Originally Posted by r0gerthat

An approach you could take is, if the travel does not commence within 7 days after booking, to use the 24hr window to cancel the ticket and rebook yourself in to a business class. Please note the 24 hr window, this is starts after you receive the ticket confirmation, so might not work in this instance.

You will initially book the eco fare, get the confirmation with ticket number and receipt. If you cancel, you can use that refund to fund towards the business class ticket. Perhaps a phone agent would be able to do it in 1 go, not sure.

Before people comment saying this can be perceived as fraud, this really depends on the travel policy that applies. E.g. some travel policies allow upgrades paid by the flyer, in which case this could be seen as that, just a different route to approach it compared to an actual upgrade.