As others note, this math gets much better on companion fares where only one fare is really being paid. If it opens, and I am not in N or higher, I call in to upfare it (if reasonable.) Sometimes I would get a very discounted fare and it was not worth paying the upfare to apply the GGU. In the past, yes usually I’d buy a ticket and just watch for U space. His fare was $270 OW, so not a super deal but what was what had to happen for life reasons.
AS had U3 open on the flight so I moved him up by getting his confirmation code and managing again from my account. He brought the ticket <14 days and it was N fare. Just did another one today for a friend flying out to PNW from PHL. I use ExpertFlyer to track U space and when that popped up I just got their confirmation code and managed their reservation when I was logged into AS.com under my account. The in-laws were on little higher fare already because of the holidays I think it was L for them.
It’s clunky, but if you don’t want to use ExpertFlyer, just try searching the same itinerary on AS and use the GGU upgrade button to see if there is U space. Otherwise it seems like kind of a PITA.The in-laws were on little higher fare already because of the holidays I think it was L for them. Personally I have only used my GGU at time of reservation when there was U space available. I gave a code to my Daughter to use and she said she couldn't use it because U space wasn't available. If she’s an elite, not all is lost with paying more because she does get prioritized higher in her elite group based on the higher fare bucket purchased so a complimentary upgrade might happen anyway. U space does open up but any elite waitlisting on an instant upgrade fare will snatch it up quickly and automatically.įor your daughters situation, I would have her buy the higher fare initially if the flight isn’t too far out and has plenty of seats left in first and not a lot of premium seats taken (could be golds) & you will be monitoring the flight closely either by constantly checking or setting a U alert notification on expert flyer. You could buy the eligible fare initially and wait for space to open but there is no guarantee and it isn’t automatically applied like it is for the elite upgrades.Īs a 75k for example, I’ve bought the eligible fare when it hasn’t been much more than the lowest main cabin and I’ve been upgraded at random times before departure date like 2 months ahead or 2 weeks ahead. If a U spot opens up later, it is possible to reissue the ticket in the higher fare bucket through reservations but there’s no guarantee it’ll be at that price you could have had when you originally bought the ticket. It makes the most sense to not buy the higher fare to use a guest code if there isn’t U space available at purchase. You see the pricing when you select MVP, gold, 75k, miles etc with mvp being the worst since it requires the highest fare buckets to be eligible for instant upgrades if U space is available. It’s the same situation for all types of upgrades.
Sometimes it can be the same when the main cabin fare is already in those higher fare buckets like YBHK when cabin is getting close to full or they are zeroing out cheaper fare buckets to force people to pay higher regardless of loads. Otherwise it seems like kind of a PITA.Yes almost always the fare for upgrading is higher than the main cabin fare on offer. Did they purchase regular main fares and then when you saw U space you or they called up to apply the GGU? They have to upgrade to an GGU eligible fare right? So it's usually $ + GGU? I am still pretty confused how this is done.