Upgrade is the most desired award in the pompous theatre of air travel. It is the unspoken, cross-cultural fantasy brimming in the heads of almost all clients who turn to the right toward the economy section: one day I shall make a left turn. To be soothingly coaxed out of the packed seats of the greasy economy section into the calm and airy nook of business or first-class is to change a trip into a jolting marathon into a pleasure cruise. It is a change of paradigm in terms of transportation to a whole new level of hospitality with lie-flat beds, multi-course dining on the use of real dishes rather than plastic, high quality drinks, and a personal touch that makes you forget about the business of economy. The free upgrade had attained the status of a legend, something magical that happened only to the well-dressed or the well-connected or to the lucky. The era of no-strings-attached upgrade is long past, but the technology though replaced with fancy algorithms and revenue managing tools still appears to be a dream. It has just evolved. Everybody knows that cheap or even free upgrade in this century is a lottery no more; it has become an art and a science, a game of strategy which is already played ten years before you even touch the airport. It involves a complex strategy, which is a good long-term loyalty, some clever utilization of points, active opportunism, and a sprinkle of sociality. It is the ultimate guide on how to get closer to experiencing the high life, a guide-book to getting started to get the most out of the shores of the Circle of Life and enjoy the high life, without having to splash the cash on the high full-fare.
Loyalty is the only stable, though long-term, way to guarantee the regular upgrades and is founded on a sole principle. There is a reason airlines invest huge resources on their frequent flyer programs. They are meant to target and game reward their most valuable customer, and one of the most powerful rewards that they offer is the threat of an upgrade. To start with, any would-be upgrade-seeker must do away with the forfeited tendency of purchasing flights that are offered at the lowest possible price by a dozen or so air traveling companies. You will have to decide on an airline, or rather a wider category, airline alliances (Star Alliance, Oneworld, SkyTeam being the most popular ones), and stick with it. When you combine your travel, you then start to earn not only miles, but more importantly, elite-qualifying miles or segments. These are the particular numbers of the airlines by which they provide you an elite standing. The higher you go in the level- hierarchy; first, by becoming a basic member, then a silver, then a gold, then a platinum, and so on, the higher is your upgrade priority.
On the lower end of the elite tiers, you might retrieve access to better seats in economy, but the stroke of genius comes at the mid and the upper levels. It is at this point when complimentary upgrades in domestic or short-haul flights become a real possibility. In such flights, airlines usually have a waiting list of their elite passengers which is automatically done a few days and hours before the flight. The hierarchy in upgrading is something barbaric: it is first classified by the level of the given status followed by the freshest type of the initial ticket, and lastly, by the check-in time. This implies that the highest tier Platinum member who may have purchased a flexible full economy fare ticket will never leave a lower tier Silver member who may have purchased a heavily discounted fare ahead of him or her. In case of long haul international flights, the upgrades are very rare and are free of charge. In most cases valuable upgrade certificates are instead awarded to high-level elite members. Such props, which may also be referred to as Global Premier Upgrades or Systemwide Upgrades, enable a passenger to reserve a place in the designated upgrade fare category, i.e. move to the business class at the booking moment, in the event they have vacancies in the class. These certificates are the real currency of the loyal flyer as they have a thousand dollars or more worth of currency in them and make the upgrade go from being a game of chance to a near certainties chance. It is an achievement of hard work but to the travelling business people, being one of those who fly only in certain alliance is the most potent tool to make the front of the plane be open to you.
In addition to the status acquired through flying, the second magnificent pillar of upgrade strategy is the strategic mileage and points collection and consumption. They have become a type of parallel currency that allows an intelligent traveller to afford luxurious experiences without running dry in his/her bank account. Credit cards that allow co-branding with the airline is now the most powerful mile-earning asset instead of flying itself. The bonuses can be high enough (especially in sign-up bonuses) so that a one-way international business class upgrade is possible. Such everyday purchases on the card, particularly in bonus categories such as dining or travel, will bring in a sure flow of miles in your account. Moreover, there is a huge number of partners of airlines with whom you can earn miles given online shopping portal, through dining rewards program, stay in hotels and rent cars. Putting your normal expenditures with these companies can quickly build a large mileage tariff within a short amount of time.
But to upgrade using the said miles, however, is not so easy after all. In most cases, you cannot even purchase the lowest economy fee and then use a particular amount of miles to upgrade it so that you can soar to the business class. As a general rule, airlines will ask you to buy a ticket, in a given, higher-priced economy fare bucket, in order to be upgraded using an award. These are normally full cash tickets or adjustable economy tickets including ones labeled as fare codes such as, Y or B. More rigid but nonetheless valid, fares may have such codes as M, H or Q. Airlines virtually never allow you to upgrade the most basic, most restrictive economy fares, which go by various names, but most often are called basic economy. It is a vital enough fact that is going to give many beginner travellers a hitch. You have to call the airline or access a sophisticated tool to ensure two facts before you book a flight with the purpose of upgrading with miles: 1) ensure the fare you purchase is upgradeable with miles, and 2) ensure there is physical upgrade space still available on the flight (which you have to figure out by calling the airline, which every airline charges). The mere fact that a seat in business class is sold will not imply that a mileage upgrade would be sold. Stands that airlines dedicate to this are very specific, and, in some cases, limited. Making the most of your miles is a research game and it takes a bit of planning, but it offers you a no-nonsense, no-hypothetical way to get into a premium cabin and have your day-to-day spending become a lie-flat bed.
The proactive, cash-based strategy is the most popular path to a cheap upgrade; it is available to anyone with any amount of mileage, but it works best when rolled out by an elite flyer with a large mileage balance. Over the past few years, airlines have grown extremely savvy in the process of monetizing their unsold high-end by offering the special fares to make the tickets fly. Instead of leaving the business class seat unsold, they would prefer to sell it to an already existing economy flier at a huge discount. Which has led to the development of various systems that a traveller should take advantage of. The most common of those is the upgrade auction. An airline may also email you some time (weeks, days) before a flight to bid on an upgrade. Such systems are usually operated by the companies such as PlusGrade, it is a sliding scale, and you see the minimum and maximum possible bids. One is tempted to bid low and this seldom works. An even smarter method would be some research. To determine the availability of business classes, use such tool as Google Flights or the airline site directly. In case there is a wide-open appearance in the cabin, there would be a possibility of a winning bid that is just above the minimum. When the availability of seats is limited, a higher bid will have to be used. There is no fixed fee to be incurred in case your bid is not successful; hence it is an offer without risks.
In addition to the bidding, the airlines typically use direct, fixed-price upgrade offers in the 24-hour period prior to departure as well. You might see a pop-up of the buy-up offer to premium economy or the business class when you check-in online or through the airline app. Such offers may at times be ridiculously good and particularly long distance where the difference in comfort may be the greatest. The price is known to change frequently depending on how the airline perceives the demand in real-time, so it is worthwhile to look into the app more than once throughout the day before the flight. The last stop to an inexpensive cash upgrade is at the airport itself whether at the check-in station or at the gate of departure. You may consider asking politely whether there is anything that is worth upgrading and it is paid. When there is light load in the premium cabins of the flight its possible that airline is giving them at a high discount so that seats do not remain vacant. These upgrades on the day of departure are offered at very low price and may be the most economical of all which transform an ordinary trip into the one of luxury at the cost of a dinner out.
Although algorithms, revenue management systems as well as the revenue management software puppeteer the upgrade procedure, the human factor can never be fully disregarded. It is not always the case and discretion, politeness, and circumstance can produce a positive result that is sometimes known as an operational upgrade. They are free of charge upgrade issued by airline personnel in the gate to address a shortfall, like an oversold economy section. Whenever an airline has to move people forward, it will nearly always begin with their customers holding their elite status membership at the highest levels. But in the instance you are a solo traveller, are well dressed, and have been most polite and patient, you stand a much better chance of being selected in the event that they must look outside of their elite player list. The stressed gate agent that is attending a hundred nervous passengers has a much greater chance of rewarding the single passenger that can give a smile and show that he or she understands.
Art of the ask is the formula to this. And DO NOT go to a busy gate agent and ask him or her to upgrade you; they will certainly tell you no immediately. The most convenient time to ask inquiry is when the peak passenger traffic is being attended to or when you are dealing with a customer service agent at a service desk. It should be submissive and accepting of the reality. Oh, something like this, I understand that it is a long shot and that you are very busy but I just wanted to know whether today the flight is full? In the event there is some necessitation to transport passengers operationally, I would also be very appreciative to be given the consideration.” This non demanding civil means of doing so makes it their sole choice and gets you marked as a person they would want to reward should they ever get a chance like this and this in turn is a very cooperative and pleasant passenger.
The service disruptions are another effective, but not so touching method of using the human element. This is the up-grading to service recovery. In the event that your flight is grossly delayed, your seat is broken, your in-flight entertainment system is faulty, or you have suffered any other monumental service glitch, then you are within a point of ability to make a polite request of compensation. Once you have tactfully explained the problem to a customer service agent or a gate agent clearly, then you may frame your request. An alternative to the voucher would be to propose an alternative form of compensation since a voucher would cost the airline real money. As an instance, one has had a frustrating experience with the long delay. As a way of partly compensating this, could it perhaps be possible to get upgraded during my connecting flight? It would really convert a negative experience to a positive one on my part.” To the airline, putting you in an empty seat which would have flown empty at any rate is a very low cost approach to goodwill restoration. This will convert a bad situation into a possible win but this takes time and phenomenal communication skills.
Lastly, you can also have some unorthodox tactics and considerations that can make you win. Even the selection of your flight can make a great deal with regard upgrades. There will be popular flights that business travellers prefer (in major hub-to-hub flights on Monday mornings or Thursday evenings) so the vehicle will be full with paying customers and elite persons in its premium cabins and there will be very little chance of upgrading others to them. When you on the other hand opt to travel on a day with limited business travelling, such as a Tuesday, Wednesday, or even Saturday, and you will find that there tend to be empty seats on the front. The common classification of routes with the most upgrader seats are leisure-heavy ones like flight to holiday destinations.
The price-sensitive people will benefit by exploring Y-up or B-up fares. They are full price economy tickets, which despite being priced well above the lowest discount seats to an equivalent destination, are frequently sold with a guaranteed or easily able-to-be-confirmed upgrade to business class. Business travellers who have to book economy as a corporate requirement but wish the assurance that they will get a premium seat are a favourite. It is not exactly a ‘low-cost’ solution in absolute terms though it is significantly cheaper in comparison to simply shelling out money and purchasing a business class ticket as it also represents a sure shot method of reaching the front of the aircraft.
Finally, getting a low fare upgrade is a marathon and not a sprint. Days of just dressing up well and expecting the best are gone. What makes the successful upgrade hunter in the marketplace of today? The art of strategy, and the knowledge that winning the game is the great medium between long-term planning and short-term opportunism. It starts with the initial obligation to a flight appreciation scheme, steadily going up the staircase tower to a privileged status. The constant accrual of miles by using credit cards and member programs changes everyday purchases into the medium of comfort. It entails rather than passive and knowledgeable effort on paying to upgrade using computed offers in an online auction or taking advantage of last minute bargains at check in. And it is burnished by broad sensitivities of the human factor, when and how to make politely enquiring, and how to convert a gap in the service into a service. You essentially transform your chances by integrating these fragments that seem unapologetically different loyalty, points, cash, and courtesy. The promotion no longer turns out to be a random act of fortune and becomes the inevitable outcome of a thoughtful plan. You can still take the left turn into luxury and with this information, you are now armored to do it.
