Originally Posted by
Oaxaca
In my experience of op-ups, which is reasonably extensive over the years, the new BP has "Involuntary Upgrade" (or an abbreviation thereof) printed on it, so they do call it an upgrade. That said, I don't think that you're necessarily entitled to everything from the higher cabin, but neither should you get less than the provision for the cabin you paid for (which on BoB routes, is not difficult for BA to achieve).
Other than BA, I've received operational upgrades on Air France, Austrian, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, SAS, Swiss, United, and probably some others I can't recall right now. BA is the only one that's ever brought up the possibility of not receiving the service of the upgraded class. To reiterate, this pains me more on behalf of their disproportionately graceful and sympathetic staff than on behalf of myself, as I'm well aware that any additional benefit is more than I've paid for, and I'm very thankful for a free glass of champagne — even Castelnau! I do still appreciate the gesture. But none of the other airlines had underprepared for the event of upgrading and treated me any differently from the other passengers in the cabin. Ever.