Getting free plane upgrade - ever been successful?
Discussion
Prompted by another thread, anyone been successful in getting upgraded? Does it (still) happen anymore? Anything you can do to make it more likely?
My only experience of it was on a trip to Vegas about 6 years ago, in the taxi on the way to the airport me and my buddy checked our boarding passes on our phones and our seat numbers had suddenly changed from something like 40 to 20, so clearly further up the plane. Turns out we'd been moved to premium economy - seemingly at random and certainly not due to us asking or flirting with check in staff etc.
The only downside was that there were 3 of us on the trip, but my other friend had booked separately to us, so even though we'd paid the extra to sit 3 of us together in economy, clearly they only had two spaces to upgrade so me and my friend who had booked at the same time got bumped up and our other mate was on his tod back in cattle class.
It's never happened before or since, and not sure I know friends or family who have had it happen either. I've certainly never heard of anyone going from Economy to Business by 'dressing smartly and charming at check in' or whatever.
My only experience of it was on a trip to Vegas about 6 years ago, in the taxi on the way to the airport me and my buddy checked our boarding passes on our phones and our seat numbers had suddenly changed from something like 40 to 20, so clearly further up the plane. Turns out we'd been moved to premium economy - seemingly at random and certainly not due to us asking or flirting with check in staff etc.
The only downside was that there were 3 of us on the trip, but my other friend had booked separately to us, so even though we'd paid the extra to sit 3 of us together in economy, clearly they only had two spaces to upgrade so me and my friend who had booked at the same time got bumped up and our other mate was on his tod back in cattle class.
It's never happened before or since, and not sure I know friends or family who have had it happen either. I've certainly never heard of anyone going from Economy to Business by 'dressing smartly and charming at check in' or whatever.
Yes, 2016, flying BA economy from Newark to Heathrow. 5 Adults, all upgraded to Business (or Club World). We had checked in online so the upgrade wasn't based on us being nice or dressed in any particular way.
No idea why we were chosen, we are all BA Executive Club members but by no means frequent customers. The first we knew was when our seat numbers on the BA app mysteriously changed, we then got a call over the tannoy to contact the desk, and told us we had been upgraded. Given it was an overnight flight the extra space was welcomed.
However, unlikely to every occur again if the info on the other thread is correct, as the Mrs and I are now Veggie and pre-order the Veggie special meal.
No idea why we were chosen, we are all BA Executive Club members but by no means frequent customers. The first we knew was when our seat numbers on the BA app mysteriously changed, we then got a call over the tannoy to contact the desk, and told us we had been upgraded. Given it was an overnight flight the extra space was welcomed.
However, unlikely to every occur again if the info on the other thread is correct, as the Mrs and I are now Veggie and pre-order the Veggie special meal.
yellowbentines said:
Yes, 2016, flying BA economy from Newark to Heathrow. 5 Adults, all upgraded to Business (or Club World).
No idea why, we are all BA Executive Club members but by no means frequent customers. The first we knew was when our seat numbers on the BA app mysteriously changed, we then got a call over the tannoy to contact the desk, and told us we had been upgraded. Given it was an overnight flight the extra space was welcomed.
However, unlikely to every occur again if the info on the other thread is correct, as the Mrs and I are now Veggie and pre-order the Veggie special meal.
Sounds similar to me then with the random change of seat number for no apparent reason! Lovely surprise, but a shame there was nothing you did that you can try and replicate haha. No idea why, we are all BA Executive Club members but by no means frequent customers. The first we knew was when our seat numbers on the BA app mysteriously changed, we then got a call over the tannoy to contact the desk, and told us we had been upgraded. Given it was an overnight flight the extra space was welcomed.
However, unlikely to every occur again if the info on the other thread is correct, as the Mrs and I are now Veggie and pre-order the Veggie special meal.
Yeah, twice. Once when the bloke I was travelling with's Mum happened to be working in the United Airlines office that day...and the other time, stepping on to a BA 747 and the Head Steward happened to be my sister's best mate's Dad who supported the same football team as me...upstairs we went!
Not what you know...
Not what you know...
UTH said:
Prompted by another thread, anyone been successful in getting upgraded? Does it (still) happen anymore? Anything you can do to make it more likely?
More than one hundred trips across the pond and it has happened to me once, and only up to premium economy.I am often tempted at the airport to pay for a last-minute upgrade into business. Sometimes these are offered at very good rates, I remember once a price of £600 for a Seattle to London flight. I was really tempted by that but decided not to do it. I was feeling pretty good about that decision as I deplaned a few hours later, still with that £600 in my bank, rather than BA's.
I think the days of 'charming' one's way into an upgrade are long gone. It's all done by frequent flyer programs and miles accrued these days.
My sister was upgraded from cattle class to First class on two occasions flying from NYC to LHW.
We put this amazing good fortune down to being a single traveller (so easier to move without issues about sitting kids/family together) and her being a Dr (of microbiology rather than medicine) so maybe they think that she is less likely to get trollied on the free booze and cause a ruckus. She also used to be dressed fairly smartly as she would travel straight from work so was in "business attire" rather than shorts and a football shirt.
It never happened to me, so i guess i must look too rough to qualify
We put this amazing good fortune down to being a single traveller (so easier to move without issues about sitting kids/family together) and her being a Dr (of microbiology rather than medicine) so maybe they think that she is less likely to get trollied on the free booze and cause a ruckus. She also used to be dressed fairly smartly as she would travel straight from work so was in "business attire" rather than shorts and a football shirt.
It never happened to me, so i guess i must look too rough to qualify
Not a free upgrade as such but we have BA flights to America next Easter. I just went to look at availability and pricing to upgrade to the next class by chucking in 1 person on the same flights and it’s showing premium economy £70 cheaper on the outbound flight than economy were a group but I’m tempted to say see you later and not to see you for 7hrs. I mean it’s only eating and watching a movie so it’s not like there will be much chatting.
There are obviously expectations to this rule, but generally upgrades go to the airlines frequent flyers. It happens pretty much every day, when the airline has oversold a cabin, or has some free space upfront. I'd say I get about 20 a year, they always seem random at the time, but in reality there will always be a commercial reason behind it. For context I probably take about 100 - 150 flights a year with BA.
I've had a half a dozen or so business to 1sts & slightly more premiums to business.
I fly predominantly with BA. BA has a process for handling upgrades the first factor of which is it only happens (with a few exceptions) if the class you are in is full. They then resort to a program (Discretionary Upgrade Tool) which determines the most suitable passenger(s) for upgrade. There are a variety of factors which are then consider including status with the airlines FF program; specific ranking within each tier (even within tiers BA maintains a ranking); flying history (if you normally only fly premium, then you chance of being upgraded can be higher from premium than the other guy flying premium who normally flies business); does your party size fit with the number of people they need to upgrade (flying single obviously increase your chances); how many upgrades have you had recently (the more the less likely of further).
BA do not upgrade to retain people but to encourage them to book higher cabins in the future. There are always variables, but the above is generally the way it works, however the programme cannot differentiate between a scruff bag & someone dressed smartly.
There comes a point after which DUT does not come into play & very often then the cabin crew will select the passenger(s) based on status pure & simple.
I fly predominantly with BA. BA has a process for handling upgrades the first factor of which is it only happens (with a few exceptions) if the class you are in is full. They then resort to a program (Discretionary Upgrade Tool) which determines the most suitable passenger(s) for upgrade. There are a variety of factors which are then consider including status with the airlines FF program; specific ranking within each tier (even within tiers BA maintains a ranking); flying history (if you normally only fly premium, then you chance of being upgraded can be higher from premium than the other guy flying premium who normally flies business); does your party size fit with the number of people they need to upgrade (flying single obviously increase your chances); how many upgrades have you had recently (the more the less likely of further).
BA do not upgrade to retain people but to encourage them to book higher cabins in the future. There are always variables, but the above is generally the way it works, however the programme cannot differentiate between a scruff bag & someone dressed smartly.
There comes a point after which DUT does not come into play & very often then the cabin crew will select the passenger(s) based on status pure & simple.
Things that IME have a chance of working:
- frequent flyer status
- booking into a high fare bucket in your paid cabin (usually hand in hand with booking late as that’s all that’s left)
- spending time away from an airline you used to fly with a lot, then going back.
All of these are, I’d guess allied to your paid cabin being overbooked and there being space in the next cabin. But one never knows for sure what’s going on behind the curtain.
Though right now I’d imagine airlines are looking to grab every penny they can get, so the case for giving something away has to be pretty compelling for it to happen.
- frequent flyer status
- booking into a high fare bucket in your paid cabin (usually hand in hand with booking late as that’s all that’s left)
- spending time away from an airline you used to fly with a lot, then going back.
All of these are, I’d guess allied to your paid cabin being overbooked and there being space in the next cabin. But one never knows for sure what’s going on behind the curtain.
Though right now I’d imagine airlines are looking to grab every penny they can get, so the case for giving something away has to be pretty compelling for it to happen.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 20th June 13:26
Sort haul, never happened.
Long-haul, had a complimentary upgrade to club twice in 20 years of moderately frequent travel (probably 6 transatlantic trips per year).
Friend of mine however is married to a senior BA pilot and she always boarded last as she was entitled to a seat in First if there were any free after all the paying customers had sat down (and Club if there were no First seats). She probably got upgraded about 90% of flights.
Long-haul, had a complimentary upgrade to club twice in 20 years of moderately frequent travel (probably 6 transatlantic trips per year).
Friend of mine however is married to a senior BA pilot and she always boarded last as she was entitled to a seat in First if there were any free after all the paying customers had sat down (and Club if there were no First seats). She probably got upgraded about 90% of flights.
I had the opposite when I flew from Barbados last month. I turned up at the airport to be told I was being bumped from business to economy, alternatively I could get the next flight as this one was overbooked!
We’d booked the flights and seats months before and had checked in online the night before. Only after vigorously complaining did I get my originally booked ticket class and they bumped someone else who had booked later than us.
Bizarrely they’d given the seat I’d originally booked next to my wife to someone else and the woman who was in my old seat refused to swap.
We’d booked the flights and seats months before and had checked in online the night before. Only after vigorously complaining did I get my originally booked ticket class and they bumped someone else who had booked later than us.
Bizarrely they’d given the seat I’d originally booked next to my wife to someone else and the woman who was in my old seat refused to swap.
languagetimothy said:
Not free but some guys i worked with back in the day were in NY on business, on the return leg they were offered an upgrade for something silly like £150, the company wouldn’t pay, but they did and flew back on Concorde.
I got one of those - but it was free.After the Paris crash when BA started running them again numbers were so low that big corporates were offered deals. My firm had the first 2 bookings each day got a 1 way upgrade. I had some flex on exactly when I went so my assistant was given the task of securing me the trip.
Then they announced it was being taken out of service & demand shot through the roof. I just hit the sweet spot
UTH said:
Anything you can do to make it more likely?
Fly a lot with the same airline and make sure you're a member of their frequent flier scheme.Upgrades occur most out of logistical necessity. Most airlines overbook flights because they know that at least a certain percentage of customers won't show up. But on the occasion they do all show up, they have to shift things around. This means that some people in economy may get bumped to premium and some in premium may need to go in business which means someone in business may need to go in first.
There's a logic to who they choose to move. So if you've arrived at the gate in flip-flops, shorts and having spent half your travel budget in the airport Wetherspoons, it 'aint going to be you. A regular customer, well presented on the other hand....
Everybody has a tale of some super upgrade they had or strategies they use but arbitrary upgrades are as rare as rocking horse poo.
The only sure fire way of a decent seat is to pay for it. Some airlines offer bid pricing for upgrade - you say how much you're willing to pay for an upgrade and they let you know if it's enough. I've done this a few times on Austrian and €100 seems to be the golden amount for them to say yay.
Bannock said:
Yeah, twice. Once when the bloke I was travelling with's Mum happened to be working in the United Airlines office that day...and the other time, stepping on to a BA 747 and the Head Steward happened to be my sister's best mate's Dad who supported the same football team as me...upstairs we went!
Not what you know...
So true.Not what you know...
I get upgraded on different airlines all the time, just ask nicely at check in or on the aircraft. All they can say is no.
Helps working in the industry obviously.
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