thijsseh

J to F saver ticket can be upgraded anytime, depending on availability of course. No time limit as on Y to J, hence my earlier assumption on your paid ticket.
From recent experience: on a AMS/DXB/CPT trip a few weeks ago: AMS/DXB was available a few weeks before the trip, so I took it. DXB/CPT became available the morning of departure from AMS. I called in and asked them to re-issue at the (lower) mileage rate for the through upgrade, which they did. The paid ticket was business saver. Excellent service from the call centre, the agent even phoned me back when the process was completed (she needed authorisation from a higher source to combine the upgrades). I called the AMS number but was connected to Dubai.

tboons

Thanks! Cos with the recent devaluation, paid J and miles upgrade to F seems like the best use of miles!

spaige

I was on the phone with EK yesterday with a different question but asked about J to F mileage upgrades. Agree, great customer service via phone. AA can be hit or miss.

I have SFO-DBX-MAA and as a new skywards member, I don't have status. I bought a business saver and on the web site it says "Sign up for auto miles upgrade" which I did for the DBX-MAA flight and it quoted 31K Miles. I transferred my AMEX points and deposited 39K miles

While on the phone, the agent told me that for a Business Saver ticket, the miles needed was 41K. I did buying the 2K miles for $60.00.

I doubt I will see the upgrade, but $60 was worth the gamble. I did find it odd that the site didn't reflect the actual miles needed.

thijsseh

Please be aware that the 'auto upgrade' feature is very unreliable. Best is to check Manage My Booking regularly for upgrade availability or even to phone in. And if you are not successful, try in the lounge in Dubai. The more 'effort' you put into an upgrade, the more likely you will get one.

spaige

Thank you for the tip! i will for sure.

spaige

I forgot to ask- The EK agent said that I would need to upgrade via where I booked this ticket. I did book this through AMEX Platinum travel- I wanted the 5x points.

Would any upgrade have to go through them? (even for using miles) I haven't had this ever being an issue on AA or BA. When I spoke with AMEX, the agent there said, they never deal with mileage upgrades.

I can't imagine making the cut, there are only 4 seats in first and I am sure I will be very happy in J.

thijsseh

No, miles upgrades are one of the few things you can do directly on a ‘third party’ booking (at least in my experience).
Most of the 777’s have 8 F seats (I don’t think they fly the new frames with 6 ‘game changer’ seats to MAA, but I could be wrong. It’s not entirely unusual to have empty F suites so you may be pleasantly surprised.

S.R

I'm going to assume MAA is similar in loads to HYD, where F demand is usually quite low. I am usually the only passenger or 1 of 2 people booked in F for flights to/from HYD. The cabin usually does end up going out full with op-ups though.

spaige

that's all great to hear! It is showing the 380 for the whole trip- at least for now!
I will let you know.

I appreciate the confirmation on the miles going through directly, I had never heard that before either-

DYKWIA

I did this recently. As soon as I'd booked the J flight I was able to upgrade to F using Skywards. Took about 30 seconds.

smoothlikebutta

I have an award J flight in two days, and I'm getting the dreaded "Unfortunately this segment cannot be upgraded" message trying to upgrade with miles. There are still open F seats for sale. Am I out of luck or is there any hope over the next 48 hours?

DYKWIA

Just keep trying. Then try at the airport or onboard.

thijsseh

Exactly! My experience is that if there are F seats for sale when you are at check in, ask for the upgrade and you will be given your new BP at the gate. Also tell the attendants at the lounge desk that you have asked for the upgrade, I have been called aside by them when leaving the lounge and given my new BP. By this time it is unlikely (but never impossible) that you will get a ‘regular’ upgrade. Alerts and auto upgrade seem to be cancelled at T-48 hours so you rely on the ‘seats available’ process.

Flymoreforless

At outstations, would it work to show up at the airport a day early (so let’s say the flight leaves at 8 pm, you show up at 5 pm the day before the flight and are in line with people who are leaving that day) to “check in” in order to get the upgrade early / be at the top of the list? Or can you only check in / ask for the upgrade at the airport same day?

slsgsoccer0201

Success story upgrading with miles from J to F at LHR this week. Had called a few days prior and was told that while most seats in F hadn’t sold, they weren’t able to upgrade more than 1 pax at that time. I was flying with my wife, so opted to hold out and wait to see if 2 seats opened up later.

Arrived at LHR about 3 hours prior to departure and asked the check in desk to see if upgrades were available. Given that LHR is outsourced to Menzies, the agent was able to add me to the list but said to check in at the lounge for a seat assignment.

Once I was through security and to the lounge, the EK lounge attendant informed me that seats still showed available, but they couldn’t confirm anything until 1 hour prior to departure. They said they would call me downstairs at the lounge if the upgrade cleared.

Sure enough, 1 hour until departure, I checked the Emirates app on my iPhone and noticed that our boarding pass had changed to F. Went downstairs and the agent seemed surprised, but was happy to print out our new boarding passes for F.

TLDR. Persistence pays off! Show up at the airport early, be kind to gate agents, sometimes things work out.