Questions and Answers

Viking cruise lines includes flights from Portland Or to Amsterdam for our cruise in Nov. Last time we flew with them it was Delta but we won’t know for sure till after they book the flights, at which time it will be too late to change. My wife is compromised with her cancer and we’d like to upgrade our seats with miles, preferably to Business Class, for her comfort. We have enough miles in United or Alaska to do so. My question is, what should I have them change my inclusive flights to in order to be able to upgrade them. They will make changes, at a fee, of course. I just need to know what to ask for.

With Alaska, they have to issue the ticket in order to upgrade. Given that they dont operate any flights from PDX to AMS, this wont happen. You can see if there’s award space for flights you need, bookable with Alaska and then maybe ask viking for a credit of some sort if you dont get flights thru them. However, award space to Europe via one of Alaska’s partners is tough.

With United, there’s no guaranteed upgrade space. If there is, it costs 15k-20k miles plus a cash copay of up to $550, per person, depending on the fare class of your paid ticket. Your best bet may be to try and find out your UA itinerary and what fare class youre booked into then calling UA to see what options there are. If you havent gotten the flights yet, call UA first and see what flights have upgrade space available then ask Viking to book you on those specific flights before getting UA to process the upgrade.