Tricky Upgrade Using Points
 

In mid July I am flying economy from SIN to BNE on Qantas metal.

The booking is in a class eligable for upgrade from discount economy to business at 40k miles one way, and I have the required 40k miles in my account.

However, when calling Qantas they said that because my booking was showing the flight with the BA flight number (BA7352) rather than the Qantas one (QF52) they could not list me for an upgrade using points. They know that it was "really" a Qantas flight, operated by them.

Is this correct? Anyone know a way around this?

Unfortunately, they're correct. Flights must be in QF metal with a QF flight number. The only way is to rebook it under the QF code and cross your fingers.

Hmmm. What does www.checkmytrip.com say for the booking? You will need your booking reference (something like 1P7CC9)

I believe you may have booked a British Airways codeshare on a Qantas flight as per what Qantas claims. (Eg BA1243 not QF4)

Qantas will refuse to upgrade these as per the terms and conditions:
http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/program/terms
"15.1.3 Flight Upgrades are not available when travelling on Restricted Fares or on Codeshare Flights. Flight Upgrades may be requested only on a paid, confirmed and ticketed Qantas domestic or international flight booking on a service operated by Qantas, with a Qantas flight number."

Sorry, I believe you may be out of luck unless you can prove it is actually a QF code on your ticket....

This is the downside of buying a codeshare. When you book BA codeshare on QF metal, you become a customer of BA and not of QF. The ticket revenue goest to BA, who then buys the seat from QF (presumably for less) and pockets the difference. Any upgrades etc. are possible only using BAEC. Almost all FF plans prohibit upgrades on codeshares (for the obvious reason, it would cost real money for BA to buy a J seat from QF). You lose lots of little things when you buy a codeshare, for example seat selection is worse on the codeshare (the operating airline keeps the best seats for its own use) and op-ups almost never happen on the codeshare side. Sometimes codeshares are a lot cheaper (this varies by route and is a marketing decision by the airline). Most US-based airline codeshares are more expensive (e.g. AA codeshare on LAX-SYD); this is because their primary market are US govt agencies and contractors who must fly US airline whenever offered on a route, thus they cannot fly QF or NZ as long as UA is operating LAX-SYD, hence the AA codeshare on QF which they can fly.

Thanks all for your replies, and sadly confirming what the QF rep said - but at least with more explanation!

I don't believe at time of booking there was any price difference between BA and QF flight numbers - so a lesson learned for future!

Caledonian

There isn't due to the JSA (BA/QF offer same fares and service on the kangaroo route, the joint service agreement operating like one airline, but not quite as you have discovered). Other routes with codeshares do not have JSA and there is often 50% difference in price. On the JSA flights it is also possible for the various fare classes to sell out at different rates, also there is a different starting allocation on each side of the codeshare (generally the non-operating airline wants to sell higher priced seats and offers fewer discounted ones). I try to avoid being on the codeshare side, it is rarely advantageous for the passenger.

I think the main reason not to book in codeshare if possible is that in the case of BA you will only 25% of the base points you would earn if you had booked the same ticket with a QF code. The same issue arises if it's an AA code (50% of the base points) and i think there are some other discounts for other airlines. So, regardless of metal, it's always better to have a QF code.

I'd see if you can have the booking changed for this primary reason and then worry about the upgrade.

Ironically as SIN-BNE will be classed as a JSA route so whatever profit is split between the two carriers regardless of who the bookings go through. Remember this is also the reason that BA was cross with QF when BA was offering and BA was filling up its J class compared to QF's then inferior product yet BA had to share the profit with QF!

possible
 

You can change your flight number on your booking by simply asking Qantas. I changed this exact flight in March this year from BA 7352 to QF 52 by asking the guy at the ticket counter at Brisbane airport - he did it on the spot for me (but the ticket did have to be re-validated with a $25 fee). I did this for the express reason of being able to register for a business class upgrade (which of course I didnt get) and also to get the full allocation of points which you dont get under a BA booking for discount economy.

I wanted to also ask this forum - do you think it would be possible to change the flight number for all BA flights that are code-shared with Qantas but booked through BA? Qute handy for someone like me who lives in London and often flies BA around Europe on the cheap (but only gets 25% of the points).

Welcome to FT, vaggus.

Unfortunately no. The QF codeshares on BA intra-Europe flights can only be booked in conjunction with an international itinerary. Further, the codeshares can't be booked for travel more than 24 hours after the arrival or departure of the international flight. eg QF9 arrives 05:30, you can book a codeshare eg QF3457 that must leave before 5:30 the next day.