank you for letting me whine

Kacee

Very very common. It's not unusual for the upgrade fare to be higher than the cheapest F fare.

dgreen12

The better deal is the immediate premium class upgrade since the dark F in the white box indicates there's no current F upgrade ability even if you paid the $428 for it. A bit misleading at best.

MapleLeaf93

Yeah, and it's even worse if you're a lowly MVP. For any flight with D or I availability, the price for that is very often (always?) cheaper than the instant-upgradeable fare for MVP (either Y or B). Still, when combined with a companion cert, it's a cheaper way for 2 MVP pax to get into F (when U is available) than paying 2x D or I.

gobeavs8

I think the benefit that surprised me the most jumping from MVP to Gold was the addition of H and K to instant upgrade fares. I was surprised how often I was booking those fares (mostly high season to SJD/Hawaii) and how often U space would open in the weeks leading up to it.

Flying for Fun

The reason that happens is because the F fare is really a y-up fare requiring dual inventory. You are actually purchasing a Main cabin fare in a lower fare bucket than the fare buckets that are eligible for immediate upgrade with your status.

It allows AS to be competitive in a market while not actually lowering the D class fare, which would be significantly higher. If you add the F fare to your cart, you will be able to see the fare basis and what underlying Main fare bucket it is booking into. You still get a D class ticket (just at a Main Cabin fare) with all the benefits; lounge access, COS bonus & 2 checked bags.

James

John26

Oh that's interesting! Selecting First Class shows D in the shopping cart but clicking on the Fare Rules shows that the fare basis is SH0OASFN

Flying for Fun

What you are experiencing isn't unique to MVP. Depending on the y-up fare class, it can also occur for MVPG, 75K & 100K. If the y-up fare class is Q, O or G, then it will be more expensive to use a GGU than to purchase First outright.

In you example, the S fare basis isn't an eligible fare for any elite, therefore, regardless of elite tier, the upgradeable fare will be higher than purchasing F.

Sliding slightly off topic here but important for consideration if you are purchasing eligible fares

If the Main fare & upgradeable fare are the same for your elite status, it means that the lowest Main fare is already booking into your eligible fare classes.

The same holds true for GGU application. The lowest Main fare is already booking into N class or higher but you can't waitlist a GGU.

Make sure to purchase the upgrade eligible fare, not the Main fare, even if U isn't available at booking. This will ensure that you are added to the upgrade waitlist at booking and not added to the upgrade request queue for your status. Before the elite tier windows open, any upgrades (in theory anyways) will be processed in the order they were added to the waitlist, irrespective of elite status. Continue to monitor for U space to open because any lag between U being released and the processor firing leaves the U space available to be "snagged."

If U does open and you purchased a GGU eligible fare you can apply the GGUs provided you haven't requested complimentary upgrades. If you have, you need to call AS to be removed from the upgrade request queue before you can apply them. I still prefer to request complimentary upgrades at the time of booking as time on the waitlist is a tie-breaker.

James