Int'l BF Upgrades?
 

I have read the CO rules concerning upgrading from an economy ticket to BF.
As I understand it, one requests the upgrade & the OnePass miles for the upgrade are deducted immediately. Then one gets put on a waiting list which will be processed 72 hours before flight time.
If a BF seat is "awarded", a service fee is charged to your credit card. If the seat is not available, the miles are re-deposited to your account.
(A CO CSR had me confused recently since he was claiming the service fee is charged right away & is not refundable! I said to him that that didn't make sense & he assured me that's the way it is! I was not requesting the upgrade, only asking for information and the agent was talkative/friendly.)
Do I understand the rules for 2005 correctly?

A few points. An upgrade is processed NO LATER THAN 72 hours before flight time. It could be available when you call, or at anytime prior to the 72 hour cutoff. Once you are confirmed in "R" class, your credit card is charged.
If you do not clear, the miles are supposed to be recredited to your account. I have had to call CO on two occasions and "remind" them. They were recredited then immediately. Just keep an eye on them. Once the service fee is charged after the upgrade is confirmed, then it is non-refundable.

International upgrade
 

If there are empty seats in international business class will they upgrade plat, golds or silvers? My mom (silver elite) flew from AMS to EWR beginning of Nov and most of the business class was empty and they didnt upgrade her. Or is the only way to use miles and $$$'s.

YES. Only Miles and/or miles and money.

Upgrades only free for elites on domestic and non-BF flights (Jamaica, Trinidad etc)


http://www.continental.com/onepass/r...de/default.asp

What exactly is meant by "non-refundable," beyond the obvious thing of not being able to get your monet back. What if you revalidate your ticket to a different travel date and an upgrade is available on that date? Are you covered by the original service fee? What if you have the ticket re-issued for another destination and want to upgrade to BF using miles?

If you change your travel date and the upgrade is available -- no problem, you've already paid the service fee.
The problem is when you change your travel date and the upgrade is NOT available and it does not clear before departure. Then you fly in COACH and do NOT get your money back.