Hi Ronald,

I have been very lucky in this respect, when I was jsut a lowly BLue with BA and my wife was still Gold, we were upgraded to Club coming back from Hong Kong

Most recently on my trips to India, I have had several upgrades being a Gold member from WT+ to Club World (new travel policy with work means I have to walk further down the plane!! )

But the best came as a complete surpise while travelling with Emirates back from Dubai, when I was upgraded early to First and they actually came to collect me from my hotel, that was a very pleasant way to travel

I do realise however, that as soon as this message is posted, the upgrade fairy will leave me and no more will follow!!!

Have fun

Mike

Another way to upgrade and get paid  is to volunteer your seat on an  overbooked flight. .

If  you think the plane will be full,  check the monitor for the next flight out.  If  that flight is  OK  for you,  advise the rep  at the gate desk  that you will be happy to volunteer your seat if needed in exchange   for compensation and a first class  seat on the next flight . Do not wait for the announcement asking for volunteers. Just go and do it, and if volunteers are needed, you will be first on the list. . It helps if you are traveling solo and have no checked luggage.

I used to do this early and often  on the Ft. Lauderdale or Palm Beach flights to Laguardia. I knew when peak travel times were, booked  on one of those flights, and kept my fingers crossed that I could get a freebee, which happened about 50% of the time. 

My  coup was  a  Delta  Brussels/ New York  flight. There were mechanical problems with a biz class seat, and   continual announcements that   we  will board  when  the maintenance crew fixes the seat..  I was traveling on a biz class ticket, and after the third announcement,  volunteered my seat. Apparently neither the gate staff hadn't thought of it,  nor did any other  passengers. 

Bottom Line: I was offered a seat on the next day's flight, was given  a room and unlimited meals at the Sheraton, plus $1,000 voucher to be used as cash on  any Delta flight. 

I laughed all the way across the Atlantic. .

I am upgraded in the US over 50% of the time. I have Gold status with NW, which is now Delta. My favorite process for this is when I am upgraded a few days before the flight. I either receive an email or find out when I check-in online from home. If that doesn't happen, I am added to the upgrade list at check-in. I will then sometimes receive an upgrade when checking my bag or at the gate.

This is provided the system is working properly. With the recent merger, I encountered many problems with my last two flights in September and October. The system somehow lost my status during some of the merging process, and I was actually kicked out of my priority seats. This was just the start of continual problems with both those flights. I had such a headache after those trips, I said I didn't want to fly again until the merger was complete! I guess I got my wish, because I do not have any work travel plans the rest of this year, and things should be smoothed out by now.

One thing I do like about the airlines is that when the system is working properly, customers are upgraded according to their status. For example, the highest Platinum, Gold, or Silver member will be upgraded first. If status is the same, the person with the highest cost ticket will be upgraded first. I don't think hotels follow this upgrade process as closely. In fact, I was once upgraded with Gold status at a competitor hotel, and a colleague I was traveling with was not, and she had Diamond status!

Actually, Delta handles upgrades the same way NW did. The problem I had was with some kind of internal system error when

they went through the last merge phase. It did not remove my status from my profile; just from my two booked flights.

In the US if you do not have high enough status to be upgraded before check-in, it sometimes depends how much the gate agent likes you. This should not matter; however, my experience has been that the gate agents can actually do whatever they want--within reason. More than once, I have been able to also get an upgrade for someone traveling with me when I was only Silver (I have been Gold for 2 years now, and was Silver for several years before that). And, Silver members do not get upgrades for companions. I have also received an upgrade when I do not think I should have been next. And, there was a time the gate agent opened the door on a closed flight for me that I was not even on--I approached him to ask about stand-by! On the other hand, there have been times when I did not receive an upgrade, when I should have. So now, I always talk to someone at airport to make sure my name is on the list and that it's in the proper or highest position possible for an upgrade.

I have found that the timing and person you speak with makes a difference. I have an airport club membership, so if time allows, I always speak with a club employee about an upgrade on my flight, as they can also add/move your name on the list. If I need to approach a gate agent, I try to pick a time which is after the employee has been at the counter long enough to take care of the flight plan and whatnot, and when there is not a lot of other counter traffic. If there is more than one employee, I try to speak with the one who looks friendliest/less harried. Sometimes, if I had bad timing, the employee does not even look at my boarding pass. And of course, I think speaking positively makes a difference. When I received one of the upgrades for my travel companion, the agent actually told me I was too nice to say no to.

I think the airlines are pretty good about upgrading the way they should--by status and ticket class; however, there does seem to be exceptions to the rules.

Hi Ronald,

The crunch is where are you flying from/to, who with (airline) and who with (single/couple) and what ticket class

Main reason for the last one is that it is much easier to move a person travelling alone than a couple or group!

Also the route you are on can dictate the op-up chances, my regular route fromLondon to Mumbai is always busy and normally full, so if I have booked an economy ticket (full fare) then as a Gold card holder I am more likely of the move than a Silver or Blue (talking about BA in particluar here) but if I take the London-Brussels flights I have never in 7 years been moved and to be honest on an hour flight not bothered!

Do you have any loyalty cards to an airline, if so then use them when you book.

Sorry to say but the best chance is to be the most charming guy (which I also am!!!) to the check in operator (lady or lad!) and if they are having a good day then a little SFU may appear on the gate list for when you board

Happy travels

Mike