Hey, great new site! Now can any of you experts tell me what's the deal with getting an upgrade? Who makes the decision - can the girl at the checkin desk bump me, and does it help if I'm wearing a suit or shirt+tie instead of jeans?
Nowadays, airlines have got the art of awarding upgrades down to a pretty scientific process -- it's mostly done through frequent flyer programs. If you're willing to trade a large number of points, you can apply for an upgrade, and the airline will advise you at the gate whether it has been approved (depending on whether they have any spare seats left in the class you're upgrading to).
Of course, airlines do still issue discretionary upgrades to travellers with high status, or are working for an important large business client for the airline, and so on. How exactly you secure those is still a black art -- you can read hundreds of pages of forums and still not really find a definite answer.
The days of scoring an upgrade through flirting with the frontline staff appear to be over! As Dan notes, it's more scientific - the majority of most of my upgrades simply come from the class I'm in (econony, premium economy or biz) being overbooked, so as a Platinium I'm bumped up.
You hear some people say that wearing business clothes (shirt, tie and even suit) help but I am a doubter on that unless there is much room for discretionary upgrades.
If you're typically a QF WP, CL or OWE your're at the top of the line for operational upgrades. This is typically when the lower classes are overbooked and they need to move people up.
Upgrades on points (On QF) go in the order CL, WP, SG, PS, NB. Status in QFF is purely what decides your upgrade priority.
On CX, the opup priority is:
VIP (Heads of State, Government Bodies, or Canto Pop/Movie stars)
CX Diamond Plus
CX Diamond Invitation, Diamond
CX Gold
CX management staff on travel duty
oneworld Emerald
CX staff on duty nominees , other airline staff nominees, CX staff on personal travel
OPUP - operational upgrade, I get a DOM OPUP possibly 1 from 10-15 flights, usually (happily) longer flights such as ADL/DRW or SYD/DRW. International flights seldom... :(
Upgrades - I mostly get ODU's when requested, very seldom turned down, and when I do, its because of ticket class.
I'm Qantas Platinum with partner Gold, have been for many years. I usually travel Y on homeward bound flights and cheapest fare bucket on outward bound. I am lucky enough to work for companies who have a >8 hour J policy, so have enjoyed many J flights across the globe
I'm gold and have been bumped up only once. And that was on a nearly full flight where a passenger in premium economy had a faulty seat so they asked me if I would mind moving into business class and giving my seat to her. Would I mind? Of course not! The only reason I would have been chosen is because I am gold but almost platinum, certainly it wasn't the way I was dressed!
I once was sat next to a drunk guy travelling on Qantas in Premium Economy from SYD - HKG who got abusive. I complained to the Customer Service Manager and I was moved to Business class. As far as I'm aware, the airlines on really allocate upgrades in exchange for frequent flyer points (as mentioned earlier); for high status members or for other operational reasons E.G. faulty seats etc. (again, mentioned earlier); or if any passengers seated around you are disrupting your journey in any way.
I don't think that wearing a suit and tie are really going to improve your odds of getting a complimentary upgrade by much, but I don't think that showing up in jeans and a t-shirt is going to enhance your chances of getting an upgrade either...
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How to get upgrades?
DanielLee
DanielLee
Member since 25 Oct 2010
Total posts 2
Hey, great new site! Now can any of you experts tell me what's the deal with getting an upgrade? Who makes the decision - can the girl at the checkin desk bump me, and does it help if I'm wearing a suit or shirt+tie instead of jeans?
danwarne
danwarne
Qantas
Member since 24 Oct 2010
Total posts 21
Nowadays, airlines have got the art of awarding upgrades down to a pretty scientific process -- it's mostly done through frequent flyer programs. If you're willing to trade a large number of points, you can apply for an upgrade, and the airline will advise you at the gate whether it has been approved (depending on whether they have any spare seats left in the class you're upgrading to).
Of course, airlines do still issue discretionary upgrades to travellers with high status, or are working for an important large business client for the airline, and so on. How exactly you secure those is still a black art -- you can read hundreds of pages of forums and still not really find a definite answer.
David
David
Member since 24 Oct 2010
Total posts 1,016
Hey Daniel, and welcome to AusBT!
The days of scoring an upgrade through flirting with the frontline staff appear to be over! As Dan notes, it's more scientific - the majority of most of my upgrades simply come from the class I'm in (econony, premium economy or biz) being overbooked, so as a Platinium I'm bumped up.
You hear some people say that wearing business clothes (shirt, tie and even suit) help but I am a doubter on that unless there is much room for discretionary upgrades.
jameswarne
jameswarne
QFF SG
Member since 28 Oct 2010
Total posts 1
If you're typically a QF WP, CL or OWE your're at the top of the line for operational upgrades. This is typically when the lower classes are overbooked and they need to move people up.
Upgrades on points (On QF) go in the order CL, WP, SG, PS, NB. Status in QFF is purely what decides your upgrade priority.
On CX, the opup priority is:
Platinum
Platinum
QFF Platinum
Member since 28 Oct 2010
Total posts 1
OPUP - operational upgrade, I get a DOM OPUP possibly 1 from 10-15 flights, usually (happily) longer flights such as ADL/DRW or SYD/DRW. International flights seldom... :(
Upgrades - I mostly get ODU's when requested, very seldom turned down, and when I do, its because of ticket class.
I'm Qantas Platinum with partner Gold, have been for many years. I usually travel Y on homeward bound flights and cheapest fare bucket on outward bound. I am lucky enough to work for companies who have a >8 hour J policy, so have enjoyed many J flights across the globe
Platinum
TimHughes
TimHughes
Member since 25 Oct 2010
Total posts 15
I'm gold and have been bumped up only once. And that was on a nearly full flight where a passenger in premium economy had a faulty seat so they asked me if I would mind moving into business class and giving my seat to her. Would I mind? Of course not! The only reason I would have been chosen is because I am gold but almost platinum, certainly it wasn't the way I was dressed!
mattdc
mattdc
Member since 12 Jul 2011
Total posts 24
I once was sat next to a drunk guy travelling on Qantas in Premium Economy from SYD - HKG who got abusive. I complained to the Customer Service Manager and I was moved to Business class. As far as I'm aware, the airlines on really allocate upgrades in exchange for frequent flyer points (as mentioned earlier); for high status members or for other operational reasons E.G. faulty seats etc. (again, mentioned earlier); or if any passengers seated around you are disrupting your journey in any way.
I don't think that wearing a suit and tie are really going to improve your odds of getting a complimentary upgrade by much, but I don't think that showing up in jeans and a t-shirt is going to enhance your chances of getting an upgrade either...