It's no good for elites, but it could make it more popular for the majority who way outnumber and outspend them. On the other hand, most passsengers probably won't even be aware of it.

Well, let's look at who's going to have sufficient miles to upgrade, and have the foresight to use such a feature. You'll probably find 90% of the users of the auto-upgrade feature are Silver+.

I'm not really sure which method would be best. As Gold I of course would like it to be status-based, however I do also think there is something to be said for FIFO. Revenue-wise lowest-fare first makes sense.

How great would it be if it automatically upgraded for the combined miles amount and not the miles cost of the two individual sectors? I am guessing this will not be the case.

I'll let them upgrade then I'll do a re-calculation and refund.

Please let us know how that goes. A test case would go a long way to convincing me that it might work.

And is this on the app as well? I can't find the feature. The app is very nice and so
I hardly ever go on the website.

It doesn't appear on my IPad app yet it DOES show on my android phone app. Weird.

I saw this on the website interface only. i noticed they charge more miles for the upgrade than usual. When i booked my business saver KWI/DXB/LHR/DXB/KWI it said 43500 for upgrade to first. When i looked on the website i was offered 11200 the usual from KWI to DXB on Saver however DXB/LHR was 39000!

are you saying they charge more for auto upgrade than a normal upgrade?

If so I need to cancel every auto upgrade I have!

I think it's a case of comparing apples and pears. The post doesn't state clearly enough what sectors are quotes at that cost so we can't really draw a conclusion.

It sounds perhaps as if the individual leg miles are quoted on the website when you see the auto upgrade requirements, as opposed to the reduced rate for two legs.

Would they actually charge the higher amount in practice?

I would imagine the auto upgrade works in a per leg basis. Also as both legs might not be upgraded simultaneously as inventory may not open up at the same time exactly. I'd hope that they refund the difference if one calls.

Following up on this, does anyone have a direct experience of what happens in this situation?

I can currently upgrade the shorter of two return segments on a booking - it's the longer one that I want to auto-upgrade. I could upgrade the shorter segment and keep my fingers crossed for the longer one, but the shorter segment alone is a waste of miles.

If no one else has experience of this, I'll report back if/when it happens for me.

Have the return from MRU next week on auto upgrade and waitlisted - will let you know.

Customer service rep says both auto upgrades have to be done in a single transaction in order for the lower mileage requirement to apply. If sectors are upgraded at different times even if minutes apart then higher mileage (sum of miles required per sector would apply)

To me, this means that auto upgrade only worthwhile if upgrading only one sector.

I'm considering cancelling the auto-upgrade for both sectors but I wonder what would be the best way to improve my chances of upgrading the both sectors. I'm Gold if that helps any.

Keep the auto upgrade and call in to have them cancel and reupgrade on lower mileage. Or at least upgrade one sector then cancel 2nd auto upgrade and when it becomes available call in to upgrade for difference in miles

Reviving this thread as I'm interested to know if anyone has had first hand experience of the auto-upgrade feature.

One would assume (gotta love that word!) that the auto-upgrade would deduct points per the fare type / route flown. Therefore, the traveller would reap the benefits of a full-points upgrade - i.e. CD pick-up / drop-off + lounge access.

This differs of course to the emails offering reduced points upgrades with reduced benefits.

Anyone?

I would also be interested to know whether they will refund the difference. I have booked a LHR-NAI return in J and have managed to upgrade the DXB-NAI and NAI-DXB sectors (probably the most important as this route is 777). There is currently no availability for upgrades on the DXB-LHR sectors and I have an auto-upgrade request in (won't be too fed up to be in J on the 380 if it comes to that though).

Further observation that doesn't seem to have been mentioned upthread - auto-upgrade is not applicable on ex-UK sectors, where a little explanation appears to say that 'auto upgrade is not available for taxable sectors'. Is the UK the only place for EK where upgrades also have a cash cost for tax?

It's never worked for me this - currently on this for a flight from LGW in 2 weeks - empty in F and very quiet in J.

The theme is EK don't want people to use miles anymore....

Heavily agree , really noticed a change from trying to extort your miles to now trying to get you to wait until you are at the gate before the even consider doing a upgrade with miles. This obviously allows them to now try and squeeze every bit of opportunity to try get pax with cash to cash in on a upgrade which = profit. :rolleyes:

EK also will not have to pay for the chauffeur drive or the lounge in some cases this way.

Have you checked (or are you checking) availability via Expert Flyer? Maybe the 'auto upgrade' feature has a different trigger point than just 'upgrade availability'? Or there is a bug in the system?

I am waiting for an upgrade on a DXB/AMS leg. And to try to understand how they release these, I have set a number of alerts on EF. Apart from a few days, where the upgrades were available up to 30 days before departure, they are all released 4 days before. And there is a clear correlation with the seat map (which is not that surprising as most F travellers will book their seat at the time they book the trip).
On cue: the alert for F award availability on 31/3 has just come in!

I had auto upgrade on for 10/4 flight - didn't work - EF didnt advise me at all and I checked this am and there were 2 seats for me to upgrade to F.

EF is really lagging - used to be good - no longer do I trust it as much. Auto -upgrade is a waste of time - has anyone seen it work?

It's sounds like it's as much use as the Upgrade Availability Notifications that didn't work when I tried.

J to F upgrades from the UK should be OK as there's no extra tax, but for Y to J then the extra tax comes in to play. However, I've paid this at the airport in the past and this could be done with auto-upgrade if the will was there.

This post from a few years ago indicates another couple of countries where this might happen.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/emira...l#post23446354

I have had a result on auto upgrade on 435 Bne-Dxb on 6/4- economy flex up to J- applied on 21/3 and notified on 23/3 that successful

Yes - still the case in Pakistan.

Auto-upgrades do work - don't confuse seat availability in general with upgrade availability (I believe advance ones come from the saver award bucket).

(As a bonus I once had a misconnect on one award, the miles were refunded but I was rebooked into the upgraded class.)

First time actually using the auto upgrade function and I have a question that I hope someone will be able to answer. Currently stuck in Y on the BKK-DXB-CPT (13/07) sector. Not going to spend the miles ( open for upgrade using miles) on the BKK-DXB sector as I'm wanting the DXB-CPT ideally. Does the auto upgrade function only last until online check in or is it more when i actually show up at the airport/ boarding gate.

Got a feeling EK waiting until the last minute so they don't have to fork out a CD reservation for me, wish they would just open seats up for upgrade for J as there is plenty of seats and Y oversold as well it looks ....

You are not specifying whether you are on 770 or 778, but looking at ExpertFlyer: They are still selling Y seats on both, but 770 is Y4 (all the way up to B4) and 778 is Y9. For both flights, it is J7 C7, but looking at the seat map they are overbooking quite heavily as all seats are taken (with exception of the blocked seats that are always there).
You probably know as well as I do that upgrade awards on the DXB/CPT sector are quite rare. So my guess is that there will be no upgrades. I can't answer your question about the auto upgrade, it's an answer I would be interested in!
As F availability seems to be ok (especially on 778), there might be some lucky Flex+ ticket holders in J who get an op up.

Based on this post it's EK770

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28532677-post111.html

Thanks for the updated flight load via EF , been doing dummy bookings all day to get a indication of loads( EK will sell me 7 J tickets ) . You are correct it is EK770. I tried to get a answer via live chat with various agents and all of them actually couldn't give me a solid answer in regards to the auto upgrade question above , I did not call as I didn't wanna get hammered with international calling fees. This is the one time I really would like to get out of Y due to a mother in law from hell in tow !

Sadly cannot not justify the 22 thousand rand price tag for a paid upgrade.

Where are you calling from? In SA just dial 0860 123 155, most counties have a local number, and then there's always Skype.

Thailand , on a Island called Koh Samet. Tried using the telephones in the hotel and they have terribly bad line not to mention the wifi is about 2mb/s. Will try when back on the mainland which is actually the day of departure.

Leaving the MIL in Y, right?

Hopefully yes , but she will be with her daughter aka my wife.

Wouldn't it be better for marital harmony to let the MIL set in J and you and wifey sit in Y?

Well if I was only traveling with the wife/family then I wouldn't consider upgrading myself with cash/miles unless all can join me up top. My wife is fine being left with the MILFH ( Mother In law from hell ;) ) and I did say if a op-up/upgrade with miles or cheeky cash upgarde pops up I'm taking it as we all know we both don't do well in closed compact spaces together for long or short periods of time. So sitting side to side isn't gunna be ideal so to say 😂. 2J seats left on EK770 so very very unlikely, sadly.

On a side note i have discovered and thus answered my question above about how long the auto-upgarde offers extends to. The answer is 72hrs before your flight departs ,then the auto-upgarde feature is disabled.

Has anyone actually been upgraded using this in advance of their flight ie before check in?

Never, i reckon it is also a cheeky way to gauge how many people want upgrade and might be swayed with cash offers first ?