I was wondering....is it possible to get an upgrade with miles when you check-in at the airport? Or does it always have to be done in advance?

On United it's possible, if there is a seat still available.

Why would you want to wait until then, though? If you want to upgrade and have the miles, I'd suggest you do it early before the seats go to others.

What happens if it's an international flight and you don't have an H fare? Would agents extend that courtesy if there are seats available?

You can do the same on AA. However, you will be subject to a $75 expedite fee unless you are EXP. You can upgrade at check-in using electronic upgrades as well.

I know that recently on my CLT_LGW leg when I had left the transatlantic upgrade certs on my desk at home (*gasp*), the agent first asked if I would like to upgrade w/ miles - until he noticed I was booked in K class, which couldn't be upgraded w/ miles.. so I think you can, but it's risky... if you're prepared to do that, why not go ahead and do it now? Hoping for an operational upgrade?

I always plan ahead but in this case I may be a little short of miles for an upgrade in advance. It's like this: I have a transpacific and transatlantic flight within 48 hours of each other and I'm trying to figure out how to maximize the upgrades. I can use miles to upgrade on the CO flight SPN-GUM-HNL-IAH-ORD. (At least I hope so - some threads make a note of the difficulty upgrading on this flight!) 48 hours later I fly NW ORD-DTW-AMS. But I won't have enough miles for a transatlantic upgrade until I complete the transpacific flight 48 hours prior. Hence the question about upgrading at the gate. Does NW charge a fee for this like AA does?

I've been spoiled living out here. 75% of my CO flights were elite upgraded (even for a NW silver) for SPN to Bali, Hong Kong, Japan, and Manila. Never had to use miles for an upgrade before!

You cannot upgrade a CO flight with a BusinessFirst cabin at the airport (I'm not actually sure about other flights). If you are able to upgrade a NW flight at the airport, you probably won't be able to do it without a CO certificate in hand. You might be able to get this issued by a CO agent at the airport if you set it up beforehand over the phone.

There is a very strong possiblity that your CO miles will not post to your account within 48 hours.

It is possible to have a negative balance in your Onepass account. I was able to claim an award when I didn't have enough miles but knew some would be posting. But that was only few thousand miles. Dpending on how many miles short you are, you may be able to get CO to do the upgrade even though you don't have enough miles.

YOu also need to be aware that not all fares are upgradeable.

NW says that you can NOT upgrade with miles at the airport -- I have tried and not been able to.

nw even charges you 50.00 to pick up the cert at the counter if its within 14 days of your flight ! that sucks

Save us all alot of trouble. Which airline?

And then, you probably should go to that airline board.

Forgive me if I have caused you undue stress. I now have all the information I need, thank you. Case closed.

you can do it on ua and dl with no fee and no problem.

on hp, you can pay $50-$150 depending on distance for the same.

No, AA does not allow you to if you are not elite. I tried this past weekend and was rejected, even as the flight went off with empty FC seats.

AA should allow you to do it elite or not. It does take a while to process though, so unless the flight was just about to take off, or you refused to pay the fee, you should have been sitting in F. I'd take the issue up with AA. BTW, enough time can be upwards of a half hour, sometimes it takes forever to process stuff like that.

Has anyone ever confirmed an upgrade with miles in advance, then tried to change their upgrade to an electronic sticker upgrade inside the elite window?

d

$75 + a half hour to process the "free" award?

Why would anyone bother?