Sep 8, 2017, 8:42 am
Last edit by: flyerby
E+ members receive two upgrade vouchers per membership year that can be used as system-wide upgrades. Vouchers are not delivered to E+ status holders in physical or electronic form and only exist on the screens of TK agents.
It is advisable to call TK to verify the number of vouchers you have prior to and after the upgrade (unless you have no vouchers left).
Upgrades are done by calling TK CS or a local TK office (by phone or email).
One voucher is needed to upgrade per direction. For example, the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK will need one voucher to upgrade, and the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK-IST-LHR will need two vouchers. If an agent tells you otherwise, HUCA.
How to find itineraries with availability for a voucher upgrade?
Find an itinerary in any class in Y that has 4 seats left in J booking class on the same itinerary as the Y. To be extra cautious, you may also check the individual legs (when applicable) for 4 seats left in J booking class. For example, for the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK, check at least that LHR-IST-BKK has 4 seats left in J booking class, and in addition, check LHR-IST and IST-BKK individually too.
You can no longer check for upgrade availability without having an e-ticket number.
A relatively low-risk method of proceeding is therefore...
1) Reserve a ticket online with TK but don't pay for the ticket yet. Just put it on hold for 48 hours for free for E+ members.
2) Book an economy class ticket on the same itinerary with a reputable USA-based OTA that offers a 24-hour cooling-off / full refund period.
3) Once you have received your e-ticket number, go to Manage Booking on the TK website and check if TK has offered a business upgrade with miles for your intineray. Any segment eligible for an upgrade with miles on the website is also eligible for an upgrade with E+ vouchers.
4) Another option would be to call TK CS and ask an agent to check if the ticket in (2) is upgradeable with your vouchers. Do not upgrade this ticket; just check.
5) Once availability is confirmed for your itinerary, pay for the ticket in (1). Upon payment and ticketing, call TK CS to ask an agent to upgrade this ticket.
6) Cancel for free the ticket in (2).
Another even lower-risk method would be to skip (1) and just upgrade the ticket in (2). If unsuccessful with the E+ upgrade, you can proceed to cancel your economy ticket within the 24-hour cooling-off period. Going with this route, you would then have to be in contact with the OTA and not TK in cases of schedule change, cancellation, or IRROP, which is not usually advisable unless you really have to.
You might be asked to enter a PIN number via an automatic system to access your vouchers; this is the PIN you use to log on to your TK M&S account.
It is advisable to call TK to verify the number of vouchers you have prior to and after the upgrade (unless you have no vouchers left).
Upgrades are done by calling TK CS or a local TK office (by phone or email).
One voucher is needed to upgrade per direction. For example, the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK will need one voucher to upgrade, and the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK-IST-LHR will need two vouchers. If an agent tells you otherwise, HUCA.
How to find itineraries with availability for a voucher upgrade?
Find an itinerary in any class in Y that has 4 seats left in J booking class on the same itinerary as the Y. To be extra cautious, you may also check the individual legs (when applicable) for 4 seats left in J booking class. For example, for the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK, check at least that LHR-IST-BKK has 4 seats left in J booking class, and in addition, check LHR-IST and IST-BKK individually too.
You can no longer check for upgrade availability without having an e-ticket number.
A relatively low-risk method of proceeding is therefore...
1) Reserve a ticket online with TK but don't pay for the ticket yet. Just put it on hold for 48 hours for free for E+ members.
2) Book an economy class ticket on the same itinerary with a reputable USA-based OTA that offers a 24-hour cooling-off / full refund period.
3) Once you have received your e-ticket number, go to Manage Booking on the TK website and check if TK has offered a business upgrade with miles for your intineray. Any segment eligible for an upgrade with miles on the website is also eligible for an upgrade with E+ vouchers.
4) Another option would be to call TK CS and ask an agent to check if the ticket in (2) is upgradeable with your vouchers. Do not upgrade this ticket; just check.
5) Once availability is confirmed for your itinerary, pay for the ticket in (1). Upon payment and ticketing, call TK CS to ask an agent to upgrade this ticket.
6) Cancel for free the ticket in (2).
Another even lower-risk method would be to skip (1) and just upgrade the ticket in (2). If unsuccessful with the E+ upgrade, you can proceed to cancel your economy ticket within the 24-hour cooling-off period. Going with this route, you would then have to be in contact with the OTA and not TK in cases of schedule change, cancellation, or IRROP, which is not usually advisable unless you really have to.
You might be asked to enter a PIN number via an automatic system to access your vouchers; this is the PIN you use to log on to your TK M&S account.
Elite Plus upgrade voucher
Jun 24, 2017, 8:36 am
#256
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,295
Can't figure out whether people mean any business class when they refer to 'J', or specifically the discount business fares.
Jun 24, 2017, 2:40 pm
#257
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: DTW
Programs: TK E+, WY, Radisson R
Posts: 2,360
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28381765-post235.html
If your travel plan changes and the voucher redeemed has expired (used during prior membership year), you can still change the date(s) as long as the upgraded segment(s) stays the same and there's J fare bucket available for the segment(s) during the intended date(s)
, this would be considered upgrade carryover.
Try to get this done at ticket office since there's so much miscommunication as well as glitches in ticketing, in certain cases they could mess up your tickets, including, but not limited to wiping out your tickets and segments. When I needed a simple mileage credited back to my account it took almost 30 minutes at IST, even with supervisor next to the agent. Think about how things can go wrong over the phone.
Jul 5, 2017, 4:21 pm
#258
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Germany
Posts: 136
I am considering to book a flight to CPT with departure in 7 weeks. At the moment no J class availability. Anyboy has experience how likely it would be that a seat in J will become available during that 7 weeks? I am able to monitor the available fare classes daily. But if it is rather unlikely i wouldn't book a flight with TK. Any opinions?
Jul 6, 2017, 6:06 am
#259
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,043
I am considering to book a flight to CPT with departure in 7 weeks. At the moment no J class availability. Anyboy has experience how likely it would be that a seat in J will become available during that 7 weeks? I am able to monitor the available fare classes daily. But if it is rather unlikely i wouldn't book a flight with TK. Any opinions?
If TK aren't selling J 7 weeks out, then they probably feel pretty good about advance bookings in Business Class. The closer you get to departure, the more likely that the only new bookings are relatively price insensitive business travelers.
But others may follow TK's strategy closer than I do...
Jul 6, 2017, 6:37 am
#260
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,295
+1. If there is no J on that route now, there is very little chance it will open up within the next 7 weeks.
Jul 7, 2017, 5:36 am
#261
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DSS
Posts: 827
There is absolutely no way I would book a non-refundable ticket without immediately processing the upgrade.
If TK aren't selling J 7 weeks out, then they probably feel pretty good about advance bookings in Business Class. The closer you get to departure, the more likely that the only new bookings are relatively price insensitive business travelers.
But others may follow TK's strategy closer than I do...
If TK aren't selling J 7 weeks out, then they probably feel pretty good about advance bookings in Business Class. The closer you get to departure, the more likely that the only new bookings are relatively price insensitive business travelers.
But others may follow TK's strategy closer than I do...
For my last flight it only showed K availability,none the less my upgrade went through for all segments.
Jul 10, 2017, 8:44 am
#262
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Germany
Posts: 136
Thanks. Will try that later. J just showed up departing from BRU (would be ok for me). Checking from other airports still no J and also if I check the legs separately. Will they check from the fare origin or do they check leg by leg? I still don't know exactly how it works.
Jul 10, 2017, 3:12 pm
#263
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,295
They will check for the O&D that you want to upgrade.
So if you want to upgrade AMS-IST-CPT, then J needs to be available on that O&D (and not on the 2 legs separately). If you want to upgrade only IST-CPT, then J needs to be available on that O&D.
So if you want to upgrade AMS-IST-CPT, then J needs to be available on that O&D (and not on the 2 legs separately). If you want to upgrade only IST-CPT, then J needs to be available on that O&D.
Jul 11, 2017, 10:24 am
#264
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: BRU
Programs: TK elite plus, Flying Blue platinum, ALL gold, IHG diamond
Posts: 118
Just upgraded my ticket at the TK desk at the airport. The manager was frantically tapping away on his keyboard, but a couple of minutes later all 4 flights on my trip were upgraded! Easy!
Jul 13, 2017, 4:11 pm
#265
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Germany
Posts: 136
Anyway, I had to call 3 times to get it upgraded. First time the agent only could upgrade the 2nd fare component, the second agent only found J for the 1st fare component after I insisted that it must be available but not for the 2nd fare component. With a lot of patience the 3rd agent was able to upgrade the full itinerary except the last segment (If you have a stopover over 24h you need 2 vouchers). My advice would be to tell them to look up the flights the same way as you searched it with the multi-city search. The agents are able to look up the segments separately (AAA-BBB-CCC) or together (AAA-CCC) and it gives them different results. For me it worked after the agent entered the segments the same way I searched my trip with the multi city search on expedia (AAA-CCC/CCC-BBB-AAA). Availablity then matched the availability I found looking up my itineary in business class on expedia.
Last edited by Kapi1904; Jul 13, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Jul 17, 2017, 9:46 am
#267
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: JNB
Programs: Flying Blue, Miles and Smiles, Hhonors, ICHotels
Posts: 1,307
I am considering to book a flight to CPT with departure in 7 weeks. At the moment no J class availability. Anyboy has experience how likely it would be that a seat in J will become available during that 7 weeks? I am able to monitor the available fare classes daily. But if it is rather unlikely i wouldn't book a flight with TK. Any opinions?
Am looking at a routing in the coming weeks and since the client only pays for Y, cannot find a singe J seat either outbound or inbound for the 21 days that I looked at.
Jul 31, 2017, 5:16 pm
#268
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: TK Elite Plus, SAS EBG, QR Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,297
Today I successfully used my Elite Plus upgrade vouchers for the first time.
Booked Stockholm to San Francisco via Istanbul in Economy Class. I started off by making a reservation, then called the hotline to confirm the availability. Once that was done I completed the payment on the website, and called back. I got a different agent who at first pulled out a different ticket number (Ankara to Dubai. No idea how that happened), but once I gave him my PNR he was able to locate my ticket.
The actual upgrade process took 20 minutes, and half way through I was asked to enter my PIN code, before the upgrade was completed. All four flights upgraded, including the return which has an overnight layover in Istanbul. I did make sure to book the shortest connection in order to get the connecting segments upgraded on the same voucher.
While the underlying Economy fare was a little pricy, it was still a great deal considering that the vouchers would otherwise have expired at the end of the year.
The ticket number remained the same as on my original booking, but the booking class has been changed to J. From what I understand, will I still get the original mileage from the Economy ticket or for the new booking class? The mileage calculator on the website states that I will earn the mileage for the new ticket, but I'm not entirely sure it can be trusted.
Booked Stockholm to San Francisco via Istanbul in Economy Class. I started off by making a reservation, then called the hotline to confirm the availability. Once that was done I completed the payment on the website, and called back. I got a different agent who at first pulled out a different ticket number (Ankara to Dubai. No idea how that happened), but once I gave him my PNR he was able to locate my ticket.
The actual upgrade process took 20 minutes, and half way through I was asked to enter my PIN code, before the upgrade was completed. All four flights upgraded, including the return which has an overnight layover in Istanbul. I did make sure to book the shortest connection in order to get the connecting segments upgraded on the same voucher.
While the underlying Economy fare was a little pricy, it was still a great deal considering that the vouchers would otherwise have expired at the end of the year.
The ticket number remained the same as on my original booking, but the booking class has been changed to J. From what I understand, will I still get the original mileage from the Economy ticket or for the new booking class? The mileage calculator on the website states that I will earn the mileage for the new ticket, but I'm not entirely sure it can be trusted.