Has you ever managed to get upgraded on your flight? How? You'll hear stories about it every once in a while but I've never understood how it works out in practice
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Was in Frankfurt for an Iron Maiden concert in 2022 and a strike broke out the day before I was supposed to go home. Ended up getting delayed three days before finally getting a flight home at which point I was given a business class ticket
Was bretty nice, wish I could fly like that all the time but the tickets are prohibitively expensive. I've heard you might be able to get them on the cheap if you ask at the gate if there are any seats left.
It's totally random.
I recently flew on united LAX to MCO on a basic economy ticket (the lowest level) and somehow got upgraded to premium economy maybe 10 minutes before boarding started.
I had already checked my carry-on at that point so it added nothing to my level of enjoyment but there you go.
Yes, it was fricking Spirit out of everyone. I got bumped up to like 2B which they call their "big seats". It's essentially a shitty recliner from Walmart. They're better than the torture devices they use for regular economy but I'd never splurge for it lol.
I paid for premium economy on an Air Canada flight. The seats barely reclined and they had rigid sides so it was almost worse than being in economy. It wasn’t cheap, either.
It's simply all about loyalty.
Airline status >> Alliance status >>> no status
The higher your tier the higher your chance to get upgraded. I'm a Senator with Swiss/Lufthansa and get upgraded on pretty much every Euroflight with them and seldom on interconti flights (there I fly exclusively business anyway, so I use my upgrade vouchers I get every year to upgrade to first on selected flights)
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Any other out of the blue upgrade is pure luck or some kind of compensation for delays.
Status with the airline is one thing, how much you paid for your original ticket is another factor.
The more you paid, the likelier you are upgraded if the need arises.
Lufthansa is generous with their upgrades since they like to overbook their economy classes.
Several, best was a business man offered me his boarding card because of a blond he knows next to my seat. I rejected and take a seat same opposite row other side of aisle. Just to look how that looser fricked off. She was pi,,,,ed off for a reason. You have to manage with the flight personal that a beauty come next to you in business class (usually no problem if you know how to do).
b***h lasagna
Never got a substantial upgrade (like Economy to Business). I have been upgraded from Economy to Economy Plus, or from a regular seat to an exit row seat. I got the Economy Plus from the time when Air Canada gave me an impossible itinerary. I got the exit row when my British Airways flight got cancelled.
Whenever I try to chime in about using credit card rewards or loyalty programs(literally take 5 mins to sign up and costs you fricking nothing), some moron says it doesn't work. Or that I'm full of shit.
So just google it or better yet watch a youtube video. It helps if you plan like a year ahead, rewards fight slots gets full fast. And in regards to getting upgraded, yea take 5 mins to sign up for whatever airline you're flying's loyalty program.
VA gold status flyer (not great, but decent enough). been upgraded a few times to extra legroom seats or exit rows.
I only got these when I checked in at the desk and not that automated kiosk thing. only happened on slightly quieter flights, never one that's been completely full
I fly ANA often and is part of their mileage club. Also if I booked using AMEX I get another option to upgrade. It's kinda weird some days they ask me to upgrade because of the mileage club and somedays because of the partnership with AMEX.
It's usually from Eco - P. Eco or P. Eco to Business. I never get asked for the Business to 1st upgrade sadly.
Upgrading from Eco is 10k. Upgrading from P. Eco to business is 25k or $250 from LAX to HND.
As someone who's never had this happen to him. how does it actually work though? You are checking in at the desk and you'll ask if there is an upgrade available?
Or will they offer and go "Hey Mr. anon, there's a business seat available in case you'd like to upgrade"?
While on the subject; Why not just book a business class ticket in the first place? Or is it cheaper if they upgrade you at the airport compared to what you'd pay if you bought it beforehand?
>Hey Mr. anon, there's a business seat available in case you'd like to upgrade"
That's pretty much how it goes. the more often you travel, the more sweeteners you get.
Join a frequent flyer program that's tied to a credit card and try to leverage as much as possible from it. (keep an eye out for bonus credits/status credit offers)
you can use the kiosk's or ask the front desk if there's any upgrade options. usually the extra legroom isn't worth the $60 upgrade (especially since i've been upgraded to that for free multiple times). not sure about business class.. I might try that on my next trip if the price is reasonable. seen it as low as $130 before but stupidly didn't take the offer
So just to get this straight; The upgrade to business class or P.Economy or w/e is cheaper at the airport compared to buying the ticket beforehand. The reason for this is that once check-in starts, they'll just try to flog them for a cheaper price and hope someone will bite?
>Why not just book a business class ticket in the first place?
Because the cash price is like 5x economy.
>Or is it cheaper if they upgrade you at the airport compared to what you'd pay if you bought it beforehand?
Yes, I was offered the upgrade to business for another charge of about the same price as the original ticket for Europe to US on the app before check in, I tried it and didn't think it was worth it compared to just paying for exit row even though the money's not a big deal to me. If the flight was overnight or very long I might think it's a better deal.
Whats the reason for selling it to you right at the gate? Cutting their losses since its not going to be sold anyway so they might as well earn a quick buck?
>Cutting their losses since its not going to be sold anyway so they might as well earn a quick buck?
Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the reason
the cash price is like 5x economy.
Interesting, I suppose it depends heavily on departure airport
For me it's usually 2x at best, 3x at worst for international biz, so I buy it sometimes
I got upgrades from Economy to Business a few times when I had to transfer, and I very nearly didn't make it to my 2nd flight leg. First time it happened I was like "THAT'S NOT THE SEAT I HAD BOOKED", then I realized that 2A on a big ass plane is a very good seat, and so I shut up, got on a few seconds before they finished boarding.
I've had a premium upgrade on Virgin Atlantic on an overbooked flight. An extra 3 or so hours waiting in one of the nicer airside areas and it was a transatlantic flight so the upgrade made a big difference. It's not like you do much after flying in on holiday anyway other than check into your room and find somewhere to eat.
Have a friend who is a pilot.
Get upgraded every time I fly with him. Its at the discretion of the Cabin Crew Manager.
Ive also been upgraded twice whilst flying for work.
First time, I asked at check-in. The girl said seeing as it was 2 days away from my birthday, here was a complimentary upgrade.
The second time, was due to economy being oversold. They asked at checkin if anyone wanted to forfeit their seat for an extra $500 and I said sure, as the next flight was the following morning. I got $500 and an upgrade to Business class
it doesn't happen so much any more but back in the day when i travelled pretty much all the time it happened frequently
i had the top tier in at least one loyalty scheme in each of the main alliances so sometimes it would just happen randomly
airlines like to keep their best paying passengers happy so a couple of times i got booklets with vouchers for free 1-class upgrades (econ to prem, prem to business, business to first). i also got vouchers for free weekend car rentals, that sort of thing
now airlines sell upgrades at the gate and so on, so it doesn't happen so much
of course you can upgrade with credit card points etc but i don't spend enough to make it worthwhile
incidentally i also got downgraded once. i was booked on a flight in prem but it was cancelled so i had to get rebooked onto another flight, but because of some weird fare rule i could only get an econ seat on the rebooked flight. that was fricking swiss airlines, i have declared them to be my mortal enemies
I’m scheduled to fly on a 14 hour flight to South Africa next month, was going to sit there and bear economy for the flight but I caved and spent the extra $500 for economy plus on both flights for the extra legroom. I’ve only ever flown twice and after five hours my ass was aching from economy seats. Stupid decision or not?
I had platinum status on American for a year, and got upgraded on probably 80% of my short-haul flights. For American, they just update your booking in the app on the day of the flight, as late as maybe a half hour before booking. The mobile boarding pass doesn't always update properly, so you've got to delete it and redownload, or get one printed at the gate or check-in desk. I've never gotten upgraded otherwise.
legroom will help, but the seats are basically the same on most carriers. (unlike the old air NZ premium economy pods, those were like baby business class)
should be fine, but learn some basic stretches/yoga, then go to the back of the plane every few hours just to keep moving. they really need to have treadmills/stair masters you can book time on just to get a bit of movement back, humans aren't meant to sit still for that long
Is it worth it to pay more upfront? For long flights it adds quite a bit of to the price, I bought business class on amtrak before and it was shit, basically doubled the price to reserve a seat that looked really similar to coach seats.
When it comes to international none of you are likely to ever see an upgrade. You either don't have status or you're so far down the list it'll never happen. Your best bet is to take a day of cash offer to upgrade or learn to use points.
Speak for yourself. Most recently happened to me going from LAX to HND on United. Zero affiliation to United, I even have a Delta credit card.
I get upgraded a lot because of my status. A few months ago I got bumped from business to first. That was sweet.
On what flight?
Guys how much should I bid for slightly less shit tier? I already paid like a grand for the tickets, I am thinking $500 more dollars and if I don't win I don't win?
Don't hate me for this but if you're going to NRT then Zip Air has lie flat seats for less. Yeah they nickel and dime you for everything else but...it's cheap(er)
Only when I know someone in the cabin crew.
Otherwise you need to be a frequent flyer
I've been upgraded to first class once when a flight was delayed and nearly made me miss my next connection, it was a short flight though so it wasn't very impactful. I've also been able to snag economy plus multiple times by checking in fairly late with 2 people, if there aren't adjacent seats open in basic but there are in premium you get put there
Same thing happened to me, still this was back when it was just a bigger seat. Now a days it would probably be considered Premium Economy than first.
It comes down to this:
>be a frequent flyer
>hold status with the airline (gold, platinum or equivalent)
>don't be a poorgay (pay for a flexible/unrestricted ticket)
>In some cases be prepared to use points/miles or pay a fee for an on departure upgrade.
Based on the above criteria I was upgraded from business class to first class with Singapore Airlines (B777) from Singapore to Sydney. I was also upgraded from economy to business class with Sri Lankan Airlines Singapore to Colombo and return. Although I hold status with Qantas they have never upgraded me for free, but they have offered if I use my FF points, I did this once on a flight from Sydney to HK (A330). It was a waste since QF service was shit.