Airlines are in the habit of overselling seats on flights in order to ensure the flight goes out full. A complex set of mathematics works all of this out yet sometimes more people than expected arrive to fly.
When this happens some people might be given an upgrade to a higher class of travel. Many articles have been written over the years about increasing your chances but it comes down to luck in most cases.
My Memorable Upgrade
Over the years I have amassed well over 1,000 hours in the air and I have been upgraded a grand total of one time. My flight was from Dublin to Budapest, the first leg of a mammoth trip to Australia. My route of DUB-BUD-AMM-BKK-SYD on oneworld carriers Malev, Royal Jordanian and Qantas is not for the faint hearted! By the way, Malev was the airline of Hungary until they went bankrupt.
Excellent Service
Eastern European airlines are not the first ones that spring to mind when you think excellent service. My experience on board Malev turned that assumption on its head. A lady in business class was cold so the Purser got her a blanket. The Purser then went to each passenger to ask if they also wanted a blanket. Brilliant!
Overall Thoughts
An unexpected upgrade is a great thing. Despite being a high level frequent flyer, I have never received another upgrade. Perhaps it’s my face or maybe I just fly on the wrong routes but I certainly look forward to it happening again. The fact my flight had an amazing Purser just enhanced the whole experience for me.
Have you had an unexpected upgrade? Perhaps it happens to you regularly? Maybe you’re like me and have never had an upgrade… either way, pop me a message in the comments below and tell me about it. I’d love to hear about it! Thanks for reading!
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Featured image by Wilco737 via Flickr.
I’ve been upgraded once at gate for LH flight FRA-ORD from business to first. It was much surprising as even business class has been booked as upgrade from economy. The service has been, of course, excellent, like described recently here.
LH have an excellent First Class product from what I can see. That would have been an amazing upgrade! I’ve heard stories about people being upgrade on upgrades before. It makes sense as you probably will always remember that flight and think fondly of Lufthansa as a result. Thanks for the comment!
I’ve been upgraded a few times as a Gold on AA on some short haul non-elite routes on Sundays but I normally don’t.
The last time I had a true upgrade for no reason was on a TWA flight from Kansas City to New Orleans just after a job interview about 20 years ago (seems like yesterday). It was odd in that they put me on the bulkhead in First. We fly around a thunderstorm in the sun but the view of the clouds was out of this world. Also the First class FA sat down and talked with me for about 30 minutes during the flight. I has no reason why I was upgraded. The flight wasn’t that full but I had Zero status at that time. I was wearing a suit so I assume the gate agent just picked me so maybe the myth of dressing nice worked back then 🙂
That upgrade sounds totally random! I would have loved to have experienced a flight with TWA, they seem like they were such a good airline – I’ve rarely heard anything bad about them. Looks like you had some view in First Class and it’s always a good thing when the crew chat to you. Passes the time nicely and crew always have great stories to tell. Thanks for sharing the experience – I am not jealous at all 🙂 haha!
Way back in 1975 or 76 I was flying from NY to San Juan with a girlfriend. This was way before the internet, when tickets were paper and I don’t think you got seat assignments until you checked in. Anyway, we got to the airport too early for check in, so we went off for a snack, and when we went back, we were apparently very late. What did we know back then. Anyway, after some waiting, we were escorted into what was turned out to be first class. We were so naive, we fully expected to be kicked out the entire time. They served us champagne and we got to go upstairs to the seating lounge (it was a 747)- no bar that I remember. We didn’t get booted into coach, but we didn’t realize quite what had happened. Ah, naive youth!.
However, my husband and I were visited by the upgrade fairy on a 12 day cruise on the Queen Mary 2 during her maiden year in 2004. We booked a hull enclosed “balcony”, and somehow ended up in a Princess Grill Suite with dining in the private Princess Grill dining room with silver and crystal and 4 dedicated servers for all meals. That upgrade was worth well over 3 times what we paid for our fare, and it was a fabulous experience that went on for 12 days, not just 12 hours!
That is awesome that you were late and then got to sit in First Class. What airline was it? It sounds like some experience. Possibly someone thought you two were very attractive and decided to let you sit up front and upstairs? That’s awesome. Interestingly enough my Mum had a similar experience when she flew to Fiji on Qantas in 1974. The crew let her and her girlfriend visit upstairs as well. Sounds like great fun!
Oh, now an upgrade on the Queen Mary 2 would really take the cake! Princess Grill is apparently v-e-r-y swish on Cunard. Now 12 days of upgrade would be the holy grail really. Sounds like you had an amazing experience – that is something I’d really love to do sometime soon. It’s been nearly 10 years since I was on the QE2, and the QM2 would be another level altogether! Thanks for the comment!
You’re asking me to remember the airline way back in 1975?? Who was flying to PR back then? Maybe it was Pan Am. I believe the cabin attendants were all female, so being 2 early 20s females was probably not a factor. As I remember, the upstairs was just some couch type seating. Nothing very elaborate. But the airline…I have a pretty good memory, but not that good!
Nice to “meet” a flyer who has actually been on a Cunard liner. Yes, PG was pretty sweet. Wonderful servers, great food, even met Itzak Tarkay, the artist. Good thing was we live in the ‘burbs so drove to the pier, and didn’t have to worry about over-packing, so we had the right duds (well, suit for DH, not tux). We were so “innocent” that we had no idea we could get anything on request, until one of our waiters told us about that a few days before the end of the cruise. It was a real treat not having to deal with the buffet for breakfast (except one morning when we had a very early shore excursion) and lunch. Also, it gave us a private lounge where you could take afternoon tea. We did take a QM2 weekend cruise out of NYC (4 days) over Labor Day weekend in 2009, and booked an inside cabin (was nice enough) since rates were pretty high for 4 days – what a difference! Couldn’t even get in to afternoon tea which was held in the Grand Ballroom! But the ship is fabulous. Too bad cruise ship rates are not so competitive as airfares.
So, thank you Upgrade Fairy, but I guess I am never winning the lottery – lol.
Oh I have no idea who was flying to PR back in 1975. Either way, it sounds like it was a fun experience regardless – certainly memorably!
Yes, I notice that a lot of flyers don’t tend to do ships and certainly not Cunard liners. You can get your food on request in PG? I wasn’t aware of that either – I thought you were restricted to the usual breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner rotation for the most post. That’s pretty good to know!
Even though it’s probably not great that you couldn’t get in to afternoon tea with the inside cabin, it is good that people who pay more get to experience more. Cunard cruises are quite expensive but they are such a wonderful experience on their own that it’s worth it. I was in CA class when I went on QE2 in a single cabin. There were 5 grades and mine was the middle grade – above me was PG and QG. I found out that the Cunard ships have been refitted to include single cabins once again, which is excellent. I usually travel on my own and one reason I have not gone Cunard again is because I can’t afford to pay two fares just for myself. When I heard singles were back I was delighted! A quick look at the web site shows them all sold out most of the time though, which is no surprise!
We’ll both cross fingers for the lottery win! haha!
I’ve been op up’d twice on AA’s JFK-DUB route, as a PLAT.
The first one was due to bad weather in NYC at the start of August one year. I was coming back from spending 2 weeks with friends in Chicago and a few days in Vegas in between… ORD-JFK was diverted to BDL due to weather and there was a hold in JFK so a lot of misconnects and delays. I was a bit worse for wear after the holiday so had a shower in the lounge while waiting for the delayed flight home to board and changed into tracksuit and GAA jersey. When i handed by BP to the gate agent it beeped and the board behind the desk caught my eye with my name on the cleared list. I mentioned this to her, she looked at me in my very casual clothes, said ‘sure’ and scanned the BP again. Then she turned to the agent at the desk, ‘You got a McGrath there?’. Que the other agent looking me up and down and then confusingly says ‘Yeah…’!
A few months later I was upgraded again on the same route at the gate but I don’t know the reason as the flight was light in Y and J wasn’t full. I didn’t refuse it however!
That’s a great story. Weather is always responsible for some of the best ones when it comes to travel. I can imagine how casual you were in your tracksuit and GAA jersey – it sounds like the most comfortable way to travel, even if it was just to get out of the other clothes you had been in. Beats jeans anyway! I’ve always wanted to be upgraded on a long haul, that would be a brilliant surprise to be fair.
Hahaha! I wouldn’t have been refusing either 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I had a op-up from Y to J on Air China from SFO to PEK back in 2006. Since there I’ve never had an op-up, but I’ve also never flown Y internationally again. I was surprised by how many people they op-uped on an Emirates flight from IAD to DXB from Y to J cause it was oversold.
That is quite a decent length of a flight to be upgraded on. Mine was just 3 hours so it would have been just as fine down the back. I tend to upgrade my flights with points now, so I’ve not flown too much down the back though I have had some Premium Economy sectors. I think Emirates are good for an upgrade sometimes, I’ve heard the same. Thanks for the comment!
I was upgraded from business to first back in 2014 on Asiana when I flew ICN – NRT. I was upgraded at the gate and I had used United miles to book this leg. The weird thing was the upper deck (747) where I was suppose to sit was completely empty! So to this day, I still have no idea why I was upgraded.
Business to First – now that would be an awesome upgrade, especially when you used miles to book in the first place. Pretty cool if you had the whole upper deck to yourself! I doubt many people have experienced that one. I’m jealous! haha! Thanks for the comment!
I have only flown Malev twice. One of those legs was Budapest – Amman. I loved that airline!
Same here, it was twice for me too. DUB-BUD and the BUD-DUB. I took Royal Jordanian from Budapest to Amman, they are a very good airline too! Thanks for the comment.
I remember Malev very well. Nothing but positive experiences.
It’s great to hear that you enjoyed your flights with Malev. I was very surprised at how good they were. Such a shame they’re gone now! Thanks for the comment!