CHANGES TO FF UPGRADES ??
 

I was booking an upgrade for NW asia flight today and the agent told me that mid-August some changes were going in effect for FF upgrades - of course I could not get the details other than her saying it might be tougher to upgrade later after the "change". I was upgrading a B class (rest-coach) to C class (business).

Anyone have any details on what the "mid-month" change will be? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

Cool - finally lost the "junior" status http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

This may be improtant information. It could be that NW will go with the same situation over the Pacific as they did the Atlantic and disallow upgrades from the lowest fares.
It appears that now is th time to buy.
Thanks for the tip!

Just talked to an NWA rez agent. He said that upgrades will be capacity-controlled, not restricted by fare!!! I usually plan my trips to Asia more than a year in advance, so this won't be any problem for me.

Personally, I think upgrades to Asia give the best bang / buck, esp. for trips from NYC-NRT-SIN/BKK. Those kind of fares usually cost under $1000 when I travel. If you're elite, you basically will recoup all the mileage spent on upgrades.

- Pat

[This message has been edited by Wiirachay (edited 08-05-2000).]

Thanks, Pat. I can live with capacity controls to Asia, but not with the same situation as they have with Europe.
Ed

There is definitely something going on with the availability of upgrade seats to Asia on NW. I've been trying to buy a ticket to BKK for travel next May. I can't find any flights on the weekends that I want to go with both a V fare and C availability. I find it hard to believe that flights nine months into the future are that heavily booked with upgrades. On the flights that do have C availability, the cheap fares aren't available.

NW is probably "zeroing out" the inventory for now -- until the new upgrade policy is announced. That's my guess.

On some flights, NW just keeps them zeroed out. Period. Sometimes, agents say that they're sold out, when in actuality, the inventory has been"zeroed out" since the booking period started. I personally find the act of "zeroing out" inventory and having agents saying that they're sold out extremely obnoxious.

What I find weird with the current ff upgrade scheme for NW from int'l coach to int'l business is that the coach fare is upgraded to "C" inventory. However, some business class fares also use "C" inventory, as opposed to "J" inventory. That can also get frustrating when "C" class fares are much cheaper than the "J" class.

- Pat

If NW goes to a more restrictive upgrade policy for flights to Asia, they also need to do come up with a program of complimentary system-wide upgrades for their top tier flyers. There is no way I am going to fly coach to BKK four times a year without being able to upgrade as a Platinum member. The only thing Plats get now is upgrade certificates from biz to 1st. This doesn't do anything for a Platinum sitting in economy. I hope NW thinks very carefully before they make changes here. There is always United, Korean, JAL or Asiana to get me from O'Hare to Bangkok. Fares on Korean are usually cheaper too along with better flight times.

NWA figures with load factors approaching 90% that they can do as they like! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Shades of last year! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum35/HTML/000247.html

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 08-08-2000).]

I think the policy of not being able to upgrade from low price fares has already occurred http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif My evidence is in April I was flying to MNL from PVD and had to buy a higher priced ticket in order to use miles to upgrade (believe I bought B class). The last month was checking on flights to Asia on a "M" class ticket and was told it did not qualify for upgrade (Pacific Delight tours). Last week I bought a ticket PVD to KIX (B class) and was able to upgrade. Looks like same policy as Europe routes is already here.

Anyone else have this happen?

In July 99 ,I booked a Q class ticket MEM-NRT-SIN-HNL--MEM and upgraded in Aug on my CO miles one leg (only had enough for one leg at that point).....no problem....called in Oct to upgrade other leg and said fare wasn't eligible due to new rule Sept 1 so the restriction has been in effect since then for Asia and it looks like it is 2,000 from MEM-Asia for an upgradeable fare and that is not happening from this pocket

I called to check on a BKK fare a few weeks ago. I asked what the lowest fare was. They told me the it was the Super Apex fare (is that V class?). So I asked if it was upgradeable. The answer: yes. This was for travel in early next year. I didn't buy any tickets yet, but thought I'd share my info.

motnot - Be careful and be sure to verify that info with WP or OP. The last time I tried to upgrade NW internationally, I needed a B fare. It was however to Europe and not to Asia.

Yes Motnot, the super apex fare is a "V" class and it has always been upgradeable to Asia. The consolidator fares are "H" class and are not upgradeable.

Due to on ongoing rift I have with NWA, I've flown only about 25k miles this last year, having been avoiding them at nearly all costs! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Yet twice recently on Asian trips when I'd be having other family members along and sought the best price, I think KUL & BKK, they came up with the best fares/availability (V, M or whatevr) and each time I was told that they were absolutely NOT upgradeable fares! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif Go figure! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif I passed! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

Just last week, I personally checked into BKK fares from EWR and on a day where a NWA $1100. "el cheapo" came up, I called and was also once agin informed that they were NOT upgradeable M fares! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

As I noted previously on FT, I'd personally encountered this before - so I was NOT totally surprised.

INMO, NWA has a long way to go! I hate to see all this potential going down the proverbial drain! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I hope that they get there - and fast! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif