absoluy

If you're UuA on a fare originates from Europe (excl. UK) then you should only be paying ~$70 (primarily the difference in BA YQ surcharge) regardless of which direction you upgrade in (LHR-LAX or LAX-LHR). As long as you're transiting the UK for less than 24 hours you don't pay any UK APD at all.

If you're UuA on a fare that originates from the USA then you will pay significantly more cash when upgrading since the BA YQ amount for fares dept. the US is significantly higher than dept. Europe (e.g. LAX-OSL return in WTP has YQ of ~$300, OSL-LAX return has YQ of~$160 in WTP). When you upgrade that ticket departing LAX the YQ amount for a WTP to J upgrade goes from ~$300 to ~$600 so you end up paying ~$300+ for the upgrade vs. ~$70 if you were originating in Europe.

So it's not that the taxes are higher, it's that BA chooses to price base fares and YQ differently between Europe and US originating fares.

AnttiV

Thanks OP! This fare is great for us who have multiple GUFs and Jokers to burn on BAEC. Works to YYZ also.

rbAA

I know, it's a Twitter/texting/(anti-)social media society we live in. So, while spelling and punctuation are critical elements of our common language, and we like to think that the Brits may have invented English but we perfected it, we also have to accept responsibilty for it's demise. I won't bore you with a more detailed explanation, as part of the joy of learning is exploration and self efforts. Thanks for playing. Appreciate the support.

Fly2Where

That's exactly what it means.

What you referred it's just AA upgrade chart, it also has partner upgrade chart.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...r-airlines.jsp

IF you had tried, you will know. under normal circumstances, ie BA ticket (125 ticket stock) booked on AA, you are NOT able to upgrade by AA. (I thought this has been widely discussed, AA can't touch BA stock unless under airport control). And this is very common across all airlines.
The opposite, even if it's NOT operated by AA (ie BA, although it needs to be higher fare bucket, you still able to upgrade on certain BA, IB operated flights).

So your answer is exactly the opposite to the reality.

nk15

I don't know, I never tried it, I just go with the published rules here. I am aware of the different airline ticket stock creating issues in other circumstances, but don't have experience with that one.

wmaciej

Sisyphus1carus

Thought it was only the US. Now I'm more interested !

allset2travel

Indeed!
Last year I did ARN-xLHR-SFO-xLHR-ARN in that fare range. When SFO-LHR was oversold, check in counter agent offered me to upgrade for $700. I kindly declined (knew then it must be oversold). Sure enough, at the gate, both wife and I got bumped from PY to J.

Fly2Where

Not sure which part is not clear. The rule clearly stated its must be marketed by AA, my understanding it means "sell by AA", means 001 stock (it could be set up by OTA), this is NOT a competent agent can do or change scenario. Agent "shouldn't" just go to 125 stock and take over. However, I agree odd things happens, and quite often. Some agents willing to take over the ticket and reissued to 001 stock, I had also been benefited once, upgraded a 125 BA stock in the past (maybe 2008,2009? BA cheaper than AA on same flight! no longer happen nowadays), and my upgrade was done in the lounge (JFK-LHR-JFK on the return flight, they didn't allow me to upgrade when I requested over the phone, failed the outbound, but I tried again when I arrived LHR lounge, I just asked if I can put on standby upgrade list, was immediately granted the upgrade using EVIP), but I can't say this is the norm. There has been report under airport control, you are able to upgrade, or after first AA segment, etc... but that's not what the rule says...
I learned my lesson, I won't go for cheaper price ticket stock if I wanted the upgrade.

nk15

This is incorrect, marketed means sold as an AA code. Most often it would be on a 001 ticket stock but not always. You can google it. Or see this thread:
Earning RDM's for Delta-TICKETED but Partner-MARKETED flights

SeattleDavid

People get confused over the expression 'marketed by' all the time, especially since often a ticketing airline will prefer to use its codeshares, which makes ticket stock and flight number correspond.

However, while BA ticket stock is important for upgrading BA flights (number and metal) with Avios, AA ticket stock is not important for upgrading AA flights (number and metal) with AA miles.

Frequent flyer 101

That's right in theory, but wrong in practice. OSL-LHR-LAX (Y + W as per cash purchase). If you UuA the LHR-LAX flight from W to J, BA more of than not will not be able to do the calculation properly. I suspect because it may be calculating 3 classes during the journey or maybe it's just bad programming. But I've had it where it will price the taxes for the LHR-LAX J flight including full UK APD, even with a 2 hour connection. I didn't argue the point as I actually got the J tier points in the end (also a common glitch apparently).

wmaciej

Your understanding is wrong. "Marketed by AA" means nothing else than "booked under AA flight number". BXP1 for instance requires that the ticket is issued on AA ticket, which means the ticket has to 001.


That I cannot comment on. I don't know what the agreements are in place between the Atlantic JV partners. I'm just giving a data points and it certainly is possible for AA to take over a BA or IB ticket. I wouldn't say the agents who have the knowledge to do it are noobies, so I assume they know the rules in place.

absoluy

Is that via online or the call center? The online tool does do crazy things sometimes, but I've upgraded these at least 5 or 6 times via the call center without issue (although, as always, YMMV).

The J tier points is always a nice surprise when it does happen, which,unfortunately, isn't as frequently as I would like it to be.

Frequent flyer 101

Call center. Happened to me 2/2 times now. I've since learned that you can ask for a manual calculation if you feel they have done it wrong.