Everyone wants to get an upgrade on a flight, especially when it’s free. Most airlines will only upgrade passengers when they have oversold one cabin and need to move people up to a higher cabin.
There are some ways you can tell if you have a high chance of getting moved to a better seat. You really just need to know your airline and look for things a little out of the ordinary.
High Chances Of An Upgrade On A Flight
British Airways operate a nifty little system where passengers are offered upgrades before flight. When accessing your booking in Manage My Booking, you may see an offer for an upgrade.
Usually it is an enticing enough price, however you need to take into account the cost of your original ticket. Sometimes the upgrade offer is the same price as it would be had you purchased a ticket in Club Europe in the first place.
Since I made this particular booking, the upgrade offer has been available. It has been there for weeks, and even now, one day before online check-in opens, it is still there. This means it is likely that Euro Traveller is oversold and they want people to move. After all, it’s better for the airline if you pay rather than being moved for free.
Overall Thoughts
That is just one way you can tell that you might get an upgrade on a flight. Another indicator of seats being free is when there is quite a lot of availability for frequent flyer point redemptions. When there are none, it usually means the class is selling quite well and the airline thinks they can get people to pay for the seats.
Of course, it is not fool proof. Even if people are moved up a cabin, it may not be you. Other frequent flyers might have higher status and be further up the list than you. Either way, it is still good to know the ins and outs so you can have a little bit of hope.
Are you able to tell the signs when your airline might have oversold a flight? Has your prediction ever resulted in you actually getting the magic beep at the boarding gate? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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On United in the “expert mode” you can see exactly how many of each fare class are available for booking, so if you see a lot of “9’s” in the fare codes for business class you have a good shot at getting a requested upgrade. Just looking at the seat map can sometimes be deceiving since they may have ticketed passengers who haven’t picked seats yet. On United you will virtually never get an international upgrade for “free”- it will be because you used a global upgrade certificate or miles to try to upgrade. Does BA often just bump people… Read more »
Sounds like that would be very useful when it comes to United. I guess it makes sense, as lots of people request upgrades and they don’t clear until the gate in the USA. You are right, looking at the seat map is no indication, especially for airlines that charge for seating as many people will wait until seats are available for free at check-in. Oh no, British Airways only upgrade people for free if the flight is oversold in economy class and everyone who bought tickets actually turns up. I’ve been upgraded exactly once on British Airways on a short… Read more »