refjohn1

Quick question. If I spot an upgrade at 24 hours on a saver fare but am short a few miles - if I purchase the difference will they post immediately or should I buy in advance?

Also - has anyone spotted a correlation between Flex Awards available in advance and the Saver Awards at 24 hours - at the moment with circa 72 hours to go Expert Flyer shows 7 Flex Awards on the flight and there are 4 of us. Should I even think we have a chance of an upgrade?

m3red

You need d class availability for upgrades which is the saver bucket and nothing to do with flex rewards. You upgrade saver or flex tickets to d class.

And miles post instantly so no need to waste your money if d class isn't available.

refjohn1

Thx m3red - key as you say is that the miles post instantly. Not overly worried as we will have miles for the trip home once the mileage for the outbound posts.

edy4eva

Depending on the route, if it's long haul or ULH then very little chances using miles right up to check in. It appears that availability in D going up to 7 is more of an oddity than the norm

With op-ups if all of you're all on the same booking then forget about it altogether.

But here's a trick to actually go in J. Purchase the miles you need now. Once you board the aircraft tell the flight attendant that you'd like to upgrade. They'll come around and if there are 4 vacant seats in J, they'll process the upgrade from your account on the fly.

m3red

Note upgrade on board is only available to plat gold and silver

mrtdxb

And you need your Skywards card in hand too I believe?

edy4eva

A screenshot of it (or the temp card off the website) on your phone will suffice.

refjohn1

Have just hit silver and have a printout of card - unless it miraculously appears with 48 hours. Thx all for help - let's see if any space now.

DYKWIA

Can I upgrade 2 of us on board, if only one is Silver? All the points would be from my account.

Cheers

eternaltransit

Yes, if the person whose account the miles are coming from is Silver or above (and you have the card etc. etc.) and the purser is okay with it, which is usually always.

DYKWIA

Ta. I might try and get into F on my flight back to MAN in a couple of months. Assuming the Home Office manage to process my missus's passport by then

evilbrian

I usually buy J seats outright, or upgrade using miles a week or two before the flight, but if I was travelling on a Y saver fare and was on an A380, and I boarded the aircraft through the Y door, how would I get to the upper deck if the purser allowed me to upgrade on board? Is there an internal staircase that the public can use, or would they send me back down the airbridge to walk to the upper deck from the airbridge entrance. Just curious.

jackiedada

There is a staircase both at the front and rear of the a/c. The staircase at the front of the a/c is the one from where they will send you up to the upper deck.

ukdoctor

Same day appointment is the way to do it. I think it was an extra £40 or £50 but got it in an hour and a bit but its worth it.The best bit is that anyone can apply for you as long as the passport holder is physically present in the UK at the time of application.

ft101

Only done it once, but I went up the back staircase and through the J galley.

I'd been sitting towards the back of Y, so that route was probably more convenient.