As far as I remember, priority is given to Business Class upgrade. I believe this is clrealy stated on the OT website during the booking procedure.

No opportunity to choose was given in my case. C(Z) was granted with both options applied for.

Yes.

Wow, Blue1 really wants me to upgrade. I booked a HEL-LHR trip (discounted Economy) on the 17th December, and since then I've received two "Thank you for choosing Blue1, here are your flight details" e-mails that really are just advertisements for the Optiontown upgrades. It's kind of annoying that the e-mail subject line doesn't say so. I don't need a reminder about my flight details, I got those when I first made the booking...

This will be interesting. Was looking at my flight to EWR last weekend in Jan, optiontown website tries to convince me with "high upgrade chance" while both outbound and return flights show wide open in economy.
I'll sign up i guess, but i don't expect the loads in January to be too high so we'll see about that...

unable to search for airasia direct flights on flightstats.
why do all the flights searched have stopovers?

could someone please help. looking for PER-KUL. 4-7 feb. flexible on travel dates

Upgrade chances ORD-CPH
 

I was succesfull saturday in optiontown upgrade from CPH-ORD. C-class was almost empty according to checkmytrip just before departure, but most of the seats was taken propably upgrades with points.

I am now hopping for the upgrade thursday 13 from ORD-CPH. At this point expert flyer says Y9 S0 B0 ESH9 rest 0 and C5 D5 Z0 J0.

Calculating available economy seats according to checkmytrip is around 35 for now.

Anyone who can estimate the chanches for an upgrade?

It looks like Z-class is 0, does that mean that no upgrades is possible?

Thanks

How did you use checkmytrip for that? By looking at non-taken seats?

For thursday 13, there's only 5 seats left in business and only EHM buckets show availability accodring to flightstats so i'd say you have a chance.

Z-class 0 doesn't mean anything in the way of upgrades, it's just the revenue ticket bucket so don't worry about that.

Yes, I tried to look at non-taken seats by checkmytrip, but I know that there are some preassigned seats etc. so there might be more seats avaibale. But only in the EHM classes.

I am going tomorrow and cannot see anything changed on checkmytrip or from optiontown so I still hope for an upgrade.

Thanks

Checkmytrip will only show you seats that are already assigned. Many people only assign seats at check-in at the airport, so it will likely change dramatically up to departure. I would rather trust Expertflyer to give an estimate of remaining seats.

Thank you. Have anyone access to expertflyer who can see details on ORD-CPH 13 January? I have now 24 hours before the flight not heard anything from optiontown. On flightstats I can see 5 C/D-class and only EHM class available. So I still keep my hope up to have a good nights sleep in biz and not back in coach :-)

ORD-CPH, 13-Jan-2011
A0 C4 D4 J0 Z0 Y9 S0 B0 E9 M9 H9 Q0 V0 W0 U0 K0 L0 T0 G9

From Expertflyer

Good luck!

My US-trip with the family (5 pax) gave the following results:

ARN-ORD with completely full Economy gave us Optiontown upgrade (notified a couple of days before departure) to Eco Extra and then op-up to C at the gate. Extra value because of the double status points!

EWR-ARN with ca 70% load in all classes. Optiontown upgrade declined (was informed same day as departure), but a requested upgrade for points at the gate moved us to Eco Extra. Heard that it was difficult to do points upgrade to C as they only had catering for the booked pax.

I assumed that the "high upgrade chance" means that the passenger load is predicted to be low (so there is a high chance of your optiontown upgrade being processed). In any case I wouldn't trust this information too much unless you have some experience on a particular route.

I flew PEK-CPH on earlier this week and Optiontown reported a "high upgrade chance" for my return flight in February but not for the outward leg. I would not have signed up for it even if it had as I can almost always get a points-upgrade a check-in (Y/B to C) for the PEK-CPH leg. Sure enough this time I got the points upgrade (as well as at least 4 others from the pile of "upgrade receipts" I could see on the check-in desk). Even then at take off there were still at least 5 business seats free as far as I could see in the (1 in the main cabin and 4 in the small cabin).

Perhaps the Optiontown system for flagging a "good upgrade chance" works based on the number of past successes for that particular route (so if few people sign up for the upgrade, the system will never learn that that space is usually available). Or maybe it is just based on a dodgy algorithm. Saying that, I will probably sign up for the return flight (CPH-PEK), as my success in getting upgrades on that leg of the journey is much lower than the PEK-CPH leg.

I have to say I was extremely happy with Option Town. I got upgraded from low eco to business from ARN - ORD and back EWR - ARN. €600 in total for the upgrades (on top of the original fare of 6,000SEK).

Got the email confirmation 48 hours before each flight, no problems with lounge access at ARN and EWR. Received 20,000 EB points for the trip which was enough to put me straight to Silver after one month of my qualifying year.

Will definitely be using it again.

I have some suspicions that new users at OptionTown get their first few upgrades almost for sure :) Later it seems to be not so certain. But again - it's worth to try anyway :)

That's definitely a possibility, but yeah worth a try for sure :)

My two first optiontown entries CPH-IAD and EWR-CPH were not upgraded. I have my third try coming up this sunday CPH-IAD with no word of an upgrade yet. So no evidence of there being a fast track for newly registered members.

First time i tried optiontown to Y+ CPH-BKK-CPH I was not upgraded, second time i tried in december I was upgraded both ways.
On the other hand I got an email from optiontown, I have the same trip next may, and they ask me to upgrade to Y+ for 156 euro each way, in december i upgraded for 135 euro each way. So if you have succeed one time maybe they raise the price for your next trip? Maybe they hope you are addicted ;-)

I was once denied access to the EWR lounge when upgraded with points.
They used to put green stickers on the BP if you where flying C, but not if you upgraded with points to C, so that the dragons could deny you access.
Sad but true.

Optiontown on Spanair codeshare (CO metal)
 

Hi - was offered (and took) optiontown option on a flight EWR-BCN on Spanair later in year, which I have now noticed is a codeshare on Continental metal. Anyone have any experience as to whether this has a chance of clearing, or whether I should contact OT for posting an impossible offer...?

Many thanks!

Did not get my latest Y/C upgrade I had signed up for on CPH-IAD. That makes me 0/3 with Optiontown. It really has to start paying off soon or these administrative charges are going to be a real nuisance.

Remember that they obviously only upgrades in case the cabin is full. This time of year (i suppose you tried recently) is not really the top season. I had no problem getting upgrades last summer, but we'll see how it goes on next weekends trip.

I've just been declined OptionTown upgrade on CPH-ORD and ORD-CPH (flying back in 11 hours). But I can understand them; Business was half-full, Economy Extra 2/3rds and Economy completely desolate. However they do upgrades for points. On the other hand, if I can get 4 seats in a row in M I'll have a fully-flat seat!

Considering the light loads, i agree with you. I am currently in the same situation, I am (impatiently) awating upgrades on ARN-EWR the upcoming weekend. OT did try to persuade with "high upgrade chance" but we'll see how it goes. Now, NYC is probably a more busy winter destination than Chicago so i still have some hope.
Checking with flightstats, It's hard to tell. As long as i can see E9/M9/H9, i suppose economy is still fairly open.

I have an upcoming trip on which I'll be travelling CPH-IAD then ORD-CPH. Optiontown states "High Upgrade Chance" on both segments. Dates of the trip are Feb 26 and March 5. I assume since this is a holiday week for many Norwegian schools (don't know about Denmark and Sweden), families are taking the opportunity to run off to the US (as we are). Have signed up for Uto both ways, hopefully with a positive outcome. I've had 100% success so far with Optiontown, but have always been travelling during peak times.

Can anyone post the current load factor for these flights? Thanks in advance.
Feb 26 SK 925
Mar 05 SK 944

As we are still a month out I anticipate there should still be a good amount of availability, but am curious as it does say "High Upgrade Chance" on Optiontown.

from flightstats:
Feb 26 SK925 Y9 S8 B5 E9 M9 H3 - rest is zero
Mar 05 SK944 Y9 S9 B9 E9 M9 H9 Q7 V7 W6 - rest is zero


So, SK925 absolutely looks good with H class almost sold out one month in advance. SK944 is still fairly open with W seats left, but as you say, this is a bit of a school holiday season (in Sweden too) so it shouldn't be impossible.

Great, thanks for the info!

Optiontown question
 

Have a question to those of you exeperienced with Optiontown.

I have a SAS flight booked in april OSL - CPH - BKK and consider to give it a shot for an upgrade to C with Optiontown.

If the upgrade goes through will the OSL - CPH leg get upgraded too? Otherwise i would probably not be able to use the Fast Lane and Lounge at OSL?

Our transfer time in CPH is too short to give us time to enjoy the lounge there.

Hi jjessen, and welcome to flyertalk!

Your OSL-CPH flight will not be upgraded also, Optiontown only works for long haul on SAS. However, the boarding pass you will travel with will reflect that you will be flying on an international business class ticket, even though connecting flights may be in economy. Therefore you should be allowed to access the lounge and fast track. I am sure if you look at the rules concerning fast track and lounge access on sas.no there should be some information in black and white to clarify this for you.

Either way, I would go for the optiontown upgrade as you will be much more comfortable in C and OSL is usually pretty quick getting through security anyway. It would be a shame if you were not allowed into the lounge, but you don't really need to arrive hours before the flight departs OSL anyway, so I wouldn't consider that a dealbreaker. Good luck!

The green sticker is actually for the security fast track at EWR.
Very picky not to let you in the lounge. :td:

A report for my weekend trip ARN-EWR rt: Did not get upgrade either way. Understandable though, since the load in economy was 40-50% tops (But optiontown still said "high upgrade chance" :rolleyes:).
Well, lesson leardned that in the future i won't bother with OT unless i know beforehand that it's high season.

I got the same high chance message so as a first time user i assumed that was good, yet economy is not even close to sold out...

I dont mind takng the risk as 8€ is not a high price to pay for the gamble but it sure does leave a rotten taste in my mouth as per there customer service....


I would hink it would b in their best intrest to tleat fill ecoextra for extra cah?


Go figure

You guys are good. I'm still learning - I read through all the replies and think I have a better handle on it. thanks for helping newbies like me.

Seems like you have a better chance of an OT upgrade if E is full (or close) since SAS can get some revenue from upgrades instead of free op-ups at the gate ?

Our flights:
- 13 Apr. EWR - OSL
- 24 Apr. ARN - EWR

(5 people on T class on 4/13 and K class on 4/24 - does that matter ?)
How does the load by class tell me what my chances are ?

2nd option: we are not members of EB, but can be. We have lots of AmEx points which we could transfer to United, Continental, etc. to try and get upgrade certificates (1 of us has status on Usair and Cont). Any recommendations which is the best or is it useless to try ?

Oh yeah, OT is quoting $221 or $491 for E+ or Bus.

Welcome, surfmom!

You call yourself a newbie, but you have understood something that some FT regulars find confusing. :D

UA, US, CO upgrade certificates are not valid on SK.

If one of you has Star Alliance Gold status, that may potentially help a little w r t op-ups if your plane is full.

Do you mean that you are a family of 5 traveling? Then the op-up scenario in my previous post is unlikely.

T and K classes give 25% if credited to CO OP or UA M+, and zero with US DM, afaik. And 25% in SK EB.

tourist, thanks for the info!

We have low expectations for op-ups since only one of us is SA Gold. (I think that is Continental)

It looks like OT is our only hope for not sitting in cattle class. I don't have the load for that flight - any prediction as to the likelihood of an OT upgrade ?

The other thing to consider is that maybe we try and upgrade for the return flight on 4/24 since we are awake for that entire flight. Will it be more busy flying since that is Easter ?

OT: Night and day
 

:confused: My priority is to try and secure an upgrade for night flights so that I am able to take a proper nap (in a better seat and with more quiet surroundings)...

While I agree with you, this trip ain't all about me! I love to travel to Europe and want my kids to love it too, so it means minor sacrifices for me. In our case, the kids are really good at sleeping on the way over - we have a strategy that has worked so far. On the way home, you only have so many hours of entertainment that you can carry. That is one of the reasons that I prefer A330's with their own AVOD for each seat.

Last time, we picked out the favorite books that they couldn't wait to read and they didn't see those until after we've taken off for the way home. They each read their own 2 books and then swapped!

What am i missing??
 

Im booked on a flight less then 21 hrs away, flyertalk shows atleast 9 seats available still in G,E,M! And H, yet when i went to do my online check in there are only 10 seats available in coach all together...

How can there be nearly 40 unsold tickets and 10 seats... Or im missing something... I assume chances are pretty slim to none to get a upgrade with even 10 seats free in economy