Air China Business class upgrade
Nov 29, 2018, 6:29 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2018
Programs: phoenix
Posts: 1
Air China Business class upgrade
Hey everyone looking for a little help and advice,
I have just booked an multi city economy flex ticket from Frankfurt to Beijing, Beijing to Bangkok, Bangkok to Beijing and Beijing back o Frankfurt. I PAID £459 Per adult for 2 passengers.
I have been discussing the option of maybe upgrading one or two of the segments are even all if the price is good. I have tried looking on booking management online or even via the air china app and it gives no option to upgrade at all. Am I doing something wrong or is this normal.
I then tried a dummy booking the same flights as above but selecting business all the way the price came back at £1370 per person which for all them flights is really good price. I decided to call the Europe call centre and enwuire about how I could do the upgrade first I was going to ask about the way back as the lie flat beds do appeal as we are back to work more or less the next day. the lady on the phone was polite and spoke good English after several minutes on the phone she came back and said to change the ticket which cost £450 to business it would cost per person a staggering £3000 each,.
I explained that I could go direct on line and by a new ticket for more than half that price why are you giving me a price of £3k surely it would be a fare difference between class and what ever fee for changing ticket. she said no we use a different system to what the website uses.
looks like our options is to purchase an emergency aisle seat instead? any ideas folks would be most grateful.
kind regards
Chris
I have just booked an multi city economy flex ticket from Frankfurt to Beijing, Beijing to Bangkok, Bangkok to Beijing and Beijing back o Frankfurt. I PAID £459 Per adult for 2 passengers.
I have been discussing the option of maybe upgrading one or two of the segments are even all if the price is good. I have tried looking on booking management online or even via the air china app and it gives no option to upgrade at all. Am I doing something wrong or is this normal.
I then tried a dummy booking the same flights as above but selecting business all the way the price came back at £1370 per person which for all them flights is really good price. I decided to call the Europe call centre and enwuire about how I could do the upgrade first I was going to ask about the way back as the lie flat beds do appeal as we are back to work more or less the next day. the lady on the phone was polite and spoke good English after several minutes on the phone she came back and said to change the ticket which cost £450 to business it would cost per person a staggering £3000 each,.
I explained that I could go direct on line and by a new ticket for more than half that price why are you giving me a price of £3k surely it would be a fare difference between class and what ever fee for changing ticket. she said no we use a different system to what the website uses.
looks like our options is to purchase an emergency aisle seat instead? any ideas folks would be most grateful.
kind regards
Chris
Dec 1, 2018, 2:08 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,405
Hi and welsome to FT!
It may not be possible to 'upgrade' your existing £459 to business class. personally I'd probably cut my losses on the 459 fare and just buy two new ones. Those are long flights and the added benefits would be worth it perhaps? They will be full flat beds for the long hauls.
Alternatively there is an on-departure upgrade to biz class available on most fligts, subject to seat availability at check-in. If I rember correctly it's USD1200 for the long hauls. Catering is economy class, but you get everything else (bed is most important). The advertisement for the upgrade (in the Air China magazine) says you are required to sit only in the last row of the business cabin - which I guess makes sense given the catering requirement.
It may not be possible to 'upgrade' your existing £459 to business class. personally I'd probably cut my losses on the 459 fare and just buy two new ones. Those are long flights and the added benefits would be worth it perhaps? They will be full flat beds for the long hauls.
Alternatively there is an on-departure upgrade to biz class available on most fligts, subject to seat availability at check-in. If I rember correctly it's USD1200 for the long hauls. Catering is economy class, but you get everything else (bed is most important). The advertisement for the upgrade (in the Air China magazine) says you are required to sit only in the last row of the business cabin - which I guess makes sense given the catering requirement.
Dec 3, 2018, 10:26 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYZ/MGA
Programs: AA 1MM Lifetime Gold, AA Platinum, WS Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 7,607
Though be careful how the repurchase is done as if you manage to buy new tickets on the same flights (before the others are cancelled) at the same time and day their computers may cancel one or both due to being duplicates. And like woodworking, measure twice and cut once. They may be right that it's 3,000 pounds and the 1,370 might be wrong.
Air China or not this sounds like they knew as well what fares were available and that 1,370 would be enough even if they changed it by giving zero refund, they should have/could have done it.
Air China or not this sounds like they knew as well what fares were available and that 1,370 would be enough even if they changed it by giving zero refund, they should have/could have done it.