Well have you?
I’ve read if you ask for a 1st class upgrade they sometimes give you one free of charge. Is this true or an urban legend? I’ve never had the stones to ask.
If so, are there any airlines that do it more than others?
My buddy has asked Canadian airlines twice, and they actually laughed in his face. Doesn’t surprise me though, Canadian sucks.
MtM
I’ve never asked for one, but the wife and I have both been given upgrades for free on occasion. Of course, for her it was the only way Delta could complete her flight. I’ve gotten upgrades just for being a Splendid Fellow! 
We ask for an upgrade pretty much every single time we fly long-haul. It’s only ever worked once, when we were coming back from our honeymoon and the airline had lost our bags on the way out - mrs jjimm acted tearful and I looked angry, and we got upgraded to First Class (on an old skool DC-10 where they had HUGE seats. Wonderful flight!) But anyway, we keep on trying.
Yeah, I think the key here is to have some sort of damage inflicted by the airline that you can pretend to be super-upset and on the verge of tears and never returning to the airline again angry about. They won’t typically just give it to you for being a nice, attractive person, but if you’ve had a delayed flight segment or something you’ve got a much better chance provided that you’re properly dressed for the cabin and they haven’t booked it full yet with paying first-classers or people with more extreme stories of airline created distress.
“And then, just as we were about to take off, the engine fell off because your mechanics only attached it in the first place with crazy glue, and now if I don’t sit far enough forward to not see the engine, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to board another airplane again! In fact, just wait until my lawyer hears about this and we sue you for the millions in pain and suffering which you’ve caused me!”
I’ve gotten free class upgrades (business or first) a couple of ways:
Volunteer for a bump, but really make it feel like you’re helping out the airline. Doesn’t hurt to be super friendly and low key to the gate agent who is being hounded by a bunch of people who are upset they might not get their flight. If they fill up coach but have extra seats up front they’ll sometimes* move you up. Also, sometimes when they bump you onto the next flight they’ll slot you into first or business. This has happened to me about 5-10 times, but I’ve flown a lot. Maybe every fourth or fifth time I’ve been on the bump list.
I once took a bump on a flight to Germany and rescheduled for the next day. They didn’t offer to upgrade my ticket, but the next day was a rainy day and the wife and kids happened to be making chocolate chip cookies to pass the time. I took a plate of Tollhouse cookies to the gate crew when I went back that day. Nothing says “suck up” like fresh, homemade cookies (okay, the gate agent was very nice and he was possibly flirting with me, too). While waiting to board I was called to the front and he re-assigned my seat to first class. Sweet!
*More often anymore they’ll put a very frequent flyer up to first and then give you their seat. This is smart business sense since they want to keep their best customers happy.But the gate agents still have a fair amount of discretion AFAIK.
Yes. When I flew regularly (say 5-10 years ago), I would ask if they had seen the memo regarding “Upgrade A Big Blonde To First Class For Free” Day. It was usually good for a laugh if nothing more, but I bet it worked oh…3 out of 10 times? Not too bad of an average. The worst they ever said was “no”.
Post-9/11 - I don’t know that anyone has a sense of humor any longer, and I probably wouldn’t try it now.
Ahhh…those were the days.
VCNJ~
If you’re a top level frequent flier you will get bumped from time to time.
Haj
My wife and I were returning from a trip that we had taken for our anniversary. The last flight of the evening was cancelled due to mechanical troubles. As we got up to the counter to set up our flight for the next morning, the guy next to us was attempting to set a new record for ticket agent abuse - screaming, swearing, and just being an all around jerk. The first thing my wife said was, “We promise we won’t yell at you.” As we were checking out the available flights, we talked about how we were there for our anniversary and asked, very politely, if she could give us an upgrade. Although it’s possible that she might have done so anyway, the glance she gave the still-raving jerk as she upgraded us makes me think that his behavior influenced our good fortune.
As we were finishing up, my wife said, “Why do I get the feeling he’s not getting upgraded?” The ticket agent, with another quick glance in his direction deadpanned that he’d be lucky if he got to ride inside the plane.
Fairly frequent flyer here. Always ask. They can only say no. Also ask on the plane - the stewardess can just move you if you are nice enough.
A couple of tips. You are not going to get upgraded if you are wearing shorts and a loud shirt. You have to look the part - jacket, tie etc. Same goes for luggage - back-pack - forget it.
Also being in the frequent flyer programme (even if you’re not that frequent a flyer) is a good start.
I’m reminded of the joke about the airplane flight leaving from South Africa shortly after Apartheid fell. The stewardess is called back to see an old white lady sitting next to a black man. “I demand you move my seat at once!” says the lady. “There must be some mistake. I can’t be seated next to a kaffir!”
“Well,” says the stewardess, “the only seats we have are in first class, and I’ll have to ask the captain if it’s all right to upgrade.”
So she goes to the cockpit, confers with the captain, and comes back. “Well, we agreed that although it’s not standard procedure, these are special circumstances, and nobody should be forced to sit next to such a disgusting person. Therefore, if you’ll come with me, we’ll seat you in first class, sir!”
Yes, that is not surprising.
Here’s how it works. If there are first class seats available on a flight, you can ask for an upgrade. I’m not sure though, if you require miles status to even ask.
Anyhow, having some miles status (Silver) on Continental because of my frequent travels, I request to be upgraded when I get my boarding pass online. Whether I actually upgraded depends on how many seats are available and by priority of status (Platinum first, then Gold, Silver, and then finally you non-status…people :rolleyes: ).
Not for several years he hasn’t (it merged with Air Canada). Or, did you mean Air Canada?
I probably get put in business class 5 times out of 10, but that’s because I’m in a wheelchair and it’s less hassle for them to stick me up there if there’s room available. However, several times I’ve had to take whatever meal choice they had left over after serving all the “real” business class passengers.
I’ve been upgraded on to Business on international flights a couple of times. The first time was on a Canadian/Qantas codeshare flight from Vancouver to Sydney (with a stop in Honolulu). I’m not sure exactly why i got upgraded on that flight, although the plane was completely full, so they might have need to shift a few economy-type people up to Business class. Also, i had to check in three hours before the flight because that was the only time i could get a ride to the airport. The fact that i was the first person to check in might have secured me the upgrade.
The other time was a flight from Dulles to Heathrow, on United. At Dulles, they announced that our flight was overbooked, and asked if anyone would be willing to wait and take the next flight, which left two hours later. Well, i had to meet a friend in London the following morning, and i was going to have to hang around and wait for about four hours between my plane landing and our meeting time. I figured that spending two of those hours at Dulles was unlikely to kill me, and there seemed to be plenty of other people who were worried at the thought of taking a later flight, so i offered to give up my seat. They thanked me, and told me that they’d let me know if they needed it. About twenty minutes later, i was called to the check-in desk and told that they didn’t need my seat after all, but that i would be upgraded to business class anyway for volunteering. Pretty sweet.
I’m not an especially frequent flyer, being a grad student and all, but over the past few years i have racked up quite a few United flights. After a trip to Australia late last year, i passed the 50,000 miles necessary to achieve Premier status in United’s frequent flyer program. When i got the booklet, it looked like this would mean diddly-squat to me, because i can’t afford even the lower prices that they offer for First class domestic upgrades, and i always book my flights on budget websites like Travelocity, Qixo, or Orbitz.
But i have benefitted quite a bit from my Premier status. I’ve made three domestic return flights in the last year, all booked on budget websites. Each time, when i choose my seat online, there are only a few seats left near the back of the plane. And each time, about a week after making the reservation, i’ve been sent an update with a seat reallocation, in which i’ve been given a seat in United’s Economy Plus section. Now, admittedly, this isn’t First Class, and we still get economy-style nuts and pretzels, but for someone who’s 6 feet tall, the extra four or five inches of legroom makes a cross-country flight much more comfortable. The only reason i can think of for this constant improvement is my Premier status, so i’m going to hang onto it for as long as i can.
If it doesn’t matter too much what time you arrive,try booking in early and volunteering to be bumped to a later flight. If necessary, then they’ll go for volunteer bumpers first. And as a bumper,you are then in a very good position to ask for a better seat on the next flight.It’ll save them having to pay you all the compensation of having a guaranteed flight seat and not being able to use it.
My flight was canceled. I waited in line for three-quarters of an hour, and when I got to the counter, the agent rescheduled me to a later flight. Just after I left the counter, that flight was canceled.
I got back into line, waited another three-quarters of an hour, and got back to the same agent. She apologized, and said that she wished she could have called me back, but wasn’t able to do so for (unimportant reason that I have now forgotten). The next flight out was the next morning; she offered me a free hotel room – “we have three left”.
I turned around and looked at the long line behind me. I turned back and said, “My sister lives basically right across the road. It looks like you have people who need the room more than I do”. She thanked me and gave me a free upgrade to first class. I went over and crashed at my sisters, we ordered in pizza, and had a great time.
The next day, I flew first class. Cool!
Economy Plus is mostly for premier fliers. It is amazing how much of a difference 4" of legroom makes.
You should book your flights directly at United.com. The prices are the same as on the “discount” sites plus you can get up to 1000 mileage plus miles for using their website. I have a mileage plus credit card and I get 1 mile for every dollar I spend on it. I am flying to Dulles tomorrow and I will get 1452 miles for the leg, 863 bonus miles, and about 300 more for charging it on my card. Round trip, that’s 5000 miles, almost enough to upgrade to business class!
It hasn’t been my experience (so far) that United’s website is as cheap as the discount travel sites.
My partner and i flew from Baltimore to San Francisco on Tuesday (December 21) and we fly back to Baltimore next Wednesday (December 29). I booked those tickets about two months ago. The cheapest flight i could find on the United website was about $380 return (per ticket). I ended up booking with Qixo, and we paid $235 per ticket. That’s a big difference for a pair of poor grad students.
I always check united.com, and if it ever comes up as cheap as the other websites, i’ll definitely use it. But a difference of $100+ per ticket is too big to exchange for a few extra frequent flyer miles.
Call them and ask for everything, even the 1000 mile bonus for the website because their website didn’t show it. Trust me, as a kid of someone that works in airline reservations computer systems, their pricing etc. is so screwed up that often even they don’t know what they have.
The one point nobody’s addressed in this thread: Is first class really all that it’s cracked up to be?
On international flights, definitely. Domestic, for flights over an hour, it’s nice. Over 2-3 hours it’s much nicer.