Hi all

I am planning a trip to Bangkok in Feb. I am gold and will be flying in J. I can fly from man, bhx or Lhr. I will be travelling with a colleague in j but he isn't gold but I will be making for both the bookings and will be under same ticket reference.

How can I plan this trip to ensure good chances of op up to F? I am trying to book A380 dbx-bkk and also man/Lhr-dbx if flying that sector. How would you guys recommend?

Thanks

Op-ups only occur when there is an operational reason for it. This is due to overbooking (in your case) of J. So in other words, your chances are higher when the flight is nearly full.

What you can do is to 'predict' if a flight is becoming full. You can see the status of the flight(s) already today when you look in eg Expertflyer.

Thanks for this. Have checked experts lyre but can't make heads or tails of what I am looking for!

For e.g ek419 on 4th March bkk-bhx in business class showing unvailable but economy is? As skywards gold I presume I will get guaranteed seat availability in J? Or will I get op-up to first?

I was looking at the A380 in J but after all the cracks issues I will stick to their Boeing planes!!

Please advise

You mit have a betterr chance of getting an OPUP without your colleague if you put the colleague on a different PNR.

Actually my experience with 2 people travelling on the one PNR was the opposite in the sense that both of us were upgraded. One was Gold and one was Silver.

I would not split PNR's. If the load controller working the flight needs to move some folks from Y-J, and then J-F, he/she is more likely to pull 2 at once, rather than having to split the booking (ie move you, and leave your colleague where he is).

The proportion of Golds being op-upped from J-F is far less than people from Y-J, so set your expectations low. As far as we can all tell, op-ups happen according to status and then alphabetically (my last name starts with a C) but my rate of op-ups out of SIN is far higher than anywhere else (makes sense, given that you get to know the staff, develop a relationship etc).

We keep being told that EK are going to implement a formula for determining upgrades, (which is based on criteria such as fare basis, status, customer score, etc etc) but no further news as yet.

I'm afraid EK's op-up policy is anything but transparent and consistent as you would hope. Good luck. Let us know how you go...

Good thing is now I am going alone. I would like to try the first suite but can't afford the first fare and don't have enough miles to upgrade.

Only thing going is that I am gold! I have checked expert flyer but can't make any sense of flights from Dubai - bangkok return (as no first bhx-Dbx). Which flights leaving 21/22nd feb and return 3/4th march can give me best chance of op-up to first?

I was looking at ek419 as it has the first suite and onward journey to Sydney means could be overbooked.

Any thoughts?

EK418/419 is often not bookable to BKK as EK want to fill it to SYD if not CHC and similar on the return. If it is bookable the price is often increased from other BKK flights from DXB.

Guaranteed seat means nothing according to previous posters on here as there are too many hoops to jump through.

[QUOTE=mchaudry2;17856628]I was looking at the A380 in J but after all the cracks issues I will stick to their Boeing planes[/QUOTE

FYI Dubai to Bangkok in J is available on 418 but not on the way back on 419.

I don't see why not choosing a certain type of plane constitutes being a "prat". In this current climate you are just a number and a statistic and have a value put on your head based on a formula for insurance purposes!

So if you are comfortable flying on a380 please do so but I don't see use of that language as appropriate.

Making a decision such as this based on the facts currently available makes no sense. As such the "language" (extremely tame actually and moderated due to where we are) was appropriate.

My apologies if it offended you as it seems to, but I had just been reading in the TravelBuzz section where there are similar inane posts and you caught the rebound.

My first op-up occurred when I was travelling with my 2 kids (one 15 and one 11 I was gold and they were silvers. All 3 of us went from Y to J in a single swoop!

Thought I wandered on to the BA forum for a minute. Let's keep it civilised