Originally Posted by
sbams
The gate agents don't have the choice. Upgrades are processed by algorithms in the booking system and are presented to the agents on their screens.
Originally Posted by
sharonchan813
so it is not like they can just upgrade anybody they like.
Yet they sometimes upgrade pax at their discretion for reasons of their own.
A colleague and I were once waiting in line behind a pax who turned out to be a sportsman of some distinction. I had never heard of the guy, but the KL agent was apparently a devotee of that particular sport. As soon as he had left, she called the gate and asked the agent to make sure this pax got an upgrade, mentioning that she was a great fan, bla bla bla. While she was arranging this important matter she kept the two of us waiting. As we were conversing in Danish, it probably never occurred to her that I understood every word she was saying in Dutch.
I have been the beneficiary of such upgrades myself too. I once arrived in the lounge with a girlfriend (no status) who was afraid of flying, and it showed. The lounge dragon asked what was wrong, and expressed her sympathy. A few minutes later she came over with two J class boarding cards. On the return flight a week or so later we were miraculously upgraded as well. These were longhaul flights.
So . . . strings can be pulled, and stuff happens.
Johan