paterwdb

A couple of questions:
1. For two travelers who will be hoping to upgrade from J to F, is it better to have them on the same record, or separate? I would want them to upgrade only one of us if two seats aren't available. Would having two on the same record "skip" us both if only one seat is available?
2. If flying JFK-DXB-SEZ, will they process upgrades only per leg, or only if it could clear the whole way? Do I end up paying significantly more miles if I clear in JFK and then clear again (separately) in DXB?

thijsseh

1: If both passengers are on the same PNR, they can only be upgraded together. If you want to upgrade one person (when there is only one seat available) you will need to call in and they will split the booking. This is easily done, but you cannot do it yourself on line.

2. If only one leg is available, you can (obviously) only upgrade that leg. If you do it through manage my booking you can upgrade both legs together when they are available. That will cost significantly fewer miles than the sum of two separate upgrades. The numbers can be looked up on the website in the mileage calculator (it’s under ‘Loyalty’).
If you have secured one leg and the other one becomes available (before check in), you can call and ask to add the second upgrade and get charged the lower rate. If you obtain the second leg upgrade yourself on line, they cannot revert to the lower rate! The same applies for a check in (or on board) upgrade: you’ll be charged the rate ‘per leg’.

Brostman

Quick question about upgrading a 2 leg trip........... if an upgrade from J to F is not made available before the T-72 cut-off and the waitlist is deleted..... when checking in at the airport for the first leg of the trip, can the gate agent or lounge agent process an upgrade for both legs (assuming open seats are available on both segments), or do you have to wait until you arrive at the connecting city ( e.g. DXB) to get the upgrade processed for the second leg? If checking in for the flight online... is the online process set to allow you to upgrade yourself, or do you still need to wait until you get in front of a gate or lounge agent?

thijsseh

The check in agent (or sometimes the lounge agent) can only upgrade the leg that starts at the city where he / she is located (although once a check in agent asked Mrs t if she also wanted to be upgraded for the second leg but she already had done that herself earlier).
And as generally this will be in the T-48 (or T-72, it seems to differ) timeframe, you would not be able to do it yourself on line. But phoning the call centre might work.

houstr8male

Party of 2 traveling JFK-MXP on a business saver fare. Flight is within 2 weeks. Checking daily for miles upgrade availability but nothing so far. 8/14 F seats unassigned. Are there time restrictions on miles upgrades for business saver fares? I think I read only at airport or only during check in?? Is that accurate or is it possible the mileage upgrades for 2 pax will become available online before check in opens? Should I call or just keep looking in MMB? Alert is set to on but I am not sure if this is as unreliable as the auto upgrade feature. I know auto upgrade did not work on a recent DXB-AMS trip.

thijsseh

Business saver fares can be upgraded any time there is availability, so just keep on watching MMB. You can also phone in and ask and as you correctly say there is the check-in and even the on board upgrade. In my experience, alert is more reliable than auto upgrade, but not 100% so.

TheUrbanite

Slightly awkward one, would appreciate advice from anyone with experience. I have a business class redemption from Singapore - Dubai - London Gatwick.

I'd like to change the second leg from Dubai to Heathrow and upgrade that leg only to F. There is F availability on the flight I'm after.

Is it possible to change the destination and upgrade the second leg, without having to rebook the first leg as well (no additional availability for the first leg).

Have tried MMB and the call centre - who said no but I'm not convinced it's impossible as I have changed destinations on two leg flights in the past.

Brostman

Just one data point.... but recently I changed an award originally booked as SIN-DXB-LHR to SIN-DXB-ORD with no issue. However, both itineraries were in F, so there was no class change involved. I also did the same with a J award for the same flights, but again with no class change involved. I would try calling again until you get an agent that gets it. Maybe put it to the agent in this context.... step 1 is changing your award for the destination change (which I am presuming has J award availability) and then step 2 is upgrading the DXB-LHR segment to F. Maybe the lightbulb will click for the agent then. Good luck

TheUrbanite

Thank you kindly for the advice. I called them to just ask for a destination change, but again the agent is saying no availability is showing.

The issue appears to be agents are looking for Singapore to LHR as a through journey and drawing a blank, because the Singapore to Dubai leg has no J availability. They can’t seem to only change the second leg - and there is J availability on the flight I want change to Dubai to LHR.

Will keep trying!

paterwdb

I have a Business Saver seat (booked with miles) IAH-DXB-SEZ and return the same, 196,000 miles used plus taxes and fees.
When I go to set auto-upgrade for J to F (since there is no availability) it lists the segments separately and I had to set all four legs for auto upgrade. However, it lists the miles required as 106,470 for the IAH-DXB leg and 45,630 for the DXB-SEZ leg, both ways.
Am I missing something or is this a glitch?

thijsseh

Those are the correct mileage requirements for those sectors. IAH/SEZ when upgraded as a ‘through’ upgrade would be 106470 but the sum of upgrades for the individual sectors is as above. When you use auto upgrade (which is unreliable), you can only do this sector by sector. The best way is to just set alerts and in addition check regularly on MMB if upgrades become available. In the - somewhat unlikely - case that two sectors become available at the same time, you can upgrade them together and get the lower rate.

Traveler Dave

Newbie here….what is MMB?

Thanks
TD

Traveler Dave

Never mind. Found it…Manage My Booking.

thijsseh

Sorry: Manage My Booking. On the EK website.

Traveler Dave

Last night a points upgrade became available for the LAX-DXB leg of our trip. Once I upgraded myself it went back to no availability. My wife, daughter and I are on three separate booking numbers. Hoping to get the last two to clear before we take-off.

Off-topic question…if no other seats open up can my wife sit in my first class seat and I in her business class seat next to my daughter? I should have upgraded my wife first. Happy wife, happy life!

Thanks
TD