Upgrades
 

On a recent flight I applied to upgrade with my miles on check in. When I checked the status at the lounge they asked if I was asking for a courtesy upgrade or a miles upgrade. I replied stating miles assuming that others would be on a list for miles upgrades and I would thus give myself a better chance.

Firstly should I have said courtesy on the possibility of receiving a free upgrade and secondly do those who have requested miles upgrades at check in have priority over Diamond card members who are hoping for a free upgrade (assuming economy is full). If a non MPC member puts themselves on the list for an Aia miles upgrade at check in will they be upgraded ahead of a Diamond hoping for a free upgrade?

In principle, yes, I would expect the miles upgrade to happen first. But remember that at that point if the flight is seriously over-booked some Diamonds etc. may already have received op-ups earlier in the process. I have sometimes had them confirmed when I did an online check-in over 40 hours before the flight. I have never been "un-op-up-ed", although I guess it may happen on occasion... I would be a bit upset if that happened to accommodate a last-minute mileage upgrade request, but I could have no complaints if a full fare paying passenger turned up at the last minute and they needed the seat.

I assume this is an upgrade from Biz to First , very nice to get an upgrade with an online check in , how did they inform you?. I've always avoided online checkins as I've assumed online check ins weaken upgrade potential.

I don't think OLCI reduces the chances of an op-up. On a trip LHR-HKG and back a month or so ago, I used OLCI (at around -24 hours) and was upgraded from business to first both ways :) Outbound I was handed the first BP at check-in and on return at the gate.

You could argue that early OLCI increases your chances as you "certain" to turn up. (I guess being a OW Emerald also helped!)

Interesting point. Did you ask them for the upgrade on check in or was it simply handed to you unprompted? I know people disagree but I always ask and have been reasonably successful

Only if you're DM or IN on MPC.

Didn't ask - just handed it over (without comment on the outbound).

As you say people have different opinions on asking but my take is that the check-in staff must get asked several times a day (especially on BA in zone R, which is my usual route through LHR) so surely must get a little sick of it. Any Op-up is just a bonus.

Are you saying you can only ask to be upgraded if you're DM or IN? Do they give upgrades to DM or IN if the original class isn't full?

As the saying goes, if you have to ask... then no.

But there has been instances when the original class isn't full and a DM/IN MPC member got upgraded. It's not an official policy but it has happened.

Plus, one can't really ask for an op-up just because. But occasionally, one may ask at the F lounge 'if a flight is full'.

Even as a DM once, I had to settle in Y as my original class booked as J was already full. So it's not always a given.

I'm an infrequent flyer (MPC SilveR) and was surprised that they handed me an upgrade from coach to J on LAX to HKG. I booked the flight 2-3 days days in advance and checked in at the same time. Not sure if they were full or not, but i wasn't complaining.

Nice one. This is typical of flying into Hong Kong as overseas CX staff do not pay as much attention to card status etc. This is particulalrly the case when requesting miles upgrades at check in , whilst HK staff will make an effort to get you the upgrade it's commonly known that overseas staff are generally less bothered (mostly the case in Europe & the U.S) to go the extra mile and will either ignore the request or if flights are full will op up.

I had always thought that overseas CX staff would do op-ups more based on card status... Since HKG sees so many DM and INs, they would only upgrade when the flights were oversold. Whereas some outports get so few DM and INs, whenever they see one, they would do their best to accomodate any request they have or try to make their journeys more confortable.

From my own experience, I have been op-upped more on inbound HKG flights that outbound ones...

That was why I deleted my post above yours... I thought that was what he meant. And posted that op-ups are controlled by HK's Revenue control and not by check in staff.

However if you reread his post , he actually meant that :
addicted747 meant that when using miles for upgrades, HK CX check-in staff will go the extra miles in obtaining the upgrade for you whereas overseas check-in staff won't.

price affecting OP UP potential
 

An interesting one - but I wonder if becuase it was last minute purchase, you may have paid 'top dollar', and hence been 'higher' on the list of OP UPs?

comments?

No... on most fares to asia, there is no minimum purchase requirements. If space is available in the lowest fare bracket, you may even buy it on the day of departure.. through a TA.