seat upgrade???

[airfox]

I am employed in the aviation business ,and as a result qualify for id90s and the like . I have taken advantage of this scheme on numerous occasions ,and have nothing but praise for it .
To get to my point, on several of my stand by flights i have recieved upgrade to business or indeed first class seats .
I was hoping someone could let me know
the criteria on which upgrades are based ,the best way of getting one and who to ask?
cheers in anticipation of enlightenment !!!

[waco]

gone fishing............

[Whooaahh]

No hard and fast rules on upgrades...It all comes down to the individuals involved, i.e. You and the Station Manager.

If you are smartly dressed, have a pleasant demeanure and are not acting like a complete tw@, you stand a good chace of an upgrade if there is space available.

If turn up dressed in jeans, sporting your favorite Leeds Utd shirt, and are being a to$$er with the check-in staff, your stuffed for any seat far less and upgrade.

If you manage to get on the plane, be thankful. If you don't get an upgrade, any amount of argueing will not bring that welcome drink any closer.

Whooaahh!!!

[This message has been edited by Whooaahh (edited 20 November 2000).]

[Lozza]

Depending on which airline you're flying with,you may or may not get that elusive upgrade.
Some carriers(i.e. the one I work for)are more than happy to put their own staff in business or first,whilst letting other staff slum it in economy.
Others will put you in business/first willy nilly.
Apart from dressing smart,if you really can't hack it in economy,try and get predicted loads for the flight you want by contacting the airline.If it's chocca in economy but empty in other classes,an upgrade could well be coming your way!
Having said that,staff travel is not the perk it once was,and as echoed in the previous post,I now find myself just happy to be on the flight even if it means 10hrs in a jumpseat.

[desert macbeth]

Airfox
As Lozza says - very much a company thing. For the outfit I work for upgrades are strictly controlled - there are 2 scenarios - comp or comercial upgrades or entitlements or upgrades due oversale.

The first are usually pre advised due commercal reasons or due to the relevant seniority of a firm/subload passenger and cabin entitlements - for example an airport slot coordinator or senior airport manager might have an ID100 J class (or Y) ticket although s/he considered commercially suitible for a higher class - this is very company subjective..........

When I do oversale upgrades I upgrade firm staff travel first in priority order, then commercial upgrades (space available), subload staff - company staff 1st priority followed by other airlines staff followed by AD travel followed by the rest. Then the frequent fliers in order of commercial seniority and finally revenue commercial pax.

Having said that I do have the authority to upgrade as I see necessary due to any customer or operational reasons. I think most staff are astute enough to travel smartly and to make alowance for the possible - turn up in tattered jeans and a holey T-shirt and you won't get Y let alone J or F!!!

[matelot19]

You guys are the lucky ones!!

If we ride with our aircraft we have to take a Jump Seat!! http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif

Ain't ever seen, let alone sat in 1st Class!! Is it true that the seats up there recline??

Matelot

[DELTA 1CHARLIE]

I work for a scheduled airline and am responsible for onloading standbys-- we virtually always give our own staff an upgrade but would not really make a habit of upgrading other airline staff unless economy was full...I think the golden rule is don/t ask for an upgrade as that would certainly make me put u in economy!!!!
As previous posts though smart dress and a pleasant manner always help!
Good Luck!!

[enntwo]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">If you manage to get on the plane, be thankful. If you don't get an upgrade, any amount of argueing will not bring that welcome drink any closer.</font>

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">I think the golden rule is don/t ask for an upgrade as that would certainly make me put u in economy!!!!</font> Hee, hee hee, what fun it must be refusing people dearie!!!!

Do they have aptitude tests to help select ground staff like this? :rolleyes:

[This message has been edited by enntwo (edited 09 January 2001).]

[DELTA 1CHARLIE]

ENNTWO, I was only trying to help the ppruner about how to get an upgrade...I always go out of my way to help staff and believe me we get a lot of staff trying to travel on our flights...I travel quite a bit on standby travel and would not dream of asking for an upgrade and when staff
do ask for upgrades most people find that very cheeky and as such do not go out of the way to help that person!!!In the nicest possible way staff travel is a privellege and as such we should all be glad of a seat and its a bonus if its a business seat!!!

[enntwo]

D1C
You say " ..... when staff do ask for upgrades most people find that very cheeky and as such do not go out of the way to help that person!!!"
This is the part I genuinely don't understand. Why is it that you think someone in the company who if there any upgrades going, and if so can he/she have one of them, is cheeky?
Giving a colleague an upgrade costs YOU nothing and, especially where some pax are going to be upgraded for commercial reasons anyway, doesn't even cost the company anything.
If I'm told that the aircraft is full, and a fellow employee has ASKED if I'll allow him/her to sit in the jump-seat for the flight, I'll say yes. If there are truly exceptional circumstances which prevent me, I pass on an apology and brief explanation.
Using your reasoning, I should regard the fact that they've used a bit of iniative as cheeky, refuse because they asked, and take someone who hasn't asked.
That is the equivalent of what you said in your first post, although toned down a bit to "not going out of your way to help" (whatever that means) in your second post.
Whether having a seat at all is as much of a privilege as you make out, or a benefit which comes legitimately as part of the job is a separate issue. But, may be the key to the problem. Much of the problem is that those ground staff who share your view (thankfully the minority in my experience) seems to get rather too much pleasure from the one bit of power they have.

[This message has been edited by enntwo (edited 10 January 2001).]

[offload]

airfox et al
What do they say...it's not what you know, it's who you know?
I'm afraid in my experience of staff travel which is 16 years and three UK operators it's a case of both what and who you know.
Most large carriers have strict upgrade policies (commercial then staff seniority etc) backed up by manifests at the gate which not only go to the cabin staff but also back to company HQ be it accounts or commercial.
Know your stuff - find out and if possible get a print out of the booked figure as near to departure as possible including listed staff and priorities (a contact in either reservations or check-in may oblige). Know the right people. Commercial, Reservations or Check-in contacts can comment your PNR (pax name record) with 'operational staff so-and-so airlines consider for u/grade - you know the score. If check-in supervisors are looking to upgrade, this is a good starting reference. If this can't be done then it's a case of resorting to WHO - check-in staff and supvs, gate staff, member of the crew, dispatcher. All of these people, if proper channels have not been followed may run the risk of disciplinary action if found out - in my experience it usually comes down to decisions between the dispatcher and the IFS/CSD/Purser/whatever on board - depending on the nature of the paperwork, changes can be arranged after all pax have boarded. Be pleasant - smart casual, not lashed up and don't be miffed if you see there are are still seats available in J/F/whatever class - some carriers will not allow staff to be upgraded into another cabin if there is not enough catering to cover (strange but true). Some people also need to realise that unless they are on duty travel or positive upgrades, staff travel is generally SPACE AVAILABLE only - deal with it. Some staff unfortunately are arseholes of the highest calibre - it doesn't get them very far - you may call it exercising power but the line has to be drawn somewhere when it's all unofficial and off the record - if I'm about to effectively risk my job to do something dodgy then the upgrades have to be the 'right sort' - personal call - sorry.

Come and have a go if you think yer 'ard enough and giz a job.

offload

[airfox]

Cheers guys!

[PiperChauffeur]

I have to agree with offload

When I worked for a handling agt I had to follow the rules set up by the individual carrier we handled.
The carriers often have rules for upgrading: first goldcardholders, then fullfare y pax, then this, then that. ID N2 tickets are in the end of that list.
All of them had one basic rule: don't order extra catering for complementary upgrades. Its too expensive. The airlines pay not only for each meal, but also for every extra delivery.
I have found this to be normal at "away stations", while at the carriers bases/hubs, they have plenty of meals, and they are not worried about ordering axtras.
When you are at a gate where the ac is almost full, chances are that the workload at the gate is high, the staff have to check meals, late transiting pax, w/b so they don't want to be disturbed by a non-revenue for an upgrade. If an upgrade is needed or available, they will contact you.

So it all comes down to:
the availability on the flt (in J cls)
the people you know
the goodwill of the gatestaff

I have to admit I also enjoy chasing upgrades myself when flying N2/R2. Good luck