Killing a Myth...

[Airbusfan]

Someone please help me with a bet I have with my friend..?? We are going to Las Vegas in March (for a conference, the company he works for allows a guest, I SCORED). We are flying from Detroit via Delta Airlines economy. We have the argument the check-in agent can't give you an upgrade if there is room in first, I say that only the f/a's can...?? who's right..? Can anyone along the chain do it...??

$100us to the victor..

P.S. Neither of us belongs to a ff program, just going to try the old fashion way, charm & politeness, dressing business like could help, although we would dress appropriate anyways, we are both professionals..

[GyvAir]

I would say neither can. I think you'll have to go to the Queen for that. Or maybe some former presidents of the USA would get you up there. Hell, they won't even let you slip a row forward into the "Plus" section for 2" extra legroom these days.

[CID]

Seat upgrades are out of the F/A control for the most part these days. If you know the F/A personally or if you're flight crew with the proper uniform you might get an upgrade on board but its all controlled from the gate agent. Not even the check-in agent. And you don't get an upgrade for free. You need to have a coupon or pay for it..

If you're willing to pay, you can do that at check-in at the kiosk or from the agent.

Travelling on US airlines is sort of complicated these days. The fare looks pretty cheap but you have to pay for pretty much any extras. It's about 50 bucks extra to sit in the forward economy cabin or at an overwing exit. It's 25 bucks for each bag you check. It's 9 bucks for the internet.

If you ask someone to swap seats with you so that you can sit with your buddy don't be surprised by an indiginant "no". Chances are the person paid extra for where they are seated.

[ross1]

...the days of comp upgrades are pretty much gone..with DL it'll be the frequent fliers who have earned it first ...on US domestic flights I've seen 30 or more waiting for 1 seat...then it goes to employees ...beyond that, sometimes the worst thing you can do is ask the wrong agent or f/a...(people ask all day!) and neither are really allowed. The agents are now very much held accountable so the last resort is the flight attendant....S'pose by that point it can't hurt to ask (if he or she seems to be smiling). Another money-maker for Delta is that when they see there will actually be empty seats up front, the gate agents will offer the upgrade by a gate announcement ...$50-$100 domestically I think.

Good luck

Ross (Hughes Airwest/Replublic Airlines/Northwest/Delta.. 32 years)

[MIQ]

It's basically been said I just want to add that a Flight Attendant usually can't upgrade you, it has to be the purser / incharge, and even they are not supposed to do that. Like it was mentioned before, the gate agent is the only official way of getting an upgrade. How much more desirable it is to sit in first class on a 2 or 3 hour domestic flight is another question...

[Airbusfan]

" NUFF SAID", we can both keep our $100.00, cause it looks like neither of us wins. Economy it is (by the way, we have a connection in Salt Lake City, 1st leg is 2 hrs, not worth it imho)

Thanks to all whom replied...!

(** Moderator may close this post**)

[Doc]

Check in, gate agent. Take it to the bank. Dress decent, be polite. It works, I rode all the way from Aukland NZ to SFA in first class on the 777! Smiled at the gate agent, and politely asked if there was a chance of an upgrade. She asked if I was in the industry. I told her I flew for a small charter operator in northern Canada. She said: "That's really neat. Heres your first class boarding pass..."

[co-joe]

If you got the flight for "free" anyway you should pay the upgrade just for you and then cheers your buddy from time to time to rub it in. If you're discreet at check in you might make him think you got it for free.

[bmc]

Upon checkin, tell the agent you know this really cool pilot from a small carrier in Northern Canada named Doc. See if that works.

[Beefitarian]

Look lady, I've had a rough week flippin' burgers. Doc said you'd upgrade me. So let's get on with it. Ok?

[trey kule]

So , this thread is not about snuff films of hair lips. Bit of a letdown.

As far as upgrades, the last few times I flew on Air Canada it seemed they had done away with the first class section and changed it to the government hack and staff section. And I am only half joking...Seems like a bit of taxpayer subsidized flying. Paying for premium seats.

Anyway, I have a secret that gets me free upgrades on a rather regular basis...works about 75% of the time if there is room in first or business class.

[complexintentions]

Upgrading pax in our airline without authorization is a firing offence. It's one of the ways they control costs. If you want the upgrade, you can cash in a huge amount of frequent flyer points or break out the credit card. Heck, they won't even let the pilots sit in an empty F seat during the flight to eat a meal. But I think it's ok to store a body in an empty F suite if someone dies enroute.

I do agree that most J class pax on AC flights have that entitled government employee look to them. I always laugh when someone brags they got upgraded to "First Class" on an AC flight from YYZ to YVR. I don't think there's been 3 class service domestically for 20 years...?

[lilflyboy262]

Doc, I call bs on your story
Air NZ doesn't have first class.

I used to do check in and gate agent stuff. At the gate you cannot upgrade people. The system does not allow it to print out a new class. The upgrade has to be done down in service control ( I think thats what it was called). It will then be entered into the system and an explaination for the upgrade must then be tagged to the person.
People can get disciplinary action taken against them if they are doing it for free "just because".
The purser can upgrade you at the door. I got a few people upgraded that way. But I was in pretty good standing with most of the pursers as I would bend over backwards for them at the gate.
Although, I was told that for take off and landing you are supposed to be in your assigned seat in case of an accident.

The only chance of free upgrades now is when they need to make space in economy when they have oversold the flight. They will then upgrade gold elite travellers first, then gold.
Think how pissed you would be as an elite traveller and a no body got upgraded because they asked nicely?

[Meatservo]

Upgrading pax in our airline without authorization is a firing offence. It's one of the ways they control costs. If you want the upgrade, you can cash in a huge amount of frequent flyer points or break out the credit card. Heck, they won't even let the pilots sit in an empty F seat during the flight to eat a meal. But I think it's ok to store a body in an empty F suite if someone dies enroute.

I do agree that most J class pax on AC flights have that entitled government employee look to them. I always laugh when someone brags they got upgraded to "First Class" on an AC flight from YYZ to YVR. I don't think there's been 3 class service domestically for 20 years...?

How in the world would one of the business fags that run your airline even find out that you were eating your meal in an empty "F" seat, unless you have someone on your crew who is willing to rat you out for the merest offense? Time to get a new job. I can't believe how low the profession has sunken, to the point where people are afraid to toe the line on their own flights. Bring on the automatic shit. Real human beings have much better things to do with their time than put up with this garbage.

[lilflyboy262]

Exactly meat!
Whenever I got someone "upgraded" they were told they would only get whats left over from the premium meals, or an economy meal as that was all that was catered for the plane.
Who's going to know? Unless there is an accident and then that is the least of their worries.

[Doc]

Doc, I call bs on your story
Air NZ doesn't have first class.

I used to do check in and gate agent stuff. At the gate you cannot upgrade people. The system does not allow it to print out a new class.

Tell me about your many years with Air NZ. Geee, they may not actually call it "First Class", but it is, and they did. Rules just might be a little different there than in Canada. Spend much time in NZ, do you?
Do you wonder what motive I would have for making it up? Or, are you just feeling like a knob?

[RatherBeFlying]

I once took my kids and ID50 tickets to the competition when our flight was full. The gate agent started upgrading the full fare economy folks to F or J to accommodate the standbys in the back.

Of course bottom line was increasing revenue.

The FFs with the most mileage will be first in line for upgrades, followed by anybody paying full fare.

Copers on freebies are last.

[Meatservo]

Doc, I call bs on your story
Air NZ doesn't have first class.

I used to do check in and gate agent stuff. At the gate you cannot upgrade people. The system does not allow it to print out a new class.

Tell me about your many years with Air NZ. Geee, they may not actually call it "First Class", but it is, and they did. Rules just might be a little different there than in Canada. Spend much time in NZ, do you?
Do you wonder what motive I would have for making it up? Or, are you just feeling like a knob?

One day I'll perfect the "self-unbunching" pair of panties, and make a million bucks selling them to you guys.

[Beefitarian]

I understand the confusion. When I rode with Air NewZealand a couple of times, it was so much better than the most of the other Star Alliance carriers, I thought I was on first class too. I preferred them to Singapore Air, my wife and her Mom's favorite.

In fact the food was so good I would have cheerfully purchased it from a lunch counter somewhere.

[FlyGy]

Besides, isn't the assigned seating one of the ways to assist recovery experts in determining identities when they recover remains from a downed aircraft?

[lilflyboy262]

FlyGy, In short, yes.

Doc, I worked with Air NZ up until 2009. They do not have first class. First class was removed in 2004. They have only had Business, Premium Economy and Economy since flying to SFO.
The motto for business class is "To experience first class service at business class prices."
To see first class... you should travel with Thai. That blows Air NZ's Business class away.

Spend much time there? I am a citizen, so yes.

I hated hearing these "Just walk up and ask nicely for an upgrade." It does not happen anymore. Those days are long gone.
Every flight I had at least 5 people ask me. Unless you were a blonde haired, blue eyed, 20 something gorgeous woman that was nice enough to slip me her number, then there wouldn't be an upgrade.

If you were lucky enough to have had this happen to you in recent times, then chances are that you had already had the upgrade in the system via airpoints or you were gold / gold elite and they were looking to make room in Y class for standby passengers.
Even then they would most likely bump you to Premium Economy, and then upgrade a pax from there to Business.

[complexintentions]

How in the world would one of the business fags that run your airline even find out that you were eating your meal in an empty "F" seat, unless you have someone on your crew who is willing to rat you out for the merest offense? Time to get a new job. I can't believe how low the profession has sunken, to the point where people are afraid to toe the line on their own flights. Bring on the automatic shit. Real human beings have much better things to do with their time than put up with this garbage.

Bwahahaha you've obviously never worked in a Middle-Eastern based Indian-dominated airline....that culture is all ABOUT reporting on colleagues to get ahead. Things are more competitive when there's over a billion of ya. Don't like that kind of environment? Then the expat life is not for you, best to stay home in nice, friendly, group-hug Canada. EMIRATES stands for English Managed Indian Run And The Expats Suffer. But it IS amusing to hear the comment "willing to rat you out for the merest offense". Kind of quaint, the innocence! As if it's news how low the profession has sunk, look around...and I hate to tell you, but all the future growth will be in the mega-carriers in the Gulf and China. There simply is no way for legacy carriers to compete, not on cost, not on service. Too much cheap labour and modern long-range aircraft hand the advantages to the Middle East.

I'll get a new job when someone in Canada will pay me enough to save 5 figures a month to skipper a B777 (bearing in mind I don't have the 25 years to accrue the seniority that that position would need at AC, the only remotely comparable position). Or, I save enough to not have to work at all, which is my preferred goal and a lot closer. If the tradeoff is not eating a meal in F, I can live with that. I did my time working for the human garbage in Canada already, and for a lot less money and a lot less airplane, thanks.

Overselling occurs on all airlines, and it's cheaper to upgrade Y into F and J into Y, than it is to try and accommodate the extra pax in hotels or whatever. But it's done by status (frequent flyer points and the like), random freebie upgrades or upgrading your buddies? Highly unlikely anywhere anymore, because the companies are watching costs like crazy.

[shimmydampner]

Unless you were a blonde haired, blue eyed, 20 something gorgeous woman that was nice enough to slip me her number, then there wouldn't be an upgrade.

Who knew the answer was straight out of the aviation SOPs: whore yourself out for an upgrade!

Seriously though, if it CAN be done after all, what's wrong with giving an upgrade to any person who exhibits the appropriate level of decorum? Why the double standard? Dating prospects really that grim?

[lilflyboy262]

Honest answer.
Because I wouldn't be willing to get fired for a nicely dressed gentleman.

Although it could have been that Doc had that effect on the lady at the counter...

[Lost Lake]

Back to Delta. I just flew back from florida on Delta. The chinese people sitting in the emergency exit doors couldn't speak engrish so had to move. I volunteered to sit there (long legs). Prior to departure, the FA thanked me for moving and gave me their "first class seat". Needless to say, my wife was pissed as she was still stuck in steerage. Ya never know.