jbfield

Having changed employers recently to one with an All-Economy travel policy, I am likely to experience SIN-LHR in Y soon. I've not experienced BA Y long haul before - I have been flying this route on my own money in C.
Have checked upgrade via Avios but there is no C availability.

So, to increase my chance of an op-up (I believe overselling is quite common on BA) should I remove my Vegetarian meal from the flight and self-cater by bringing my own food?
If Y service is anything like C, the second meal will be quite insubstaintial anyway, hence little to loose.

Anyone got any thoughts?

(I wouldn't want to find my self upgraded from a window seat to a middle PE seat either).

KARFA

Just to clarify, if you are in Y (WT) you can only upgrade with avios for one cabin so up to WTP. You can't UuA more than one cabin, so I wouldn't bother looking at reward availability in CW as it isn't really relevant to you.

Also you can upgrade from all revenue classes in Y apart from Q, O, G. If you are booked in selling classes Q, O, or G you won't be able to UuA at all.

UKtravelbear

I don't think BA overselling is quite as common as some think it is.

But if they do need to do op-ups (and they have a algorithm to decide who gets them) then they would likely move someone from WTP to CW then someone from WT to WTP. A double cabin op-up is relatively rare.

colinscanner

Reward availability on BA12 has been quite hard to come by in my experience. I do this route about twice a year and have never been upgraded from WTP / CW (no special meal, usually single booking). Generally feels like a heavy load route for BA.

corporate-wage-slave

There are some recent-ish accounts that suggests that certainly out of LHR, having a special meal now does not inhibit an operational (DUT) upgrade. I have my doubts (e.g. KSML comes via a separate logistics channel), but the modular approach to aircraft loading should in theory make it possible to adjust meal balances 1 hour before departure. I think the jury is still out on that, I think we need some more reports to be sure. But trying to game involuntary upgrades is deliberately a near impossibility, except for perhaps WTP on some SuperJ aircraft services. There is quite an elaborate system in place to prevent that gaming.

I think a lot depends on how OK you are with (a) the standard (non ordered) vegetarian options in WTP, which often seems/smells to be pasta and (b) your reaction if only the meat option was available - the crew can probably remove the meat element and nab some fruit from CW if asked. If that doesn't sound the end of the world then ok, but otherwise is it better to be starving in WTP on a long flight, or at least given something you can eat in WT. I incidentally would query the idea that middle WTP is worse than the better WT seats, I recently tested a few seats out on an empty 77W (I was pre-boarded) and the extra comfort of WTP is well above WT in my view.

Otherwise AUPs to SIN are not always offered, that much I know. It's a popular cabin in terms of ticket sales, and almost certainly is what keeps BA flying to Sydney.

1Aturnleft

As CWS eludes to, reports suggest that special meals are no longer a consideration in the op-up scenario. The article I read on another site can be found here.

orbitmic

Frankly, only do that if you are the sort of person who believes in the "postcode lottery" and that sort of stuff. Despite popular belief, upgrades remain very rare. Between my partner and myself, we've flown LHR-SIN vv in WT or WT+ (supposedly the easiest cabin to be opup'ed from) at least 20 times and neither of us ever got a single upgrade on that route or any other longhaul (we are both GGL/CCR). If I were you, I'd just order the food you want to eat.

LoneGroover

I tried that approach a number of times, but with no success, so concluded if I was going to sit at the back I might as well make sure I could eat something.

LTN Phobia

One exception being the WT exit row non-middle. My husband got flicked up from WT exit row aisle (his normal travelling location) to WTP middle, and he really wished he had been back in exit row.

It happened again so I was tasked with getting his exit row back by bothering the CCR agent (we were in the CCR, I was in F, as I refused to be affected by his company travel policy - yes I did offer to swap in my moment of madness, and he kindly declined, much to my relief), which the agent kindly got back for him.

He said he definitely preferred the exit row.

P.S. Please don't take his op-up rate to be the norm. It definitely doesn't seem to be, but he has the knack of picking flights that are prone to requiring op-ups and he for some reason gets picked for op-ups but I do not think it is normal.

Stez

As someone who travels LON-SYD semi-regularly, there are some better WT seats than WTP as LTN Phobia's post pointed out.

AUP availability is reasonably common exLHR - I'd say 3 out of 5 flights on average, but I wouldn't like to bet on it. I can't say the same exSIN, I've never had much luck airside. Op-Ups are pretty rare in my case.

With such a long flight, you'll want to be sure you are able to eat something (I know you said you'd self cater).

Ultimately, you are far better off expecting and planning to remain in WT and pick the best seat in that cabin for yourself.

Takiteasy

corporate-wage-slave

I think you can probably do some searches on DUT in this forum, but I doubt it will take you (or indeed me) much further. OpUps have an algorithm which is not in the public domain and involves all sorts of components based on the passenger's profile, past bookings, status/CIV, their ticket, the available seats and then multiplied out to all the other passengers on board. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a random number generator somewhere in the middle too. The intent seems to be to prevent someone being tempted to get a lower cabin than the one they expect to fly in.

Takiteasy

sammyg901

I've done this route plenty of times (other way around - work is C but if it's just me going back for a wedding etc then budget doesn't usually stretch!)

This route is very busy for BA up the front including WT+, I've never had an upgrade and I would be surprised if they do many. I've only once had a POUG and that was on a Wednesday flight in June from London so a pretty quiet time to be travelling to Asia !

If you pick one of the upper deck exit row seats on the A380 it really isn't that bad to be honest, I always feel quite sorry for the folks who paid extra to sit next to the toilet in the back row of WT+ in front!

Another tip is WT+ fares ex-BKK and KUL are very reasonable and some can be routed via SIN with a "stopover" - which opens up potential to CW UUA although it is a tough route for it and you'd need to have booked direct with BA as you'd have MH/CX sector on the tickets, so no good if you use a corporate TA

djtriggz

Personally i would self cater anyway all the vegetarian main meals on BA are terrible! even in CW. There is a thread on pictures of the bad quality vegetarian meals served on BA even in CW and F. Even the FA's are ashamed to be serving such meals in CW and F