aspenedelen

I booked a flight on DL Points from SFO to CDG onto MLE in business which leaves on Oct 30th. Is there any way to upgrade via cash or DL Points into LaPremiere?

I did call the Plat desk and I was quoted $10k upgrade charge which I find a tad extreme.

Any help would be much appreciated

MSPeconomist

It's easy to imagine that the price difference between a La Premiere ticket on your itinerary and the lowest applicable business class fare would be $10,000.

KDCAflyer

Yeah. Air France charges and gets top dollar for La Premiere, especially on popular routes. There's a reason why they've made it almost impossible to book with miles.

aspenedelen

This makes sense now. Appreciate the advice

aspenedelen

It is what it is sometimes. This time I guess is one of those times.

Appreciate the reply though. It looks like I'll stay in business

obscure2k

Upgrade for cash at check in would be more likely, if available, if you were not on award ticket. La Premiere is a great product & folks are wiling to pay for it. On the 777 there are only 4 seats up front.

Duke787

You can only book La Premiere with AF miles and they just raised the requirement so that only FB Gold or Platinum can book with miles and even then it'll run 220k+

You are better off getting La Premiere with cash by watching the Premium MR forum

JohnFortWorth

I’ve been offered a reasonable buy up during OLCI ($900) to La Premiere from paid business on a weekend A380 flight. It was an amazing flight, and certainly one of the best first class products out there. With only 4 seats on a 777, however, I’d be surprised if they offered a buy up unless the cabin was just empty that flight. I’d also be surprised to see them offer a buy up on a redemption ticket, but you never know. Check in online at the earliest opportunity and see if they make an offer.

TheHorta

La Premiere in the 777 *crushes* La Premiere in the A380. The experience is much nicer in the 777, whereas it feels more like glorified J in the A380.

DLATL777

The A380 product isnt even CLOSE in comparison. Very little privacy, a large number of seats, etc. Its not even the same product, not even close. Almost no one pays for AF F on the A380 hence why upgrades are usually available with cash. Forget it on the 777. Want it, buy it, and honestly thats the way it should be.

Beat me to it-exactly. Not even close!

MSPeconomist

I remember the elite requirement in the past for La Premiere award tickets (using AF miles of course) as it prevents people from transferring credit card miles for this purpose. Maybe they rescinded it and then decided to put it back in place?

BTW, people with AF tickets are sometimes offered the opportunity (through the AF app followed by a phone call IIRC) to "buy up" to La Premiere ground handling (check in , lounge, etc.) when flying AF business class. The prices I've heard mentioned sound expensive, even if one figures that a Michelin starred meal is included.

ijgordon

This is a standard program, I don't think they "offer" the opportunity to anyone, but you can ask. It's based on availability, and ONLY if you are in business class on a flight that doesn't offer first class. Something like €350. There is a lot more info on this program in the Air France forum, natch. I would just add that if you're on something like SFO-CDG-MLE in J, and even if CDG-MLE doesn't offer F but SFO-CDG does, you still won't qualify for the ground service.

As for the upgrade into actual La Premiere, there's a reasonable chance one will be emailed an upgrade offer a few days before departure; I would expect on the order of $1500-2000 per segment. You can also ask at the airport. Again, there's an upgrade thread in the AF forum.

Lastly, there are potential drawbacks of the 77W cabin. I haven't been on the A380 to compare pros and cons of each, but 77W isn't total nirvana. As such a small cabin, it can be quite claustrophobic, especially when the curtain is closed. YMMV of course. Also, there are no center overhead bins; if you're in the center seats, you need to use the bins over the window seat, but the problem is they're blocked if the curtain is closed. Of course there's room for a carryon under the ottoman, but it could get a bit awkward if you need to go into the overhead. Lastly, I didn't find the seat particularly comfortable as a seat, my back wasn't pleased for some reason given the angles or curvature or something. YMMV again of course. But it was probably the most comfortable bed in the sky.

MSPeconomist

I'm aware of the threads on this in the AF forum, which is why I decided to just say "sometimes" in my post and not get into the details.

flyerCO

Upgrades at least DoD are always available for set X price depending on route. I remember CDG-PVG was around $1500. Early this year.