Reetmafreen

jbeckett

I have a basic economy ticket (fare code B) for PHL-LAS-LAX. Can I upfare this to standard economy with no change fee? Can I upfare it to standard economy with a change fee?

The purpose would be to increase the EQD of the ticket to help meet status challenge EQD requirements. I need about $200 more. The fare difference to first class is more than $500 and not worth it to me.

jtav559

Correct, no change fee when upfaring. Even with it's just a more expensive fare bucket in economy.

If agent says there is, ask them to consult the help/fare desk regarding "upsell or upfaring".

Dave Noble

My understanding is that the waiver of a change fee only applies when upgrading to a higher class of service.

jbeckett

Thanks for the replies. If I decide to go through with the challenge, I'll come back and let you know how it works for me.

jtav559

Interesting..... I have had 2 tickets in the last year that I bought up into a higher fare bucket (still in Economy) and no change fee was charged. Just the fare difference.

Yes, please do!

JSSAUCE

So I am a bit confused. I do not recall ever upfaing to a same day but different flight but did so today for the first time. I called to change to an earlier flight and upfare to first. I specifically asked the agent if there would be a change fee as I am moving times, she stated only if the date changes. I have a corp discount so she transfered me, typically the CK agents see the process through, the meeting service agent also told me no change fee and it would be $299. Finished, al set, the charge comes through for $499. Called the CK line and another agent says there is a change fee if you move times but agress to refund me the $200 as I was incorrectly informed. The Wiki says...

Effective December 19, 2012, AA will waive the ticket change charge if customer purchases into a higher cabin (business or first), regardless of booking inventory, on the same routing/same day*. For example, no changes to origin/destination except the change to cabin/flight time is allowed with no ticket change charge. Customer would be responsible for paying the difference in fares. The non-refundable portion of the ticket remains non-refundable and would be handled internally by Refunds when necessary."

Anyone know the official answer? Can you upfare the same day, same Dep/Arr but switch to a different time with no change fee only fare difference?

Thanks.

JonNYC

Unless there's some weird stuff with the corp discount (wouldn't tend to think so, but an area I know nothing about) or whatever, policy is you can switch, fee-free, to different time.

JSSAUCE

Thank you! It's all fixed now but I did just now HUCA and received the original information no change fee if same route new times, corp discount or not. The whole original call was weird. I did not originall post this but when she transfered me to meeting services we were almost done and she tells a super cheap price and talks about a different flight?? She had pulled up my 1st of 4 flights for the week, on a record i already had a comp upgrade. It was all messed up from the beginning. I will just chalk it up to that.

GTITAN

FWIW, I have had the same experience with upfare when I wanted to upfare to "I" from coach but to do so needed to move my flight times. Had many agents tell me that if I switched times that I'd have to pay a change fee with the upfare (was not requesting date or O/D changes). Employed HUCA until I got to an agent that would do it. It is yet another problem with consistency of agents knowing the rules inside the AA system. Glad it worked though!

Safe Travels

iadisgreat

What about a routing change with upfare (same O/D)? I made this type of upfare to a (work booked trip requiring me to call meeting services) in March and they initially wanted to charge the $200 change fee. I balked mentioning I thought I didn't need to pay it and the agent kindly called "someone" and got it waived for being EXP.

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GTITAN

Yes, I had an agent once tell me that they could do upfare with changing routing provided O/D stayed the same on a particular itinerary. I then tried to it again on another itinerary with another agent and was told no. The rules permit it, but many agents are not aware of it.

Safe Travels

JonNYC

Yes, connection point change is allowed as part of the policy.

iadisgreat

Thank you sir!

MikeShores

Had a tough one today. Long story short, traveling sunday AUS-DFW-MIA-SJU. I have a remnant paper voucher and saw that the fare difference on the outbound was less than the voucher amount, so I decided to upfare. I called the PPro line and the agent said within 14 days they cannot use a voucher for upfare payment. I mentioned that I had no problem running down to the airport today, but she was firm. I tried the HUCA method. The second agent said there was no way to hold the reservation (so that the fare would still be available when I got to the airport) and no way for her to indicate a voucher payment due to the 14-day window. I tried HUCA one more time, just trying to get the upfare held, to no avail. Off to the airport I went.

The agent at the desk was confused by what I wanted to do, thinking I had held (versus purchased) my ticket in Y and simply wanted to create an all-new ticket in F. I explained the upfare and that I do it on the phone all the time, but she declined to assist. I asked for a supervisor and again they didn't seem to understand upfare. She explained that I could use the voucher to buy 500-mile upgrades, and I chuckled...I have 23 of them, but as a PPro I don't need them. No matter what I said, she kept trying to upGRADE me, and I said no, I want to PAY for first-class, and I want to use the voucher to do so.

Ultimately, she called ticketing (reservations?) and asked, and was then transferred to the PPro help desk, and then to someone else (perhaps system help desk?) The whole process took about an hour and a half, but was able to be completed...no change fee and they didn't charge me the $35 ATO ticketing fee. That said, I have a couple of questions, in the case that I find myself in a similar situation:

1) Is it not possible for the reservations (phone) agent to hold an upfare?
2) Is it not possible for the reservations agent to ticket an upfare, showing the voucher as the payment type and go to the airport same day?
3) Why doesn't the front-line staff understand the difference between upGRADE and upFARE? Is there another term they are more familiar with?
4) What could I have done differently to make this situation easier or less complex?