Qantas Launches Confirmed Upgrades, But Good Luck Finding One
Qantas' new cash upgrade option promises certainty, but early testing suggests they’re hard to come by
Qantas has just launched a new way to upgrade your flight, called Confirmed Upgrades. This allows eligible passengers to purchase a cash upgrade and receive confirmation of that upgrade within 12 hours of payment.
Until now, upgrading a Qantas flight has always been somewhat of a lottery. You might snag the upgrade, or maybe not, but either way you wouldn’t know until pretty close to departure.
The purpose of Confirmed Upgrades is to alleviate some of that stress, by offering near-guaranteed upgrades. But that peace of mind comes at a cost, with Confirmed Upgrades expected to be one of the most expensive ways to upgrade a Qantas flight.
That said, we don’t really know exactly how much Qantas will charge for Confirmed Upgrades. The airline quietly introduced the new upgrade option on its website on Wednesday, and is yet to offer any example pricing. Based on our testing, the likelihood of receiving a Confirmed Upgrade offer is quite low.
The new product sits alongside Classic Upgrade Rewards, Bid Now Upgrades, and Domestic On Departure Upgrades, meaning there are now four ways to upgrade your Qantas flight.
What Is A Qantas Confirmed Upgrade?
Confirmed Upgrades are now offered on selected Qantas flights. If you’re eligible, you’ll receive an invitation by email, or you can view and accept your offer through the Qantas App or via Manage Booking.
Confirmed Upgrades are targeted to a selected number of passengers on selected flights. This means that not every passenger will be invited to pay for a Confirmed Upgrade, and you might have some bookings that are eligible, and others that are not.
Qantas adds that Confirmed Upgrades are only available for a limited time, and before seats sell out. The expiry date of the offer will be shown in your email or on the offer page.
All Qantas fare types are eligible for a Confirmed Upgrade (if you’re selected of course), with the exception of International Economy Sale Fares and Qantas Staff Travellers.
How To Check If You’re Eligible For A Confirmed Upgrade
There are several ways to check whether your booking has been selected for a Confirmed Upgrade offer. If you don't see an offer through these channels, your booking is not currently eligible for a Confirmed Upgrade.
- Dedicated Page: visit the Qantas Confirmed Upgrade Page and enter your booking details to check eligibility
- Qantas App: open up your booking on the app and an ‘Upgrade now’ option will appear if eligible
- Manage Booking page: when eligible follow the prompts to purchase your Confirmed Upgrade
- Email: some customers may receive a Confirmed Upgrade offer via email
Good Luck Actually Finding A Qantas Confirmed Upgrade…
To test Qantas' new Confirmed Upgrade option, we booked a total of six flights across both domestic and international routes. Not one of those bookings were eligible for a Confirmed Upgrade. In addition, Immanuel and I checked each of our existing Qantas bookings, all of which were also not eligible.
What's particularly interesting is that seat availability alone doesn't appear to determine Confirmed Upgrade eligibility. We had a friend in Qantas Operations check the flight loads for our test bookings, and most were somewhat empty.
One Perth–Sydney flight had 34 unsold business class seats, yet no Confirmed Upgrade offer was available. The same was true on a Qantas A380 flight booked in business class. Despite all 14 first class seats remaining unsold, there was no option to pay for a Confirmed Upgrade.
We also tested a Melbourne–Jakarta service where a Business Classic Reward seat was available and 25 Business Class seats remained for sale. Once again, no Confirmed Upgrade offer appeared.
Based on our testing, Confirmed Upgrades seem to be governed by factors beyond simple seat availability. For now, exactly how Qantas decides which bookings receive an offer remains unclear.
Qantas Offers Four Types Of Upgrades
Qantas currently offers four ways to move into a higher cabin class:
- Confirmed Upgrades: an exclusive offer targeted to your booking, offering a near-guaranteed upgrade at a fixed cash price.
- Classic Upgrade Rewards: waitlisted upgrades for a set amount of Qantas Points based on the Classic Upgrade Reward Tables.
- Bid Now Upgrades: waitlisted upgrades that allow you to make an offer using cash or combination of cash and Qantas Points.
- Domestic On Departure Upgrade: follow the same cost as Classic Upgrade Rewards, but are last-minute and made available in the Qantas App
Summing Up: My Take
Qantas' new Confirmed Upgrade feature offers something travellers have long wanted: certainty. Rather than waiting until the days leading up to departure to find out whether an upgrade request has cleared, eligible passengers can pay a fixed cash amount and receive confirmation within 12 hours. The downside is that Confirmed Upgrades are likely to cost more.
The challenge, at least for now, is actually finding an eligible booking. Despite the Flight Hacks team testing multiple domestic and international flights, including some with substantial premium cabin availability, we were unable to trigger a single Confirmed Upgrade offer.
Qantas has revealed very little about how eligibility is determined, making it difficult to know when, where, or why offers appear. Until the airline provides more transparency, Confirmed Upgrades remain an intriguing new option that may prove useful for some travellers, if they can access it.
