Free flight upgrades discussion

freebiequennie

when we went on honeymoon with virgin we asked at check in and was told upgrades dont happen anymore!! asked again when we were boarding and was told no too many honeymooners on that flight, flight was pratically empty anyway people were lying across row of middles seats to sleep as so empty

Amys

I have never been upgraded, but I have been markled as SFU for some flights, we do not ask, do not dress particually smart but are always polite, maybe one day it will happen.

cazuk11

I almost got upgraded. My husband was flying first and I was in Premium. The lady at check in put a note on my name to upgrade. I was asked to wait at boarding, but due to a previous flight being cancelled, all the seats were taken. I have never managed it, I have dressed well, been cheeky, smiled, flirted - nothing! Oh well... I'm going to try it again when I fly. I'm in Premium and will let you know if I finally succeed!

steve761

I have two questions on free flight upgrades:

1. If you check in online and choose your (economy) seat, does that make it less likely that you will get upgraded? What about using the self-service check-in? Should I check in at the airport check-in desk instead?

2. If you are on a flight which uses a codeshare, are you less likely to get an upgrade if you booked with a different company than the flight is operated by? E.g. if I book with BA for a Qantas flight, am I less likely to get upgraded than if I had booked with Qantas?

Thanks!

richardw

1.Are you fussy about which economy seat you want?

2.Book with the code of the frequent flyer membership that you have the highest status with.

lots of this on https://www.flyertalk.com

discoinferno_99

richardw wrote: »

1.Are you fussy about which economy seat you want?

Definitely the trade off here. If you want a decent seat on a busy flight, then go for the seating option. If you fancy taking a gamble, then by all means don't grab those seats via OLCI.

For example when flying to the States from Manchester, we usually connect onwards on United. We usually ask bmi not to allocate us seats for the United flight at checkin as they will almost always be in the normal economy seats. (You just get boarding cards with the flight details and are advised to go to the United transfer desk on arrival) As I have status with bmi / Star Alliance, I usually politely ask for seating and boarding cards when I get to Chicago. So far they have always allocated economy plus seating with one exception and even then they were apologetic that they couldn't get us seats in E+. Not a massive upgrade, but a few extra inches of legroom at least which is well worth it. It also saves you a few quid on having to pay the extra charge for E+.

Basically, OLCI vastly reduces your chances of an operational upgrade unless you have status with the airline, or there is a change of plane that means your seat no longer exists.

Tojo_Ralph

steve761 wrote: »

1. If you check in online and choose your (economy) seat, does that make it less likely that you will get upgraded? What about using the self-service check-in?

A good question and the answer is simple.... If getting your seat preference is important to you, I would suggest that you select your seat as soon as possible and if that's not possible until the online check in for the flight opens, then I'd recommend you check in and select your seat as soon as online check in opens.

As for checking in online affecting your chances of an upgrade, generally speaking, if you don't have top tier FF status with the airline, your chances of being upgraded on the flight you are travelling on are negligible and if you do have top tier FF status, it still won't impact on your chances of being upgraded.

steve761

Thanks everyone for the advice. I guess it's more important to get a good seat in economy than hold out for an upgrade and end up in a less desirable seat. "Bird in the hand" and all that!

madge7

I'm flying Cathay to HK in a few wks alone, anyone got any tips for that particular airline? I have an economy ticket. Thanks!

RedCanadaHat

^ i'm in the same boat as you!!! Except i'm flying in December lol. I plan on dressing smartly and politely asking. Who knows!