Lewis

I work for a cosmetics company. When we travel overseas I always bring a "goody bag" filled with mens and womens skin creams and mens shaving balms.
I present this to the agent and ask for and sometimes we get an upgrade.

One time they couldn't upgarde us so they gave us one of those middle 4 seat rows all to ourselves! Not bad ;-)

Ryan

It would be interesting to know with those who were given "courtesy upgrades" how long ago those events occurred. 5 years ago, sure you might snag the occassional upgrade. Today, I think the odds are fairly slim.

The airlines are all raising their Elite membership requirements because it is fairly easy to accumulate miles these days. One of the reasons they cite is an inability to upgrade their most frequent fliers because of the number of reward miles being used. If that's the case, not exactly sure why there would be so many empty business and first class seats these days as having a few hundred thousand miles isn't that tough. A few years ago, sure. Today, I've been on few flights were the First Class section wasn't booked well in advance.

Occassionally, the gate agents will upgrade people if the coach section looks like it is going to be oversold as a way of freeing up seats. But, I think even today that happens less frequently.

SuzieC

Got upgraded and flat out told because I was wearing a dress, heels and stockings and had checked my luggage. But alas, that was in the olden days before all these FF miles...
(You know, bi-planes, and such).
Anyway, now when I, in steerage, have to walk thru Business class and then first class to get out of the plane, I have thought...those people really are SLOBS!!!
Dirty tissues and napkins on the floor...newspapers...water bottles..
sheesh...maybe because there is so little room in steerage we give trash off to the attendants...
I wrote this and sounded just like Andy Rooney to myself...

kismetchimera

I was upgraded few times, but never for long flights to the USA..Which is my dream to travel at least once ,in first class to Europe without paying the stiff price.
I had a nice surprise to travel first class from London to Rome..Only because the dreadful Delta Airline, gave away our 3 seats to somebody else, when their flight was late and we arrived in Atlanta 25 minutes in retard.
We had to take a different plane, change in London and fly to Rome first class..Then , on top that,we had to wait at the airport 4 hours for our baggages..never fly Delta again if i can help it..

cailin

Ryan - my upgrade was about 6 years ago, however I was on an overbooked flight from New York to Dublin last December and saw a woman being upgraded. The flight was overbooked though (we opted to stay an extra night in NY and got a nice hotel room and $350 each for our trouble!!).

Joelle

My husband being FF on Air France, he used to get upgrades, specially on the North American routes, which is pretty nice for long trips, but not regularly.

But recently (last year) we got an upgrade from Venice to Paris (short flight) having paid two cheap tickets...

and the best one was last month flying back from Cairo to Paris in coach... having bought a "cheap" ticket for him and free FF ticket for me!!! I have to say that enjoying the business class comfort made the 5 hour trip a lot shorter...

Obviously airlines (in general) tend to care more about their frequent flyers, just like hotel chains where a basic card generally gets you an upgrade.
And in case of flight overbooking in coach, you can easily be lucky.

SiobhanP

My friend was upgraded on Aer Lingus about 6 months ago to NYC so maybe its easier on smaller european airlines.

StCirq

I've been upgraded, once to Business and once to First, in the past two years. I have no idea why I was upgraded. Both times I was flying with other family members who were not upgraded. Both times I was dressed neatly but not in particularly "fancy" clothing (no t-shirt, baseball cap, trainers, or sweats).

I don't think there's a formula - I think it just depends on how many seats are available and the attitude of the airline staff at the time of boarding.

As for economy passengers ending up in a seat that someone else paid a small fortune for, it's a shame you have to share a cabin with the likes of us, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes - grin and bear it I didn't notice that the First or Business class passengers looked much more refined than the guys in Coach, btw.

indie

My husband and I were upgraded last December flying from Miami to Dallas, The year before we used our miles to get coach tickets and but we were both upgraded(my husband was platinum level then).

I have also gotten upgraded when flying back from the UK twice - (on my own not with my Frequent Flyer hubby And I was wearing jeans.

The how and why of getting the upgrades I still do not know.

travelbunny

..my husband almost always gets upgrades but he flies about 60 times a year and had FF to spare..In addition if the economy is full price (and most people who are taking a prebooked trip have some sort of discount), these people are most likely to be upgraded..and most of the time they do not ask for upgrades but are done so automatically because of FF status.

hewlpac

I had good fortune on both of my business flights to Italy a few years ago. The first time was on a return flight. My luck was not too good in there was a strike that canceled all flights out of Turin. Air Italia, the Northwest partner at the time was not very cooperative in they would not put me on early flights the next day but only on later ones that would cause me to miss an important family event. After exhausting all my options I wandered over to an Air France counter just to be curious about other options on getting home ( I was willing to pay a reasonable premium as it would have been reimbursed) well, the Air France agent booked me on Air Italia and KLM in business class all the way back (which the Air Italia agent was not capable or willing to)

The next trip over I was again booked economy, but tried to board a bit early and was rebuffed at the gate. while waiting for my real boarding row the gate agent asked for my pass and upgraded me to business class, never quite figured why but I was in the right place at the right time....

mikemo

Simple, work for the A/L's.
Or, Marry a Senior A/L Exec.
Or, get life Platinum status.
Or, find a reliable ticket broker - you'll pay 1.5 - 2.0 X coach for Business or First, depending on the route, time-frame (actually, often better/ more available at the last minute), and time of year.
The check-in person is more often than not guided by what comments are in their data base re: you and yours - especially if you know the honchos and the comments are favorable.
Yea, not much help, but reality.
M
PS how many shares of Airline stock do you own? The A/L employees own very many, if only via their pension programs and I think most really want to help us all have a "good" experience.
PPS I have no first hand financial nor personal relationship with the industry, but I wish all the flight/ground crews/ and all who travel a very happy and productive Summer.

bardo

Upgrades just happen. DW and I were upgraded when I ran into an old freind who was to be an attendant offerted them on my flight (I had no idea beforehand). So, the check-in person DOES have the power to upgrade anyone. But asking or expecting would have been quite shabby. About as classy as panhandling.

CarolA

Manners are probably MORE important then clothing.

I have been upgraded a few times when I was "nice" to the agent. I find this most effective if the person in front of you has been rude and abusive.

The only upgrade I have gotten on international was just such a case. I got to my seat and someone was in it. He immediately started yelling at the flight attendant. (Claiming he was a preimum flyer etc.) Flight attendant came back with my new boarding pass, when I got to my seat it was a business class seat.

Upgrades are actually a little easier on domestic. I have seen LOTS of empty seats on international and I think they are hesitant to upgrade on those flights.

Also, the agents have a lot less leeway now then they did a few years ago. Now they are under pressure to "sell" upgrades rather then give them away.

Stevey

I realize this is politically incorrect, but I don't argue with success. Many times when checking into a luxury hotel with my wife, I tell them we are on our "second" honeymoon. From the Waldorf Astoria to Mayfair InterContinental, I've been bumped up a room level and/or recieved other perks. I usually don't ask, just let it happen. If it does, great, if not, fine.

Madison

Due to having so many frequent flyer miles I was able to fly to London and out of Paris 1st Class. What a treat. On my way back home 1st was 1/3 filled. I had both seats 2A and 2B all to myself. I couldn't believe my good fortune. How nice it would have been to have offered some of those seats to those cramped in coach. I wouldn't have minded as my tickets were bought with FF miles. Most of the people flying in 1st don't pay for their tickets as it as as so many are flying on business or have accumulated so many FF miles they are able to fly in luxury.

Mathieu

Stevie, I don't think "politically correct" is the phrase you're looking for; " Deceitful " would be a better approximation ! However, if you can turn the deceit into a truth, the success is your reward.

stardust

I got upgraded just once... and it was an amazing thing. It happened on a flight from Prague to Brussels. There was a problem with the plane and they sent another, yet smaller one. I assume we got to business class as we checked in early. But the best thing was that in the airport I had by accident met the university professor for who's subject I failed the year before (I really didn't deserve to fail) and we got upgraded and he didn't... hehe... revenge can be sweet
My parents got upgraded to First Class once, flying from Boston to Brussels, but that's because they missed a connection because of the airline's fault.

MelJ

Domestically, I was upgraded to first on a Newark to Columbus flight (alas, too brief to get a real kick out of it!) and my hubby and I were upgraded to first on a flight to Las Vegas a couple of years ago. No idea why, except that we have lots of miles with America West.

British Airways flew my sister and I home in Business several years ago after they had lost our luggage for six days. Didn't know it was coming--they did this at the gate.

Right after British Airways started the WT Plus my hubby and I were upgraded to that Chicago to Heathrow and the return, as well. I can only guess that it was because they had just implemented the new service so seats were available and we have a ton of miles with them (which I'm saving in case the bottom drops out of my meager finances and it's the only way I can get back to London


There must be something to be said for giving groups of extra seats to one party, as stated by an earlier poster, because my brother, his wife and their two teens flew British Airways for the first time last November and all four were placed in WT Plus! They've flown very seldom and my sister-in-law didn't even get what a big deal this was!

Josh

If I'm going to be traveling for 8-12 hours, dressing for comfort is more important to me than trying to impress my fellow travelers or gate agents in ill-fitted airline uniforms. Unless I'm working in the yard, rarely do I dress like a slob, so perhaps my normal dress would be considered to some as "dressed up."

I've gotten free upgrades on domestic US flights with some regularity. I attribute this more to the fare of my ticket than my clothes.

My wife holds Platinum Elite status with NWA and gets automatic upgrades to business class. Companion upgrades are based on availability for domestic flights, but not on international. I always ask for the upgrade, expecting a polite "I'm sorry, I can't" from the agent. When I do get the special treatment, it's just that...special.

In short, the higher my fare, the better my success rate for upgrades. Twice/year I fly to Europe on FF free tix and have never gotten up to business class on these flights (even on a rulebuster ticket).

I think the upgrade chances are slim on a $500 RT US-Europe fare, but the ticketing agent makes the call. Maybe the poster above who gives them goody bags is on to something.