FlyerTalk Forums - W fare worth it?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by nomad420 (Post 37463202)

Interesting that some here pay for W to "save" PPs. For me that is act of insanity. I guess it is all about how you travel and how you use them.

It's not that insane. As noted above, US-Taiwan W fare difference is not that large. I booked TPE-US in W for just $75 more.

There are many other opportunities depending on route and season. I had a US-Europe fare where L fare and R fare difference was around $300, difference of 80PP vs. 30PP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyerBeek (Post 37463268)

I do it frequently. Recently for me it was a $26 fare difference (between the S and W fares) on a WAS-KHH booking where the international segments had confirmable PZ upgrade inventory available. I'll gladly pay $26 extra to save 40 PPs any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Usually, I find it's frequently $200 or less to just buy-up to W on the routes I'm looking at. If there's no confirmable PZ space at time of booking, then I'm typically looking at just booking Premium Plus.

-FlyerBeek

Quote:

Originally Posted by hirohito888 (Post 37463416)

Each of us has our own implicit valuation of +Ps. Early on in the year, I'd generally pay up to a few hundred bucks to save 40 +Ps. At the end of the year, I won't even pay $26 to save 40 +Ps that would otherwise go to waste. That said, I only bother with +Ps on routes with confirmable PZ, so likelihood of clearance is removed from my decision making calculus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomad420 (Post 37463202)

Interesting that some here pay for W to "save" PPs. For me that is act of insanity.

It depends on route. SFO/LAX-HKG has been a very easy upgrade and it would be very much worth it to book Ws if you're going to fly it more than once per year.

Well unfortunately the W fare I booked was all for naught, my Polaris dreams are destroyed 😂😂

I was under the impression that as long as travel was booked by 01/31/26 that the plus points could be applied but travel has to completed by then. Oh well. I appreciate all the info and insight from the FT community.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BEN52 (Post 37464081)

Not completed but rather the segment must be schedule for departure before expiration.

I am so dreading reverting back to 1K after reading this... !

Perhaps I have been lucky for the past 20 years as GS, I have only failed upgrade into United Business/Polaris from Y once during this period by purchasing international W fares for my personal travels on United. I have 100% record of upgrading from XY to J on international flights during the same period.

I do understand the frustration expressed by 1Ks who have tons of unused PP+ each year.