The procedure for getting upgrades that one is entitled to has become almost 100 percent automatic and hands-off, and with all flights being full in both cabins, there isn’t much ‘wiggle room’ for people to exploit.”Īnd it is not just a combination of luck and automation that will shut you out of upgrades-at some airlines, it may be a matter of policy. Well, correction, it is harder to get undeserved upgrades these days. On a flight back from Tokyo in first class a few years ago, I was actually disappointed when we began our final descent when is the last time that happened in coach? Why It’s So Hard to Get a Free Upgradeĭavid Rowell, who writes The Travel Insider, notes that “it is enormously harder to get upgrades these days than it used to be. Much more critically than better food and drinks, first- and business-class seats in most international aircraft convert into beds that are pretty darn comfortable. The same goes for longer international flights. On these types of domestic flights, an upgrade is definitely worth trying for. American Airlines offers lie-flat seats in first class on some transcontinental routes, while Hawaiian Airlines has lie-flat options on its first-class service to Hawaii. That said, some airlines have upped the ante in their first-class cabins on longer domestic routes. But those seats come with a cost, whether in cash or in miles, and on shorter domestic flights you don’t get all that much more than the folks in coach-wider seats, a little more legroom, free drinks, and the chance to board a little earlier. But first, let’s realize that, for many domestic flights…ĭon’t get me wrong-when I am filing past the first few rows of seats on my way to the back of the plane, those big leather seats with folks already drinking wine in them have a strong allure. To learn how to get upgraded to first class for free, check out the tactics below. Many factors have created the present “zero upgrade” environment-like the airlines’ love of fees and surcharges, computerized seat assignments (which make it much easier to know where everyone is well before flight time), very full flights, and increased competition for upgrades due to the degraded state of flying coach.īut just because your chances of getting an upgrade have gone down, you don’t necessarily have to give up. In fact, if you traveled enough, it was just a matter of time before a check-in or gate agent slipped you a boarding pass with a very low row number-a golden ticket of sorts for many travelers.īut these days, when everything flight-related has a price tag, you’ll pay $99 for an “upgrade” to the front section of coach, just for the right to get off the plane more quickly (although in some cases it does also buy you an inch or two of extra legroom). Not such a long time ago-and a very good time it was, some say-a “surprise” flight upgrade wasn’t the rare thing it is today.
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