I think that is funy. The airline upgrades your seat and then gives you econ food. In fact that is malicious because the catering is always for a full plane - so about 130% of meals to allow for a popular choice. This includes business class too so they are just being nasty.

I was on Emirates last year in a paid for business class seat and a guy and his girl turned up - him with a broken leg. They made him roll out the money and made a big fuss over upgrading him but on the other hand are happy to upgrade for free the likes of me - relatively infrequent flyer who dresses like a tramp!

It's not being nasty at all. Why expect something for nothing? Business class (and first) pay for extra/better service as well as a better seat/space. Business is rarely full on the LH flights I do, but there are rarely upgraded passengers either. If there are they (in my experience ) get Econ service. I've been upgraded from Business to First a couple of times but have always had business service. The plus 1, plus 2 staff (business and first) have in most cases gone through more expensive training are are more costly to employ. Business and first class passengers subsidise that in the price of their ticket.

So it makes no odds whether the plane has 100% catering on board or not ( I have done dozens of BC LH flights and never experienced my choice not being available). The airline will use the appropriate staff for appropriate costs. Where the business class client loses out is when business is 100% full with full ticket paying clients as the quality of individual service drops (of course). The economy clients feel this effect less because economy is nearly always full these days.

I have no issue with someone being upgraded due to a higher than expected number of show ups (people who actually take the flight they've booked). If a economy passenger fronts up to the desk and the airline upgrades them, them good luck to them. I do have an issue with economy passengers actively seeking to get something they have no intention of paying the extra for.

Just pay for the business class ticket, it's a guaranteed up upgrade If you can't afford it, don't expect it, and don't try to move heaven and earth to get it.

I have said it in a previous post but to me it is tacky and shows a lack of breeding to ask for an upgrade.

Some people don't mind and take an opposite view though and willingly ask for an upgrade and some will succeed. The consequence is that some people in business class do mind and some don't care. People who travel business class through paying for it do not always have a superior form of breeding nor are always not tacky too.

of course not, but they do pay for the privilege not ask for it as a freebee.

It gets worse because some of those do ask for an upgrade from business class to first...

I hate living in an expectation and so am quite happy with class of travel - and personally don't ask.

you get what u pay for. If u want a limo then buy a limo, u pay for a mini then dont expect a limo!

I think when u look at wot people are paying for WBC seats they are not going to give them away! Its how the airlines make their money. Getting a seat that lays completely down is also available in economy. Its the last three rows of the plane. Unfortunately though u have to purchase all three seats in the last three rows! so something to think about before requesting it.

recently?????????????????????????????????

i think you need to ask for a upgrade.

good luck to you ~~~

The way I see it if you want to ask, you don't lose anything.

What got me with this thread was that the OP thought being pregnant and having a doctor's note was a way to get one.

Actually being pregnant you can't lie on your back or front, only on your side.

I never, ever used being pregnant to try and get something that I wasn't entitled to. All I did when I flew on my own at 27 weeks was to ask the man for help next to me when the bags came off as I couldn't lift them off.

I do see your point, but to be fair to the OP, it was her *doctor* who suggested the idea. She could be forgiven for imagining an upgrade when pregnant is a common event on a long-haul flight. Her doctor gave the impression that it was. (And maybe it is with some airlines... just not in our experience.)

I certainly accepted seats on the bus when offered while I was pregnant, but in general like you I was keen not to present pregnant as = incapable. I wouldn't have any problem (anytime) asking for an upgrade if I thought I stood any chance of success - but I don't think it works this way with Singapore Air. Perhaps those who feel it is 'wrong' also don't negotiate over the price of bigger items in Australian shops!

I guess we all have different ideas about what is culturally/socially acceptable. Some of us are not too concerned about appearing to belong to a particular class just as long as we are polite and friendly to the staff whose job is to deal with us.

Most of them don't pay for the priviledge - their companies do. My experience has been that most of those in business wouldn't travel that class if they were having to pay for it themselves.

Your experience is very different from mine then. I pay for business and use points accrued through business trips. Depending on who I'm flying with. Plus people who make the statements like the above are typically people who do not travel LH a lot for work. They think traveling, losing a day here and there, whole weekends, living out of a suitcase is some kind of 'benefit'

I'd gladly exchange the business trips I have taken for the lost days and missed training.

Then I guess I'm not typical - I know exactly what it's like - I spent ten years travelling making a minimum of 15 LH trips a year (plus a lot more short-haul). And I know that travelling business is far better - when the company will pay for it - but I also know that most people I travelled with wouldn't fork out for business class when it came to vacation time and they had to pay themselves. Just look at airline marketing strategies and traffic reports to see that it is business, not individuals, that buy most business class seats.

The joys of LH travel is one of the major reasons I'm in my current job - I rarely have to go anywhere now