Report Flight Upgrade Successes

malkie76

CliffWalker wrote: »

Overbooked Economy?

Yes. Hence the phone call offering you an upgrade at cost, when they were going to upgrade you for free anyway.

captainhaggis

Overbooked economy is the most likely reason, yes. I very much doubt they'd have upgraded so many people for the hell of it!

Another tip if you do decide to try and get an upgrade : MAKE SURE YOU HAVEN'T BOOKED A SPECIAL MEAL!

If you have a special meal booked you're less likely to be bumped because the catering invariably wouldn't follow you.

cubehopper

Me and my ex (we were together at the time) arrived at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport 20mins before our flight was due to take off. We had been stupid and waited that bit too long to go on space mountain at Euro Disney and missed the hourly coach to the airport.

Not keen on the prospect of a £300 ticket, I lied through my teeth in poor French that "our taxi had broken down" on the way to the airport. I'm not sure whether they saw through it but Air France took pity on us and said they only way they could get us on our flight was to upgrade us to business and allow us to use the 'invitation only' security screening. Never in my life have I gone from check-in desk to seat on flight in UNDER 5 minutes. It's not an experience I want to go through again and I'm not proud of it, but it goes to show that it's not impossible for check-in staff to get you on a flight if it hasn't taken off. We had hand luggage only, and the gate was pretty near so those factors must have helped too.

This was about 2 years ago and I don't think we had checked in online. I don't think I'd be brave/stupid enough to try this with Ryanair though :rolleyes:

dmg24

cubehopper wrote: »

Me and my ex (we were together at the time) arrived at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport 20mins before our flight was due to take off. We had been stupid and waited that bit too long to go on space mountain at Euro Disney and missed the hourly coach to the airport.

Not keen on the prospect of a £300 ticket, I lied through my teeth in poor French that "our taxi had broken down" on the way to the airport. I'm not sure whether they saw through it but Air France took pity on us and said they only way they could get us on our flight was to upgrade us to business and allow us to use the 'invitation only' security screening. Never in my life have I gone from check-in desk to seat on flight in UNDER 5 minutes. It's not an experience I want to go through again and I'm not proud of it, but it goes to show that it's not impossible for check-in staff to get you on a flight if it hasn't taken off. We had hand luggage only, and the gate was pretty near so those factors must have helped too.

This was about 2 years ago and I don't think we had checked in online. I don't think I'd be brave/stupid enough to try this with Ryanair though :rolleyes:

Can you actual tell the difference between business and economy on AF short haul?

I caught someone out the other day, they had been telling everyone how they flew with AF (long haul) and when they boarded the plane they were directed 'upstairs', with the implication that they had been upgraded to Affaires. Knowing which route they had flown, I commented 'The upstairs economy seats are ok, but I'd rather be at the front of the plane in business' ... Needless to say, they are no longer telling their little story!

cubehopper

The only perk was a nicer meal with real cutlery, but you're right dmg24, business class on a short haul flight is only worth it if someone else is paying. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get an upgrade on a long haul flight from Japan. I'm flexible on dates in December and I'm thinking that getting onto an overbooked flight close to Christmas could be my best bet (it worked once on BA after new year's but that was sheer luck). How can I boost my chances?

dmg24

Do you collect Tesco Clubcard points? I use them to upgrade from WT+ to CW on BA.

malkie76

dmg24 wrote: »

Do you collect Tesco Clubcard points? I use them to upgrade from WT+ to CW on BA.

Works for me too Two lovely open-jaw returns in CW LHR-PEK then NRT-LHR - miles earned partially from flying BA with work, and topped up with Tesco CC points.


To answer the recent question - booking yourself on an oversold flight only really works if you have significant status with the airline, or are on a full-fare ticket. If you've got neither of those then you'd be towards the end of the line of those pushed forward due to overbooking.

LHR777

Totally agree with the two previous posters, upgrading with miles (Tesco clubcard points) is the way to go, particularly on BA.

I paid in the last BA Jan sale £480 for return flights in Premium Economy + 25,000 miles ensured I got Club World both ways to NYC.

And to top all off I got 10,000 ish miles for the trip, net effect 15,000 miles spent.

richardw

But you have to book a suitable MFU fare in the first place!

cubehopper

I'd equally be happy with being bumped off an overbooked flight. It's happened to me with BA before just after New Year's when everyone was clambering to get back to the UK. I got an extra day's holiday for free and £250 compensation. The next flight was overbooked too but I got to the airport too late to volunteer myself off. That day's compensation was £750 which would have paid for my whole flight. I know these things are rare but I have a lot of flexibility this year for once so am willing to try my luck