Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades!
 

Simple question, really...

Which airlines/FF programs offer international upgrades using miles from any fare basis?

Thanks!


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Please visit The Mileage Runner's Toolkit and Unofficial United Airlines Guide

LH Miles and More

yes

* miles&more for flights with Lufthansa and the Austrian Airlines Groupe (Austrian, Lauda, Tyrolian)
* Qualiflyer for flights with Swissair, Crossair and partners

AA does.

The only fare basis not available is consolidators fares. All fares you can find yourself on any travel site or aa.com's low-price e-fares are upgradeable.

On AA I just booked a BIZ class -- $6,800 ish
but paid $402.20 and used miles.
Not so bad for DFW-LHR.


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TANSTAAFL - but if you work it right, FF miles comes pretty close.

KLM Flying Dutchman allows you to upgrade on any fare, too.

SAS EuroBonus also allowes upgrades on all fares though the upgrade is on a standby basis.

Well kids, it ain't Continental Airlines if you're looking for Transatlantic upgrades.

Wanna find out more?

If ya can't sleep at night and are looking for something to read, do a search for the word "HoKeY" in the Continental Forum, you'll find no less then 66 threads since 8/7/01!

US doesn't, but it comes pretty close. You can upgrade everything but its "e-saver" fares, which are the last-minute savings to special destinations. I recently travelled DCA-PHL-MAD roundtrip on a $340 (tax included) ticket and upgraded it just fine.

US is quite a "cheap" award, isn't it? 30K miles for transatlantic, if I read the program correctly?


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Please visit The Mileage Runner's Toolkit and Unofficial United Airlines Guide

Am I correct in saying any airline except BA?

No. Continental and United, at least, limited their upgrades to their highest fares only.

Air France only allows upgrades with miles from full fares (except for their great summer deals).

Be careful. US does not offer mileage upgrades for discount transatlantic fares. The lowest transatlantic upgradeable (with miles) fare is B-class and they usually run $1,200 or more per roundtrip. And those fares will still cost you 20k each way to upgrade. Full fare coach ($2,000+) and full fare business class fares can be upgraded for 10k each way.

As far as transatlantic coupon upgrading, US's elites (all three levels) are given 2 one-way confirmable in advance systemwide upgrade coupons. Top tier members get 2 additional for companion travel. These are good with any purchased fare except for the internet e-saver fares. There are some recent rumors on the US board that not all elites (those who qualified for the lowest level, under reduced miles/segment requirements) will get these systemwide coupons next year.

Sadly, no.

CO, NW, and DL really try to stick it to travelers, even their top-tier frequent fliers by gouging them with very expensive tickets for often merely the chance to upgrade. I've stopped flying NW because of this "enhancement" and have begun booking away from Delta.

UA is slightly more liberal but still has minimum fare requirements for mileage upgrades, none for 1K SWU upgrades.

AA really knows the score. You can upgrade any published fare on AA. It's a shame DL's bean-counting management doesn't understand this.



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