How do Upgrade Coupons Work?
 

I’m new to LATAM Pass and have a few questions about using upgrade coupons. I know you can’t apply these until 48 Hours before departure time.

1. Can you apply these Upgrade Coupons online, or do you have to call LATAM?
2. How much time does it take for the Upgrade to clear? If I’m a Black Elite member and there’s no other bidders, does the Upgrade instantly clear? Or do Upgrades not clear until day of departure, etc?

Thanks,

I thought their site outlines it pretty clearly: https://latampass.latam.com/en_us/cabin-upgrade

Technically speaking, the process couldn‘t be easier. After checking-in 48 hours before your flight (mostly, this is an automated process these days), the upgrade option opens up immediately for the same trip, provided that your fare bucket qualifies. Make sure you make your coupon bid quickly, so that you stay ahead of your tier peers to enhance your chances. You can monitor your position and the number of bidders at all times.

Confirmation of the upgrade at the earliest happens twelve hours before scheduled departure.

I have recently (actually this week) had two very different upgrade experiences: my SCL - LIM flight cleared at -12, whereas my LIM - MAD upgrade yesterday was literally confirmed minutes before the boarding started.

Apart from load aspects, it seems to me that intercontinental flights are more prone to confirmation upon boarding, as the airline waits for last minute customers or paid upgrades before dishing out the ones against coupon.

It may be that Black Signature enjoy somewhat speedier confirmations, but I am not sure, because you can no longer see, which and how many people on the upgrade list have cleared.

Since there's no dedicated thread for the current new LATAM status match for US residents, I matched my AA Platinum to LATAM Platinum successfully. Match submitted 8/23 in the early afternoon, and approved by Status Match same day about 6 hours later. Status now reflected in my LATAM account this morning 8/26. I see the 6 upgrade coupons for me and my companion also reflected in my account :)

In the app you can see your place on the upgrade list though there was issue with it this week when I was first on the list and 1 hour prior to the flight it said upgrade not received even though there were 9 seats available in business. I asked the gate agent and gave me the upgrade but I noticed the seat behind me was empty even though there were many people on the upgrade list.

The UPG process seems quite buggy

The other day I bid on an upgrade for a domestic flight. 1 Hour before boarding then I got the email that I got the upgrade, but when I tried to get the new boarding pass from the app I got an error

I went to the gate agent and found that somehow my check-in was cancelled and my old boarding pass didn't scan successfully. They told me to board anyways and asked me to seat on the row before Premium Economy. I guess they radioed field services to check me manually.

After the door closed, a crew member invited me to seat on Premium Economy. A happy ending after all

New to LATAM black status through the recent status match challenge - if my husband and I are both LATAM black now, and we have a reservation with 6 people, including us, should I contact LATAM to break up our reservation into 3 PNRs (my husband + a no LATAM status passenger, me + a no LATAM status passenger, 2 no LATAM status passengers) to maximize our chance of at least some of us getting upgraded? It doesn't say explicitly in the T&C, but I think it only allows one complimentary 'companion' upgrade per status member? We would honestly be happy to pay for the upgrade (and in fact have bids in place), but it sounds like LATAM black upgrades trump bid upgrades, so we would like to improve our changes. Thanks!

It doesn't matter if they are in the same PNR or not, you can ask for an Upgrade for your companion as long as both of you are on the same flight

At the time of applying for an Upgrade you can select if you want to also add a companion within your same reservation or enter the info from another PNR.

For flights within South America you have 4 coupons per year for your companions, you can have more than 1 companion on the same flight using those. For flights outside South America you have 8 coupons that you share with your companions.

Thank you Semphyra - this is very helpful!

This probably means that award flights issued by e.g. British Airways do not qualify? Any recent experience on that?

Yes, coupons only work on LA operated flights and under LA flight number.

Upgrades on partner airlines must be purchased with miles, but personally, I have no experience if and how this works. I doubt that the prices are attractive though, especially since LA is not a member of any alliance for the time being.

That is good to know. So you have 8 coupons per year for longhaul outside of S. America (e.g. GRU-U.S. or GRU-EU)?

The flight I'm talking about (LIM-AEP) is an LA flight number, operated by LA. But the ticket has been issued by BA (with Avios).

If I could upgrade it with the coupons from Black status, I might think about doing the LATAM Status Match. But not sure if it's possible with Award tickets

Yes, for Black https://latampass.latam.com/en_us/cabin-upgrade


Probably not, unless the ticket was issued with a LATAM farebasis

Yep 100% correct

I am flying domestic LATAM in Brazil in coach today. I am LATAM BLACK, and have unlimited cabin upgrade. I apply for upgrade online yesterday. Website showing I am at #3 in line, with first 2 being LATAM BLACK Signature. The website says I would be notified. Up until boarding time, no notification from LATAM website (upgrade success or fail). Upon door closing, there are at least 3 empty seats (not middle seats) in Premium economy cabin. I checked LATAM website, it said my upgrade was "not received". So what's the deal?

That appears to be true. I have two LATAM bookings, one issued by BA, the other by AS. It's an LA flight number and LA operated (issued by AS), but the website still doesn't allow any upgrade.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...228c7d433c.png


It's giving a "wrong" reason though, since marketing carrier isn't the issue - ticket issuer is.

At least seat reservation is working, and the website is already showing 2x 23 kg instead of just 1x 23 kg bag allowance.

Unsure if this has been asked before, but thought I'd ask: how do upgrades work for LA 800 from SYD to SCL? In particular there is a "connection" in AKL. Would I need to apply two coupons per pax for each of these flights or will one cover the whole thing? Additionally, which would have a better probability of the upgrade clearing: LA800 from SYD or LA 804 from MEL? I am planning on purchasing the Full LATAM fare since on a Oneway it's only about $100 USD more and gives me free upgrades and changes.

Technically they are correct. The flight is marketed and operated by LATAM Airlines Peru instead of just LATAM. This is also a concern I have as a LATAM Black booking flights to Brazil (and onwards from there) since most are operated by LATAM Airlines Brasil.

I understand your point, but I wouldn't think that this is the real issue. The vouchers wouldn't make much sense if they are only for flights from/to Chile?

It's using Flight Segments, so as long as you have in your reservation the flight SYD-SCL 1 coupon is used for both legs. Also that means that your upgrade will be cleared as long as there is space on the AKL-SCL leg.

Not really sure which one is best today, but I'd guess the flight from Sydney since it has more flights per week


It doesn't really matter. A couple of years after the merger of LAN and TAM the subsidiary was an issue due to different systems and processes.

Upgrading on LATAM when ticket issued by another airline
 

Trying to upgrade using coupons on a flight segment marketed & operated by LATAM. But the ticket was issued by Delta (first segment is on Delta). So, website does not allow me to request upgrade...

Thanks for the data point. Appears to be the same issue as with my AS-issued ticket above. Not possible, unfortunately

Good news: messaged LATAM on X, and they were able to submit the upgrade request, even though the website does not allow it.

Bad news: just checked the upgrade list and (possibly because of the current status match promo) it seems clear you really need to be Black Signature to have a realistic shot at an upgrade...

One thing I hadn't realized: if you have a LATAM credit card, then you receive higher upgrade priority than all the others in your same elite tier who don't have one.

which route?
I am thinking about if routing through ATL will have a better chance than MIA for Black to receive an upgrade

In addition to restrictions that the ticket be on LA ticket-stock (and LA-marketed, and LA-operated), it would seem there are some restrictions on fare family or fare class?

I priced out a hypothetical LHR-GRU trip, and a LIM-CUZ trip.

LHR-GRU has Light, Standard, and Full.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...76b81d1597.png

LIM-CUZ has Basic, Light, and Full.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d96ba325b7.png

There's no reference to "Plus" or "Top." Perhaps this is a difference in translation?

My best guess is: they're saying their version of Basic Economy is not upgrade-eligible. For LHR-GRU, that's called "Light" (Blue). For LIM-CUZ, that's called "Basic" (also Blue). In which case, their naming convention is really quite confusing. :(

Or: they're still saying Basic Economy is not upgrade-eligible, but it's not even offered on LHR-GRU. Light is some type of 'standard,' non-Basic fare. On LHR-GRU, it's the lowest possible, and on LIM-CUZ, it's the second-lowest possible. In which case, their naming convention is more logical.

Anyone have any ideas?

I'm pretty sure that Plus and Top would be equivalent to Standard and Full. There is also an exception mentioned that the upgrades can be for Light on domestic or intra-South America fares (on tickets issued on or after May 4th 2023).

it is shown in the fare class column: "Request for UPG with segments" that allows you to request an upgrade.

As mentioned, I thought so too. But I couldn't be sure. In an ideal world, a carrier might make this more clear so their potential passengers aren't left guessing. And while it might not be too difficult for an astute passenger to divine LATAM's true meaning, it would be far easier for a diligent LATAM employee to just fix their own website. :)

Could you offer a link to the exception for light fares on domestic or intra-South America fares? I couldn't find it on the LATAM site, nor benefits webpage (relevant section reproduced below).

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...1953e659d9.png

As Yollow said, just make sure that the fare you select is marked as UPG eligible. If you have already purchased a ticket, you can check its eligibility on the My Trips page. If it's not, you will see a message instead of the countdown to the check-in window opening

The detail for Light fare eligibity is on the website in Spanish.

https://latampass.latam.com/es_pe/be...os-socio-elite : https://latampass.latam.com/es_pe/upgrade-de-cabina

Ah, thank you. I should have remembered to check the native-language version of an airline's website.

Do you have to have paid for your flight with said credit card, or simply owning it is sufficient?

Just owning it

Does anyone know how this works if the first flight is on Delta, but issued on LA stock?
Like 48hr checkin (or any checkin?) wont be possible, how does one apply for a segment upgrade?

I checked LATAM website in Brazil, it says it's not possible. Big bummer if issued as LA Flight

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...12758702b4.png

That means if you are flying DL metal. I think the question was if you have DL + LATAM metal flight (e.g. ATL-MIA in DL and then MIA-SCL in LA).

Indeed.
It looks promising however, as applying upgrade coupons seems independent of checking in.
all my 4 LA flights in the itinerary are listed as window opening 48hrs before each flight, Delta flights just say not eligible as expected