Upgrade for Gold in INTL

[Optimist1125]

Hi -- new member. Nice to have a place for questions & general info about CO and Elite.

Flying to Hong Kong via Newark. Coach, S Class.

Is there any type of comp or fee-based upgrade
path for an S-class seat?

Thanks in advance.

[ragazzo]

Hi Continental does not offer Elite upgrades on International flights with a Business First cabin, If they are oversold in the coach cabin they will upgrade elites with high fares first.

[ragazzo]

Also there is no upgrade fee, it would be the fare difference of your coach tkt.

[Optimist1125]

I appreciate the info.

[merchanb]

Continental does not offer Elite upgrades on International flights with a Business First cabin

Whoops . . . error.

Living in Guam all my flights, including to Hong Kong, are International and I have been hitting 100% on upgrades for a number of years. Next flight, after I return from Eastern Europe, is Newark to Tokyo on CO9 August 11 Business First "R" class and Tokyo to Guam on CO7 August 12 International Business "Z" class.

[ragazzo]

I know for a fact that there are no elite upgrades from EWR CLE or IAH on Business first Cabins (Europe, South America, HKG, NRT or TLV , not to say they do not give them at all as in an oversell situations or other circumstances but it is not given as complimentary upgrades as a rule. my friend is a Concierge who works strictly with the Business first product for Continental.

[merchanb]

Hi from Krakow,

I get 100% BF upgrades with miles on that 777 between NRT & EWR, all confirmed well before flight time, including my upcoming return trip.

[Nugget]

I've gotten 50% success in doing miles upgrades to BF on IAH-NRT flights. BF cabin between IAH and NRT seems to be routinely sold to capacity and there are often no seats in the proper pool for upgrades.

I did thankfully get a battlefield promotion on my most recent NRT->IAH flight, which was a nice surprise.

[ragazzo]

Ok you are talking about using miles, I was talking about COMLIMENTARY upgrades to BF.

[ragazzo]

Sorry trying to spell COMPLIMENTARY

[ragazzo]

Do any other airlines offer CONCIERGE service like CO on their BF cabins? I only fly with CO.

[merchanb]

Quoting the fine print at the bottom of the latest Continental brochure "Continental flights with a BusinessFirst cabin are not eligible for an Elite Upgrade."

Spend the miles if you have them . . . BusinessFirst is lovely.

[Optimist1125]

With CO Intl [Asia] upgrades, the killer is the $400 up-front deposit each way, with no guarantees. For the non-business traveler, even Gold, I don't find this reasonable.

Have I missed the boat on something? --L

[merchanb]

Depends on the ticket you buy.

Y, H or K fare no cost, just the miles.

B or V fare $300 each way plus miles.

Q or T fare $400 each way plus miles.

The cheapest way to go is K fare, followed by H fare.

Less expensive than buying a cheaper fare and paying the "non refundable service fee."

[Optimist1125]

Thanks for the info. Next time I shop more carefully.
This time, decided to take row 44 to be able to move around as much as possible. Live & learn. --L

[merchanb]

I always book H or K fare and have been hitting 100% on trans-Pacific mileage upgrades for years.

You might want to call your elite priority line and ask them how much it would be to change your ticket to K fare. There's generally not too much difference. It's Y fare that's the killer.

[Optimist1125]

Will do that when I return home. [I only paid $558 RT]. --L

[merchanb]

Wow, $558 is a really good deal; 16,110 miles for 3-1/2 cents a mile. But 16 hours in coach . . . hope you have short legs. :-?

Q fare shows as $657.16 and would cost $400.00 extra each way for the "non refundable service fee" to try to upgrade (total cost $1,457.16!) and no guarantee you'll get it.

K Fare, which costs nothing to upgrade, is $924.16. It would have cost you almost $370 more for an upgradable ticket.

I would have scraped around and found myself another $370. somewhere (1) had about a week's bout with DVT (emergency room and all that) and besides (2) decided to pamper myself in my old age anyway.)

Enjoy Hong Kong. :D

[Optimist1125]

Much thanks for the research...
I think I will still call CO for the potential upgrade to the fares that will allow upgrade. Regardless, will still do the compression socks...

Today, I have to say they were GREAT about getting a companion upgraded on an IAH-CLE flight, prime time, Labor Day USA, in spite of a broken seat on a usually unavailable upgrade route... and who knows -- possibly others waiting in premium coach space.

But, as is always the case, I still have lots to learn... again, thanks for the heads up. Happy travels. --Linda

[Optimist1125]

Today's the 25th & flight to HKG is 10/22... called Elite line over the weekend. No changes. ITN shows some Zseats available both ways...
What -- if anything -- to do other than wait [im]patiently? TIA... --Linda

[merchanb]

ITN was probably showing routing via CO 9.

For CO 99 on 10/22 Galileo shows J4 D4 Z0

There are a bunch of empties up there but they're still hanging onto them..

Don't worry yet. Too soon to panic.

Hang on . . . and keep calling.

[merchanb]

You might want to call the elite priority line now Optimist1125.

(Unless, of course, you need more than four seats.) :)

WED 22OCT03 NEWARK /HONG KONG *CO
EWR HKG 22/1210#1555 CO 99 J4 D4 Z4 Y9 H9 K9 B9 V9 Q9#777*C

[Optimist1125]

... for your suggestion. Just called again... <sigh...>
They still refuse to clear me for either trip.
Still quoting the "30-days to 72 hours" mantra.

Maybe I'm not asking something right? Or nicely enough?
Or? Or? All other [even 'way out of the box] suggestions welcomed.
--Linda

[Optimist1125]

...Where can I find all that specific flight info?

[merchanb]

Try Galileo at http://www.seatmap.com/

Don't get upset if you see zeros after a class because, like it says: "Ist hinter der jeweiligen Klasse eine Zahl größer ‘0’ angezeigt, dann sind noch entsprechend viele Plätze verfügbar." (Yes, I do babble along just enough to get in trouble in French, German, Italian, Spanish and, sometimes, even English.)

All that means is they have lots and lots of empty chairs in the whole durn bus and, by now, they don't care what class of ticket they sell. They do hate to let those upgrades go more than 4 at a time, though, just in case a dozen big spenders (or platinum elites) want to hop aboard at the last minute.

It would appear that your upgrade is practically assured . . . if they don't decide to cancel the flight on you. :-?

[Optimist1125]

En multas linguas... muchas gracias.
[En Englais... will follow the link and be patient as they try...
and I wait... patiently - ha!]

Merci, et a bientot!

[Optimist1125]

And, if a foursome want to play golf in BizFirst and pay for it, so be it. or... que sera sera...
that could help CO bring revenue, and then maybe, just maybe, things will open up for us who have to work at this... Ah well, just pontificating.

As always, luv 'yall who take take the time and energy to post on this forum & share, absolutely [especially including MerchanB...]
--Linda

[Optimist1125]

And, I see. Class of SVC, etc... Galileo...
There are seats to sell. Much thanks! --Linda