Absurd: How To “Blag” An Upgrade “Because You Deserve To Travel Like Beyonce”
It’s time for my annual “you can’t get an upgrade by dressing nice or flirting with the flight attendant” post. No, that simply will not work. The best upgrade advice remains to be loyal to your airline or at least to a credit card that earns you points affiliated with that airline.
Nope. You Still Won’t Get An Upgrade Because You Dressed Nicely or Because It Is Your Birthday…
A story from HuffPo popped into my newsfeed with a very British title: How To Blag A Free First Class Upgrade According To Travel Experts. Blag is a British term meaning to persuade somebody to give you something, or to let you do something, by talking to them in a clever way. The subtitle is “Because you deserve to travel like Beyonce” (but doesn’t she fly private?).
So what’s the expert advice? One dotard explains:
“An easy way to try and get an upgrade is to dress nicely! Believe it or not, attire plays a huge role in how passengers will be perceived by gate agents when it comes to giving out complimentary upgrades, with those seen as “worthy” candidates often the ones that are well dressed (think elegant suits) versus those wearing casual clothes (jeans and t-shirts) though this will also depend on your general demeanour, so make sure your attitude is elegant too!”
Yes, an elegant suit and attitude mark an “easy” way to get an upgrade…what a shame Rip Van Winkle has been sleeping for three decades.
Oh, but wait, there’s more. You also stand a great chance of an upgrade if it is your birthday or anniversary.
“If you’re travelling for a special occasion – for example, a honeymoon or a milestone birthday – then drop it into the conversation. Remember that if you’re saying it’s your birthday, don’t make it up, as they’ll be able to see your date of birth on your passport!
“Try to be subtle about it by initiating a conversation with the check-in staff, rather than walking straight up to the desk and declaring, ‘It’s my birthday!’.”
The Skinny On “Free” Upgrades
Folks, if you want an upgrade you need to pay for it. If you want a “free” upgrade (no upgrade is really free) the best way is to throw a lot of business toward one airline with a loyalty program that offers space-available upgrades on a complimentary basis for its more frequent flyers. This is true for Alaska, American, Delta, and United on many domestic routes.
Otherwise, you save miles in one loyalty program and can attempt to upgrade with those miles, though with flights so full these days I would not expect much.
Finally, so-called “operational upgrades” do still occur in limited oversell situations. For example, if premium economy class is oversold you may be moved up to business class and that may be based upon a random factor like what seat you have assigned. These sorts of upgrades are thrilling, but not something you can prepare for.
CONCLUSION
No, you don’t deserve to fly like Beyonce and no, you cannot get an upgrade by dressing nicely or casually mentioning that it is your birthday. But upgrades are still a thing: the path to upgrades remains through points, miles, and fidelity to one airline loyalty program.