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Old Aug 21, 2017, 8:30 pm
  #1  
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Upgrade (non-medallion) on cheap fare class

I've been offered the opportunity to buy up to FC (good ol' FCM) many times but wondering - does fare class has an effect on this.

For example, will you be offered the ability to buy up to C+ or FC, even if you are on lower fare class (LUTX, NOT E)? I know that you need a higher fare class to buy a mileage UG, but what about the paid ones that offered at OLCI or on the app? The flight is to CUN and there appear to be many open FC and C+ seats.

(asking for a friend, BTW) TIA!
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Old Aug 21, 2017, 8:32 pm
  #2  
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Who knows? My best guess is that higher fare classes would get some priority or cheaper buy up prices.

You can always buy an upgrade by simply paying the fare difference. In principle, that should provide an upper bound on FCM offers, but there are some anomalies.

Last edited by MSPeconomist; Aug 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm Reason: Typo
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Old Aug 22, 2017, 5:09 pm
  #3  
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The ticket has already been purchased - I assume now it cannot be UG'd unless an OLCI offer pops up?
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Old Aug 22, 2017, 5:15 pm
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Originally Posted by curl
The ticket has already been purchased - I assume now it cannot be UG'd unless an OLCI offer pops up?
Depends. You will sometimes see an offer when viewing the reservation online (before check in), sometimes not. You will sometimes get an offer during check-in, sometimes not.
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Old Aug 22, 2017, 5:28 pm
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Also, does it ever offer by the segment or would it be for the whole trip or not at all? It looks like the difference for the whole trip (domestic and international) is only about $250 right now.

I wish we'd booked a fare class that was up-gradable with mileage but it was such a good deal I didn't look until after the fact. (I am traveling on same trip but on different PNR)
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Old Aug 22, 2017, 5:34 pm
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When I look at "my trips" on the app, there will nearly always be an upgrade offer, either for the entire trip "upgrade to first" or, if one or more segments are not available, "explore your seat options". Looking at seat map also brings up a price for first as the trip date comes closer...
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Old Aug 22, 2017, 7:01 pm
  #7  
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Originally Posted by curl
The ticket has already been purchased - I assume now it cannot be UG'd unless an OLCI offer pops up?
As I said above, you can always upgrade a (presumably not basic economy) ticket by simply paying the fare difference.
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 9:56 pm
  #8  
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I keep checking but he hasn't/isn't being offered an option to buy an upgrade. Will see at check-in tomorrow.
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 10:10 pm
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Originally Posted by curl
I keep checking but he hasn't/isn't being offered an option to buy an upgrade. Will see at check-in tomorrow.
As long as there are still seats available in F, you can always call and just pay the current fare difference between Y and F. Since the flight is this close, medallions have already been UG'd and there probably isn't any more discount F fares left but I don't know what flights your talking about so this could be wrong. If the app isn't showing an offer now than I doubt one will come up a check in (again, I could be wrong on this)
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 10:14 pm
  #10  
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While DL has been generally offering upgrade buy-up's on domestic flights these days, I have yet to see any on international routes. I doubt your lack of upgrade offers has anything to do with original booking class and is more likely due to the fact that this is an international flight.
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 10:23 pm
  #11  
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Originally Posted by MCO Flyer
As long as there are still seats available in F, you can always call and just pay the current fare difference between Y and F. Since the flight is this close, medallions have already been UG'd and there probably isn't any more discount F fares left but I don't know what flights your talking about so this could be wrong. If the app isn't showing an offer now than I doubt one will come up a check in (again, I could be wrong on this)
This is what I've been saying, but I suspect that the OP wants a really cheap upgrade.
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Old Aug 24, 2017, 10:31 pm
  #12  
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Actually, avoiding this path (calling) because I don't want to deal with calling them. Was hoping we could just do it through the app/site. But it turns out that he doesn't care that much about the UG - I thought it would be great for us to all sit together.
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Old Aug 25, 2017, 6:14 am
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Originally Posted by LBJ
While DL has been generally offering upgrade buy-up's on domestic flights these days, I have yet to see any on international routes. I doubt your lack of upgrade offers has anything to do with original booking class and is more likely due to the fact that this is an international flight.
I've received buy-up offers on TATL flights a couple of times in the past year or so. They were in the range of $800-900 each way, with the option to buy just one way.
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Old Aug 25, 2017, 7:25 am
  #14  
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He did get OLCI offers for both flights at checkin. $39 for C+ on domestic seg and $49/C+ or $99/FC on international seg.
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Old Aug 25, 2017, 7:43 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by CarmenOM
I've received buy-up offers on TATL flights a couple of times in the past year or so. They were in the range of $800-900 each way, with the option to buy just one way.
Was this prior to day of departure/check-in? We've seen a number of reports of offers at check-in, but I was referring to the on-going offers that are shown for domestic flights prior to check-in.
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