BA Miles Upgrades
 

Hi all -

I have a couple of trips coming up which I'd like to upgrade for miles, one W-J and one J-F. I can't do this at time of purchase (by third party), but the tickets will be sourced direct from BA.

So, my questions are: 1) ease of upgrading already purchased tickets; and 2) any problems upgrading companion's ticket on same flights?

BTW, is it still the case that only tickets purchased direct from BA can be upgraded with miles?

Thanks in advance.

You can use miles to upgarde already booked tickets, I am sure if you in the booking engine in your EC account there is this option.

Whether or not you can use them to upgarde tickets not bought from BA is something I don't know

IF you can upgrade yourself, then you can upgrade your companion too.

(I used my miles to upgrade both my husband and myself from WT+ to NCW, but I upgraded at the time of booking through BA's website - was very impressed by how straightforward BA have made this!!! Wish that other airlines would take note - well done BA http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ).

Boo

Thanks, I know it's easy to u/g at time of booking, but the BA site invites one to call the EC to u/g existing bookings.

Does anyone have experience of that process specifically? Interested in how long it takes to confirm u/g, any problems with availability, etc.

From previous threads, I recall that MFU is strictly for tickets purchased from BA only.

I've used BA's site to upgrade a few times to the US from WT to NCW and once from NCW to F to Sydney. Generally availability for this is great to the US but no so on other routes, particularly to the Far East.

If you can't book direct using BA's web site I'd check first using the website to make sure that upgrading for miles was available for the flight you want. Then, once booked, you shouldn't have a problem in calling BA and asking them to manually upgrade. I doubt they'd do this if there was no availability on your flight for upgrades for miles as shown on the web.

Thanks for your input. The problem I've anticipated is changing availability for MFU between points at which ticket is booked and processing of request for MFU by EC, which makes the delay between them critical.

Surely someone must have used MFU for existing booking and I'd love to hear how it went.

TIA.

Please, has anyone used MFU for existing bookings, i.e. after ticketing? Could really do with some feedback on the process.

Thanks!

Last bump - I'm begging, already - please...

Please, has anyone used MFU for existing bookings, i.e. after ticketing? Could really do with some feedback on the process.

Thanks!

Dakota, why don't you just give the EC a ring and see what they say?

Hope that things work out for you http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Boo

BooBooToo: Have done. They say takes 72 hrs, but, as I said above, that means there's a risk that MFU availability goes between ticketing and upgrade. Was interested in others' experiences of this, but it looks like either no-one's done it (which seems highly unlikely) or they're not telling. Strange...

Well, maybe you will be the first from around here to do ti: please share your experiences with us.

I hope that everything works out for you http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Boo

I doubt very much if people are "not telling". FT'ers are a very helpful bunch and would have nothing to gain by keeping it a secret. I suspect that the reason no -one is responding is that no FT'er has used Miles to Upgrade a 3rd Party ticket.

There has been much debate about upgrading non-direct BA bookings, and the general consensus was that the rules were unclear about this. Some have been told that only flights booked on-line or direct with BA can be upgraded.

Do you have to book through the 3rd party?

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So here's the update after calling the EC again to discuss...

First of all, of course I didn't mean people were deliberately not passing on the info, just those who had it hadn't logged on, seen thread, hadn't replied, etc..

The important stuff is that the deeply discounted fare classes have now been excluded from MFU. These were T in WT+ & I in CW. Only the flexible classes W, D & J may now be upgraded using miles. This apparently changed last week and is a drag for me because one of mine was T class, but the other is full J.

The good news is that the first person I spoke to was wrong: it does not take 3 days to process. Can be done on the 'phone immediately and without charge, up to three days before departure.

As regards 3rd party booking, my situation, and I'd guess a good proportion of others', is that I frequently do not make my own bookings. This means they have to be MFU'ed later. Wonder how long before they can accept bookings made via agencies, etc. and not just from BA direct.

Hope all that helps. Cheers, D.

[Edited out, strong feelings no longer necessary, see below. Phew! Thank you for the cheering update, Dakota.]

[This message has been edited by Globaliser (edited 10-06-2003).]

Umm, I just tried an online booking for November, IAD-LHR, WT+, using MFU to NCW and it came back at $827 inc taxes and looks like T class conditions. I didn't follow through, but have we left hands and right hands @ BA EC again?

Unless it's rule affected 3rd party bookings in T!

Hey ho

Let's hope this is incorrect. You get different information every time you call the EC, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was inaccurate ...

In the NA programme, before July 1, you could MFU from a T2 fare to Club for 35K miles. (T2 is WT+ and has no restrictions, but it is at least $500 less than the W fare from most US cities.)

That wasn't so bad, but 25K miles and discount T fares is better.

In fact, the 25K mile upgrades from WT+ to J is the only good part of the new program, and the only reason I've stuck with BA ...

FWIW, I just went into the on-line booking form, and it still lets you upgrade from discount T fares if you book & upgrade in the same process.

Now this is exactly why I asked my learned fellow FT'ers rather than BA who do indeed seem to have two left feet and no L/R hand coordination. Looked at BA.com and the info there totally contradicted what I had been told today. This time I spoke to a supervisor and I'm told, definitively she swore, that:

Classes J, C, D, I, W, T, Y, B, H eligible;

Minimum FIVE days pre-departure;

Done immediately on 'phone, subject of course to availability.

I really hope this is the bottom line now. There seems to be huge confusion over MFU in the EC, especially for existing bookings. Apparently the discount classes were excluded for a period up to three weeks ago and even the website is wrong in regard to processing times, deadlines, etc.

What a mess!

The full fare stuff is probably down to incorrect interpretation, BA sometimes refer to all premium booking codes as 'full fare', just check the T&Cs of recent promos... however, it is unacceptable that this is once again resulting in agents talking boIIocks... brings back terrible memories of about 12 months ago when all the frontline team seemed able to do was read out your statement from the screen... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

That and the immediate-on-the-phone upgrade part would seem to be correct but I think the 5 days is a bit dodgy. Award availability shows 3 days before (well actually 4 days, as they dont seem to count the departure day), so it would seem logical that the upgrade could be done up to then.

Wheres our Maws when we need him? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Glad to hear the follow-up. The different answers from different people on the EC phone line is definitely frustrating.

A year and a half ago, I used a gold upgrade for two (former 2400 tier point award, current 2500/3500 tier point award) to upgrade an existing booking that was made external to BA.

On my 4th call to BA, I told the person on the phone that I was getting the run-around on an issue, and asked to talk to a supervisor.

This representative told me that she was sorry that I was having difficulty, and asked if she could try to help me, and told me that she'd transfer me to a supervisor if she couldn't help me.

We spent over an hour on the phone, before she finally told me that she'd have to call back.

In the end the upgrade was processed, and she explained that it was quite easy to do it, she just had to learn how.

This was in stark contrast to the other representatives that told me I couldn't apply the upgrade to a ticket that was not purchased directly from BA.

However, in the new programme, I think you have to buy the ticket from BA in order to have an upgrade processed against it, as it is mentioned in the rules ... whereas the rules weren't as clear before.

There have been other threads here where people have tried to get a miles for upgrade processed against an existing ticket purchased elsewhere (one thread I remember was someone buying a ticket via the AA web site) ... and were denied.

There was also a thread about tickets bought on corporate discounts not being eligible for upgrade.

I wasted enough of my personal time getting that upgrade for two processed a year and a half ago. If I'm going to use an upgrade, I buy the ticket directly from BA (which isn't a problem for me, but I do understand how it can be a problem for others).

In the old North American programme, I do remember that if you were going to do one of those miles for upgrades, you could get an authorization code issued that you could give to a travel agent who was processing your booking. But I don't think they have that option in the new program.

Good luck!

Just made MFU from WT+ to CW.

Having booked online, I called the EC to upgrade. I only wanted to upgrade the inbound flight, not the outbound, but was told this was not possible - one way upgrades are not permitted (unless there isn't availability).

However, was informed that new rules meant that my restricted T class fare was now a flexible "miles" fare and I could change it as often as I liked up to 5 days before flights.

I didn't realise that upgrading meant flexibilty... Great!

[This message has been edited by BA Loyal (edited 10-06-2003).]

I'd be wary of that. I booked a restricted T and MFU to CW in Sep, I had to change and it cost me $200 to do so. Original T&C on class booked applied.

Still haven't got me tier points and miles yet, shown as ineligible flight still......

[This message has been edited by DCBritboy (edited 10-06-2003).]

This is clearly not true... if so, there would be absolutley no point in doing a W-class upgrade, would there...?

more crap from the frontline team http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I'll 'third' the comments of DCBritBoy and dnw. I've been told on about five or six occasions now that the T&C on the original ticket would apply, including cancellation fees or change restrictions. Of course, YMMV, but they've all been singing this tune consistantly.

--Grog--