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Is it possible to upgrade to business class

  • 31-07-2014 11:20pm
    #1
    shadowcomplex
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,097 ✭✭✭


    from economy on the day off the flight at very little extra cost if there are seats free?


Comments

  • #2
    duffman13
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,025 ✭✭✭duffman13


    shadowcomplex wrote: »
    from economy on the day off the flight at very little extra cost if there are seats free?

    Yes it's possible but it's not cheap regardless of there being a free seat. Ask the airline at check in, I know when I tried it was more than double the price of the original ticket. No harm asking d though, can really depend on individual airline


  • #3
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


  • #4
    shadowcomplex
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,097 ✭✭✭shadowcomplex


    Patww79 wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.


    Can you be more specific, I thought it would be very black and white?


  • #5
    shadowcomplex
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,097 ✭✭✭shadowcomplex


    What if I just want extra leg room, have a flight to aus tomorrow. appreciate any advice ye can give me


  • #6
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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  • #7
    billie1b
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,816 ✭✭✭billie1b


    shadowcomplex wrote: »
    Can you be more specific, I thought it would be very black and white?

    Depending on your airline, if you're at the check in desk and ask about upgrades and the costs of it, show you are willing to pay, they usually try look after you, if you go up even with the gift of the gab you might not be so lucky


  • #8
    Ninap
    Registered Users Posts: 536 ✭✭✭Ninap


    It's a very long shot. Upgrades are usually reserved for frequent flyers who have lots of air miles. People who have paid thousands extra don't usually want freeloaders arriving into the business cabin. That said, dressing respectably and being polite might give you a very small chance.


  • #9
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,493 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    Patww79 wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    It's not at all that simple, different airlines have different strategies on upgrades. Virgin for example have a policy that if you ask, you definitely will not get an upgrade.

    No airline wants to get the name of being a soft touch for 'wafflers' looking for an upgrade. If they did then their check-in desks would get clogged up with bullsh1tters laying on their version of 'charm' pestering the check-in clerk for an upgrade.

    There is a pecking order which says that first in line are frequent flyers who have clocked up lots of miles, next are passengers who have paid full fare. Well-dressed females in business dress are good candidates to fill a single seat in business class.

    The people who come last are those who, when on board the plane, invent some 'difficulty' in the hope that the staff will become so p1ssed off with their demanding behaviour that they will upgrade them - it just doesn't happen. A classic example of this was an incident which took place in the US where a white lady who was seated beside an African-American man took the stewardess aside and said that she had a 'difficulty' with the seating arrangement. The stewardess solved the problem by asking the man to get his bag from the overhead bin and follow her to the business class section - he was upgraded.

    Asking for an upgrade when on the plane is usually a waste of time. If they have overbooked the economy section and have to switch some people to business class, that will be organised before the last passenger boards the plane i.e. the check-in people will decide who to upgrade. The cabin staff will usually only upgrade someone if there is a good reason to do so as in the example above.


  • #10
    circular flexing
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,589 ✭✭✭circular flexing


    coylemj wrote: »
    A classic example of this was an incident which took place in the US where a white lady who was seated beside an African-American man took the stewardess aside and said that she had a 'difficulty' with the seating arrangement. The stewardess solved the problem by asking the man to get his bag from the overhead bin and follow her to the business class section - he was upgraded.

    Don't believe everything you read on the internet!

    http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/obnoxious.asp


  • #11
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,493 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    circular flexing wrote: »
    Don't believe everything you read on the internet!

    http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/obnoxious.asp

    Fair enough, I actually read it on boards.ie but in general terms the principle stands - you will not get upgraded by kicking up sh1t over something after boarding the plane.

    The airlines' policy is that if you're an assh0le in economy, you'll probably be an even bigger pr1ck in business class where you will annoy people who have paid good money to avoid having to put up with people like you.


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  • #12
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,264 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    I was travelling with a friend to the US on Aer Lingus about ten year and ago and while we were waiting to board , a man approached us. We were initially convinced he was customs but he took us aside and said 'Would you ladies like to travel in business? ' Needless to say we didn't have to be asked twice. No charge. Hurrah.


  • #13
    Eponymous
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,374 ✭✭✭Eponymous


    circular flexing wrote: »
    Don't believe everything you read on the internet!

    http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/obnoxious.asp
    Not an upgrade as such as it was only an Aer Lingus European flight, but when flying to Nice once with our daughter (about 18 months old at the time), the guy seated next to us got very huffy about it, despite the fact the baby was asleep. Just before pushback one of the cabin crew asked us if we'd like to move up to the seats up front. He wasn't impressed, I think he'd been angling to be moved up.

    It's along the lines of that story though.


  • #14
    endofrainbow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,765 ✭✭✭endofrainbow


    Most airlines will have their own policies and it's usually people with status on an airline will be offered to upgrade first (usually at online check-in), the higher the status, the better would chance of an upgrade.

    After that would come frequent flyers on the airline's code-share partners and so on down the line.

    the only guaranteed way to get an upgrade is to pay for it.


  • #15
    smurfjed
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,277 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    With modern technology the days of getting unauthorised upgrades are gone, for us it used to be simple, ground staff, cabin crew or the captain could do it for friends. Now the ground staff are monitored, they don't have the authorisation to upgrade, and recently some of our cabin and cockpit crew who upgraded friends had the ticket cost deducted from their salaries, for one guy it was close to 10,000 Euro.

    So good luck with the waffle approach :)


  • #16
    ProudDUB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,569 ✭✭✭✭ProudDUB


    When my brother and his wife were flying to Oz (with Emirates) for her 50th birthday, they were upgraded to business class. They were just chatting to the check in clerk as to the reason for the trip (which could be confirmed by looking at her date of birth on her passport) & they got the upgrade. Neither of them are frequent flyers. They were both very well dressed, as they were heading straight to an event at a mega posh hotel during their Dubai layover. So I dunno if it was that "look the part" factor, or it was the check in clerk just being nice. It was probably a combination of both, but I have have heard from people who work for airlines, that being well dressed does matter a lot.


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