Hope this is in the right spot, I'll try to be brief. I needed flights from Toronto to India, then from India to Sydney AUS, then from Sydney back to Toronto. Online fares were around $4300 CDN. I called a travel agent and he told me that because this is an 'open jaw' ticket, he would probably be able to get me a better deal, with all flights within one alliance. And he did! Toronto - Mumbai via Paris (Air France), Chennai - Sydney via Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia Air) and Sydney - Toronto via Los Angeles (Delta/Air Canada). Total was $2800 but he made it clear that these tickets are not refundable under any circumstances and travel date changes would be very expensive. No problem!

Today I decided to call all 4 carriers to see if I could pay to upgrade, hopefully to Premium Economy. The Delta rep told me that because these tickets were booked under a 'bulk fare' code, they are not upgradeable by the airline. 'I can't touch them', was how she put it. Malaysian told me the same. Interestingly, Air France did upgrade me to something called 'Seat Plus'. It was only $140 for the two legs. Hopefully it's a bit more legroom.

Is there any way at all around this restriction? Can I even hope for a chance at an upgrade at the check-in counter? Any other tricks I can try? Like I say, I'm willing to pay. I'd pay up to $500 to upgrade the 14 hour flight from Sydney to LAX, as long as it's as good a deal as a recent British Airways 'Premium Economy' upgrade turned out to be (a lot wider and a lot more legroom, really a big difference IMO).

Thanks guys, for any help or information.

It's very common for bulk (consolidator) tickets to be excepted from the rules for published fares, especially regarding exchanges, upgrades and changes. Unfortunately you give up a lot of flexibility in exchange for price when you buy unpublished fares.

Once the flights are under airport control day of departure you might be able to upgrade, as they can seat your anywhere they want without reissuing your ticket. Ask at the airport.

Your best source for answers about these tickets is going to be whoever you bought them from.

I doubt Air France could upgrade you, because (as Travelergcp mentions) that would require a reissue -- which would be a complicated task for one airline to perform on a interline ticket issued by a TA. Most likely, you just purchased preferential advance seating (such as in an exit row) in the same Economy cabin.

I think your best bet is to call each airline and see if they can assign you the best seats in Economy, even for a price. Bear in mind that even if you can purchase an upgrade to a different class of service on the day of flight, you might or might not get your seat assignment fees refunded.

After a few Google searches for AF Seat Plus, I think you're absolutely right.

EDIT: And now I know you're right http://www.airfrance.ca/CA/en/common...siege_plus.htm

I'm not sure whether to feel a bit 'taken' by this, but I should have asked exactly what was meant. I just realized that I might try logging on at the AF site and see if my seats are shown, and there they are. They're exit row seats... a bit too close to the lavatory for my liking but they have all the legroom I could want.

I'll try, thanks. However, I have a feeling that, at least in the case of Malaysia, she would have offered this if she had the power to do so, because she was very nice and apologetic. Still worth a try.

Yep, that's what the Malaysia rep told me as well. I'll definitely ask at the airport.

Thanks for the responses.

Not to take things off topic, but this made me chuckle. You've got Skyteam, Oneworld, and Skyteam connecting to Star Alliance. Hope you've got all of your FF#'s in order.

Pretty sure you can still purchase 'Economy Comfort' on your Delta flight. If you have a Delta PNR, just go to their website and try to change seats to that section (or to an exit row) and it will immediately show the cost to access those seats. Economy Comfort is as close as you'll get to Premium Economy on Delta anyway, as they are only two-class.

Geez, really? So that whole thing about booking my open jaw ticket on one alliance to save money was a line? I definitely don't have my FF #'s in order : ) I'll get right on that.

Also, you are absolutely correct! I called Delta just now after reading mikew99's post above. I explained that the last Delta agent told me I couldn't grab an upgrade. He told me right away that I could grab an Economy Comfort seat.

I guess the first rep thought I meant upgrade to Business Class. Anyhow, I grabbed the Economy Comfort row with extra legroom for Sydney - LAX for $159. I feel like that's going to be worth it over 14 hours.

I then called Malaysia to see if I could grab the best economy seat they had, and I was able to grab the green SeatGuru seats for both legs for free! So thanks a lot, guys. I wouldn't have thought to try again had it not been for these posts.

Now let's see what happens with Air Canada.

Maybe alliance wasn't the right word for the TA to use, but I still think he did a relatively good job. While MH is in Oneworld, they have earning/burning agreements with both Delta and the AF/KL Flying Blue program. So everything but the AC segment can be credited to a single program.

And depending on the length of the AC segment, it was probably a good deal to give up those miles in exchange for the savings.

Of course, you have to be careful because consolidator / bulk fares can not only exempted from the normal published fares rules but also from earning miles at all.

croberts134, the AC segment is 4.75 hours.

This is a world with which I'm not familiar. Air Canada tells me that they can't even sell me an exit row because it's 'another airline's ticket stock'. Not sure why AF could sell me the exit rows (maybe it's their ticket stock?).

It's fascinating... if I log on to the AC website, the basic data on all 6 of my flights shows up, but no details, and a note saying 'you seemed to have booked this through xxx, we don't have your details'. It shows the Fare Type as Flex (Q) for the two AF flights and the LAX-YYZ flight, Tango (N) for the Malaysia Air flights and Tango (K) for the LAX - YYZ flight.

If I log on to Delta's site, they show only one of the Malaysia Air flights (the KUL - SYD leg) and then the SYD - LAX and LAX - YYZ legs.

If I log on to the AF site, I see only the AF flights.

In the end, I am happy about the price I got - it worked for me since there was an almost zero chance that I would have to cancel or change the dates.

I paid $140 for the changes I made to the 2 AF legs, $159 for the Economy Comfort on the Delta flight, and I didn't pay for the SeatGuru green seats on Malaysia. If I end up paying $299 to grab all those seats, I add it to $2800 and still feel like I got a decent deal.

This is misleading, AC is misinterpreting the fare codes.

Q is discount economy for AF and DL.
N is deep discount economy for MH.

They all may be consolidator (unpublished) fares, which could earn zero miles.

What is the ticket stock? The first 3 numbers of the eticket can be referenced against this: http://www.kovrik.com/sib/travel/airline-codes.txt

Ask for the local various PNRs and check your reservation online to check if better seats are available (against payment). Before check-in ask at the airport ticket desk if you can upgrade to PE or similar. Air France and MH are known to do this. I rate the chances for an upgrade on the Delta slim to none. If you have status on any airline try and get it matched on Delta or another Skyteam carrier (only Aerolineas/AR seems to do this).

Best advice given here -- the airport has lots of discretion and their goal is to generate any additional revenue for the carrier. If there are seats available, you are likely to be able to upgrade. If they don't do it at the checkin counter, ask again at the gate.

Assuming the fare code(s) can earn credit

Always ask these questions (upgradability, FF credit) before purchasing, not after. @:-)

Sorry for the delay in responding. I want to give as much info as I can since you guys are taking the time to respond. First off, it's no surprise that AC has the wrong info up at their site. Sorry, I've just had way too many bad experiences with them.

On the eTicket, the two Malaysia Air flights have the Malaysia Air prefix (232). The 4 other flights have the AF prefix (057). Does that make sense? That the MA flights are from MA stock and the AF, Delta and AC flights are from AF ticket stock?

I won't be surprised if these tickets are not eligible for FF points. I'll count it a lesson learned. If these flights are ineligible, it will be interesting for me to get some sort of indication of what those FF points might have been worth had I booked on a better fare basis. I realize that's a hard calculation to make...

I'm off to figure out what 'PNR' stands for (Passenger Name Record?). Just to be clear, I was able to pay $159 and grab an 'Economy Comfort' seat on the SYD - LAX Delta flight. I assume that when you say 'upgrade', you're referring to the upgrade to Premium Economy or beyond. The thing is, on the Delta 777-200 ER we're flying, there doesn't seem to be a Premium Economy section. As RipCityFlyer pointed out above, there's just the Economy Comfort.

Unfortunately I've been a little negligent about making sure my points are together on past international travel, so I don't have any status.

The one I'm really interested in is the Premium Economy on the AF flights from Toronto - Paris, and Paris - Mumbai.
Absolutely, I will be on top of it at every check in. I would not have thought to ask again at the gate - thanks! Obviously they would need to be set up to take credit card payment at the gate.

Again, if something comes up at check-in or at the gate and I have to forfeit either the $140 for the AF exit rows, or the $159 for the Delta Economy Comfort, I`ll chalk it up to a lesson learned.
Clearly, a good idea. Next time for sure.