Pascoe

Just curious - does whether or not you have already checked in when you arrive at the airport have any bearing on whether or not an AUP will be available to you?

As I said - pure curiosity. For some reason I had it in my head that you're better placed if you don't check in...

Bluebrummie2000

For me both conditions have worked out ok...provided their is availability.

AC*SE

None at all. I have obtained AUPs having not checked in online, having checked in online, and even after having checked in at the airport, or at the origin of a connecting flight.

I've obtained them on cash fares, redemption bookings, and even on tickets previously upgraded using avios.

LondonCanuck

I will second that... doesn’t seem to be any magic formula, however some people here claim that doing OLCI as soon as it opens improves your chances, but I cannot comment due to my past experiences have been all over the place

Globaliser

I thought that what is sometimes said along these lines is that doing OLCI early improves your chances of an op-up (not an AUP). That is based on something said here officially by a BA rep.

But that said was many years ago. BA systems have changed since then and no doubt policies have too.

corporate-wage-slave

AUPs get offered for a flight + cabin combination. On FLY there is a little box which shows the prices if it is available, and everyone booked, checked in or otherwise, will see it. If it's not available, no-one will see it. However some staff are going to ask people automatically when they see it, some will not. So always asked if an "airport promotional upgrade" is on sale.

There is a second stage, when the agent will start to ring up to sort out the logistics, that a message may come back saying "it can't be done". The usual reason is, or rather was, that someone had "burnt out" their entitlement, in other words tries to get into a cabin but has a track record of using AUP to get there. At some point the system says no. Stez recently asked the question as to whether that is still in operation, I must admit I can't recall a recent complaint about that (and we used to get them every few months).

Occasionally the last AUP is processed by the Flight Management Unit and you're just too late to get it. My suspicion (note choice of word) is that the best time to ask on longhaul is about 3 hours before departure from that perspective. Shorthaul I don't think it matters that much.

Once big change in this area relates to AppUp (special thread in the Dashboard) where you can in theory apply for an AppUp even 30 minutes before departure via the App. It turns out that also shows on BA.com, so what seems to have happened with the new BA.com interface, which is now more tightly shared with the App, is that the previous restriction, checked-in = no more AUP, has been lifted. However there are a number of reports of it not working very well, viz. falling over at credit card stage.

Pascoe

So CWS are you saying, from the above, that the idea of 'burning out' your AUP eligibility only seems to happen if you do a ton of these things? (and in any case may even have ceased as a practice).

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, it's necessarily shrouded in mystery. You certainly can (or more accurately, could) burn out your card with AUP, but what is "a ton" is deliberately unknowable. AUP moves in mysterious ways.

Pascoe

Well I guess it's possible they try and game peoples' intentions (eg if you're chasing the next status level).

Ultimately though it's a commercially risky gambit I reckon. I'll personally spend a modest amount over the odds to accrue extra TPs when travelling short haul (as TP tuns are harder with a busy job, busy home life and a little'un to think of) but there's a limit.

And my firm's policy is economy for sub 5H trips. So it's either a price I find sensible, or no upsell. Which in reality means AUP possible, call centre pricing usually not. So really depends whether they want the extra cash or not. They won't wheedle it out of me some other way if I burn the AUPs - I just won't bother. And if it happens just shy of gold it may even annoy me enough to move to other carriers.

Globaliser

But all of that is very personal to you. Your circumstances don't represent the circumstances of every passenger. And one thing that the airline must be careful to avoid is creating conditions in which those who are prepared (whether personally or by corporate policy) to pay for the upgraded cabin at published fares learn that they can save money by paying only for the lower cabin with a reliable way of getting into the upgraded cabin via a cheap upgrade. Commercially, that's much riskier. The airline's job is to try to wheedle out of each passenger the maximum that they are prepared to pay, not simply the lower amount which they would prefer to pay. And the airline does it by playing a big numbers game, in which it knows that there will be some (eg you) whom it will lose.

Pascoe

Oh absolutely - don't get me wrong. I work in 'big data' and fully understand the concept. However I would be surprised if I am a massive outlier amongst the frequent flier community in terms of how I approach these things. The number of people paying full rack rate for ANYTHING these days is getting smaller, and the information age is in no small part responsible.

But I am not expecting the airline to do anything with my spending patterns other than plug them into FLY and try and optimise (ie maximise) all our spends. That's fine by me - they're a commercial enterprise not a charity.

Globaliser

Don't forget, though, that the information age also spreads news like "You can't rely on getting an AUP at the airport - so if you really want/need Club, buy Club".

Pascoe

Of course. I am merely speculating as to who really 'needs' club on a 2h flight. But I guess the answer isn't nobody or they'd go another way.

Having said that, CE on the 777 back from MAD last time was a significantly nicer experience than ET, and I was happy with the price I paid to have it.

Stez

I think, anecdotally (and perhaps hopeful too), that the AUP policy has become more lenient. Staff seems more aware of it than in the past, even if it takes them a bit of thinking to figure out how to action it at outstations.

In the distant past when NCL used to have ticketting abilities, I used to pop into NCL at 8am, check-in for a late evening flight to Sydney and ask for AUP offers. This was no hardship for me being so close to the airport.

Agreed with others, does not matter if you OLCI, or do it airside after check-in (eg, at LHR including in the T5B lounges - gives them something to do).

mrkflyer

Just to add my own experience, have used AUP when checked in via OLCI, and outstations and even on flights checked in the day before (short turnaround).

As all my flying is in Europe, it tends to be a fixed price at each station and the staff either know it already or just check on a sheet of paper. Have noticed that sometimes they have a sheet to indicate if that particular flight allows it or not. Then gets processed through Fly.

By contrast at GC South in LHR, they always call through to the Dispatch team (am sure I have that name wrong) for the flight to ask them if they can do an upgrade and confirm the seat. Then gets processed for payment. But once the flight has closed (for dispatch) there are no more changes.

I've done a lot of AUP for the same reason as Pascoe, but its never been noted or flagged. IIRC there was a limit mentioned here a long time ago for CW AUP (3), but CE AUP had no limits. At the end of the day its a meal (most of the time) and drinks in the difference. There's no AUP price that BA doesn't make a killing from selling them. Unless you can drink the bar dry on a 1 hour hop to EDI or DUB of course ...