Help on possible EWR-SAN upgrade
 

I plan on going to SAN April 17 with my wife and our 1 year old daughter, returning on 4/20. Tried quoting first with CO being that I will be at least Silver Elite by April (did not re-qualify for Gold for 2003) to increase the chances of an upgrade. Also, since they have direct service from EWR.

The fare is U$ 400,00 for each pax for the roundtrip and although doable, there are cheaper options out there on other carriers.

Therefore, my question is:

What’s your experience with elite upgrades with a companion (my wife is not even a Onepass member) on CO on this specific route/flights?? As is, we’re thinking on leaving on the 6pm flight out of EWR on the 4/17 and returning on the red-eye on 4/20.

Also, I want to mention that I tried booking 2 tkts for 50.000 miles but there are no seats available (only – of course - for the 50.000 miles per person award).

Your feedback will be appreciated.

Postponer

CO doesn't do free companion upgrades for Silver members.

I'm not sure if this helps you or not, but there is Standard award level for the red-eye return on 4/20...

Therefore, the roundtrip would be only 37,500, not 50,000 miles.

If your goal is to save money, JetBlue and American both have non-stops from JFK to Long Beach for $282... (I know that you wanted EWR-SAN, just trying to give you some options....)

buy a coach ticket and then call them 4 days prior to flight to use 20k miles per person to get first i do it all the time MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A FARE CLASS TICKET THAT IS GOOD FOR UPGRADE...CALL IN THE RES AND ASK THE AGENT FOR THE FARE CODE...DONT BOOK ONLINE

SAN EWR 2200#0600 CO 427 A4 D4 F4

In my extensive experience on this route, it doesn't matter what time of day you fly anymore. Platinums have battlefield upgrades on this route, and I'd say as a Silver you're pretty much guaranteed back of the bus if you rely on your elite benefits to upgrade you. And as others have said, there's no way to get companion upgrades as a silver.

Following up on my original post from 2/03 below...I wanted to ask you for some opinion.

The fare for the route needed, departing EWR on flt # 1426 on 4/15 and returning from SAN 4/20 on flt # 427 is aprox $600.

I was able to get 2 coach seats for 50.000 miles (have not booked yet...) since I'm questioning if I shouldn't buy the tkt and r earn the miles???? Any suggestion??

Tks,

Postponer

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posted 02-03-2003 10:12 AM

I plan on going to SAN April 17 with my wife and our 1 year old daughter, returning on 4/20. Tried quoting first with CO being that I will be at least Silver Elite by April (did not re-qualify for Gold for 2003) to increase the chances of an upgrade. Also, since they have direct service from EWR.
The fare is U$ 400,00 for each pax for the roundtrip and although doable, there are cheaper options out there on other carriers.

Therefore, my question is:

What’s your experience with elite upgrades with a companion (my wife is not even a Onepass member) on CO on this specific route/flights?? As is, we’re thinking on leaving on the 6pm flight out of EWR on the 4/17 and returning on the red-eye on 4/20.

Also, I want to mention that I tried booking 2 tkts for 50.000 miles but there are no seats available (only – of course - for the 50.000 miles per person award).

Your feedback will be appreciated.

Postponer

EWR-SAN is tough for a silver eua upgrade. This is one where I always use mileage for an award ugrade if one is available. A better alternative for eua (although it won't help your wife) is EWR-SNA. Since my usual destination in SAN is 30-45 minutes north, I find that the faster bag service at SNA, plus not having to take a bus to the rental car usually balances out the extra drive. As far as paying and getting mileage vs. using mileage for free tix, you have to decide if the miles are worth the $. Since I usually need credit for every coast to coast flight just to make silver for the next year, it's usually been worth it for me to pay. Though given some of the changes lately, I've been rethinking the value of maintaining silver.

Postponer.
Have you bought the prestige pack? It has a $99.00 companion certificate, which you can use for your wife.

I was upgraded all 5 times I flew that route last year (san-ewr, red-eye)> I was Gold at the time and on 4 of those occasions, I wasn't upgraded until I had already boarded.

Thanks for all the valuable feedback.

However, I was very surprised yesterday when checking once again on CO for the cost of this roundtrip EWR-SAN-EWR onteh direct flights and times I wanted.....and instead of getting the usual $597 they had a fare of $295 !!!! Evidently, I booked it. Now we're all set.

I will be earning some good miles on the trip while still having the chance of a possible (very slim I know...) silver-upgrade.

The truth is I'm fine with not being upgraded... since we'll be with our 18 month daughter it's better to have everyone together on coach. In the remote case I get upgraded...will give my seat to my wife for her to check F service.

Thanks,

Postponer