Upgrades......a thing of the past?
Discussion
Hi,
I'm sure we've all read somewhere or other about "foolproof" ways of getting an upgrade from chicken and hens class ( someone even sells the secrets on fleabay).....however, I really think that these days it's pretty much pot luck. My last ( and second ever) upgrade was from econ to prem econ on an Eva air flight lhr/ bkk. Only got it one way but just missed out on the return trip to the lucky get stood in front of me in the paupers que at Bangers.
I've never been spawny enough to get a business or first class upgrade, then again good luck to anyone who has or does. Anyone got lucky these days? , considering how tough the airline industry is and thus they're probably not in the habit of giving out expensive freebies to all and sundry.( note: this does not include frequent flyer rewards or having your sister at the check in desk.....)
Cheers
I'm sure we've all read somewhere or other about "foolproof" ways of getting an upgrade from chicken and hens class ( someone even sells the secrets on fleabay).....however, I really think that these days it's pretty much pot luck. My last ( and second ever) upgrade was from econ to prem econ on an Eva air flight lhr/ bkk. Only got it one way but just missed out on the return trip to the lucky get stood in front of me in the paupers que at Bangers.
I've never been spawny enough to get a business or first class upgrade, then again good luck to anyone who has or does. Anyone got lucky these days? , considering how tough the airline industry is and thus they're probably not in the habit of giving out expensive freebies to all and sundry.( note: this does not include frequent flyer rewards or having your sister at the check in desk.....)
Cheers
- edit : I meant having your sister working at the check in desk. Sorry.
Edited by texaxile on Sunday 21st October 08:28
The likelihood of upgrades depends almost entirely on how often you fly and your status with the airline.
I'm gold on Emirates and BA and almost always fly business anyway, the number of upgrades into First I've had in the last few years is well into double figures.
On the odd occasion I'm travelling in WT+ on BA I get op-upped to Business probably 25% of the time.
Emirates are very good with upgrades if you have status, they overbook their flights so heavily that on certain routes a high value gold can almost guarantee being upped to First from Business.
I'm gold on Emirates and BA and almost always fly business anyway, the number of upgrades into First I've had in the last few years is well into double figures.
On the odd occasion I'm travelling in WT+ on BA I get op-upped to Business probably 25% of the time.
Emirates are very good with upgrades if you have status, they overbook their flights so heavily that on certain routes a high value gold can almost guarantee being upped to First from Business.
I get upgrades every flight with VA, often from economy to upper thanks to booking tons of freight each week with VA Cargo.
This is of course space allowing and on rare times ive sat in the clubhouse at LHR but still had to turn right, oh the shame!
The only thing you don't get is the car service.
This is of course space allowing and on rare times ive sat in the clubhouse at LHR but still had to turn right, oh the shame!
The only thing you don't get is the car service.
I flew twice to Istanbul last week, outbound Club Europe simply becuase BA had an offer of £99 to upgrade, couldnt justify £500 eqch journey back so booked in pleb class to come back.
However on the last outbound whilst getting off I mentioned to the Club Europe crew I'd be joining them on the way back the following day and look forward to seeing them then (knowing full well I was at the back of the aircraft, seat 27A......right at the back!).
Next day came and seats 15-27 were asked to board using the rear doors but I thought bugger that I'm going in through the front and will say hi to the crew. I did, they remembered my name and I mentioned that unfortunately today I was right at the back, I couldn't get a seat in CE. As we were taxiing to take off a member of the crew came down the aisle and leaned over and explained they were very sorry about the mix-up with the seating and my seat was now free.
I thanked her, picked up my its and went up to the front. The cabin director gave me a wink as I walked past her. Again, in front of the other CE passengers I was apologised to about the is up and was the anything they could get me etc. etc.
Club Europe is clearly not up there with 1st or long haul business but for a four hour journey it's much better than being in coach.
However regardless of ghe fact I'm a fairly frequent flyer I'm clearly not good enough looking or rich enough to get many free upgrades.
However on the last outbound whilst getting off I mentioned to the Club Europe crew I'd be joining them on the way back the following day and look forward to seeing them then (knowing full well I was at the back of the aircraft, seat 27A......right at the back!).
Next day came and seats 15-27 were asked to board using the rear doors but I thought bugger that I'm going in through the front and will say hi to the crew. I did, they remembered my name and I mentioned that unfortunately today I was right at the back, I couldn't get a seat in CE. As we were taxiing to take off a member of the crew came down the aisle and leaned over and explained they were very sorry about the mix-up with the seating and my seat was now free.
I thanked her, picked up my its and went up to the front. The cabin director gave me a wink as I walked past her. Again, in front of the other CE passengers I was apologised to about the is up and was the anything they could get me etc. etc.
Club Europe is clearly not up there with 1st or long haul business but for a four hour journey it's much better than being in coach.
However regardless of ghe fact I'm a fairly frequent flyer I'm clearly not good enough looking or rich enough to get many free upgrades.
Edited by HoHoHo on Sunday 21st October 10:30
At one point I had to change the date of a Virgin flight (I fly with them quite a lot but almost always economy) and the only seat available on the new flight was in premium economy. The company that meant I had to change the date was OK with paying the difference so I booked it.
A few weeks later I got on the flight, sat down in premium economy, and was just getting settled and marvelling at how wide the seat was when a woman came up to me and said I was sitting in her seat. I produced my boarding pass and said that I wasn't- she took out hers, and Virgin had sold the same seat twice! The flight attendant came over to deal with the situation and said "I'm sorry sir, premium economy is full, you're going to have to sit in first class".
Not sure whether I got the upgrade because I was flying PE for the first time after a lot of economy flights so they thought I might have come into some money, or because I'd sat down first...
A few weeks later I got on the flight, sat down in premium economy, and was just getting settled and marvelling at how wide the seat was when a woman came up to me and said I was sitting in her seat. I produced my boarding pass and said that I wasn't- she took out hers, and Virgin had sold the same seat twice! The flight attendant came over to deal with the situation and said "I'm sorry sir, premium economy is full, you're going to have to sit in first class".
Not sure whether I got the upgrade because I was flying PE for the first time after a lot of economy flights so they thought I might have come into some money, or because I'd sat down first...
K50 DEL said:
The likelihood of upgrades depends almost entirely on how often you fly and your status with the airline.
Exactly this, to the point that there's a checklist priority for the agents - gold, silver, bronze, alliance partners, full fare ticket, etc.There only a few ways to jump the list; most common are a full cabin and something physically wrong with your seat when you board and the FA can't be bothered doing a multi seat shuffle to move a priority customer up; or sometimes a single passenger moves because other qualifiers are flying with a partner.
All the 'wear a tie and say it's your birthday and you're on honeymoon' nonsense is exactly that.
You might also not be as DYKWIA as you think you are. I was standing in the galley in Business recently and saw the manifest on the wall - every passenger in J was Gold or alliance equivalent.
Newc said:
You might also not be as DYKWIA as you think you are. I was standing in the galley in Business recently and saw the manifest on the wall - every passenger in J was Gold or alliance equivalent.
This is a common problem on some routes, DXB - SIN for example is almost always populated by golds in J, so the chances of a u/g are slim for a non status passenger.Other routes (DXB - LAD is historically my most common) there may only be 1 gold on board so if there's an operational u/g needed, bingo.
BA work much the same as EK, they base their importance on a CVI (customer value index) score.
No-one quite knows how this is calculated but it's a combination of the number of legs flown, classes flown, fare boucket paid etc) it's scored out of 100.
For a while mine was 97 so upgrades were common... nowadays it'll be about 40 I reckon, so Ive only had 2 u/g in the last 6 legs flown.
K50 DEL said:
The likelihood of upgrades depends almost entirely on how often you fly and your status with the airline.
I'm gold on Emirates and BA and almost always fly business anyway, the number of upgrades into First I've had in the last few years is well into double figures.
On the odd occasion I'm travelling in WT+ on BA I get op-upped to Business probably 25% of the time.
Emirates are very good with upgrades if you have status, they overbook their flights so heavily that on certain routes a high value gold can almost guarantee being upped to First from Business.
And being polite. I'm not a frequent BA flyer but treated the staff with respect (it amazes me how many other passengers didn't say thank you etc. during the outbound flight).I'm gold on Emirates and BA and almost always fly business anyway, the number of upgrades into First I've had in the last few years is well into double figures.
On the odd occasion I'm travelling in WT+ on BA I get op-upped to Business probably 25% of the time.
Emirates are very good with upgrades if you have status, they overbook their flights so heavily that on certain routes a high value gold can almost guarantee being upped to First from Business.
The crew knew nothing about me on the way back from Turkey but I got the upgrade.
I fly right across 12 time zones, every five weeks, and get an upgrade maybe once a year, and only ever on some short internal leg within the USA.
I'm Silver with Star Alliance, but it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. My company uses whichever is the cheapest flight available so I am spread across a half dozen FF groups, from Star Alliance, to PAL, Delta, to Asiana, Emirates, Qatar Airways, all different.
Still, 20-30 hours in the air, it is the only chance I get to see new movies really, looking on the bright side......
I'm Silver with Star Alliance, but it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. My company uses whichever is the cheapest flight available so I am spread across a half dozen FF groups, from Star Alliance, to PAL, Delta, to Asiana, Emirates, Qatar Airways, all different.
Still, 20-30 hours in the air, it is the only chance I get to see new movies really, looking on the bright side......
^^^
All the 'wear a tie and say it's your birthday and you're on honeymoon' nonsense is exactly that.
Most of the time yes, but not quite always. Flew to NYC 10 years ago and told the girl on check in that it was our honeymoon after she asked why we looked so happy for such an early flight (it was btw) . She replied with a huge smile that she happened to have 2 seats available in business and it would be a pleasure to upgrade us.
It was such a nice thing to do that my wife decided on arrival to send a bunch of flowers to the girl the next day.
7 days later checking in we were told that by chance we had been upgraded to business for the flight home.
A lovely experience all round. ( saved me a few quid as we were going to book business but decided to blow the extra cash on a much nicer hotel suite)
All the 'wear a tie and say it's your birthday and you're on honeymoon' nonsense is exactly that.
Most of the time yes, but not quite always. Flew to NYC 10 years ago and told the girl on check in that it was our honeymoon after she asked why we looked so happy for such an early flight (it was btw) . She replied with a huge smile that she happened to have 2 seats available in business and it would be a pleasure to upgrade us.
It was such a nice thing to do that my wife decided on arrival to send a bunch of flowers to the girl the next day.
7 days later checking in we were told that by chance we had been upgraded to business for the flight home.
A lovely experience all round. ( saved me a few quid as we were going to book business but decided to blow the extra cash on a much nicer hotel suite)
The American medic on my ship last year told me whenever she boards a plane she politely informs the cabin crew that she is a licensed paramedic, and is in seat ---, if ever they need any assistance....
Maybe 50% of the time they'll invite her up to sit in 'the big chairs' nearer the front. Doesn't work every time, but often enough.
Maybe 50% of the time they'll invite her up to sit in 'the big chairs' nearer the front. Doesn't work every time, but often enough.
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