Upgrade availability?
Jan 5, 2013 | 10:58 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: TK Elite Plus; UA Gold Elite; Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 122
Upgrade availability?
Is it possible to find out the availability of upgradeable seats prior to purchasing a ticket? I would like to purchase an economy or CC ticket and then upgrade to business class with TK miles. Since I have some leeway in my travel dates, I'd like to find the flights where those upgrade business seats are available before buying the tickets.
Jan 5, 2013 | 5:55 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: PER
Programs: QF Platinum
Posts: 778
You could use KVS or ExpertFlyer to check seat availability on the flights you're looking at?
I'm sure someone here will correct me but off the top of my head, a points upgrade relies on J fare bucket seats being available, not an I award seat?
I'm sure someone here will correct me but off the top of my head, a points upgrade relies on J fare bucket seats being available, not an I award seat?
Jan 6, 2013 | 12:29 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: TK Elite Plus; UA Gold Elite; Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 122
Seat availability does not usually correlate with upgradeable seat availability. I've never used KVS before, but it looks like that might provide the info once you pay. Is there another way to do this online for free? If not, then I would just do as erteke recommended and call TK to check on availability of upgradeable seats before buying the ticket. It's a pain to do it that way, but free.
Jan 6, 2013 | 1:13 pm
#5
Company Representative - ExpertFlyer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,929
Seat availability does not usually correlate with upgradeable seat availability. I've never used KVS before, but it looks like that might provide the info once you pay. Is there another way to do this online for free? If not, then I would just do as erteke recommended and call TK to check on availability of upgradeable seats before buying the ticket. It's a pain to do it that way, but free.
Jan 6, 2013 | 2:22 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Worldwide
Posts: 12,952
Please see http://Help.KVSTool.com/#TK for complete details on TK Award & Upgrade Booking Classes.
Jan 16, 2013 | 10:39 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: TK Elite Plus; UA Gold Elite; Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 122
I went ahead and got the one month basic Expert Flyer subscription and was able to see the availability of upgradeable seats. And it was very helpful. When I called the TK rep, he told me there were no seats available on the flight I had booked, though EF said there was one seat left. I then told him that I had access to the availability data base and he should check again. He looked again and said "You're right!". And now I'm upgraded to a J seat! Thanks, Expert Flyer! Worth every penny!
Jan 16, 2013 | 9:23 pm
#8
Company Representative - ExpertFlyer
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,929
I went ahead and got the one month basic Expert Flyer subscription and was able to see the availability of upgradeable seats. And it was very helpful. When I called the TK rep, he told me there were no seats available on the flight I had booked, though EF said there was one seat left. I then told him that I had access to the availability data base and he should check again. He looked again and said "You're right!". And now I'm upgraded to a J seat! Thanks, Expert Flyer! Worth every penny!
Jan 27, 2013 | 6:23 pm
#9
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 423
How many miles is it to upgrade from economy to business with UA miles for LAX-IST? I am confused about the Star Alliance UG chart since TK has Econ/CC/Bus only instead of Econ/Bus/First. It looks like Econ->Bus is 45K one way with TK miles if you go through them. I'm hoping to do this with UA Miles instead.
Jan 28, 2013 | 12:28 am
#10
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 8,239
How many miles is it to upgrade from economy to business with UA miles for LAX-IST? I am confused about the Star Alliance UG chart since TK has Econ/CC/Bus only instead of Econ/Bus/First. It looks like Econ->Bus is 45K one way with TK miles if you go through them. I'm hoping to do this with UA Miles instead.
Jan 28, 2013 | 12:38 am
#11
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: PER
Programs: QF Platinum
Posts: 778
How many miles is it to upgrade from economy to business with UA miles for LAX-IST? I am confused about the Star Alliance UG chart since TK has Econ/CC/Bus only instead of Econ/Bus/First. It looks like Econ->Bus is 45K one way with TK miles if you go through them. I'm hoping to do this with UA Miles instead.
I'd be surprised if you have a full economy fare for LAX-IST, so I'd be checking that first in any case before hoping to get an upgrade. It needs to be Y or B fare class.
Jan 28, 2013 | 1:27 am
#12
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 423
I did not buy the economy tickets yet as my dates are not set but there's plenty of J upgrade availability on Expert Flyer for that month.
The chart that I'm looking at is the Star Alliance upgrade chart, not specific to TK: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...2012-03-03.pdf. I was hoping someone here would have experience specifically regarding upgrades on TK since they don't have the econ/bus/first designation like most other airlines. Looking at this chart makes me think it would be 25K one way, but upgrading on TK with TK miles (no Star Alliance involved) is 45K, so the 25K seems way too low in comparison.
The chart that I'm looking at is the Star Alliance upgrade chart, not specific to TK: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...2012-03-03.pdf. I was hoping someone here would have experience specifically regarding upgrades on TK since they don't have the econ/bus/first designation like most other airlines. Looking at this chart makes me think it would be 25K one way, but upgrading on TK with TK miles (no Star Alliance involved) is 45K, so the 25K seems way too low in comparison.
Last edited by msc75; Jan 28, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Jan 31, 2013 | 2:20 pm
#13
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 423
From the responses on the UA thread and my research, I gathered the following regarding upgrades. Could someone please correct me if I am wrong on any of these:
- *A upgrades to business require purchase of a full fare Y or B economy ticket. Not possible to upgrade to or from Comfort Class.
- Upgrade with TK miles is possible from any class including low paid economy
- Possible to buy award ticket for someone else, but not possible to upgrade someone else with my TK miles (?) unless we have a family account. Only option is to transfer to their account at 10 euro/1000 miles?
- *A upgrades to business require purchase of a full fare Y or B economy ticket. Not possible to upgrade to or from Comfort Class.
- Upgrade with TK miles is possible from any class including low paid economy
- Possible to buy award ticket for someone else, but not possible to upgrade someone else with my TK miles (?) unless we have a family account. Only option is to transfer to their account at 10 euro/1000 miles?
Jan 31, 2013 | 10:35 pm
#14
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: PER
Programs: QF Platinum
Posts: 778
From the responses on the UA thread and my research, I gathered the following regarding upgrades. Could someone please correct me if I am wrong on any of these:
- *A upgrades to business require purchase of a full fare Y or B economy ticket. Not possible to upgrade to or from Comfort Class.
- Upgrade with TK miles is possible from any class including low paid economy
- Possible to buy award ticket for someone else, but not possible to upgrade someone else with my TK miles (?) unless we have a family account. Only option is to transfer to their account at 10 euro/1000 miles?
- *A upgrades to business require purchase of a full fare Y or B economy ticket. Not possible to upgrade to or from Comfort Class.
- Upgrade with TK miles is possible from any class including low paid economy
- Possible to buy award ticket for someone else, but not possible to upgrade someone else with my TK miles (?) unless we have a family account. Only option is to transfer to their account at 10 euro/1000 miles?
Apr 9, 2013 | 11:37 am
#15
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: AA PLT the rest, Kettle Power
Posts: 687
Hi all! I have a trip coming up April 13-19 - IST-PEK-IST. Booked CC, Waitlisted for J. The IST-PEK has cleared, and by the looks of things there were quite a few seats open. I know seat selection is not a direct indication of J availability, but it's better than nothing...
My question is what do you think my odds are on the return? It looks like there are only 4 seats unclaimed - with all J fare classes at 0...
What do you think!?
My question is what do you think my odds are on the return? It looks like there are only 4 seats unclaimed - with all J fare classes at 0...
What do you think!?