Class Upgrade Awards on Star Alliance Member Airlines

Enjoy a higher class of service using Star Alliance Member Airlines. Pay for economy class ticket and upgrade one class up to Business Class or Pay Business class and upgrade one class up to First Class using your miles. Upgrade Awards are available starting from 10,000 Miles. All upgrades are one way and for one (1) flight only. Upgrade requirement involving more than one flight is calculated by adding up the upgrade mile requirement of each flight.

Star Alliance Upgrade Award Chart

Eligible Flights

Flights operated by service partner – Star Alliance member Airlines;  All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Singapore Airlines, TAM LINHAS AÉREAS S.A., TAP Portugal, THAI Airways International,  Turkish Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways are eligible for Star Alliance Upgrade Awards.

Class Restrictions: There may be some routes where there is no Business Class or first class service on the service partner airline. 

Route Restrictions: There may be some routes, periods, and aircrafts that you cannot use or limits the number of seats available according to reasons deemed by the operating company.

Flight Restrictions: Code share flights operated by these carriers are eligible.  Code share operated by service partner airlines other than these airlines are ineligible. A code share flight reservation made on a flight number other than the service partner airline that operates the flight is not eligible even if it is a flight that is operated by one of the airlines listed above.

Miles required for Upgrade Awards

Upgrade Award Miles are applicable for one-way and one flight number. Any other routing will require combining two or more Awards in order to fulfill a redemption request. 

Award Application

Application is allowed only through internet. Please log on to membership account. Members can also order Upgrade Award at Ethiopian Airlines Ticket Office for a higher cabin for advance reservation.

Application Period

Application submitted between 56 days (8 weeks) and 24 hours before the departure time of the flight for which upgrading is requested is acceptable. Upon completion of an upgrade, the reservation made in the lower class flight that has been initially made will be automatically cancelled.

Exception:

• For Air New Zealand, apply between 28 days prior to the boarding date and 24 hours prior to departure.
• For All Nippon Airways apply between 56 days prior to the boarding date and 24 hours prior to departure.
• For all TAM LINHAS AÉREAS S.A. (TAM) apply between 90 days prior to the boarding date and 24 hours prior to departure.

Wait listing

Waitlist on reservation or upgrade on the departure day at the airport is not allowed.

Conditions

A reservation made with an eligible class and fare for an Upgrade Award or reservation in which payment (ticket issue) has been completed is required. Upgrade Awards cannot be combined with Award Tickets.

Eligible Class

Airlines use the term ‘class of service’ to indicate the type of fare paid on a ticket in addition to the cabin in an aircraft normally know as First Class, Business Class and Economy Class. These indicators are shown on a passenger ticket under a label called “Class”. Eligible Class of Services that are good for upgrading on all Star Alliance Member Airlines are as follows.

Eligible fares may differ according to each operating airlines’ policy. Please confirm eligibility for the booking class on the ticket.

Exception

Upgrade Awards cannot be combined with Award Travels.

An upgrade from Economy class to First Class is not permitted. However, an upgrade from Economy Class to First Class is available when the aircraft operating the flight has a First Class and Economy Class configuration.

Infants

One infant (under 2 years of age) travelling with an adult and not occupying seat in the upgraded cabin is only required to be ticketed in the upgrade eligible booking class that is purchased as the adult. Both the infant and the adult will be upgraded to the higher cabin award mile indicated on the chart.

More than one infant or infant occupying seat is required to be ticketed in the upgrade eligible booking class that is purchased and in addition redeem full award mile per the number of seats occupied.

Exceptions: Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Asiana Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines don’t allow infant upgrades. 

Child

A child (above 2 years of age and under 12 years) using upgrade awards require redeeming the total award mile indicated on the chart.

Ticketing Period

Reservation shall be made in an eligible class for all segments of your itinerary on which you will use awards

Reservation and Ticketing should be made through the sales outlets of the airline that is operating the flight. Seat reservations should be on a confirmed status and shall be ticketed prior to application submission. Waitlist reservations are not good for application. Open tickets are not permitted.

Validity of Upgrade Awards

Star Alliance Awards that have been applied for once are valid only for your reserved flights. Open tickets are not permitted.

Upgrade Awards are valid for 12 months from the date of issuance.

Changes

For any change to be made on your reservation after securing a confirmation for the Star Alliance Upgrade Award, please contact the operating airline before the departure of the reserved flight. Once the change is made a new Star Alliance Upgrade Award request shall be submitted with the new booking. Redeemed Miles will be refunded with no deduction of mile. However, miles expired at the time of refund will not be returned.  Miles will not be refunded unless the unused reservation is canceled before departure of the reserved flight.

Canceling the upgrade only: Please note that when a member cancels a Star Alliance Upgrade Award, not only the upgrade but also the original (lower class) reservation will be canceled.

Notes for Using Awards

The original reservation for the lower cabin will be cancelled automatically when the upgrade award is confirmed.

No upgrade ticket or reservation number will be issued even after completing the procedure of an upgrade award. Contact the operating airline for confirmation of the reservation.