stephenwhite68

What are the chance of upgrading to business class when at the check in terminal and how should i approach the issue ?

Anyone done this before ?
if so how much was the cost ?

S

seang

I will give the same advice as before

get rubber stamp made -approx 12 cm by 8 cm-containing words VIP CUSTOMER ~UPGRADE WHENEVER POSSIBLE.Stamp this on front of tickets.Place tickets in envelope.Seal envelope and hand in at checkin desk.
Hold your breath and try to look casual.


and next week we will learn how to make space rockets from washing up bottles.

Grayling

If there was an easy way everyone would do it (and many try).

If you pay you will probably have to pay the usual difference between economy and business.

Good luck

G

Hels

OR

You could get yourself some travel insurance starting from the week before you leave, then have your gall bladder block itself and have to have surgery. Get your doctor to write a letter suggesting that it would be beneficial that you are upgraded and viola`!!!!!!!!!


Well, thats almost how it happened to me....

moneypenny20

It was great that it worked for you, but.....

Stephen, if you have kids, forget it

PWBCSA

We have managed to get upgraded on a number of occasions.

On a particular occasion we were flying Business Class and got upgraded to First because Economy and Business were overbooked.

Another time we refused to get on the plane because they were trying to seat my wife and I in separate areas in Economy; in the end they upgraded us so that we could sit together and the plane could take off on time!

We always ask ‘just on the off chance’, but never assume it is going to happen.

We have found that it only happens when we are dressed smart i.e. - not when we are ‘backpacking’ and being friendly with a ‘don’t really mind if we do or don’t’ attitude seems to help as well.

Sometimes it does happen but, importantly, most of the time it doesn’t!

Cheers.

stephenwhite68

Thanks

PWBCSA

Sorry, I forgot to add.

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get there as early as possible or you will have no chance at all!

Cheers.

spalen

Fly a lot with BA - and got chatty with one of the checkin people when being upgraded - they said... if you ask for it you for sure are not going to get it !

They do go on the smart / not going to cause a rumpus . Kids = no way ,and its good to have a frequent flyer card they go down the people on the plane with their own freqeunt flyer cards, Gold, Silver, and then into the dross with the blue.

Ive applied to emirates for a freq-flyer card on the off chance they do the same and we fly with them

Jimclevs

We have been Enrich members with Malaysian for some years and are piling up the points to an official upgrade in due course.

When we flew to Sydney in 2003 on the last day before the prices increase (usually 10 December) we got upgraded on the London - KL leg. So, also, did about 5 other couples so I don't think that had anything much to do with being Frequent Flyer club members but more to do with much overbooking on that flight. They were even paying people £300 apiece to offload until the next day which, if we had been in our 20s with our backpacks, we may well have considered. We said no, and didn't know about the upgrading until we were at the boarding gate!! Some you win, others you don't.

As Enrich members, we have politely asked each time we fly, but there appears to be NO chance - with any carrier - unless the flight is oversubscribed in Economy.

I would have thought that if you want to pay the airline at the airport for the upgrade you would pay top whack.

Jim

Wave the Sails

My parents have been upgraded to first when they have flown business.

I have been upgraded on Virgin twice (my Dad rescued Monsieur Branson when he was sinking during his Atlantic Challenge), so that helped

I have always dressed smartly and that can help, but it depends on so many things.

You could pay for a full fare economy If they are looking for people to upgrade it will be their Frequent Flyers first, all varying colours, then those on full economy fares. So your chances are somewhat depleted even here.

We got upgraded (with a 3 month old baby) for half the flight from Perth to Adelaide as they fell in love with our little boy. And we got a bottle of champers. (NB Travelling with tiny babies is a breeze in my experience - ours had 8 flights in 7 weeks!)

We then went business for most of the other flights as it wasn't that much more expensive eg from Auckland to Perth.

At the end of the day you kind of have to bite the bullet and pay! Which is what we are doing 1st March - London-Singapore then onwards to Perth a few days later. Qantas, business class, flat beds and a 17 month old toddler If anyone is thinking of asking to be upgraded that day I would think again

cazz

me and hubby got upgraded from heathrow to Singapore when they had cancelled our flight from manchester, loved every minute of it but getting back into economy for second part of flight hurt it really hurt. Now i keep looking for good priced business class tickets to take us over in Jan or Feb hubby says that hurts him more now!!

oh well maybe if we travel separately i might get upgraded, we flew once before, the guy behind the desk said we were a really nice couple(i think he liked my husband!!) and he would put in for an upgrade. I was so excited but it never happened found out it was because my husband is vegetarian and the meals would have already been allocated to economy.

AndrewP

Best advice (from someone who's spent a good few years "living" on planes) is:

- dress smart
- be nice to the check in staff
- make sure you ask (if you don't ask, you don't get) something along the lines of "any upgrades going today?"
- best of all, have a gold or silver frequent fliers card

gsb

Nice one......