MrAAUGA

Hi all,
long time reader, first time poster.

I could not find a thread about this so I decided to ask: How can I get my seats upgraded when booking when my company only pays the lowest fare (typically economy)?

I know it seems redundant as one would think only medallion status would offer this (I am DL Gold btw) but when I booked a prior trip to Taiwan, it auto upgraded me for a portion (TPE-NRT) and I am trying to figure out if that same logic can be applied to my whole trip.

I need to book a flight from either from SFO or SJC to SYD and then to SIN and back to either SFO or SJC. I usually have to book it through the Amex Business Travel center, but they are great about working with me to get certain fare classes or segments.

I do not care about length of trip (if I am in first lol) but I prefer to stay away from China Airlines (horrible trip with them before).

Any advice would help and I am 15k MQM away from Platinum

Thank you

GRALISTAIR

It cant be done using miles. You can only upgrade from a premium economy ticket and not a low fare economy ticket. sLUT fares as they are called with miles.

GRALISTAIR

You could get your company to buy a low fare and then call and upgrade yourself with money though.

hockeystl

These threads are almost daily. If there was ever one more topic that needs a sticky...

avidflyer

Fly another carrier. Delta requires very expensive YBM fares and a $250 change fee (I have got around this before but have also been told no way). No matter how you cut it, you will have to pay about $4000 for a shot at an upgrade on DL. You can straight up but Biz class on other carriers (and even DL) for that much if you hit a sale.

Bottom line: Delta is not a good airline for international upgrades (cheap).

GRALISTAIR

Suggest it to a moderator

Sez_Who

Welcome to FlyerTalk, MrAAUGA! ^

If it is literally the lowest fare, you probably can't upgrade without paying the difference in cost yourself. As for an upgrade using miles, here is what it will cost in miles if you have a qualifying fare....

http://www.delta.com/skymiles/use_mi...ards/index.jsp

Once you hit Plat, you will have an option to pick up four SWU's which can be applied toward your travel but again, you need to know the fare rules AND there needs to be qualifying inventory to apply them. Do a search on this site and you will see this is discussed frequently.

T.J. Bender

Two options right off the top of my head:

1. As GRALISTAIR suggested, some companies will let you book a J ticket so long as you also print out the lowest advertised fare at time of booking. They'll reimburse you for the low-fare price, and the (substantial) difference is on you.

2. If they won't let you book the J fare yourself, or if you're unable to do so, I'd recommend at least Economy Comfort. It costs considerably less than J, and on a trip of that length, your company may well be willing to entertain the idea. You'll also get a 50% discount on EC as a GM, and once you hit PM, it's free.

HongKonger

Also OP, as far as being "upgraded" on TPE-NRT, this was almost certainly an oversold flight on which you were upgraded to make space in Y for passengers that wouldn't otherwise have been able to be accommodated. I wouldn't count on this happening, especially on the longest segments. If anyone is that lucky on a long segment it will be a DM.

LGANightOwl

I'm not sure if this is an exception or the norm, but the one experience that I had was that on an oversold flight, after bumping the elites to BE, they start bumping non-elites who purchased Economy Comfort to BE as well. This happened to my elderly parents whom I decided to pay $160 per person for EC between JFK to NRT. Pleasant surprise indeed - they ended up in row 10, in BE, on a 14-hour flight in an old 747 (no AVOD).

So, OP, perhaps buying EC would give you a better chance for an upgrade?

JGfromOC

Another option is to print out the price of the lowest economy fare. Book your ticket at the lowest upgradeable fare and then use miles to upgrade (if you don't want to risk not getting the upgrade at the gate). This way your company can reimburse you for what they would have paid and then you're stuck with the balance - but at least this way you avoid the $250 change fee and have everything cleared up front.

That said, I've only ever done this on domestic flights in the U.S., so not sure how that all would work for an international flight.

avidflyer

The difference in lowest to upgradeable is typically $2500-$3000 more.

JGfromOC

Typically, yes...but you can get lucky sometimes - albeit, not often.

MrAAUGA

Thanks for all the help guys/gals... hopefully I can get lucky or just use my miles to upgrade segments

dcline414

I believe you can also book whatever fare your company policy allows (mine is cheapest available Y unless over 6 hours, then J is allowed), print the documentation for reimbursement, then cancel/rebook within 24 hours. That allows you to pay the full upgradeable/premium price out of pocket and be reimbursed what your company allows.