I'd like some advice on the best way to upgrade from a coach "H" fare to business elite first and what exactly it will take to upgrade.

We are flying from TPA>IAH>HNL next April and have purchased H fare tickets on Continental.

As I understand it, it will take 17500 points + 200 per person each way to upgrade. Is this correct?

As it stands now there is no room for upgradeable seats on our flights or any others. I do not have any status with Continental.

Any other experiences would be a great help.

If there isn't room on your flights, you have your answers.

It's way too soon for upgrade seats to be available. For March I've managed to get seats in Oct.

The $$$ cost of the upgrade depends upon your status and could be as high as $350-$400 plus the 17500 miles.

I thought the web site says the upgrade cost is associated with the fare that you purchased, is this not correct?

Also the planes were wide open in first class, so it seems they haven't loaded the inventory for award seats yet.

if it's that far out they haven't released the inventory yet. if you call in and tell them you want to upgrade they will put you on the list. I think they take the miles immediately but don't charge the CC until you're confirmed.

i wouldn't worry about it.

and yes, $400 RT for H fare.

ok experts I'm totally confused now - I thought you could purchase any coach far and use your miles to upgrade? Are there rules on what coach fare you buy and an additional fee for using your miles to upgrade? oh my!! upgrading 101 please

This is not accurate. For BF upgrades the co-pay is determined solely by the fare class that the ticket is booked in (in the OP's case, H). For all BF itineraries other than HNL there is no co-pay for H, but there is for HNL and it is $200 each way (plus the miles, of course) as the OP has learned. With no status and no seats available I believe that the OP's only option is to call frequently and hope for seats to open up.

If you are flying on a flight marketed as BusinessFirst service then there is no minimum fare class that must be purchased, but you have the co-pay as described above.

If you are flying on a flight within or between the lower 48, Alaska and/or Canada and are not elite then you must purchase a Y, H, K, M, N, or B fare to be eligible to cash in a Series 0 upgrade award.

If you are flying on any other non-BF marketed flight then you are eligible for an upgrade from any fare purchased. So IAH-LIM could be upgraded from any fare, even though it is a 752, because it is not marketed as BF service and it is not within the Lower 48/AK/Canada. The upgrade to LIM would be 20K miles each way (10K from Y fare) and would be a Series 5 upgrade award.

All of this information really is contained on the CO web page that discusses upgrade awards, if you want/need more details.