As much as travelers might hate them, upgrade co-pays are probably not going away. At up to $500 one way, at this point they have to be a significant revenue source, although the airlines are not releasing figures.
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upgrades
Nobody loves co-pays when they are upgrading with miles, but most frequent travelers are grumpily getting used to them. For two clients on American Airlines, however, the $750 they paid to upgrade flights to Costa Rica ended up causing a mistake that could have stranded them on their trip.
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“Co-pay” may be a five letter hyphenated word, but it’s a four-letter word to many frequent travelers. United Airline’s decision to add cash payments to mileage upgrades this year ranks as, perhap,s one of the most unpopular things the airline has done.
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Co-pays. Airlines love them. Passengers hate them. Basically, it means that after frequent fliers have plunked down hard earned miles for an upgrade, they need to pay cash money too. They’re not always such a good deal.
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Vietnam Airlines is joining the SkyTeam affiliation. SkyTeam includes: Air France-KLM, Delta Air Line, Korean Air and more smaller carriers. Today, I worry that being a member of an alliance will bring down the level of service that I have come to expect from Vietnam Airlines.
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While airlines like to promote free tickets with their mileage programs, the award that many even semi-regular clients want is an upgrade. These are the very awards that are getting harder to get.
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So now that Continental is part of Star Alliance, there are more ways than ever for United “Mileage Plus” and Continental “One Pass” members to get miles. In addition, these are especially valuable miles that qualify towards elite status.
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One of the most sought after benefits for frequent fliers is not free tickets, but the chance to escape the cattle car in the back, and sit up in business or first class with an upgrade.
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These days, even the most hard-core fans of airline paper tickets have largely gotten used to the idea of e-tickets. Many don’t even bother bringing the receipts or itineraries with them to the airport.
United Airlines just quietly announced a significant change to their proposed Mileage Plus co-pays. It seems feedback from their top-level fliers was significant enough to make United delay the programs, eliminate some of the co-pay pain and, finally, make some discounted fares upgradeable.
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