The downside of upgrades
Many threads on Flyertalk involve upgrades. They are valuable and important for some people, and a major aspect of FF mileage programs.
I don’t value them.
Flights – I don’t care about the extra space. Often when I get an upgrade, I would have had an empty seat next to me in economy. I would rather some large or tall person have the extra space. The meal could be a good perk, but you usually don’t know when you’ll get an upgrade. Therefore I don’t know whether to buy a meal before I get to the airport or to buy food. If I get an upgrade, it is at the last minute and is useless in that regard. The other problem is when I get a family member a seat next to mine, and then I get upgraded away from them. Five of my last nine upgrades, I’ve been separated from a family member. In Europe, first class on some flights seems to be in front of a curtain. I’ve never understood that.
I recently was upgraded at the last minute from my window seat to a business seat without a window. Luckily they hadn’t given my seat away, so (after a bit of a hassle) I got my window economy seat back. On another trip with my wife, who was on a separate PNR, I had never called to get us seated together. I present our boarding passes at the gate, “Can I please be removed from the upgrade list, and have my wife and I sit together, if possible?” It took her a while, but after 10 minutes, she gave us two boarding passes together. Not 5 minutes later, I am called up by another agent for an upgrade. I told her I didn’t want it – but they had already given my seat away.
Trains - Once we were upgraded to first class for a train in Switzerland, as part of a package deal. We were asked if we wanted any drinks, and my wife asked for some water. We were really annoyed to find out that it cost $7.00, particularly since we had some with us.
Rental Cars – An upgrade is a bigger gas guzzling car, which I never want. A SUV is really a major downgrade.
Hotels – An upgrade gets you a better room. But how do you know its better? I don’t stay at the same hotels often enough to know the rooms well enough. And sometimes, a better room is worthless, like the room with a garden view when you’re only there at night.