no_idea

How bad is this ? Another reason not to choose any TK flight/booking until they are back to normal conditions. For same airlines Covid19 seems to be a 'good reason' for sudden changes without a early announcement. I already fixed my further plans wit QR, AY and the LH group.

SFOTraveler1984

What does that mean exactly? I have a flight later this year which I upgraded using my voucher. Booking correctly shows J class in the app.
Or does this only apply to new bookings, ie you cannot currently upgrade flights (only on departure day)?

Jaenks

If you are already upgraded with new ticket issued(new ticket number) then you are good to go. I wrote currently, that means current upgrade requests. My booking shows J in app but upgrade is not cleared, selected the J seats but new ticket is not issued(J class). That decision is made by TK HQ, lets see do I get vouchers cleared(as exemption) or not. My flights are in December and in May, J-4 availability to all segments.

SFOTraveler1984

Thanks for the clarification. But I don't think I ever got a new ticket number - just checked my last upgraded flight and the ticket number stayed the same from booking to flight (several months and a few schedule changes).

Jaenks

My last upgraded flight was with new ticket number. TK must reissue the ticket since the travel class is a different. Now I wait the result of TK internal battle

YOW_RTW

None of my upgraded flights last year using E+ voucher (or by using miles) had a ticket number change. The class of service changed to show as J on the web and the APP and seats were selected, but the tickets were never reissued. Where did you hear about the suspension of E+ upgrades in advance, was this via feedback or call center?

Jaenks

All my upgraded tickets has been corporate, so could be a different handling . Anyway TK must reissue the ticket to J class which did not happened although it shows in app J but in the TK reservation system both Q and J with not ticketed remark are showing. I always got ticket reissued but do not have the older ones left to check the ticket numbers. It is not suspension but delaying the upgrade clearance confirmation until departure date. That information came straight from TK HQ, feedback response or call center are not involved.

IAN-UK

I took advantage of a friendly agent during a call centre negotiation, and tried to verify this.

Although the main issue was resolved (yay!), the agent was puzzled by the e-voucher question - asked me if I was talking about Anadolu flights. I didn't want to push my luck, especially as Jaenks's advice is horse's mouth stuff direct from THY-Towers.

SFOTraveler1984

Interesting and thanks, Jaenks, for reporting this.
Frankly, if this is confirmed to be true, then I will not make any effort extending my E+ status. The vouchers were the main benefit of E+. If I use the vouchers, I want to have certainty that I will be sitting in J. Unacceptable if TK now expects their top-tier customers to use the voucher but wait until boarding (yes, I am exaggerating) to find out if they are sitting in Economy or Business. I will not use the vouchers if there is any risk of ending up in Eco...

Combine this "voucher situation" with the "low cost carrier style of catering" and there isnt much to attract me to TK for the time being...

YOW_RTW

I agree 100%. If this will be the "new normal" with TK upgrades, I have lost a major motivation to stick with their FF program. My next E+ upgraded flights are not until Spring 2021, so I have time to be patient before making any decisions to switch programs. Before then, I hope we can get feedback from this FT community on any experiences with this new "policy". If anyone will be traveling soon on an upgraded flight, could you kindly take note of any requirement to reissue your upgraded ticket (ie. new ticket number) and of course report any issues related to downgrades after having confirmed "J" showing on the web/app. Thank you!

Jaenks

Update. I got last week a "special permission" for voucher upgrade. Now the ticket is re-validated which means that same ticket number remains while previously my voucher upgraded tickets were re-issued with new ticket number. I asked about it specially for clarification.
Now the explanation from my source about the current voucher upgrade handling. The upgrade confirmation delay until departure date is temporary until the end of Covid restrictions, whenever that will be. The current situation takes a lot of personnel time to deal with tickets rebooking, cancelling etc. Therefore voucher upgrades most likely would add even more work when/if the flight changes occure. To avoid that , TK made temporary changes to upgrade policy. I did not asked but I presume that same applies to TK flights business class upgrade using points. I would not recommend to buy non changeable and/or non cancellable tickets when planning to use upgrade vouchers until TK returns to normal handling of the voucher upgrades.

ISTFlyer

Thanks for the update, this might be the reason why TK has extended ELPL vouchers of some of us until the next qualification period that starts/ends in late-2021 or early 2022. The validity of my Elite Plus vouchers from last year ( that should have already expired ) and the vouchers for my current cycle have been extended to early 2022.

Besides that, I have a friend that had success upgrading a Europe-IST-USA ticket with miles but the upgrade was made in mid-July 2020 so I am not sure about how is the process at the moment.

hfly

IST, may I ask, how you know that they extended your vouchers? Are you able to say online? I too would like to check mine. Thanks.

ISTFlyer

During one of my calls with the TK hotline, I asked them to check if my new set of Elite Plus vouchers were deposited. The agent told me that I have 4 vouchers that would expire on my current card expiry date ( end of the 2nd requalification period - 30th month after (re)qualifying for ELPL ).

craigthemif

Although the upgrade does take some time to process, I very much doubt that this is the issue. What is more likely is that, once upgraded, TK must re-book you in Business Class after any flight changes / cancellations. (which are obviously very frequent these days) This can convert a "J inventory unlikely to sell out giveaway" into an actual semi-flex Business Class ticket. Certainly when I was IRROPed on an upgraded ticket pre-COVID, the airport ticket agent had no difficulty whatsoever with rerouting me in Business Class, so I don't buy the argument that's it's too much work to deal with flight changes.

What TK may be misunderstanding is that many E+ members:

• won't actually fly TK at all unless upgraded
• often pay more for semi-flex Economy fares to earn 100% mileage credit

So that's a decent chunk of revenue completely gone, simply to avoid giving away too many Business Class seats on flights they didn't intend.