[Anonymous]

[FlightDoctor]

My company has booked me on a trip to Chicago in WT+ next month and I was hoping to use BA miles to upgrade to NCW or First for at least the red-eye on the return. However, the option to upgrade under “my booking” is greyed out and, reading the T&Cs for the BAEC (I am a Gold card holder), it disappointingly states that upgrading using miles is not an option for bookings made through a travel agent.

I find this frustrating as I know from experience that Virgin will allow upgrades at the check in desk for company travel agent bookings. I understand that some companies have negotiated route deals with BA but mine does not and we have paid the going rate on the day of booking.

Does anyone know whether BA will ever allow upgrades in this situation?

[VintageKrug]

It is not currently possible to upgrade Travel Agency bookings with BA Miles, principally for the reason that *most* corporates negotiate discounts which make Club World within reach.

I am aware this is being looked into for possible change of policy, but I wouldn’t hold your breathe.

You may however be successful in paying for an upgrade at check in, if available. It’s worth asking, though will probably be in the $500 range, so probably not very cost effective for a work trip.

[Daytripper]

Do paid-for ‘at the airport’ upgrades qualify for the additional tier points of the upgraded booking?

[Cwyfan]

Is it possible to upgrade at the desk using miles, rather than cash?

[RfmT1971]

Good luck one way or the other, but they do allow UPG. I used to book via a travel agent due to complex routing and if you contact your local BA Exec Club no less than 24 hours prior to departure, you could be lucky. Instant mileage UPG at check in is, as far as I am aware, not possible. The real challenge is seat availability, because BA are quite restrictive when it comes to premium cabin availability to upgrade candidates – that being said, I tried to upgrade quite recently, was turned down due to availability and then “invol upgraded” at the gate due to over booking – nice for LHR/BOM!

[Goldcardsaplenty]

Sadly, as with other BA ‘quirks’, there is no definitive answer to this.

Most of my bookings are made by my travel agent (for convenience only NOT corporate rates) which generally prevents me from upgrading using miles with BA – this is extremely frustrating as it is allowed by KLM/AF, EK, SQ, and others.

However if you ring Exec Club I have, sometimes, managed an upgrade – but not always.

VK’s comment:

“I am aware this is being looked into for possible change of policy, but I wouldn’t hold your breathe”

made me smile as I complained bitterly in 2005 after being refused a mileage upgrade from CW to F and was told back then that the policy was ‘under review’. So that’s only 6 years then………

Re: RfmT1971

Amusingly I have had exactly the same situation; refused an upgrade over the phone only to be upgraded at the gate – in a way BA’s inflexibility is costing them miles!!

Re Daytripper:

‘Do paid-for ‘at the airport’ upgrades qualify for the additional tier points of the upgraded booking’

Paid at airport upgrades do qualify for extra tier miles – paid on aircraft do not.

I struggle to understand BA’s inflexibility on upgrading agent bookings as the vast majority of other carriers afford this service to their frequent flyers. Star Alliance for example emailed me to say the a substantial amount of points earned flying with SAS were about to expire so I went online and used them to upgrade to F on a flight from NRT-MUC with Lufthansa! That’s not even the same carrier but no problems.

Can anyone explain what the advantage/saving is for BA to ‘grey out’ the upgrade option on Agent bookings?? (Please before anyone comes back with ‘due to corporate rates’ I do not use corporate rates but always travel on full-fare J class)

[travelwell]

i recently made a booking via my company travel agent and the option was not there to upgrade with miles or cash online but 1 day before the flight the option to pay for an upgrade was available when i tried to checkin online, so I paid the cash fee and upgraded to club. i was surprised to see this as I also thought that this would not be possible when the booking was made via a travel agent.

[VintageKrug]

You can upgrade most fares with cash – I was even offered an at airport cash upgrade on a redemption booking once.

The ability to upgrade with cash using Manage My Booking MMB is a great facility, and it’s interesting to [learn per travelwell’s post] that [it may possible to upgrade with miles in MMB one day prior to travel even] with travel agent bookings.

It is still not possible to upgrade TA bookings with BA Miles, and I believe had you attempted to do so, the transaction would not have gone through.

[Goldcardsaplenty]

VintageKrug:

Incorrect – I am currently in MMB lokking at a future booking, full fare J class ticket booked via my Agent and both upgrade for miles and upgrade for cash is ‘greyed’out.

[VintageKrug]

I should have said “interested to learn this can be done with TA bookings” based on travelwell’s comment above. Have edited for clarity.

My experience is that it’s not possible to upgrade TA bookings; travelwell’s point was that he/she was able to do so with cash during the check in process one day prior to travel.

This was news to me, it will be interesting to see if MMB offers the possibility of an upgrade to your fullfare J ticket one day prior, as was travelwell’s experience.

[Goldcardsaplenty]

Ah, understood.

I have actually just spoken with my TA who advises me that one reason could be that BA can’t actually access all bookings made by TA’s until they are fully paid for and sometimes this doesn’t occur until just before departure.

Not sure if that is entirely correct but it does seem to make sense.

[Cwyfan]

Ok, so no to TA bookings, but for non-TA bookings, is it possible to upgrade at the desk using miles, rather than cash?

[RfmT1971]

To the best of my knowledge and experience, you can’t upgrade on the day at all. You can be upgraded, but if you’re taking the initiative, the answer is 99%+ “no” and is justified, if not credibly, by lack of catering or crew or whatever on the flight. Why that’s not a problem with involuntary UPG at the gate, I haven’t worked out, but I guess that’s not my problem any longer!

[SenatorGold]

On the day of travel at LGW and even for flights to LGW BA used to offer upgrades to CE for a standard fee of about £60. I’ve taken advantage of this offer several times. I don’t know if these are still available?

[Author]

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