Hello - despite my many years with CX I have never done an instant upgrade. I know - I guess I just always try to move things around a bit so I can make sure I have a seat.

Anyway - I did a search - and I saw some posts about how it is unfair the you can be on the wait list and then not get it but any one can request an upgrade at the airport and if they get their first they get it.

But my question is - can you request it at T -24 at downtown check-in? Or does it have to be at a check-in counter at the airport.

Off to Bali for a long weekend and the parentals have decided to come with (flying from UK to HK) and then onto Bali with me. I bought my ticket awhile ago and used miles to upgrade to business. Flight is already quite full so I cannot see them opening up any seats even though I am DM and would like to try again at the airport.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, not too sure on what you mean by instant upgrades. Are you trying to use miles to upgrade your parents as well?

If so, extra award seats tend to come up 54 hours before flight time. So call Marco Polo at that time and see if they can assign you a couple more upgrades. However, not sure how successful you will be if your parents are on different PNR and have no status.

So you mean ODU (on dept upgrade).

Technically Intown checkin can process it - but if you are not travelling, you have to pay to get into the gated checkin area.

ALSO in HKG the CSO advised me that for ODU the pax using the miles MUST be travelling with the upgradee as well.

but seems like you travel with them

You can goto intown check and ask them to put you on waitlist.

Unfortuantely as discussed in the other thread you can just put on the normal waiting list and expect it turn into ODU. sometimes it works, sometimes doesn't.

Good luck!

Hi - yes I meant on departure upgrade - I thought that was called instant upgrade? I will be traveling with them so no worries from that side. They are on the wait list for an upgrade award - hopefully it will come through. If not - I shall check-in with them at T-24 hours downtown and request an instant upgrade for them both.

How does the work at out posts? For example on the return I don't want to get to DPS airport early - so will i be further down the pecking order if I ask later even though I am DM? Is it really first come first serve? Is there no preference? From what I have seen - they confirm instand upgrades at the gate many times - so say a GO, SL, and DM all put in upgrade requests but because the GO did it first he will get it as opposed to me who came later?

who says standby doesnt put status into consideration. it does - and it's the oneworld benefits

I have certainly encountered situations where my T-5mins standby cleared along with a friend when there are tons of many others still waiting.

On the asiamiles site, they do refer to this as "Instant Upgrade".

Travel to Bangkok from Manila on Friday, have 20K Miles expiring soon. since both sectors (CX900 and CX701) are operated by 77H I was hoping to just use the miles to upgrade both flights (MNL-HKG is 20K, but MNL-HKG-BKK is 25K), when I called MPC last night they told me that the upgrade slot for HKG-BKK has been filled up.

Would there be a chance that the seats be released on check-in on Friday? I was wondering how the Instant Upgrades work and will it still depend on upgrade allocations or just seat availability?