Upgrades
 

Need some of the experts help. Does Continental has any SWU like UA does. What options are there to upgrade and which fare codes can be upgraded. Basically whats the best way to be able to upgrade with a less expensive fare. Need to travel IAD-DEL but will consider EWR-DEL too. Thanks

Continental doesn't have SWU's.

If you want to try and upgrade from a coach ticket, there is a co-pay if the fare is neither H nor Y. For an H or Y, you can try and upgrade using miles: I believe it's 20,000 for an H fare to Europe and 10,000 for a Y. Flights to DEL are higher. Most people here suggest calling CO and finding a flight where you can upgrade from an H or Y before you purchase the ticket.

In my experience, international upgrades on CO are hard to come by. I suggest, if you have miles, to try Delta. This year, I have received an upgrade on 5 or 6 DL international flights. For an M or higher coach fare, there is no co-pay.

The final option is to search for discounted BusinessFirst tickets, which usually require a minimum stay including a Saturday night. These tickets can cost as little as 30% the standard BF fare. For example, here's a thread that talks about low-price BF fares to Hong Kong. A little searching may find competitively priced fares to DEL.

An H fare, $400 and a prayer :D.

:confused: No $400 with the H fare, surely?

(I fully agree about the prayer though!) :)

How would $400 and H fare work (and the prayer is for__)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

No co-pay on H fares except to HNL, where it is $200 each way IIRC.

As for how it works, you have to get lucky and find a flight with the u/g seat available and then book it and book the upgrade. Also worth checking as the X fare plus the $450 may be less than an H fare, though there is also the issue of the additional EQMs from the H ticket.

You can search online for flights with u/g availability. Just do EWR-DEL as the IAD-EWR flight is going to be on an ERJ where every seat is first class ;)

Hi, I am not sure where to look for flights with u/g availability. I only see y,h,k fare options. Would you please guide me a little. Thanks

"Upgrades" what?

Oh, "Does Continental has any SWU like UA does?"

gotcha. ;)

Come on now, lets not get rude. The poster is asking a question, NOT asking everyone's opinion of their own experience. In order to upgrade on CO you'll need to purchase either an H or Y fare and pay only miles (20,000 each way) or from any other coach fare you'll need to use those miles PLUS pay a fee : (K/M $200, N 300, B 350, O 350, V 400, U 400, All others 450). That is each way. So if the flights you're looking at have B fare outbound and M return it would be an additional $550 + 40,000 miles. As for finding out if there is availability, you can call CO-- or if you want an estimate of availabilty -- unlike UA you can view the seating chart when you are planning your trip. IE: without making an actual booking, plug in your dates, then look at the seating chart. CO's seating charts allow you to look at both the coach seating and Business First for your chosen flights. Thus if you see the BF area is very empty you 'may' have a better shot at upgrading, then if you see every seat is filled. (To be sure, this is an inexact science, as many times seats have not chosen in BF but have already been sold). You can also check on another site, such as AMEX where you can see how many 'fare codes' are available in each section--ideally 9 means lots of available seats. Also be aware CO may 'waitlist' you for BF if no seat is available for upgrade when you book. In that case, you may have to wait until a couple of days before your flight before finding out if you've gotten the upgrade. Now as far as booking the upgrade, if you are flexible and can look for flights that appear to have lots of BF seats available, you'll have a better chance. Don't let the previous posters discourage you. In my case, I have generally flown to Europe and or Asia on CO 3 or 4 times every year, and I have NEVER NOT gotten the BF upgrade. (Yes, that's right to all you naysayers:p). Most times, I've gotten them at booking, but the worst was within 1 week of departure --as in last Aug's trip EWR-ATH) But then again, I have been flexible when booking well in advance of my trip, and are travelling solo and will look for flights that seem to have the best chance of my snaring that upgrade. Good Luck and let us know how it goes:)

My experience on BF upgrades have also been good, I fly to europe or asia I'd say about 5 times a year and I can only think of one time in the last 5 years when I've not gotten an upgrade when I wanted it. Again, sometimes at booking, sometimes a few weeks before (waitlisted with elite status), and sometimes a few days before the flight.

My experience this year on a BF upgrade to Europe from an H fare is much better. Of the three flights I took with CO earlier this year, I received the upgrade on three international legs: once going over and twice coming back. The upgrade didn't clear until the last minute--in one case as I boarded in Newark.

A point of correction, the mileage deduction for a Y fare is less than that for an H. From North American to Europe, it's 20,000 for an H and 10,000 for a Y (each way); the requirement to Asia is 12,500 for a Y and 25,000 for an H (again, each way).

Does the S fare qualify for upgrade, if so how many miles and do you have to pay extra $'s too.

It looks like 'S' is considered "all other fares" therefore it would cost $450.00. http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...rade/fees.aspx + miles. http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...s/default.aspx each way.

You can get upgraded on CO????? ;)