Originally Posted by
ben434
Only ambassadors carry a diplomatic passport.
Diplomatic passports are carried by a number of diplomatic officials, not just the ambassador, and it does not affect upgrades, unless a person with the ability to issue these is 'awed' by such a document (which in practise does not confer any great benefits; do not confuse it with 'diplomatic immunity' which is something completely different).
Originally Posted by
ben434
Hi there,
I have received complimentary upgrades twice in the past year. First one when I was flying Liberia-Chicago on UA metal, I was only *S back then. I asked politely at the Premier checkin desk if there was an economy plus seat available on the flight (I know from experience that, although it is not a published benefit, if you are *S or *G you may ask for free for an E+ seat at checkin or at the gate, depending on your luck, worked for me 8/10 times). So when I asked for an E+ seat, based on my silver status, she said "oh I see that first is empty, I will see what I can do, in the meantime here are your E+ boarding passes". Then surely they called my name once seated in the plane and we were bumped in first cabin first row. Y cabin was half empty.
You had a simple economy ticket and you were upgraded to international first (skipping business) class from Liberia to Chicago simply by asking? Really?