Flight upgrade advice

[anniedave]

Hi,

We have our first Celebrity cruise booked for Jan 2020, this is part of a longer holiday and in total involves 4 flights all booked by our TA with American Airlines. We were hoping to upgrade from economy to premium economy on at least 2 of the flights and possibly upgrade to buisness on one of the shorter ones. The prices my TA has quoted are much higher than the price difference advertised on AAs website. I have the flight numbers. Is it possible to arrange an upgrade directly with American Airlines to try and get a cheaper deal. I dont know if it will make a difference. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[UKWLDCruise]

I have done it myself directly, but with Virgin, as long as you have the booking code/s then it seems okay.  You can hit problems though if the cruise company has bought your flights as part of a group booking with other cruisers.

[waterbug123]

4 hours ago, anniedave said:

Hi,

We have our first Celebrity cruise booked for Jan 2020, this is part of a longer holiday and in total involves 4 flights all booked by our TA with American Airlines. We were hoping to upgrade from economy to premium economy on at least 2 of the flights and possibly upgrade to buisness on one of the shorter ones. The prices my TA has quoted are much higher than the price difference advertised on AAs website. I have the flight numbers. Is it possible to arrange an upgrade directly with American Airlines to try and get a cheaper deal. I dont know if it will make a difference. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

What are the airlines and routings you want to upgrade?  I know you said everything is booked with AA but depending on the route some legs may be operated by another airline.  Also, if you are looking at business class for a short, intra-European flight, there's a good chance that it's European "domestic" business, which isn't really business class at all; it's just the front of the coach cabin but they leave the middle seat empty. 

Part of the higher price being quoted could be that you are currently booked in a non-upgradeable fare code, and have to pay first to upgrade to a higher coach fare code that can be upgraded, and THEN pay for the actual upgrade to premium economy or coach.  That could involve paying a change fee as well.   Just guessing here; I'm not an expert on AA, but have seen/heard these issues comes up in general.

[The_Big_M]

I note you use the words "price difference" as though you are comparing retail prices now, e.g. if I book now it's $500 for economy and $1000 for premium economy so the difference is $500. 

 

That doesn't mean that you will only be charged $500 if you want to upgrade an existing ticket, regardless of who the booking is through.

[villauk]

Have you actually booked your flights through X or your TA as you state in your OP that it’s part of a longer holiday? If it’s your TA, then they should be doing the legwork for you.  If it’s X, did you check to see if you could purchase the flights cheaper independently, choosing which particular legs you wish to upgrade?

 

It sounds like your TA has put together the whole package and has included the cruise, but without further information it’s difficult to comment. As waterbug highlighted above, you could have purchased economy/coach tickets on codes that don’t allow upgrades. 

[anniedave]

55 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

What are the airlines and routings you want to upgrade?  I know you said everything is booked with AA but depending on the route some legs may be operated by another airline.  Also, if you are looking at business class for a short, intra-European flight, there's a good chance that it's European "domestic" business, which isn't really business class at all; it's just the front of the coach cabin but they leave the middle seat empty. 

Part of the higher price being quoted could be that you are currently booked in a non-upgradeable fare code, and have to pay first to upgrade to a higher coach fare code that can be upgraded, and THEN pay for the actual upgrade to premium economy or coach.  That could involve paying a change fee as well.   Just guessing here; I'm not an expert on AA, but have seen/heard these issues comes up in general.

Pre cruise -  flight is Heathrow to Miami - AA but linked with BA?

Post cruise - 2nd flight is Miami to Cancun ( this is the one we were trying to upgrade to buisness - just because currently we will have to pay additionally for checked bags and an airport lounge we thought if it was all included it might not add too much to the price)

3rd flight is Cancun to Heathrow but its counted as 2 flights because it's not direct and we go via Chicago)

Never tried to do this before so wasnt aware some bookings were non upgradeable so thanks for the heads up. 

All the TA have done is give is an upgraded price for each flight so I dont know if they are non - upgradeable fares. Thanks 

[anniedave]

4 hours ago, UKWLDCruise said:

I have done it myself directly, but with Virgin, as long as you have the booking code/s then it seems okay.  You can hit problems though if the cruise company has bought your flights as part of a group booking with other cruisers.

Not done through the cruise, done through a TA. Thanks 

[anniedave]

58 minutes ago, villauk said:

Have you actually booked your flights through X or your TA as you state in your OP that it’s part of a longer holiday? If it’s your TA, then they should be doing the legwork for you.  If it’s X, did you check to see if you could purchase the flights cheaper independently, choosing which particular legs you wish to upgrade?

 

It sounds like your TA has put together the whole package and has included the cruise, but without further information it’s difficult to comment. As waterbug highlighted above, you could have purchased economy/coach tickets on codes that don’t allow upgrades. 

Flights booked through a TA as part of a package.  Thanks 

[waterbug123]

25 minutes ago, anniedave said:

Pre cruise -  flight is Heathrow to Miami - AA but linked with BA?

Post cruise - 2nd flight is Miami to Cancun ( this is the one we were trying to upgrade to buisness - just because currently we will have to pay additionally for checked bags and an airport lounge we thought if it was all included it might not add too much to the price)

3rd flight is Cancun to Heathrow but its counted as 2 flights because it's not direct and we go via Chicago)

Never tried to do this before so wasnt aware some bookings were non upgradeable so thanks for the heads up. 

All the TA have done is give is an upgraded price for each flight so I dont know if they are non - upgradeable fares. Thanks 

 

22 minutes ago, anniedave said:

Flights booked through a TA as part of a package.  Thanks 

 

Yes, sometimes deeply discounted or bulk fares are non-upgradeable. Obviously I don't know the fare codes of what you have booked, so that may or may not apply in your case.  If the flights were part of a package though, it's definitely a possibility. 

 

Double check the aircraft configuration for your Miami-Cancun flight.  I mainly fly on Delta, and on Delta a route to Cancun would not be flown with an aircraft configured with an actual business class cabin; it would just be domestic first class.  It would allow for free checked bags but domestic first wouldn't include lounge access.  Likewise for the flight back up to Chicageo.  I don't usually fly AA though so maybe there's a chance they do include lounge access for short-haul international routes like that.  (or someone here who knows for sure will chime in)

[Jeremiah1212]

There are no upgrades to Premium Economy on American. The only way to get it is to book a PE ticket. 

 

There is really no workaround here. You would need to either pay the TA’s upgraded fare or take the small chance of being able to pay and upgrade at check-in.  On a London-Miami route the odds aren’t in your favor. You’ll be competing (and behind) everyone with status. 

[Hlitner]

I cannot speak for the airline booking habits/mores in the UK, but it has been over 4 decades since I even considered having a travel agent handle my airline reservations.  These days we either book online (directly with the airline or through a major booking engine such as Orbitz) or sometimes book our air through a cruise line's own air system (with some lines that can be done online...choosing flights from a variety of offerings).

 

Speaking of travel agents, our favorite cruise agent makes it clear she does not even want to get involved in arranging flights.  The reason is that her customers generally want to shop around, look at the various airline options, consider the type of the aircraft, seating types, layovers, etc.  We often fly Business Class and there are huge differences between the airlines and even specific aircraft.

 

Hank

[K12Guy]

This an interesting thread on a long-time issue. From what I've seen over the years I don't expect that American Airlines (or most other legacy carriers) will let you upgrade on travel that was not booked directly with them or a code-share, in this case British Airways. I think you might be between a rock and hard spot on this one since you booked through a travel agent, which I think is considered a 'third party' booking. I hope I'm wrong and you make this work for you.

[anniedave]

Thanks everyone for all your advice . It's not a massive deal if we cant upgrade. I just wondered if anyone else had done it or got advice on how to do it. I  have emailed AA directly to ask the question. We Usually book everything ourselves but never having done a cruise before we booked a package through a TA. I wanted to upgrade our hotel room post cruise. The TA quoted me an addition $1200 for 7 nights room upgrade  I contacted the hotel directly and they are doing it for $84 for 7 nights room upgrade ! Hence I thought I would try and get a better deal on flights! 

[JFontaine]

Putting this here in the event it might be helpful.

 

As soon as you are booked, make sure that your frequent flyer number is attached to the flight reservation.  If you don't have a frequent flyer number with that carrier - or a partner carrier - get one.  They are free and easy to obtain.  Once your reservation is linked to your frequent flyer number, check the web-based app on your smartphone for the flight - it should show up under "my trips".  Open the link to that trip.  On a legacy US carrier (American, Delta, United) you might see an invitation to upgrade, using miles or money.  You can also try doing this on a regular computer, but I have read of many instances where the offer price is cheaper on the app than on the computer.  Try both. 

 

If there is an offer to upgrade, here are some things to keep in mind:  first, the cost to upgrade could change, higher or lower.  There's no way of knowing which - it could happen every day, it could happen once a month.  The offer to upgrade could disappear altogether, depending on yield management.  The offer to upgrade could be more than canceling and rebooking at today's rate - you need to do your homework on that.  If the upgrade includes free luggage, and  your original reservation does not, keep that in mind as you price the change.  My advice is if you see an offer to upgrade at a price you are willing to pay, grab it, as there is no certainty the offer will be there tomorrow. 

 

Some other benefits to that frequent flyer account is that you should be able to track your bags once you check them - you might get a pop-up saying that your bag has been loaded onto the plane, etc. 

 

This sounds like a lot of work, but I upgrade using this method frequently. 

[anniedave]

2 hours ago, JFontaine said:

Putting this here in the event it might be helpful.

 

As soon as you are booked, make sure that your frequent flyer number is attached to the flight reservation.  If you don't have a frequent flyer number with that carrier - or a partner carrier - get one.  They are free and easy to obtain.  Once your reservation is linked to your frequent flyer number, check the web-based app on your smartphone for the flight - it should show up under "my trips".  Open the link to that trip.  On a legacy US carrier (American, Delta, United) you might see an invitation to upgrade, using miles or money.  You can also try doing this on a regular computer, but I have read of many instances where the offer price is cheaper on the app than on the computer.  Try both. 

 

If there is an offer to upgrade, here are some things to keep in mind:  first, the cost to upgrade could change, higher or lower.  There's no way of knowing which - it could happen every day, it could happen once a month.  The offer to upgrade could disappear altogether, depending on yield management.  The offer to upgrade could be more than canceling and rebooking at today's rate - you need to do your homework on that.  If the upgrade includes free luggage, and  your original reservation does not, keep that in mind as you price the change.  My advice is if you see an offer to upgrade at a price you are willing to pay, grab it, as there is no certainty the offer will be there tomorrow. 

 

Some other benefits to that frequent flyer account is that you should be able to track your bags once you check them - you might get a pop-up saying that your bag has been loaded onto the plane, etc. 

 

This sounds like a lot of work, but I upgrade using this method frequently. 

Thanks it's worth me giving this a try

[villauk]

Has your TA booked the flights independently of the cruise line?

[anniedave]

Sorry I dont know 

Edited September 18, 2019 by anniedave

[DragonflyCruiser]

We upgraded our flights but had to pay for them first.  We signed a paper to release the flights for payment.  We paid for them and logged into our airline account and did the rest of the upgrades using points.  The balance of our cruise bill was still due on the 90 prior to the cruise.