All this talk of free upgrades

pin

Seriously people, you think you are going to get upgraded for free?

Come on, airlines are not charities, they are businesses trying to make a buck. Also why should they give a free upgrade to an econ holiday pax who travels once every so often as opposed to the business traveller who spends thousands and thousands of pounds with the airline.

Now wouldn't it rile you if you have forked out thousands of pounds for a buinsess class seat to find out the person sitting next to you has spent £200 on an el cheapo econ tix and got a free upgrade.

Lets get serious people and stop thinking its your right to get free up flight upgrades.

Sam_Bee

pin wrote:

Seriously people, you think you are going to get upgraded for free?

Come on, airlines are not charities, they are businesses trying to make a buck. Also why should they give a free upgrade to an econ holiday pax who travels once every so often as opposed to the business traveller who spends thousands and thousands of pounds with the airline.

Now wouldn't it rile you if you have forked out thousands of pounds for a buinsess class seat to find out the person sitting next to you has spent £200 on an el cheapo econ tix and got a free upgrade.

Lets get serious people and stop thinking its your right to get free up flight upgrades.

In fact, as we get it so often, i'd like it to be made a sticky, so I can ignore it in future!

To be fair, a lot of people on this board will only come to this forum once or twice when booking their holiday, and the free upgrade myth is a great one to aspire to, so they'll always ask.

P.S This applies to hotels, cars, as well as flights. You generally get what you pay for...

pin

I've done a post like this before, about a year ago, but time and time again we get the "how do I get a free upgrade" question.

UnitedFlyer

While I agree with the original post that getting upgrades for free ... they do however happen!!

It's rare, but one way to do it is to book yourself onto an overbooked flight.
When they ask for volunteers to give up their seat, you have a chance of making some cash and bagging an upgraded seat (depending on destination).

Talk of just asking at checkin and being given an upgrade for nothing has a success rate of virtually nothing.
I can't comment on other airlines, but I do know United Airlines offer upgrades to Business Class (for flights to USA) for £330, but only if seats are available at checkin.

pin

UnitedFlyer wrote:

While I agree with the original post that getting upgrades for free ... they do however happen!!

It's rare, but one way to do it is to book yourself onto an overbooked flight.
When they ask for volunteers to give up their seat, you have a chance of making some cash and bagging an upgraded seat (depending on destination).

Talk of just asking at checkin and being given an upgrade for nothing has a success rate of virtually nothing.
I can't comment on other airlines, but I do know United Airlines offer upgrades to Business Class (for flights to USA) for £330, but only if seats are available at checkin.

I know they happen, but more often than not you have to pay for them. Also re the overbooking situation many airlines will look at their status and premium paying pax first. Re econ pax, they normally just give them the money and get them to fly the next flight in the same class (still a good deal though). Also I think the overbooking situation and getting a bumped up upgrade is more common in the states than it is in Europe.

_Andy_

pin wrote:

Seriously people, you think you are going to get upgraded for free?

Come on, airlines are not charities, they are businesses trying to make a buck. Also why should they give a free upgrade to an econ holiday pax who travels once every so often as opposed to the business traveller who spends thousands and thousands of pounds with the airline.

Now wouldn't it rile you if you have forked out thousands of pounds for a buinsess class seat to find out the person sitting next to you has spent £200 on an el cheapo econ tix and got a free upgrade.

Lets get serious people and stop thinking its your right to get free up flight upgrades.

Amen to that. Well said

Sam_Bee

UnitedFlyer wrote:

While I agree with the original post that getting upgrades for free ... they do however happen!!

It's rare, but one way to do it is to book yourself onto an overbooked flight.
When they ask for volunteers to give up their seat, you have a chance of making some cash and bagging an upgraded seat (depending on destination).

Talk of just asking at checkin and being given an upgrade for nothing has a success rate of virtually nothing.
I can't comment on other airlines, but I do know United Airlines offer upgrades to Business Class (for flights to USA) for £330, but only if seats are available at checkin.

Mmm, you'll never get an upgraded seat AND cash!

You're method also has the possibility of being refused boarding as the flight is full! It's not always optional! If you check in late it happens everyday.

Far better to book yourself on an UNDERBOOKED flight, and have a few seats to yourself in economy, where you can stretch back, and even make yourself a bed.

richardw

Sam_Bee wrote:

Far better to book yourself on an UNDERBOOKED flight, and have a few seats to yourself in economy, where you can stretch back, and even make yourself a bed.

But how do you predict an underbooked flight, not that easy.

Voyager2002

Well, I have had TWO free upgrades in the last couple of years, so they do happen. Common factors: I did NOT ask, nor have any expectations. I was flying on very cheap tickets on over-booked flights. I used my professional title (Dr.) when making the booking, since this is shown on all my credit cards and things. And (perhaps crucially) on each occasion this was my first flight after joining the airline's frequent flyer programme.

In sum, it may be harmless fun fantasising about a free upgrade but there is nothing you can do to make it more likely, and on most flights it is simply not going to happen. If it is so important to you then pay for a premium ticket.

blindman

pin wrote:

I've done a post like this before, about a year ago, but time and time again we get the "how do I get a free upgrade" question.

What's the best place to change £ to $ ?

Any tips on hotels etc in

New York
LA
California

Do I need a visa for USA

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New York
Australia


How do I get to Eurodisney and what's the best hotel?

Any many, many, many, many, more

Sam_Bee

richardw wrote:

But how do you predict an underbooked flight, not that easy.

That's a very good point.

The best most people can do is use their common sense, but that doesn't always work.

I would say, ask your travel agent. I can see how busy flights are at any point. However, most of you book online, so, well, tough.