Free upgrades
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Caloundra Australia
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Free upgrades
Ok...I dont wanna sound like a real knucklehead in asking this question....but...is there a surefire way to get free upgrades these days on long haul flights.....mainly QANTAS......or are they now a thing of the past...
Join Date: Nov 2004
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well, i don't know if your a pax, but im BA staff & heard sooo many things such as i could try & board last & ask the dispatcher to fit me into club if there is something still then available. it has been done easily.
some others tell me you need to know dispatchers to get these kinda' upgrades,..others just say don't cause issues and stick to economy-dispatchers will report you
i have a friend who's brother in law is a dispatcher & he said there is nothing wrong in asking his brother in law, just that he might not be covering that certain flight i was on, therefore he would need to speak with the other dispatcher to sort it, then it would become favor for a favor which ain't his thing.
i guess i will try my luck though.
dispatchers i have met are pretty cool.
hoping to fly from LGW-GND or LHR-HKG soon.
thanks.
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Join Date: Nov 2005
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Yer of course an upgrade could be paid for....but the operative word was "Free"...Might just have to try my luck on the day...
Thanx for your replies...
Thanx for your replies...
Join Date: Dec 2007
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be a gold card holder in the airlines freq flyer scheme is usually the best way if the econ cabin is full, they would be first to be upgraded
You can with a lot of airlines now do "on the day upgrades" which yes they do charge for but it is usually a lot less than paying for the seat at the beginning
You can with a lot of airlines now do "on the day upgrades" which yes they do charge for but it is usually a lot less than paying for the seat at the beginning
Everything is under control.
Join Date: Jul 2001
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Paxing All Over The World
Well ... congratulations MudCrab, you have been the first to ask this knucklehead question in a long time. I can save you the trouble of searching through the archive of PPRuNe to read the umpteen times this has been asked. The answer to your question is:
No.
No.
Bludger extraordinaire
Join Date: Jan 2005
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As PAXboy has pointed out, no-one's ever seen that question asked. We are reluctant to give up a secret like this, but here's how to do it:
Die on the flight. They'll drag your corpse up to First. Works every time. Well, once, anyway.
BOFH
Die on the flight. They'll drag your corpse up to First. Works every time. Well, once, anyway.
BOFH
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Free Upgrade - very easy, a number of tried and tested methods. Any one of the following
1) Wear a suit
2) Tell them you are a doctor/ on honeymoon / friend of Chairman of said Airline
3) Shout in a loud voice 'Dont you know who I am'
4) Turn up late at check-in
5) Ask politely at the boarding gate
6) Ask for extra leg-room as you want to work
7) Be last to board, take first empty biz class seat and they wont notice
and so on...
1) Wear a suit
2) Tell them you are a doctor/ on honeymoon / friend of Chairman of said Airline
3) Shout in a loud voice 'Dont you know who I am'
4) Turn up late at check-in
5) Ask politely at the boarding gate
6) Ask for extra leg-room as you want to work
7) Be last to board, take first empty biz class seat and they wont notice
and so on...
Join Date: Jul 1999
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As Roy says, hold a top tier frequent flyer card and upgrades are not unusual. I would say that on about 10% of the flights where I was booked in economy I ended up being upgraded. Purely by virtue of the FF card.
Join Date: Oct 2007
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It's possible. I got an upgrade to business when I went onboard a flight and was like, can I get an upgrade for a seat, I'm really sad because I didn't get a pilot job with your company. The F/A talked to a pilot and I got a bump..
That forbes post was pretty good =P
That forbes post was pretty good =P
MudCrab, those of us who truly know the tricks of the trade don't go and reveal all on these forums! Selfish? Yes, but these days so many pax go asking for free upgrades that those of us in the know have to protect our own chances. It has in fact become a lot more difficult in recent years (depending on the airline), no thanks to the naive element mouthing off to the millions on pax forums, but also because of more stringent upgrade policies (and policing of these policies) introduced by the beancounting managers. Nevertheless, it can still be achieved if one plays clever, very clever. But, no, I'm not telling, sorry.
It has in fact become a lot more difficult in recent years (depending on the airline), no thanks to the naive element mouthing off to the millions on pax forums, but also because of more stringent upgrade policies (and policing of these policies) introduced by the beancounting managers. Nevertheless, it can still be achieved if one plays clever, very clever. But, no, I'm not telling, sorry.
Paxing All Over The World
BOFH I'm really disappointed that you start giving away our prized secrets to anyone who shows up in the cabin. 
You know that a newbie must wait until 7 blue moons have risen across the Port windows of a Boeing (and don't try to cheat by getting 3 pink moons in the Airbus). I mean to say, where is your solidarity brother?
You know that a newbie must wait until 7 blue moons have risen across the Port windows of a Boeing (and don't try to cheat by getting 3 pink moons in the Airbus). I mean to say, where is your solidarity brother?
FX Guru
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Change your first names to David Robert.
They're my father-in-law's first names and he got an upgrade flying out to see us in Honkers on CX.
They thought he was a doctor and upgraded him on the way back as well. He was mightily pleased that there was no medical emergency en routes -- his electrical skills would have limited him to keeping an eye on the defibs....
They're my father-in-law's first names and he got an upgrade flying out to see us in Honkers on CX.
They thought he was a doctor and upgraded him on the way back as well. He was mightily pleased that there was no medical emergency en routes -- his electrical skills would have limited him to keeping an eye on the defibs....
