how to get an upgrade

[masped]

I'm only familiar with the BA way of doing things, but in terms of dos and don'ts:

1) The most reliable way to get an upgrade is to pay for it - for BA this can either be via an offer in Mange My Booking on their website or by asking for a paid upgrade at the check-in desk.

2) If you're not willing to pay, then BA will generally only give upgrades if they have a cabin which is overbooked. Therefore your best chance is to be in an overbooked cabin, which will often be premium economy (World Traveller Plus). That's because this cabin has the smallest number of seats (apart from First) and because a lot of companies have travel policies that restrict travel to premium economy cabins. Demand for the cabin therefore often exceeds supply when corporate travellers and premium leisure travellers are combined.

3) Travel solo. If there's a need to upgrade it's much easier for the airline to upgrade solo travellers rather than trying to upgrade a couple or a group who will likely be split up when moved to the higher cabin.

4) Join the frequent flyer scheme. If the airline thinks you will travel with them more in the future then the upgrade algorithm is more likely to pick you. As far as the BA scheme is concerned, upgrades can be given to passengers in any of their frequent flyer tiers and being a higher tier doesn't necessarily improve your upgrade chances - my first BA upgrade was when I was a bottom tier in their frequent flyer programme.

5) Don't order a special meal. Special meals (e.g. gluten free, lactose free etc.) are loaded into the galley for the cabin where you originally booked and it's considered too disruptive to try to work out where they would need to be served if the passenger who requested them is upgraded. This means that people who ordered a special meal on BA will not get upgraded. Note that this doesn't apply where you just pre-select your preferred meal from the standard options.

[swill453]

The naked corruption comes in the motivation for a company having such a scheme in the first place. In the case of the airmiles, it's a business whose most profitable customers are on expenses, and it's whole purpose is to devise a way (that won't get you arrested) of passing them a brown envelope in exchange for their employer's business.

It must be thirty years since I worked for an employer who let me actually choose the airline for business trips.

(And funnily enough, the same length of time since I few with an airline that gave airmiles.)

Scott.

[masped]

The naked corruption comes in the motivation for a company having such a scheme in the first place. In the case of the airmiles, it's a business whose most profitable customers are on expenses, and it's whole purpose is to devise a way (that won't get you arrested) of passing them a brown envelope in exchange for their employer's business.

If you work for a company that purchases a lot of air travel tickets then there's a very good chance that the company will negotiate discounted rates with one or several airlines and then tell its employees to book with them preferentially. So in reality the company restricts the employee's choice of airline, not the other way around. Even if they don't have preferred airlines then the company will normally ask employees to book the lowest fare consistent with the travel plans and may have a corporate travel agent to enforce this.

[tjh290633]

I used to have shares in Forte, when I was frequently staying in their hotels and Travelodges, and often eating in Little Chefs. I used to get a discount on my expenditure with them, which came back to me as a reduction in my Forte charge card each month. My bills showed the full price without the discount, which was claimed as my expenses.

Hmm. Those receipts would seem to be the dodgy element of that. But it would be a stretch to say that such a scheme's actual purpose was to bribe you for your employer's business. Especially since they're the no-nonsense end of the market: their client is not someone with an over-generous expense account and a sense of Entitlement. Just like airmiles and similar corrupt rewards didn't originate in the budget airlines!

My Whitbread shares have got me some modest benefits at Premier Inns and Costa Coffee, but never a misleading receipt from them.

My boss knew all about the discount and would get me to pay if we were in a THF establishment. Of course the discount did encourage me to stay in their hotels on leisure stays.

TJH

[Lootman]

4) Join the frequent flyer scheme. If the airline thinks you will travel with them more in the future then the upgrade algorithm is more likely to pick you. As far as the BA scheme is concerned, upgrades can be given to passengers in any of their frequent flyer tiers and being a higher tier doesn't necessarily improve your upgrade chances - my first BA upgrade was when I was a bottom tier in their frequent flyer programme.

5) Don't order a special meal. Special meals (e.g. gluten free, lactose free etc.) are loaded into the galley for the cabin where you originally booked and it's considered too disruptive to try to work out where they would need to be served if the passenger who requested them is upgraded. This means that people who ordered a special meal on BA will not get upgraded. Note that this doesn't apply where you just pre-select your preferred meal from the standard options.

Agree with you on avoiding special meals. In fact if you are in F or J on BA and have a special meal, it is quite disappointing. Basically the same special meal you would have got in Economy but served in a nicer way.

I also agree that upgrades from Premium Economy should be the easiest to snag, given the small cabin. But it hasn't happened to me yet. I usually get upgraded from Club World (CW) to First (once as a couple - the exception to your otherwise sound rule about solo flyers getting the most upgrades). BA CW can be very busy, particularly on Trans-Atlantic flights, whereas First rarely sells out. It could work well to book flights that are routinely full and over-booked, although I'm not sure how much over-booking happens in CW.

I have to disagree with you on elite status not mattering. My record of snagging upgrades has definitely been better as a Gold than as a Silver. And was abysmal as Bronze or below.

There is a higher category of Gold that I don't have - it requires 5,000 tier points a year. And an elite level above Gold which is secret. You can't apply for it but rather are invited to join. I am pretty sure they get upgraded a lot and, if they don't, it's because they book F anyway. And I'm pretty sure they are the reason that seats 1A and 1K on a BA 747 are always blocked out. I still haven't scored one of those and, God knows, I have tried.

[melonfool]

You can't avoid special means if you have allergy.

Reward earned via business travel are taxable.

Don't bother trying to get an upgrade on Ryanair....

Mel

[TahiPanasDua]

I used to work for one of the best-known Asian airlines. This gave me access to their rules for upgrading (and downgrading which theoretically exists), boarding priority, etc. The priority rules for upgrading were entirely logical, fair and scrupulously applied as far as I could see. As you might expect, club membership, how much you actually paid for your ticket, if you were a civil aviation authority official on route to an incident, aircrew repositioning, etc., were all rated.

Overbooking was a frequent cause of upgrading in the old days but airlines got much better at avoiding such problems.

One exception to the "scrupulously fair" rules concerned unashamedly predatory consultants, etc., temporarily working for the airline. They were adept at asking management for upgrades to keep them sweet and were invariably successful.

As a staff member luxuriating in First Class, I was once asked, very apologetically by the purser, to get up and downgrade. It was a full flight and a gold card member had complained that he "didn't like" his allocated seat. You could try that one!!!!!

My son, travelling with the cheapest-possible ticket, once got upgraded on a busy flight by arriving at the check-in desk with seconds to spare before flight closing. The staff were under intense pressure and dispensed with all rules. This strategy is not recommended.

I think how you are dressed (and address the check-in staff) does make a difference when there are 2 or more passengers equally qualified for one available upgrade. I saw this happen.

An off-topic related subject was lounge access which was at best amusing and at worst an insight to our baser instincts. One for another day!!!

TP2.

[Lootman]

The priority rules for upgrading were entirely logical, fair and scrupulously applied as far as I could see. As you might expect, club membership, how much you actually paid for your ticket, if you were a civil aviation authority official on route to an incident, aircrew repositioning, etc., were all rated.

Yes, airline staff look after each other, and it's not uncommon for a good number of the passengers in First or Business to be non-revenue or low-revenue. If it is pilots re-positioning then you probably want them to be comfortable and well rested. But when my wife worked for an airline we were routinely upgraded on our 10% standby flights. You can usually tell the airline staff because they chat a lot with the cabin crew.

And yes, how much you pay is also a factor. I am less sure how that interplays with elite status but, between them, those have to be the two biggest factors the computer takes into account when it spits out the "recommendations" for upgrading.

But of course the desk agents have discretion. If you look like crap they may pass you over. If they really don't like you they give you a middle seat in the back between two fat folks. And being nice and civil to the desk agents never does harm.

One last point. It is better to be upgraded at the check-in desk as then you have lounge access. But operational upgrades are more likely to happen at the gate when they actually see who shows up and who doesn't. And like your son, I was once upgraded at the gate when I was very late for a flight.

[pds2008]

My last upgrade was 1999 - I had quit my job and had one month before my new job started so I booked a flight to LA, returning from SFO 3 weeks later. The night before the flight out I got completely wasted on my leaving do. As I made my way to my first floor flat, I fell backwards down the stairs. At the time it was hugely amusing but in the morning my back was in spasm. Next morning, I crawled in to the taxi to Heathrow, grabbed a trolley at the airport to allow me to cling on and walk, and headed to the BA check-in.

The BA check in lady took one look at me, realised this was a man in pain, scrambled around at check-in and, after a couple of minutes, told me I was upgraded to Club World. I will never forget it, it will never happen again, and the journey was still a nightmare, but it was dulled by a fog of cheap champagne.

Nowadays I always pay for long haul business class- I would rather travel in luxury and stay in a cheaper hotel. Unfortunately BA's pricing and long haul Business class product is consistently beaten by other carriers, but I still have a regard for old school BA.

Yell

[Lootman]

BA's pricing and long haul Business class product is consistently beaten by other carriers, but I still have a regard for old school BA.

BA introduced a new Club World seat earlier this week. It is called "Club Suite", perhaps because it has a door. It will debut on their new A350-1000's.

It's not as good as Qatar Air's Q-Suites but it is pretty good. 20 years ago BA had the best Business Class seat on the planet and this puts them back in the frame.

[Dod101]

BA's pricing and long haul Business class product is consistently beaten by other carriers, but I still have a regard for old school BA.

BA introduced a new Club World seat earlier this week. It is called "Club Suite", perhaps because it has a door. It will debut on their new A350-1000's.

It's not as good as Qatar Air's Q-Suites but it is pretty good. 20 years ago BA had the best Business Class seat on the planet and this puts them back in the frame.

Have you tried it? If so you are a poseur! (Or (clearly) have more money than is good for you)

Dod

[Lootman]

BA's pricing and long haul Business class product is consistently beaten by other carriers, but I still have a regard for old school BA.

BA introduced a new Club World seat earlier this week. It is called "Club Suite", perhaps because it has a door. It will debut on their new A350-1000's.

It's not as good as Qatar Air's Q-Suites but it is pretty good. 20 years ago BA had the best Business Class seat on the planet and this puts them back in the frame.

Have you tried it? If so you are a poseur! (Or (clearly) have more money than is good for you)

Nobody has tried it yet because it will not be available until later this year, first on the Madrid route and then Toronto.

Although it is based on this design family so you may in fact have already sat on it:

https://www.rockwellcollins.com/Product ... amily.aspx

[Dod101]

Very interesting Lootman. I am afraid that these days when I am paying my own way, I am unlikely to see those cabins except on my way to my Premium Economy seat (or whatever the particular airline calls it) These are OK. Travelling First or Business rather spoils one for anything else.

Dod

[dspp]

My last upgrade was 1999 - I had quit my job and had one month before my new job started so I booked a flight to LA, returning from SFO 3 weeks later. The night before the flight out I got completely wasted on my leaving do.

Yell

I'm afraid the only time I ever got the first class BA long haul a 747 in seat 1A that Lootman keeps trying for was in exactly this condition and for exactly the same reason of my leaving do. I remember getting on, and I remember getting woken up to get off. The 12 ?? 14 hours in between I was well asleep. That was an upgrade from business. Oh well.

- dspp

[Clitheroekid]

Travelling First or Business rather spoils one for anything else.

As I said in an earlier post, on a flight of anything up to around 8 or 9 hours I would never even consider paying the very considerable premium for business class travel, let alone first class.

And I'd only consider paying business class on a long haul flight if it got me a bed to sleep on.

But for flights of shorter duration I can honestly say that I'm generally quite happy in economy. I flew to and from Oman in the last couple of weeks with Oman Air on their 787's, which involved flights of around 7 hours, and I can honestly say that I actively enjoyed both flights, which is something I would never have expected.

It may have helped that the aircraft were new, but the entertainment on offer was far better than the usual rubbish. There was choice of around 50 films, and there were some good quality films, both classic and recent, not just action films and romcoms. I watched A Star is Born on the way out and The Favourite on my return, both of which I enjoyed. But there were also a wide variety of TV programmes, video games and a quite addictive quiz game.

One of the biggest boons I've acquired to help cope with long flights is a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones - https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/h ... ss-ii.html (other brands are available!) They may seem expensive, but they're genuinely worth every penny. Not only do they very effectively cancel out the general aircraft noise (though to be fair the 787 is pretty quiet) but they also cancel the screaming babies and the inane chatter of neighbouring passengers.

I use them to listen to podcasts that I've downloaded, but they can also be plugged into the plane's onboard entertainment system, and the sound quality for films and so on is far better than that offered by the headphones the crew hand out.

I've just checked, and to make the same trip by business class would have cost more than £2,200 extra. That's more than £150 an hour to have a slightly more comfortable seat, a bit more room and some additional food and drink (which I wouldn't have wanted anyway).

To my mind that's a completely absurd waste of money. If I couldn't find a better way of spending £2,200 I'd feel that there was something seriously wrong with my life!

I also tend to take the same attitude to hotels. These days I only ever travel for pleasure, and I tend to view the hotel as just somewhere to sleep - I very rarely spend much time in the hotel itself. So provided it's in a good location, and has the basic comforts I'm perfectly happy. I'd very rarely consider paying more than £150 for a room, and as with first class flights I simply can't comprehend paying several hundred or over a thousand pounds. I always tend to look at it as paying £100 + an hour just to sleep, which is frankly insane.

Still, I realise it's horses for courses, and I'm glad that there are enough people with more money than sense who are willing to be ripped off, as they subsidise flights and hotels for tightwads like me!

[Dod101]

When I travelled on business I was expected to work more or less on arrival and was given a Business Class ticket. I was a very regular flier at one time and often got upgraded to First (before the days of beds, but it did give me peace and space). Nowadays if I am flying to the Far East on my own account I use premium Economy. A lot more expensive than standard economy but less crowded and better food and drink.

I have sadly never been upgraded in that situation. Otherwise I agree with CK.

Dod

[melonfool]

I got upgraded BA to New York - only from econ to premium but even so....

I was happily in my seat and v happy as I was behind the bulk head (is that it?) which gave extra leg room. The steward came and asked if anyone was travelling alone, I was so I said so. They said they needed my seat for a woman with a baby as the bulk head had a pull down baby bassinet thing on it and she also needed the extra room.

I moved. I felt slightly sad to lose such a good seat but didn't make a fuss. The gentleman next to me - actually, he was no gentleman - had an absolute fit. He started yelling about why should he have to sit next to a baby? Weird bloke, he could have sat next to her anyway. The steward asked him if he wanted to move instead of me and he said no. I didn't care either way - so I moved. And they moved me into premium

Then I got upgraded to Premium on the way back too - I've always wondered if they had flagged me as I was helpful on the way out. Or it might have been that my boyfriend at the time had a sister who worked quite high up in BA and she had a choice of getting you discounted flights or getting you an upgrade. I'd already got those flights booked from ages before so she couldn't do anything about the discount......it may have been her that got me the bulkhead seat in the first place too.

She also got us free flight in First Class to Lyon. Hardly worth it for a two hour flight. But you do get metal cutlery.

I always go premium on Eurostar but my parents pay for it I have quite a nice collection of Eurostar teaspoons now.

Mel

[zico]

I'm with CK here. Bose noise cancelling
headphones and not wanting to spend an extra £1,000 plus to be in exactly the same metal tube for 10+ hours, but with more legroom and champagne. (Incidentally, Air France offer champagne even to cattle class on Paris-Rio flights.
Over 10 years ago, Mrs.Zico and I got a couple of long-haul upgrades by politely asking the check-in staff if any were available.
These days, it's more rules-based, but we've still had 3 or 4 upgrades by joining frequent flyer scheme, reasoning being that if they are going to offer upgrades from economy, they're going to pick from their frequent flyers first. These were just allocated to us without needing to ask.

On a slightly different tack, here's some thoughts on how to get more bearable flights.
1. Don't fly to Dubai or Spain - in general, noisier and more inconsiderate fellow passengers. Ideally, don't start a long-haul flight from UK for the same reasons, fly to Europe, then do the longer leg from there.
2. Find 2 abreast configured flights, some planes have a few rows at the back.
3. Get seats near the back, as any empty seats will usually be near the back.
4. Be prepared to switch seats to middle of an empty row when it seems everyone has boarded. (Means potential separation from your loved one (or spouse) for the flight duration, but you'll both have more space.
5. Take adjoining aisle seats and avoid the misery of the middle seat. Makes it much easier to stroll about and stretch your legs.
6. Stroll around and lounge around the cabin crew area. Yes, you're on your feet, but loads of legroom.
7.Check Premium Economy. BA Kenya-London was only 20% extra for a much better experience.

[Lootman]

on a flight of anything up to around 8 or 9 hours I would never even consider paying the very considerable premium for business class travel, let alone first class.

I'd only consider paying business class on a long haul flight if it got me a bed to sleep on.

These days pretty much every airline has lie-flat seats in Business Class. BA started it all the way back in 1997 and it is the norm now.

Icelandair is an exception. Their business class ("Saga") is more like domestic First in the US - recliner seats.

And we are now seeing lie-flat seats on narrow-body planes, like the A321LR and the (currently grounded) Boeing 737-MAX.

Business class has become so good now that many airlines have abandoned First - Virgin did that decades ago. A good number of BA wide-bodies do not have First, e.g. their 787-8's (their 787-9's do have it). And the 777's based out of Gatwick.

I've just checked, and to make the same trip by business class would have cost more than £2,200 extra. That's more than £150 an hour to have a slightly more comfortable seat, a bit more room and some additional food and drink (which I wouldn't have wanted anyway).

To my mind that's a completely absurd waste of money. If I couldn't find a better way of spending £2,200 I'd feel that there was something seriously wrong with my life!

With respect you get a lot more than that. Checking in at Heathrow's T5 "FirstWing" area is a million miles from Economy check-in at Luton. A private check-in and security area with more staff than passengers. And you emerge directly into the BA First lounge with its champagne bar.

Then restaurant-style meals with fancy wines (which you would appreciate far more than me, I know). Lie-flats beds, more storage and higher bag allowance. And first off the plane.

Whether it is worth £2,200 is a subjective matter. I usually pay less than that as I book during sales or use miles to upgrade. But it is one of life's little luxuries that I allow myself. I'm otherwise not an extravagant person at all. But I will pay for this, and nice hotels. Maybe it is an age thing - I've only felt this way for the last decade or so. Before that I slummed it in Economy with the rest.

Still, I realise it's horses for courses, and I'm glad that there are enough people with more money than sense who are willing to be ripped off, as they subsidise flights and hotels for tightwads like me!

I don't know about "ripped off" but you are correct that BA makes most of its money from Club World, particular on their North Atlanic routes which are gold mines. Economy barely breaks even, whilst First is surprisingly unprofitable as well, not least because it is usually half empty. Which may be why so many airlines are getting rid of it.

Still Becks and Bryan May expect it. And Ed Sheeran who ignored me on my last flight on BA in First.

[yorkshirelad1]

One of the biggest boons I've acquired to help cope with long flights is a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones - https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/h ... ss-ii.html (other brands are available!) They may seem expensive, but they're genuinely worth every penny. Not only do they very effectively cancel out the general aircraft noise (though to be fair the 787 is pretty quiet) but they also cancel the screaming babies and the inane chatter of neighbouring passengers.

Happened to see this in the Money section of last Saturday's Guardian
(No idea why Guardian put an article on noise cancelling headphones in their Money section, but hey-ho, and happy coincidence for this thread!)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... headphones