How to scam an upgrade to 1st class
 

I read in an Australian travel brochure recently that if you arrive and check in real early, are very polite and smile to the check in staff, are dressed nicely, not T shirt and jeans then if 1st class isn't full up they may upgrade you.

As I'm going on a trip shortly and it's a midnight departure (figuring there won't be too many 1st class travellers going at that time) I was hoping for an upgrade.

Anyone experienced this or been upgraded, if so share your tips.

My daughter got most of first class to herself recently in and LA to NY flight, after a suspected terrorist attempt, even got interviewed for CBS news. So there's one way. :evil3:

Having an earned an Associate Diploma in scamming upgrades, I wish you luck.

Upgrades are now the domain of the frequent flyer and if you have no points or rank in the systems you are really pushing poo uphill.

If there are empty seats in First they are usually given to business travelers and those seats given to the "chosen".
Once, if the aircraft was almost empty you got your choice of seat, now they just cancel the flight.....

I was only talking about upgrades with my brother a few weeks ago.

He and his wife flew back here from the USA (where they live). He said that it was the first time that he had ever flown first class, (had to use his frequent flyer points to do it) after flying over 400,000km's p.a for the past 7 years with his work in business class.

Not once had he been upgraded to 1st class in that time. You would think that if you were going to get bumped up then it would be someone in business class to get it.

Tell them you have a bomb........

Bugger all chance. I couldnt even get switched to an earlier flight unless i paid $132 extra. Despite the earlier flight being near on half empty.

As mentioned by Flappist you have very little chance of getting an upgrade from Economy to First Class!

Economy to Business Class is possible but even then it is usually for those who are with the carriers frequent flyer programme and use them frequently

When i was london based i would come back to Oz (at my own expense) twice yearly and only ever got one upgrade from Economy to Business. One upgrade out of Nine Long haul flights - very poor success rate. PS: when I got the upgrade i was in jeans, yellow trainers and a track suit top - so go figure!

Good luck either way

To make the best use of cattle.... Grab the emergency exit seat's- more leg room... Go the window- your first down the slippery dip also things to see and a pillow make's it nice to sleep against.. Go the aisle- great if you want to get on the sauce and need to go wizz all the time.. Middle seat- try to avoid you may end up between two hubba chubba's or an old man with hairy arm's that keep's brushing them against you and smiling... Yech..... Ohh.. Nearly forgot.. Ear plug's are a must- make's screaming kid's or talkative nana's just dissapear...... :dance:

issue with getting the emergency exit seats is you do pay extra for the extra leg room and in the rare case of emergency, you will be asked to assist everyone else off the plane before you.

My mate bought 1st class tickets 2 weeks ago to fly in the peak of xmas. THE single most expensive time to travel. The tickets cost a good deposit on a small country. His first time in 1st class. Bit OT I know.

But it would be exceptionally rare to be upgraded on any flight unless you were inconvenienced severely somehow and it was the airlines fault. This I have heard experiences of.

not much chance really - helps to know the flight attendant booking in baggage. There's generally at least 2 spare seats in first class. The flight may show as fully booked but there are always some spare in first class. Comes down to the flight attendant discretion whether they update you.

I've done it... BUT a mate worked for the airline.... Was good

If you pre-book them, they cost extra, but if they're available when you check-in in person, then most carriers don't charge extra.

In an emergency, your only responsibility is to open the exit door if required. You aren't expected to hang around and be last off. That job belongs to the guy/gal wearing 4 bars.

+10000

My wife and I are booked for Jan 21st flight to the states, we booked the love seats at the back. so we have slightly extra space and can go for a whizz when you want instead of waking up someone you don't know.
Oh you forgot about the middle seat coping the farts and not being able to do anything about it, unless you initiate it. Hahaha.

And yes, ear plugs a must, funny that. Or even better IPOD's turned up!
Serve 2 purposes, Ear plugs and music or vids :D :D

Thats not the way it was explained to me. Perhaps next time I'll get them to clarify what the tasks are.

More often than not though, the exit seats are taken regardless. Its rare to see them not booked on international flights. Then again, you dont see anything out those windows as its mostly over the wings.

We normally get exit row seats for domestic travel with my Team, all we do is turn up early and ask for them, no extra cost, having 6'11" tall Basketballers sitting in regular seats is a bit tight..!

Hehe... the bit when they say are you prepared to help evacuate the plane.... I just smile and nod.... i'll help evacuate the bloody thing starting with ME.... :yelrotflm

I'm a platinum FF with Qantas. All upgrades go to the FFlyers in order of status with the airline. generally upgrades only happen on departure when the economy cabin is overbooked or they are moving passengers from another delayed flight.

I get upgraded about once a month on average and I travel a lot.

Likewise , mostly only really happens as stated above from eco to business.

I'm a lowly Gold flyer, last year I took around 100 flights but I always go the cheapest, non-flexible seats so Platinum is a stretch for me to hit in a year.

Everyone on the plane is ranked, often the most senior flyer gets a personal little session with the head cabin member to make him feel nice. Happens to me semi-frequently on domestic flights.

If you want an upgrade, ask nicely for it.... you may just be suprised.

Got "upgraded" once, but it was different. Parents got me and my bro trip to Perth , and one of my parents friends upgraded us to 1st class with her frequent flier points. Not a bad way to get to Perth !!

Not really an upgrade, but once I was very nice to the person at the check in (not overly nice, just normal nice), she was nice back, had a quick chat with her, she noticed I was travelling with my brother on a 10hour flight back, so she put us in a row by ourselves so we had a bit of extra room. Its not first class but I was pretty chuffed!

A few years ago I had a postion that involved lots of overseas travel. Hundreds of flights/year all over the world with nearly every airline imaginable and I was ultra platinum everything in FF programs. I received all sorts of benefits from airlines but I never once received an upgrade. Never once, anywhere, and I was so nice to airline staff it was sickening. On the upside I never ever had a bag go missing so I guess it works out evenly.

The company I work for organises all international flights it can through United. There's also some deal that allows us to get priority upgraded if possible which occurs quite frequently.

Every time I've flown to the US, I've gone Business and returned Economy. One time when travelling with a colleague, returning from Boston, I checked in first and was given Economy to LA and Economy to Sydney. He checked in 10 minutes after me and got First Class to LA and Business to Sydney. His tickets were booked before mine. Order of when we checked in made no difference.

If you're just purchasing a ticket from a travel agent and turning up early, I'd say the chances of you being upgraded are exceptionally slim - there will be priority customers earmarked for those seats regardless of the time you turn up to check in.

ok maybe not related nor recommend but if you get there at the last minute checkin time . they tell you the plane is full etc (because they always overbook flights). ticket on counter,nice dress etc woohoo ! business class :yelrotflm . its worked 1sn (ok maybe 3/4 times ) mind you we were young and stupid back then :dance: . not recommended if you really need to get somewhere asap :yelrotflm

I once scored a FREE ticket home from Korea after missing my flight! That was flying SIA. Not sure if it was because I smiled and still kept calm, or because my ticket quoted my KrisFlyer member number.

In regards to upgrades. A person I worked with told me that she got upgraded to business or first class from economy. She was a single traveller, and sat next to a mother holding a baby. The baby was sick once in the air, throwing up all over my friend and soiling the seat.

So she got the upgrade. That one was well earned however.

Try getting an upgrade on Tiger airlines ?

Sit on the pilots lap...

Ok well thanks everyone, doesn't sound very promising. As it's a midnight flight might tell the Mrs and daughter to wear comfy clothes to get some sleep.
I did say 1st class upgrade, meant to say business class, but I hazard a guess it'll be the same result.
The tip I read came from a book in clerk.

Yonks ago, on one of my very first flights , got an upgrade from business to 1st class. ended up sitting next to Ross Oakley who was at the time, president of the VFL. They even call you by your name when speaking to you, try that in cattle class passenger #234.

I draw the line at putting on a nice dress to try and get upgrade to business class!

ok. bad choice of words. what i was getting at if you present yourself at the airport suitably clothed you will get upgraded before the half drunk bogan wearing thongs,a tanktop,bad attitude