July 2009: The Upgrade Advisor

July 2009
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Question & Answer

In February 2010 my family and I will be on a cruise from LA to Sydney. We need a one-way ticket in a premium cabin from Sydney to LA, to Pittsburgh, to JFK and to Atlanta. Is there any way to obtain a ticket without suffering the dreadedone-way penalty? What’s the preferred upgrade strategy? Thanks for your help.

Chuck Conine, Palm Springs, CA


The first few thing that come to mind is a UA mileage upgrade, even if it means buying a round-trip coach ticket (just checked Sydney-LA fares and one-way fares are almost half of roundtrip fares, in which case just buy a one-way and upgrade using 30,000 UA miles). Or try upgrading on Qantas with Cathay miles, although that’s not easy. American now also offers oneway awards (see

Success Stories

On the promo fare

mailed out on May 25: One reader beat the system even more so…

It looks like the Continental offer applied to bookings of two or more tickets. Another scoop for FCF, thanks very much. I would not have learned of this sale by myself, and they are selling out fast. According to the Continental booking page, I got the last three seats for our outbound on July 20.

Angus McCallum, NewYork, NY

Question & Answer

In February 2010 my family and I will be on a cruise from LA to Sydney. We need a one-way ticket in a premium cabin from Sydney to LA, to Pittsburgh, to JFK and to Atlanta. Is there any way to obtain a ticket without suffering the dreadedone-way penalty? What’s the preferred upgrade strategy? Thanks for your help.

Chuck Conine, Palm Springs, CA


The first few thing that come to mind is a UA mileage upgrade, even if it means buying a round-trip coach ticket (just checked Sydney-LA fares and one-way fares are almost half of roundtrip fares, in which case just buy a one-way and upgrade using 30,000 UA miles). Or try upgrading on Qantas with Cathay miles, although that’s not easy. American now also offers oneway awards (see

Success Stories

On the promo fare

mailed out on May 25: One reader beat the system even more so…

It looks like the Continental offer applied to bookings of two or more tickets. Another scoop for FCF, thanks very much. I would not have learned of this sale by myself, and they are selling out fast. According to the Continental booking page, I got the last three seats for our outbound...

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