Getting upgrades

Mr.Boy

The wife and I are off on holiday for our 10-year anniversary soon. In the films, we'd be upgraded to first class and our hotel would give us a fancy suite but in real life does this really happen?

If so, any tips?

Thanks

pogofish

IME, being on the end of an airline screw-up helps. The one and only time I got upgraded was after there was a mess with the tickets and available seats on the plane/flights. They put us up to business class on the next one.

ETA - I've just remembered another one, years ago and again after a mix-up in announcements several passengers missed a flight, so BA sent me first class on another airline, which was not the best advert for BA.

Hotel upgrades are potentially easier. Just be polite, good-humoured and co-operative at the desk.

Harassed staff tend to appreciate that and I've had several room upgrades over the years (most recently this January) by being the only reasonable guy in a queue full of R-soles.

MasterPoo

I think the general "rule" is that you are most likely to get an Operational Upgrade if you're a single traveller and sometimes when there is two of you.

I've also read somewhere that some airports/airlines are not renowned for offering free upgrades, e.g. Emirates out of Manchester. I've also noted that for Emirate for e.g. most of the OU were for people with status, i.e. a member of their frequent flyer program. Perhaps look at joining?

Which airline are you flying?
Which airport are you flying out from?

I suspect it's just down to luck??? Like you I would love love love a FREE upgrade, Good Luck.

paddyrg

It doesn't really happen - on any flight there will be at least one honeymooning couple who fly maybe once every couple of years, however there will be a hundred regular customers to please. Instead, expect to be flying economy and book seats instead - there are some plane configurations where you can get 2 seats together (although nearer the loos).

For the hotel, get a friend to call the hotel in advance with a credit card purchase of a bottle of champagne or some flowers to be waiting in your room - that tips the hotel off without you looking like a beggar!

Voyager2002

Of course, you could pay for an upgrade: if you are flying BA and have tickets for WTC then it only takes a reasonable number of Avios or Clubcard points to get into Club (Business) class...

DUKE

If I'm able I choose my own seats online, I check them weekly to see if anyone's in front or behind me & move myself around accordingly. If on the day of my flight I'm still not happy with my seat I ask if there's any bulkhead row or exit row seats, & I usually get them.

If you're not happy with your room just ask if you can change. I've done it a few times without any problem.

Good Luck & Happy Anni!

Caz3121

do you have any status with the airline or hotel brand?
upgrades on airlines come at a cost, you may be offered one in advance, depending on the airline, or they may be offered for sale at the airport.
Airlines will upgrade for operational reasons but would normally look at solo passengers or at least those that hold status with them.
Hotel, assuming you hold no status, you could maybe contact them in advance and ask how much it would be to upgrade to a better room or, if you do not want to pay, you would maybe contact the hotel and arrange a bottle of champagne in advance, explaining it is a special occasion and you may get lucky
If upgrades were made too easy then fewer people would pay for the business class/suites etc

phatbear

Whos to say the flight you will be on isnt full of people celebrating their 11th anniversary or special birthday, wedding etc if you want an upgrade just pay for it.

2 years ago i flew to ny on my 40th birthday and when i was asked at check in the purpose of my trip i didnt even get a "happy birthday" so its unlikely you'll get owt for free

tarkytarks

We (3 of us) were upgraded from WT+ to club last year coming back from Tokyo. I think it was just luck. We only found out when we did the bag drop at the airport. Both wt and wt+ had been oversold, and we may have got bumped as we checked in online exactly 24 hours previously, had no special meal requests and we had pre-paid at booking to choose our seats. Who knows. Or we were just lucky :-)

SW17

The days of blagging airline upgrades are pretty much gone. It will usually only happen now if a cabin is oversold.

Which airline, route and cabin are you booked in?

PeacefulWaters

I've had several hotel room upgrades over the years, but the hotel's definition of upgrade is often an extra three square feet of space or a view of a street instead of the bins.

The only time I've ended up in a higher aircraft class than I'd booked came about on a flight to Paris because I incorrectly booked myself twice for the flight and had to ring Flybe for a correction of name on the booking.

On arrival at the airport the bookings were clearly separate and we had to spend 40 minutes at check in while they sorted it out. There was lots of chat between staff and supervisors before we were issued our boarding cards.

On boarding we headed to our seats and were pleased with the leg room (and having six seats between three of us). Then the hot towels and three course breakfast was served in crockery while cattle class passengers had a stale croissant thrown at them on the other side of a curtain.

Good value for the £50 paid. But I'd never have paid £150 each extra for it!