Upgrading a flight ticket booked through Discovery

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ros_b

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Has anyone tried to upgrade an Emirates ticket (Economy to Business) that was booked on the Discovery Travel site (with a Discovery discount)? I'm worried that the ticket might not be eligible for upgrade due to the discount - these airfares can have weird conditions. You can usually upgrade your ticket tourself on the Emirates website, except I've had occasions where a company travel agent did the booking and the Emirates website said I couldn't do an upgrade myself because the ticket was booked through an agent.

EDIT: I can now answer my own question. I've done the bookng and registered it to my Emirates profile, and yes, it seems the discounted fare booked on Discovery is classed in the same way as that fare would be if booked through Emirates. In other words, the Discovery website showed "Flex Plus" and on Emirates, the miles earned, as well as the miles required for an upgrade, are both showing as the same as for a normal Flex Plus ticket.
 
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Why don't you try on the website or app and see what it says?
 
Ask on flyertalk but key is the class booking code of ticket . If I remember correctly these codes are special and you get less miles .I don’t think you can do it in way described but if you willing to pay might be able to do on day of flight . Everything has a price
 
jambai said:
Ask on flyertalk but key is the class booking code of ticket . If I remember correctly these codes are special and you get less miles .I don’t think you can do it in way described but if you willing to pay might be able to do on day of flight . Everything has a price
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do it the South African way, Brown envelope with a few Benjamin's inside it.
get to fly in the Cockpit Jump-seat.
 
ros_b said:
Has anyone tried to upgrade an Emirates ticket (Economy to Business) that was booked on the Discovery Travel site (with a Discovery discount)? I'm worried that the ticket might not be eligible for upgrade due to the discount - these airfares can have weird conditions. You can usually upgrade your ticket tourself on the Emirates website, except I've had occasions where a company travel agent did the booking and the Emirates website said I couldn't do an upgrade myself because the ticket was booked through an agent.
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You can usually do the upgrade at check in but not before, just upgraded flights booked through agent.
 
I know I can upgrade using my Skywards Miles at the airport on day of flight if seats are available - I did this recently on a booking done by a travel agent. But I don't want to risk that seats won't be available so I want to do the Skywards Miles upgrade ahead of time.

I will ask on flyertalk. I can try call Emirates but I'm not in South Africa at the moment and I'm not sure the call centre in India will understand what I'm talking about when I say that I'll be booking a ticket using my Discovery Health discount.

The Discovery website shows the Class as "K" for an economy flex ticket, and "R" for an economy flex plus ticket, so I guess that's enough information for the Emirates call centre to help me. I was just wondering if anyone on this forum had actually tried to do it to save me the bother of trying to get a reliable and accurate answer out of Emirates.
 
eg2505 said:
call Emirates, probably be the best answer,
as I highly Doubt they give upgrades based on your Discovery Tier level.
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I don't want an upgrade based on my Discovery tier level. I want to use my Skywards Miles to buy an upgrade and want to be sure this option is available based on the class of economy ticket that I end up buying on the Discovery Travel website. I know that different numbers of miles are required to upgrade depending on the type of economy ticket that one buys, and certain types of economy tickets are not upgradeable at all.
 
ros_b said:
I know I can upgrade using my Skywards Miles at the airport on day of flight if seats are available - I did this recently on a booking done by a travel agent. But I don't want to risk that seats won't be available so I want to do the Skywards Miles upgrade ahead of time.

I will ask on flyertalk. I can try call Emirates but I'm not in South Africa at the moment and I'm not sure the call centre in India will understand what I'm talking about when I say that I'll be booking a ticket using my Discovery Health discount.

The Discovery website shows the Class as "K" for an economy flex ticket, and "R" for an economy flex plus ticket, so I guess that's enough information for the Emirates call centre to help me. I was just wondering if anyone on this forum had actually tried to do it to save me the bother of trying to get a reliable and accurate answer out of Emirates.
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On line check in which is 48 hours before the flight that is how I checked in.
 
ros_b said:
I know I can upgrade using my Skywards Miles at the airport on day of flight if seats are available - I did this recently on a booking done by a travel agent. But I don't want to risk that seats won't be available so I want to do the Skywards Miles upgrade ahead of time.

I will ask on flyertalk. I can try call Emirates but I'm not in South Africa at the moment and I'm not sure the call centre in India will understand what I'm talking about when I say that I'll be booking a ticket using my Discovery Health discount.

The Discovery website shows the Class as "K" for an economy flex ticket, and "R" for an economy flex plus ticket, so I guess that's enough information for the Emirates call centre to help me. I was just wondering if anyone on this forum had actually tried to do it to save me the bother of trying to get a reliable and accurate answer out of Emirates.
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I wouldn’t even mention Discovery. It means nothing to them how you booked your tickets, they only care about the class.

But did you try online or on the app already as suggested? I just looked on the app and it has a section under your booking where you can upgrade (or not).

33B3E33A-E40B-4455-B9BA-9C5C54D21C31.jpeg


This for my flight next weekend and I booked using an eBucks discount. No upgrades available according to them. Although I’d be surprised if it had anything to do with eBucks or Discovery or anyone else.

AFFC155F-E91C-4247-B998-F61CEC166394.jpeg
 
I haven't done the booking yet. I want to make sure I can upgrade before I book. If I can't upgrade a ticket booked via Discovery, I'd rather just book direct with Emirates and forego the 35% discount.
 
How do upgrades in general work, can they be free when available and the flight is overbooked?
And how do you go about getting them?
 
airborne said:
How do upgrades in general work, can they be free when available and the flight is overbooked?
And how do you go about getting them?
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Different airlines have different rules. Most airlines allocate a portion of seats for miles upgrades. Sometimes when economy class is overbooked and there are available seats in business class, some lucky people get upgraded for free at the airport - they usually start with those in economy that have a higher status level with the frequent flyer program.
 
ros_b said:
I haven't done the booking yet. I want to make sure I can upgrade before I book. If I can't upgrade a ticket booked via Discovery, I'd rather just book direct with Emirates and forego the 35% discount.
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Oh okay, I get you now. I reckon calling them in Dubai might be the best bet and ask them to explain their booking class system and which you can upgrade on. Then ask Discovery which class the tickets are booked in. I've had to call Dubai before, they are pretty sharp.

airborne said:
How do upgrades in general work, can they be free when available and the flight is overbooked?
And how do you go about getting them?
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If the flight is overbooked they will generally. move loyalty program people from economy to business first. So luckily I get upgraded fairly frequently on Emirates as I'm a single traveller and have a silver card with them. Otherwise you can use your miles if they have space but as mentioned this usually happens at the airport when checking in and they have a good idea of how full/empty the flight is.
 
Spizz said:
I wouldn’t even mention Discovery. It means nothing to them how you booked your tickets, they only care about the class.

But did you try online or on the app already as suggested? I just looked on the app and it has a section under your booking where you can upgrade (or not).

View attachment 1298536


This for my flight next weekend and I booked using an eBucks discount. No upgrades available according to them. Although I’d be surprised if it had anything to do with eBucks or Discovery or anyone else.

View attachment 1298538
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That is more than likely because that legs business is booked already, where you flying to?

That Cape Town flight business class seems to be quite popular
 
EADC said:
That is more than likely because that legs business is booked already, where you flying to?

That Cape Town flight business class seems to be quite popular
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Glasgow, and it's the same message for all 4 legs. But yes, I have never had a 'free' upgrade on the Cape Town flight, although I've used miles and paid once before, but I've had several upgrades to other places from or to Dubai. Including just before Covid I had three upgrades on the Dubai to Jakarta leg in a row. 4th time I never got one I was gutted :p
 
Spizz said:
Glasgow, and it's the same message for all 4 legs. But yes, I have never had a 'free' upgrade on the Cape Town flight, although I've used miles and paid once before, but I've had several upgrades to other places from or to Dubai. Including just before Covid I had three upgrades on the Dubai to Jakarta leg in a row. 4th time I never got one I was gutted :p
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I can never get upgrades for SA flights from Dubai but to EU never an issue to pay for an upgrade.

Well enjoy the North North of England.
 
I believe the discovery booking is booked in worst class as all benefit is in the discount .
 
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