I was just wondering if you pay to upgrade a segment to WT+ on a OWE does it still book in L or is it in T/W?

T class only.

But the catch is that both L and T inventory must be available on the same flight (usually not a problem, but you are still limited by L availability in the choice of flights).

Odd. Do you know why this is the case? It doesn't seem like it's the same sort of upgrade as using say a VIP.

Interesting.

On another note - is it worth paying $450 to upgrade a LHR-MEL sector? One of the main advantages is the mileage bonus on AA from 25% to 110%.

I'm not sure where you have got this idea from.

I don't know where number_6 got it from, but I got it from my travel agent. Whether she was right or not, I can't say, but it was definitely stated that way.

My travel agent claimed to have "gotten around the problem" once by waitlisting in L, then calling BA to explain the situation. She said that BA confirmed the L booking long enough to allow the T booking to be confirmed.

Could have been true, or could have been a Consignment of Geriatric Shoe Manufacturers (as per "Yes, Minister": a load of old cobblers).

She was wrong. WT+ books in T class , WT books in L class, there is no need for L to be available in order to book in T class, in the same way that there doesn't need to be L and D class available in order to book a first class OWE into A class.

Dave

Does it make any difference when the upgrade is done?

If you upgrade at the time of ticketing, so that the upgrade is included in the price, I would assume that you are ticketed in T - so that all you need is T inventory available on whatever flight you want to get on.

If, on the other hand, you ticket it in L, and then decide you want to upgrade to T on a particular flight, then I would assume that L would have to be available on that flight (so you can get on that flight) before you can then request to pay the extra to upgrade. Alternatively, you could have the ticket "re-issued" (+ whatever fees) to include that segment in T, at which point the availability of L inventory would no longer be relevant.

No idea whether any of that is, in fact, how it works, just supposition on my part.

I heard it from the AA RTW desk when we were killing time waiting for an airline to respond; I have no interest in buying an LONEx ticket, as DONEx is not that much more and avoids all the hassles of the L ticket (lack of inventory on some routes and limited FF miles). Even ignoring the comfort aspects.

I've run into this before with several different airlines, needing to have inventory in both classes for an upgrade, so it did not seem implausible. I suppose for WT+ all that matters is what BA does, since they are the only ones with this product, and AA's procedures are not relevant. As an aside, is L ever sold out on BA LHR-Australia? I would have thought there is always plenty, given the flight schedules and competition.

With that route, it's always busy, especially if it's during the oz summer, then it's next to impossible to get space in any class, I usually routed people through HKG, or NRT making a 23hr connection. The worst flight is the flight that went through SIN, that flight was ALWAYS full, I remember booking a DONE4 in Nov for a person traveling Mar, and not being able to get him on that flight.