Baggage Allowance
 

Great forum. Forgive me if this question is redundant (or newbie), but I didn't see it in the posts I read.

Flying IAD-CPH-TXL on SAS in July. Used OT to try to get Econ Extra. Question is the following: if I am upgraded, I gather I get the extra bag allowance for the IAD-CPH. However, I'm connecting from CPH-TXL (on SAS). That's not upgradable, so would I still pay for the extra bag? My wife is coming out to Berlin a week later on SAS (in business), so she would have a nice 2x32kgallowance, but I would prefer to check a second bag, since I'll be there for three weeks (she only two).

By the way, my wife said I could have her seat on the way back (we're flying back together) assuming they don't upgrade me to business, which I highly doubt. But I wouldn't do that to her. But I will take room in her suitcase allowance.

Thanks.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, mikepowie. Are you simply transferring at CPH or are you stopping there? If the former, when you check in at IAD your bags will be tagged all the way through to TXL and there should be no extra charge.

cheers,

Henry

Thanks for the welcome. Lot of great information here.

Yes, I'm just transferring at CPH, so that's great news...assuming I get upgraded. I got the "high probability" email from Optiontown, but I see from this forum that's de rigueur. That said, they were selling upgrades at the gate last year (fortunately, I got one for free to Econ Extra).

What would you say the chance to get a upgrade is?
 

I've never tried OT before, and would like to what you would say is the chance to get an upgrade? I'm planning a trip, OSL-EWR, in June. I've checked the seat availability on witch dates I'm planning to go, and in both Business and Economy Extra it's almost emty. Is my chance for a upgrade from Economy to Busniness better if I don't apply for a upgrade both to Busniess and Ecomony Extra?

Thanks in advnce if anyone would give som tips or advice

Your key factor here is the load in Economy. If the economy cabin load is high/full, the chance of OT upgrade is high(er).

If you sign up for both Economy Extra and Business, preference will be given to Business, and you're chance of upgrade to Business doesn't decrease if signing up for both cabins, AFAIK.

Thanks for your advice.
Would this mean that it would be clever to wait and see if the cabin fills up before requesting a upgrad via OT?

Indeed. If you don't feel like paying the money early, wait a bit and see how the load is levelling out. The summertime is always better for upgrades, because of higher cabin loads, so if you fly May-August, you have a better chance than in February, from my personal experience.

I'm not sure if there is some sort of list or queue that gives preference to early signups in case of many OT requests, but if there is, that might be one of the cons of a late signup.

Thanks again:)
Is it a estimate of how long before you get "yes/no" from OT?

The upgrade window is from 6 days to 4 hours before departure time.

Codeshare flight
 

Has anyone used (successfully) Optiontown when flying on:

a) booked on a codeshare UA number
b) booked through a travelagency, not on sas.dk

I'm trying to sign-up for a trip to EWR and using the Amadeus reference I've received from my travel agent. However, it can't locate my reservation.
Is is because it's booked on a UA flightnumber?

Maybe it will help, if I get hold of the 5 digit SAS reservation number, and used that. OR is it just not possible because it's booked on a codeshare no?

Any thoughts?

a) Yes (EWR-CPH)
b) Yes (many times)

Don't know why it doesn't work. Try to contact Optiontown and give them your travel details, and they should be able to find you in the system.

Not really, as it's first come first serve. So it's better to do it as soon as you book the tickets

Is it? I mean upgrade allocation is likely to involve the "first come first serve" principle but last I read the rules they clearly stated that the allocation rules are not disclosed. Please share if you have found out how it works!

Let's say you buy a SAS economy ticket, and then upgrade this tickets with points to Eco Extra. Would you then have the opportunity to use OT to try to get a new upgrade to Business?

No, and this is for at least two reasons:

1. If upgrading for points from M to Y you would be doing so at the airport within 4 hours of your flight. The UTO deadline when they will tell you if you have been upgraded or not is 4 hours prior to flight.

2. UTO is based on the fare you purchased with money. Even if you booked an economy award ticket with points you would be unable to upgrade via Optiontown.

It is possible, however, to use Optiontown to upgrade to EcoExtra and then upgrade with points to business.

Can report, I got credit for the upgrade on Spanair (credited to Bmi):


12-Apr-2011 Accrual Activity Bonus: ARN-Arlanda to BCN-El Prat De Llobregat on JK - 00054 in J 360 0
12-Apr-2011 Accrual Activity ARN-Arlanda to BCN-El Prat De Llobregat on JK - 00054 in J 2157 2157

Any info on rates with KF? I plan on buying a HEL-MUC ticket on KF with points and cash (have 40k expiring in June) and then apply UTo to get into Y from M and earn precious status miles with M&M.

HEL-AMS was 48e/leg V(youth economy) to Z. I think it's something around that.

Four days to go for my upcoming BKK flight. Booking looks like this:

A0 C3 D3 J3 Z0 Y3 S2 B0 E2 M2 H2 Q0 V0 W0 U0 K0 L0 T0 G1

I assume my chances should be quite good for an upgrade?

I read the upgrades clear between 6 days and 4 hours before departure, but i assume its usually closer to departure time than 4 days.

Should i look into CheckMyTrips to watch out for any changes to my booking..?..:)

I think OT upgrades usually goes into Z or B, which are both zeroed out atm. Also, the flight looks pretty full in both C and Y class, so it is still hard to draw any conclusions.

You'll get an e-mail if/when the upgrade clears. Sometimes you get an e-mail from OT, sometimes you only get a new ticket from SAS, but you should get an e-mail nevertheless.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. There is still a chance that your upgrade clears...

Cleared!
 

Instead of bumping up my old thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/sas-e...n-what-do.html) I thought, I'd post here, since my stories has many similarities and confirm what has been posted here recently.

To sum up. I bought 2 return M tickets to EWR. Bought an upgrade to Y via optiontown a long time ago (150Eur /pers /segment). It cleared last saturday and we were upgraded to B Class with seats assigned on the front row.

This morning at the EBG check in counter (did not check in on the Internet on purpose), the agent checked with his boss first (on the phone, saying it was him again, for the same situation) and upgraded us to C. Apparently the flight is overbooked by 30 in M, so they upgrade Y passengers to C, and I guess some lucky guys with an M ticket and an EBG will be bumped up as well!

In anycase, getting the points for Y and travelling C is a good deal for me.

Anyways, I hope this will work as well for the return! Happy Easter everyone!

Optimal outcome! :D Good for you!

Nice to hear! ^^

Congratulations on your lucky upgrade! Still two days to go for my flight to BKK. At the moment the flight is fully booked with only 1 C seat left for sale but plenty of room in C according to the seat maps.

So i cross my fingers for the flight being overbooked as well and wait patiently for a mail from SAS or optiontown:cool:

Thanks for the datapoint - and congratualations on the "double" upgrade. I have a return flight PEK-CPH-PEK (in Y) coming up and have already paid (applied) for an OT upgrade for the return leg in mid-May.

For the outward leg though I think I will just take my chances. At the moment the flight looks to be full in economy, as flightstats only shows a couple of seats in E-Extra (Y/2 S/1), and all economy fare buckets at zero. Business though still looks to have plenty of space ("C/9 D/9 J/9").

Checking on the SAS website give similar availability (1 x E-extra/FullFlex seat and no number given for business - which I assume means more than 9). I reckon that has to be a good chance of an op-up if ever there was one. Let's see in any case ...

What is interesting is that the Uto upgrades seem to be reissued into a revenue booking class so SK's DCS and the employees handling the gate or checkin have no clue about the background. Theoretically you could also use miles to upgrade the ticket :)

I have never received anything from Optiontown until 24 hours prior to departure, at the earliest.

It has been done and I can confirm it works well :)
(It you mean that upgrading an optiontown upgrade even further using miles)
The staff doesnt care that it's an optiontown upgrade.
It does state "Optiontown upg" in the PNR, but as you say, I am not sure if they even know what it is.

Still have to wait then...
 

I'm flying business OSL-EWR June 3rd but the kids and wife is waaay back in the aircraft. So I have paid optiontown upgrades for them all, both covering upgrades to Economy Extra and Business. So I won't excpect a reply anytime soon I guess....
We have actually been upgraded (for free) on our last two US trips. (That was with Gold and Pandion status)

Finally the long waited for mail from Optiontown. Upgrade to C cleared exactly 12 hours before departure time for tonights flight to BKK. Nice surprise for my wife:)^

No new eticket so far, but Optiontown tells me to take a print to show at checkin.

This means that even though the new ticket gets booked in Z, it don't neeed to be available Z-fares for the upgrade to go through

I've had OptionTown upgrades book in both C and Z on the same trip.

Some speculation: I think the fare-buckets are irrelevant for this. They're only used for new sales and doing price vs. load optimization. Once they realize they need more seats in M or Y they process the OptionTown-list. What booking class don't really matter to them or us as long as it's in the new cabin class.

Again, I'm only speculating.

Question to the experienced "Optiontown" flyers.

I have only received confirmation from Optiontown and no new eticket as previous flyers mentioned. My PRN still shows Economy and the original seats i reserved. Should i call SAS to book new seats in C?

I agree. Although not entirely clear, it seems irrelevant whether there actually are Z class tickets available for sale on the time of the upgrade.

That is not standard upgrade behavior. A new ticket should absolutely be issued for you to be able to get points/miles for the class flown.

I suspect that the super late upgrade has something to do with this, normally new E-tickets are issued from SAS DK and and the PNR updated with the new flight class. I am unsure of how to proceed, worst case bring your upgrade documentation with you to check in, and try to have them reissue the ticket.

Hmmm....

Contacted SK via Chat. They referred me to Optiontown.

Contacted Optiontown chat:

"Sometimes PNR cannot be upgraded online, yours is one of those. You will be upgraded at checkin".

Didn´t ask whether this was due to the late upgrade or that the ticket was booked througth travel agent (Wideroe Online). But i could call SK and ask for a seat reservation i was told.

Called SK and got (probably) a temp on the phone who did not have a clue what Optiontown was and had to ask her supervisor and call back. Answer: You have to wait untill checkin to get your upgrade. If you are not upgraded at checkin you will get a refund. Tried to explain that the upgrade was already confirmed but i could not check in and select a C seat. She recommended me to check in and choose an economy seat... At that point i GAVE UP:confused:

Will sort it out at checkin.

So, what happened? Did you end up in M while OT 'accepted' your money - or did you convince the check-in staff that you were eligible to sit in C?
- and what kind of point did you receive: C or originally paid farebucket?

I have a reservation, bought through a travel agent, where I have applied for upgrade through OT... hope the procedure you were faced with, was "just" because of the late upgrade...

Points for upgrades with OT or not.
 

Hi guys! I'm sure it's out there somewhere but I've really done my best and can't seem to figure out if you get points for OT upgrades.

Also the whole "will I be upgraded or not question" seems to be so full of different theories.

So here are four questions:

1. Which fare class are you upgraded to when upgraded to Business using optiontown?

2. Are you given points for your "new class" or the original booking class?

3. Does the original booking class have any effect on wether you are upgraded or not? I have only been upgraded once out of the three attempts and that was from W-Y. Now I have a L-class ticket and have opted for both E+ and Business.

4. The flight I've tried doing this for is SK 904 on may 26th this year. Expertflyer.com says there are more than 9 available seats in all classes except Z and A but still the seat maps says there are only 25 seats left in economy. I'm really confused. Does anybody have any idea how likely it is that I will be upgraded.

Thanks guys, awesome forum. ^

1. It's booked into Z
2. Yes you get points according to booking class Z
3.
4. First of all, looking at the seatmap can only give you a inaccurate estimate. When all classes showing +9, it can still be that it's only 25 availabkle seats as each seat can be listed in several booking classes and you cannot add the figures in each booking class to find the total available number of seats. The only thing it says for sure is that it's at least 9 available seats in economy

I don't think the original class has any relevance. It is more important that economy is sold out or close to.
It appears they primarily upgrade on UTO if they are likely to have to upgrade at check-in or the gate otherwise due to overbooking in economy.
Looking at the seat map it does look like most seats have been taken and there is a decent chance that your upgrade will clear as it's still wide open in Y and C.
However, it is too early to make an educated guess on whether it will clear or not and there are likely many factors involved that we don't know yet so it will always be a guess.