Have you ever been upgraded on a flight? Poll results/discussion

hnswst

I was upgraded once from steerage to business. BA Gatwick to Baltimore. Pure chance. I got to the desk just after the last economy seat was filled. I'm inclined to think that all the 'how to get upgraded' advice is nonsense

teddyco

Flying with Delta Airlines in 2006 Gatwick/Atlanta and asked to be upgraded. I am 6.5 feet tall and have trouble with economy seats. Was friendly with check in person and they agreed to move us from economy to business class. As a result, I always ask for an upgrade but don't always have success.

oldagetraveller

Often, as part of my job, economy airline travel was required. On every occasion at check-in I ALWAYS asked (very nicely) if there was any chance of an upgrade.
50% of the time it worked. You usually get nowt if you don't ask

MSE_Martin

Tojo_Ralph wrote: »

And just how are the poll results going to answer the question?

Never/rarely fly....
So that's zero upgrades out of near zero flights.

I fly enough, but never been upgraded....
So that's zero upgrades out of an unknown quantity of flights.

Been upgraded once - without asking....
So that's one upgrade out of an unknown quantity of flights.

Been upgraded once – we asked....
So that's one upgrade out of an unknown quantity of flights.

Been upgraded once – as compensation for not going on overbooked flight.
So that's one upgrade for a specific reason out of an unknown quantity of flights.

Been upgraded more than once.... (Had it been included)
So that's an unknown quantity of upgrades out of an an unknown quantity of flights.

Get upgraded regularly....
So that's an unknown quantity of upgrades out of an an unknown quantity of flights.

So how often do upgrades actually occur?

It isn't going to answer the question "how often do upgrades actually occur" its giong to answer the questions "how many people have been upgraded".

Answering how often it occurs isn't possible with our poll software.. I deliberately set the question this way to get a flavour of scale not exact numbers... of course it misses recency as well... yet there are still many interesting notes to be drawn...

MothballsWallet

When I used to work at Marconi and we travelled to our German offices on business, we'd always hoped that our boss Tony would be flying with us - as I was told that his party always seemed to get an upgrade...

Although that was usually coming back, as he had German surname from his ancestry.

teddyco

Martin,
You were successful in pounding the banks to get unfair charges reduced.
Perhaps you could work on the government in getting legislation on the size of economy seating aboard long haul flights?

MothballsWallet

teddy, that would require international legislation to make it fully standard across the globe: a UK law (I think) would only apply to carriers who operate out of the UK. Although convincing the EU would take a lot of buying of coffees and biscuits...

I like the idea though!

Tojo_Ralph

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Answering how often it occurs isn't possible with our poll software.

I note your point with regard to how many folk have been upgraded at any point in time, however I have mistaken the question to be the one in the opening blurb which asks how often do flight upgrades really happen? .... a question that is not going to be answered.

To answer the how many folk have been upgraded at any point in time question, Yes and No would have done.

MSE_Martin wrote: »

I deliberately set the question this way to get a flavour of scale not exact numbers... of course it misses recency as well... yet there are still many interesting notes to be drawn.

The problem is that you won't get a flavour of scale and of frequency at which flight upgrades really happen.... You will only get the percentage of people who have been upgraded at some point in their life.

MSE_Martin

Tojo_Ralph wrote: »

I note your point with regard to how many folk have been upgraded at any point in time, however I have mistaken the question to be the one in the opening blurb which asks how often do flight upgrades really happen? .... a question that is not going to be answered.

To answer the how many folk have been upgraded at any point in time question, Yes and No would have done.



The problem is that you won't get a flavour of scale and of how often flight upgrades really happen.... You will only get the number or rather the number and percentage of people who have been upgraded at some point in their life.

Point taken on the title...

Yet what I wanted from this poll (as I intend to update the upgrades article) is that there is a realistic and possible chance of an upgrade. Yet I certainly do not intend to suggest there's a probable chance. It does mean for those intent on it - it is somethign that does happen.

Of ocurse we're doing lots of other work on it too - but this poll is really helpful

brownbabygirl

I think whether or not it answers the question, the poll is really useful!