If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not
allowed to purchase an upgrade. I called American but I could not understand the person on the other end with an strong Indian accent. So, can someone please explain to me how this upgrade thing would work at the airport? I understand that I can use money or points. I don't currently have points but I could buy them, but I don't want to buy them if I can't use them for an upgrade. Will buying points be as much, more, or less than buying an upgrade with cash? Thanks. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
Shawn Hirn wrote:
In article , Ken Litwak wrote: I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not allowed to purchase an upgrade. I called American but I could not understand the person on the other end with an strong Indian accent. So, can someone please explain to me how this upgrade thing would work at the airport? I understand that I can use money or points. I don't currently have points but I could buy them, but I don't want to buy them if I can't use them for an upgrade. Will buying points be as much, more, or less than buying an upgrade with cash? Thanks. It is totally hit or miss. Depends entirely on how heavily booked your flight is. Thanks. In an effort to get American to tell me more,I called again and now I'm confused. It sounded like the guy I talked to first said I could buy an upgrade if a seat was available at the airport. I called again tonight and was told that my ticket can't be upgraded, so now I don't even know if an upgrade is technically possible. I bought it directly from American, so I don't understand not being able to upgrade it. I don't fly much but have never had this sort of trouble or confusion with UAL. Maybe all the people who can't figure out how to decipher the policy at UAL go to work at AA :-). |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
In article , Ken Litwak
wrote: Thanks. In an effort to get American to tell me more,I called again and now I'm confused. It sounded like the guy I talked to first said I could buy an upgrade if a seat was available at the airport. I called again tonight and was told that my ticket can't be upgraded, so now I don't even know if an upgrade is technically possible. you might be able to buy an upgrade if there's availability at check-in time, however, depending on the fare class purchased it may not be upgradable at all. I bought it directly from American, so I don't understand not being able to upgrade it. I don't fly much but have never had this sort of trouble or confusion with UAL. Maybe all the people who can't figure out how to decipher the policy at UAL go to work at AA :-). since you say you don't fly much, i assume you are not an elite member (gold, platinum, exec plat). thus, your only options as a non-elite are to use aadvantage miles or purchase an upgrade at the gate. for a domestic ticket, it's 15,000 miles to upgrade one way from discount economy. upgrading at the gate will depend if they have any unfilled seats after the elite members have been upgraded, so i wouldn't count on that. or you could cancel the ticket and buy first or business, if it's that important. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
In message Ken Litwak
was claimed to have wrote: Shawn Hirn wrote: In article , Ken Litwak wrote: I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not allowed to purchase an upgrade. I called American but I could not understand the person on the other end with an strong Indian accent. So, can someone please explain to me how this upgrade thing would work at the airport? I understand that I can use money or points. I don't currently have points but I could buy them, but I don't want to buy them if I can't use them for an upgrade. Will buying points be as much, more, or less than buying an upgrade with cash? Thanks. It is totally hit or miss. Depends entirely on how heavily booked your flight is. Thanks. In an effort to get American to tell me more,I called again and now I'm confused. It sounded like the guy I talked to first said I could buy an upgrade if a seat was available at the airport. I called again tonight and was told that my ticket can't be upgraded, so now I don't even know if an upgrade is technically possible. I bought it directly from American, so I don't understand not being able to upgrade it. I don't fly much but have never had this sort of trouble or confusion with UAL. Maybe all the people who can't figure out how to decipher the policy at UAL go to work at AA :-). My experience has been that AA is clueless. Not too long ago I was told by the check-in agent that business was completely empty, but unfortunately my ticket class didn't allow me to purchase an upgrade. I went back to the automated check-in machines and was able to purchase an upgrade for under $100. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
In article ,
Ken Litwak wrote: I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not allowed to purchase an upgrade. I find it hard to believe that AA did not have an option for purchasing a business-class ticket. Oh, did you want to pay for coach and then ``upgrade'' for less than the difference between coach and business? Now, why would AA let you do this? You are not a frequent flier; you chose them because they were a couple of bucks cheaper than the competition. If AA lets people like you to ``upgrade,'' how would they ever sell actual business-class fares? By the way, Ken, I noticed over the past 10 years that every time you are fixin' to get on a plane (about once a year), you precede it by several posts to this newsgroup asking about hotel transportation, baggage rules, getting this or that freebie that you did not pay for, etc. What's up with that? |
#6
November 17th, 2008, 05:37 AM
posted to rec.travel.air,[email protected]
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
VS wrote:
In article , Ken Litwak wrote: I bought a coach ticker for AA, but while doing so online I was not allowed to purchase an upgrade. I find it hard to believe that AA did not have an option for purchasing a business-class ticket. Oh, did you want to pay for coach and then ``upgrade'' for less than the difference between coach and business? Now, why would AA let you do this? You are not a frequent flier; you chose them because they were a couple of bucks cheaper than the competition. If AA lets people like you to ``upgrade,'' how would they ever sell actual business-class fares? By the way, Ken, I noticed over the past 10 years that every time you are fixin' to get on a plane (about once a year), you precede it by several posts to this newsgroup asking about hotel transportation, baggage rules, getting this or that freebie that you did not pay for, etc. What's up with that? A. I'm in AA's Frequent Flyer program but because I usually only fly once per year and didn't last year because the annual conference I attend was within driving distance, AA deleted all my points. B. I'm not sure where you come up with the "Freebie" thing? I didn't ask, "How can I upgrade for free?" You ought to speak to what I actually ask. What freebie did I ever ask for, so what's up with your question? Oh, sorry, trying to figure out how to fly coach and yet be able to appear professional at an interview is a terrible thing to ask about. Still, why do you even care? It's not like I post spam to this newsgroup and you can ignore anything that I ask, rather than waste my time. Since airlines regularly sell upgrade certificates to people who bought coach tickers, your assertion makes no sense to me whatsoever. C. I don't travel much and it seems that between each trip, lots of things change and I don't find airline web site terribly useful in learning what I need to know and they are obviously not going to be helpful about things like getting from the airport to my destination. I lack the visual acuity that most people have for navigating around, so I at times try to find out before I go somewhere that I don't know info in order to navigate where I'm going more effectively and yes, economically, since I pay for the whole thing myself. D. Let's see. I looked at a few major airlines to find a flight at the _time_ I needed, irrespective of price. UAL's flight was sold out or I would have gone with them. AA's light was not. The only price decision I made was whether to have a refundable ticket or not. Well excuse me for that. E. Many participants in this newsgroup seem to travel a lot and therefore likely know more about how TSA interprets its own rules, how to accomplish specific things that are variable based upon flights attendants, issues where an airline's staff seems to not be very knowledgeable, etc. Knowing what the situation is before I go on a trip simply saves me time. How would you have me find these things out? The hard way? That would be stupid. |
#7
November 17th, 2008, 05:58 AM
posted to rec.travel.air,[email protected]
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
In article , Ken Litwak
wrote: A. I'm in AA's Frequent Flyer program but because I usually only fly once per year and didn't last year because the annual conference I attend was within driving distance, AA deleted all my points. like many airlines, after 18 months of inactivity your miles will expire, however, they can be reinstated for a fee. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
In article ,
Ken Litwak wrote: You ought to speak to what I actually ask. Ok. You asked how to get into business class on AA. Answer: buy a business-class ticket. Oh, sorry, trying to figure out how to fly coach On the contrary, you are trying to figure out how to *not* fly coach, yet you seem unwilling to pay the fare difference. What's up with that? Since airlines regularly sell upgrade certificates to people who bought coach tickers Which airlines would that be? I've never heard of AA (or any other major airline, for that matter) regularly selling ``upgrade certificates'' to once-a-year coach travelers. I don't travel much and it seems that between each trip, lots of things change What do you think changed since your last trip? You think the airlines started selling ``upgrade certificates'' to people like you, or flight attendants started hanging coach passengers' suits? Ken, I am curious. At this interview of yours, are you planning to answer questions, or just explode with irrelevant verbiage like you did here? If you are, in fact, capable of answering questions, then riddle me this: Why on earth would AA sell an ``upgrade certificate'' to someone like you, and how would they ever sell actual business-class fares if any coach passenger could buy an upgrade certificate instead? |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
? on upgrading on American at the airport
I have to agree that the web site for AA is not very helpful in
explaining how upgrade certificates work, although the necessary information is there if you look hard enough. The confusion arises, I believe, because you are invited at the advantage site to buy upgrade certificates that you are not likely to be able to use. The use of an upgrade certificate is limited to passengers holding a full fare refundable ticket. Most discounted fares (which most of us non-business travelers use, that is, those of us paying for our own ticket and with the ability to plan more than than three weeks ahead) are not eligible for upgrade. When you view the reservation for a discounted ticket, the column headed "Request Upgrade?" will show N/A (not available). If you go to the page from there "View Upgrade Rules" it explains that only a Y or B grade ticket is upgradable. Of course, people do sometimes get upgraded for free if a flight is overbooked in coach, there are seats available in business and no one has paid for an upgrade. Of course, at that point, they upgrade the platinum plus and platinum frequent fliers first, who will already have left their name on a list for the upgrades. Only once have I been offered a free upgrade, after, as a doctor I volunteered to help a sick passenger and was of minimal assistance. I declined, as there was only one seat and thought it better for my marriage to stay in coach with my wife. Once in flight, changing cabin arrangements is very rare, but at the discretion of the flight crew. Sometimes returning war soldiers are upgraded first. I have flown first and business a few times and it is very nice, but except on the longest flights, rarely worth the money, in my opinion. I expect that your interview will be fine and that any serious interviewer will be able to take into account your travel and the fact that you were willing to undertake it. Good luck! On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:53:44 -0800 (PST), (VS) wrote: In article , Ken Litwak wrote: You ought to speak to what I actually ask. Ok. You asked how to get into business class on AA. Answer: buy a business-class ticket. Oh, sorry, trying to figure out how to fly coach On the contrary, you are trying to figure out how to *not* fly coach, yet you seem unwilling to pay the fare difference. What's up with that? Since airlines regularly sell upgrade certificates to people who bought coach tickers Which airlines would that be? I've never heard of AA (or any other major airline, for that matter) regularly selling ``upgrade certificates'' to once-a-year coach travelers. I don't travel much and it seems that between each trip, lots of things change What do you think changed since your last trip? You think the airlines started selling ``upgrade certificates'' to people like you, or flight attendants started hanging coach passengers' suits? Ken, I am curious. At this interview of yours, are you planning to answer questions, or just explode with irrelevant verbiage like you did here? If you are, in fact, capable of answering questions, then riddle me this: Why on earth would AA sell an ``upgrade certificate'' to someone like you, and how would they ever sell actual business-class fares if any coach passenger could buy an upgrade certificate instead? |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Alliances and upgrading to business class | spamfree | Air travel | 0 | June 13th, 2005 07:52 PM |
Upgrading your English | danny | Europe | 7 | August 25th, 2004 07:27 PM |
UPGRADING | John Canning | Cruises | 9 | May 6th, 2004 03:51 PM |
Upgrading Travelocity Fares with Mileage | jacksf | Air travel | 6 | December 14th, 2003 12:12 AM |
American Express Foreign Exchange at Heathrow Airport | Andy Lee | Europe | 6 | September 15th, 2003 09:30 PM |