Upgrade Tips (for Honeymoon)

avfcforever

After getting married last week, my wife and I are looking forward to our honeymoon in October this year.

We are flying with Virgin to Cape Town from Heathrow and have purchased economy seats. I've heard people suggest there are ways to get an upgrade for free (or at least cheaper than paying when booking), especially as it is our honeymoon.

I'd welcome any suggestions/tips from people who have had any success with this, and any do's or don'ts.

Thanks in advance

Idiophreak

Before our honeymoon we read that the best approach was to wait til the day to check in, then do the whole "ooh, we're on honeymoon...we're so in love!" routine at the desk...be polite, friendly etc and hope for the best.

When they got there, the plane was *full*. Not only was there no chance of an upgrade, there weren't even two seats together.

So we had to wait at the gate until the plane was scheduled to depart - hoping that someone would be a no-show and we could have their seats. When this didn't happen, we were paraded in front of all the passengers by the hostess who then said "come on people! you're not going to let these lovebirds sit apart *on their honeymoon*, are you??" and eventually they guilted some bloke into sitting away from his kids for the trip.

Mortifying, the whole thing. I'd do things differently if I had my time over

Caz3121

You may be offered an airport upgrade which is often cheaper than paying the difference in the ticket cost from economy to premium economy - depending on the route, this may be something like £200 per person each way (so total of £800 for the return for the 2 of you)
I would not expect any free upgrade.
I remember being at Virgin and someone decided to rock up with a doctors letter stating that they needed to have extra legroom due to back problems. They were told they could not sit in an exit and if they were unable to sit in an economy seat they should pay the £2k+ to upgrade to upper.

rustyboy21

Turn up in your wedding dress and Grooms suit and hope for the best !?

Voyager2002

This is one time when even an economy flight will seem wonderful.

Save any pennies for travel in the future, when the little comforts that you probably won't even notice on a honeymoon would make all the difference.

Alan_Bowen

Sad to say the days of free upgrades have gone. If a plane is overbooked the gold card holders of their frequent flyer club are moved first. Even more sad to say Cape Town is usually full in all cabins because South African Airways pulled off the route. If you want to upgrade on that route do so in advance, and make sure you avoid the school half term at the end of October when the spare seats are on the wing

paddyrg

You can, however, get a friend to call up the hotel in advance with a credit card asking for a bottle of champagne to be left in your suite because it's your honeymoon - many hotels will take the hint without seeming desperate, and put you in preferential accommodation if there's availability

malkie76

Virgin are one airline which will try and sell upgrades before granting them to frequent flyers. Ask at check-in about paying for an upgrade - last minute upgrades can often be far cheaper than paying online, or booking into that class from the outset.

Premium economy is nothing to get excited about, so I'd be more tempted to save the money to pay for business class in the future, or to spend while on holiday.

photome

An upgrade will cost, maybe you should save your money and let your cash strapped club have some:D

zagfles

Just tell everyone it's your honeymoon, and take your marriage certificate, you'll get loads of freebies, upgrades etc. Flight upgrade may be unlikely - but they'll likely give you some freebies eg we got a bottle of champagne and an invite to the cockpit. Got a few hotel upgrades, free wine etc in a few of the hotels stayed at.