Yes, Captain's prerogative / doors-closed upgrade.
I have a friend who in turn is best friends with a BA captain and he always buys WT and usually flies CW or F with BA- the friend finds out what flight he is on and then emails the relevant captain in advance.
It is what it is- a perk of being a BA captain, which isn't something easy to achieve.
I have never had an op-up, but then I don't give BA much chance...
Originally Posted by
Tobias-UK
I remember taking my then 13-year-old son with me on a business trip to New York at Thanksgiving, I didn't want to spoil him so booked us in Premium Economy. BA scuppered that and upgraded us in both directions to Club. The lad was excited and before we'd even sat down with obvious delight he was telling the person across the aisle we'd been upgraded!
He was quickly trained on upgrade etiquette thereafter.
For some reason this reminded me of trying to keep a moderately low profile entry into an AA J cabin at the front of an A330 with the full complement of cost centres in tow.
My (at the time) quite young kids bounced on board and the youngest jumped onto his seat to find a plastic bottle of water and proudly turned around to shout at me "look Daddy, free water....!!".
The other occupants, most of whom I imagined had paid $$$, certainly found it amusing!