Upgrading Flight Seats at the Airport

srisport

looking at flying to America in early 2018 (March/April), intend to travel around the U.S for 3 weeks.


But the main question is; I would like to experience business class at least once in my life and thought about booking economy on the trip from UK - USA and risking the chance that I can upgrade to business at the airport when checking in...


Just looking for some guidance from anyone who's willing to share some tips and tricks, and the likelihood of it happening and if I'm likely to save money by doing it this way?


would it be a substantial saving or just a small saving?


Any help would be greatly appreciated


Regards.

malkie76

A few airlines have sales on at the moment, depending on destination you may find business returns for £1.5k-£2k.

You'd be better placed to book premium economy tickets and look for airport upgrades (sometimes around £500 each way). Problem is that it's high risk and unlikely to be an option.

Another thing to consider is using points for upgrades. Do you have any ? Or wound take a credit card with sign on bonus ? This approach is limited to there being points seats available, so is also risky.

Lastly, consider starting in the EU (Dublin and Copenhagen are commonly used starting points). You'll routinely find business returns for £1.5k to the US. You then need to factor in getting to the location and contingency for any delays. You cannot buy the ticket then turn up in London as they'll cancel your ticket. You can however get off in London on the return - don't let them check your bags though, or switch airports (i.e. LHR to LGW) for the final throwaway leg.

srisport

malkie76 wrote: »

A few airlines have sales on at the moment, depending on destination you may find business returns for £1.5k-£2k.

yeah I have seen these sales but unfortunately we haven't finalized any other plans like transport in the US and accommodation as of yet so don't want to book flights if dates have to be changed etc...

malkie76 wrote: »

You'd be better placed to book premium economy tickets and look for airport upgrades (sometimes around £500 each way). Problem is that it's high risk and unlikely to be an option.

would booking economy and then upgrading also work or would it still cost the same in the end? and would it still be high risk and unlikely because of no spare seats or the fact that the airline know what I've done to save money would not upgrade on principle?

malkie76 wrote: »

Another thing to consider is using points for upgrades. Do you have any ? Or wound take a credit card with sign on bonus ? This approach is limited to there being points seats available, so is also risky.

I've never thought of this, does Martin Lewis advertise cards such like these on his website, or can you point me in the right direction?.

malkie76 wrote: »

Lastly, consider starting in the EU (Dublin and Copenhagen are commonly used starting points). You'll routinely find business returns for £1.5k to the US. You then need to factor in getting to the location and contingency for any delays. You cannot buy the ticket then turn up in London as they'll cancel your ticket. You can however get off in London on the return - don't let them check your bags though, or switch airports (i.e. LHR to LGW) for the final throwaway leg.

I have thought about this option but I need to look into it further to se if any real savings can be achieved.




Thanks very much for your help, very much appreciated


Regards.

PeacefulWaters

American Airlines are marketing numerous business class return fares to the east coast for c£1,000 from Manchester at the moment. This is exceptional. Virgin are offering similar fares to Boston.

Dublin to USA business fares are usually much cheaper than normal fares out of the UK too. I'm pining for a long overdue sale which last year got west coast flights down to c£1,000 return.

Don't expect to offered good value upgrades at the airport. Don't expect a credit card to achieve much unless you've absolutely nailed how to use it strategically.

I'd recommend tracking this thread in Flyertalk.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1709344-premium-fare-deals-j-f-375.html#post27824814

And having a play with Google flights.
https://www.google.co.uk/flights/#search;f=MAN;t=BOS;d=2017-07-27;r=2017-08-03;sc=b

Voyager2002

There are lots of ways to get Avios: with credit cards; in exchange for Tesco clubcard points; via cash-back sites on the web; you can even buy them on Ebay! You can use them to buy up-grades from relevant airlines: with BA, note that you have to buy a seat in Premium Economy in order for it to be eligible for upgrade to Club.

Having said that, I do not think there is anything particularly exciting about the BA Club class product. The main benefit is that you can sleep during your flight, and that is less important for a short journey like going to the USA than for true long-haul like the trip to the Far East or Australia.

richardw

I'd just go for Premium Economy both ways at sale prices on new aircraft such A350, A380 and B787 Dreamliner.

blindman

srisport wrote: »

looking at flying to America in early 2018 (March/April), intend to travel around the U.S for 3 weeks.


But the main question is; I would like to experience business class at least once in my life and thought about booking economy on the trip from UK - USA and risking the chance that I can upgrade to business at the airport when checking in...


Just looking for some guidance from anyone who's willing to share some tips and tricks, and the likelihood of it happening and if I'm likely to save money by doing it this way?


would it be a substantial saving or just a small saving?


Any help would be greatly appreciated


Regards.

You don't say where in USA?

East or West coast?
West coast maybe gives bigger return for the £ as you enjoy the product for 10hrs or more.

First thing:
Check out reviews of Business class products as not all are Equal!
IMHO
BA is rubbish
Virgin UC is OK
AA-never flown business-yet.

Second
Look at Headforpoints re Credit card bonus sign ups that can help in boosting miles for upgrades or even using miles to fly Business class.

Also maybe look at Cashback cards to see if they suit.

Upgrades at airports can be good value but are hit and miss IMHO.

Teahfc

If you are East coast visitor then the maximum I would pay for is Premium economy.
West coast I would go Premium Economy out and come back Virgin Upper class. The trip back to U.K. From east coast can be as short as 6 hours (Boston) to 8 ish hours (Florida) so by time you have enjoyed the on flight bar and watched a film and had a snack or main dinner and then breakfast you might get 3-5 hours sleep.
Coming back West coast you would get 7+ hours sleep with same routine.

If you sign up for Virgin miles, get and use a Virgin credit card you might in 12 months get enough miles to get a miles plus money ticket.

If not try Air India or similar who go LHR to JFK, never flown with them but seem cheap when I have looked.

srisport

blindman wrote: »

You don't say where in USA?

East or West coast?
West coast maybe gives bigger return for the £ as you enjoy the product for 10hrs or more.

ah yes i missed that part, tbh it isn't important on the destination as we will be moving across the US anyway either by car or plane. But one idea was to fly to the West cost(possibly Vancouver,Canada if that costs less and travel into america that way) and drive across the country visiting other towns/cities as we go to the East coast to say New York and then fly home.

blindman wrote: »

First thing:
Check out reviews of Business class products as not all are Equal!
IMHO
BA is rubbish
Virgin UC is OK
AA-never flown business-yet.

Second
Look at Headforpoints re Credit card bonus sign ups that can help in boosting miles for upgrades or even using miles to fly Business class.

Also maybe look at Cashback cards to see if they suit.

Upgrades at airports can be good value but are hit and miss IMHO.

Thank you for that helpful tip, i will research further

Voyager2002 wrote: »

There are lots of ways to get Avios: with credit cards; in exchange for Tesco clubcard points; via cash-back sites on the web; you can even buy them on Ebay! You can use them to buy up-grades from relevant airlines: with BA, note that you have to buy a seat in Premium Economy in order for it to be eligible for upgrade to Club.

Having said that, I do not think there is anything particularly exciting about the BA Club class product. The main benefit is that you can sleep during your flight, and that is less important for a short journey like going to the USA than for true long-haul like the trip to the Far East or Australia.

So look out for cards or cashback sites offering Avios points? excuse my stupidness but are these points used by all long haul airliners or are they specific to some one like BA?

Flying business isn't important to our plans but if i can get a seat for a good deal then why the hell not eh?


Some good points raised so far, so thank you everyone for your contributions up to now. of course i am still open to other suggestions if they arise.

Regards.

blindman

srisport wrote: »

ah yes i missed that part, tbh it isn't important on the destination as we will be moving across the US anyway either by car or plane. But one idea was to fly to the West cost(possibly Vancouver,Canada if that costs less and travel into america that way) and drive across the country visiting other towns/cities as we go to the East coast to say New York and then fly home.



Regards.

You could go West to East USA in 3 weeks BUT you would be in the car the WHOLE time:eek:

Methinks you need a better plan and a map of USA:cool:

What are the aims of this trip??

Frequent Flyer miles
Lots of schemes, with various airlines having their own.

IMHO collecting AVIOS gives the best flexibility
Read head for points re CC to get for this

srisport

blindman wrote: »

You could go West to East USA in 3 weeks BUT you would be in the car the WHOLE time:eek:

Methinks you need a better plan and a map of USA:cool:

Using google maps and plotting a journey consisting of Vancouver-Los Angeles-New York. It is estimated to take 55hours/6000KM or 2.2Days

Now obviously I'm not planning on doing that in one leg and depending on cost then it might have to be a combination of car and plane journeys, But as a starting point then i don't consider that impossible to achieve in 21 days......

blindman wrote: »

What are the aims of this trip??

Me and the GF would like to travel before we settle down (house/kids etc...) and if were going to do something like this and possibly only get one opportunity while we are still youngish (late 20's) then i would like to do as much as feasibly possible. Ive always wanted to drive across America and its on my bucket list.

blindman wrote: »

Frequent Flyer miles
Lots of schemes, with various airlines having their own.

IMHO collecting AVIOS gives the best flexibility
Read head for points re CC to get for this

I have now looked further in to this and have a basic understanding on the Avios points scheme. and looking at a random BA flight in October 2017 i would need 75,000 points to get a business seat (I'm guessing this is paying for the seat with points only??) I'm not too sure how i would find out how many points i would need if i was to buy an economy seat and upgrade to business???