Dress Code - upgrading
 

With the chatter about dress code in the lounges....

I always wear casual when travelling EXCEPT when I am on standby to be upgraded.

I find the upgrade succes rate to be MUCH higher when I wear a shirt and tie. A genuine "good morning" to the GAs with a nice smile does wonders as well.

A nice thank you when you do get your upgrade is always appreciated by the GAs AND they just might remember you the next time you are in line for an upgrade....

In the days when you could upgrade almost from any fare, I have had tremendous over the pond upgrade success wearing a suit and my "power tie" *.

In fact, I remember twice the gate agents commenting on how nice the tie was.

* This tie was purchased in a designer boutique in Paris and was purchased on sale. In fact, in spite of its age, it is still my favorite tie. :)

I guess if I dressed as a Hip Hop Star(TRACK SUIT AND ALL THE BLING) and being an SE I would not stand a chance especially if an Aeroplan member in a suit was ahead of me. :confused:

There is a reason why the NBA forced all those players into suits. :p

Personally I think the effect is psychological....for the wearer! It makes you feel better by all means go ahead and do it, but I'm not convinced that it has much effect.

The upgrade rules are much more consistently enforced these days....not perfectly.... and there is nothing in there about tie wearers going first, unless they also happen to have 3 or 4 stripes on their shoulders.

DF

it's a myth these days. Unless you're fortunate enough to secure the lone I class seat in advance, the gate is much more consistent in enforcing fare basis, checkin time and member status than in the past. An SE in jeans on a higher fare will beat an E in a Boss, Ferragamo, or Versace any day.

You're right about the thank yous though - spreading politeness around benefits everyone's social interactions... just think of the next person in line who deals with an agent who is frazzled vs the one that has been kindly thanked.

Please notice that my observation on dress and upgrade success was dated by the observation " in the days when we could upgrade from almost any fare"

Those days are gone ... as are the days of upgrades based on upgrade criteria that were not always clear.

Anecdotal evidence (oxymoron,I know) at YVR before boarding flights to Japan that the gate agent had their translator go around the waiting area and contacting well dressed passengers and those of the older generation for OP-UPs. This of course after they have op-uped all the status members first.

Regardless of what I wear, I get my upgrades based on my status. This question might be better answered by those who have no status and dress well or crappy.

It shouldn't matter what one is wearing, they should get their upgrade based on their loyalty, which is how it works. If an agent was to refuse someone an upgrade based on their dress, yet they deserve the upgrade, that agent is not doing their job, and I hope that they get fired for that.

What's your point? That's essentially what I just said, but the dress code part I am apathetic to.

Why do you always want everyone to get fired?

As per the discussion at hand. I have had plenty of Op-Ups in my day when wearing jeans and a button down ..... Attitude, more than dress, has always seemed to be the winning thing for me because it sure isn't my looks :p

Ho hum. If an agent was casting about the boarding area and looking purely on the way people were dressed then I would doubt they would necessarily choose the "loyalty" character - they (loyal AC flyer) just might be the one in shorts and t-shirt on their way to HNL (like you perhaps) :)

So you have the poor bugger fired for not picking you and where then does that leave you next time?

For my first ever AC op-up, I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, but I was clean :p. I also had no status. I probably received the upgrade because I wasn't screaming at the GA for the flight which was oversold in the back. Attitude is more important than appearances.

I think shore9 thinks that anyone who doesn't give what HE wants should be fired.

True. In case of a badly oversold flight with LOTS of seats available up front, I go through my lists of SEs, Es, and Ps, then Lat and Lat + fares and put all of these up front. It only happened a handful of times where I ran out pax to upgrade lol... (CDG, YHZ, and FLL). That's when I glance around gate area, looking for pax who are well dressed.

But of course, sometimes I use my own judgement. For example, on one FLL flight where it's mostly vacation passengers, I remember choosing a quiet, elderly couple. They always appreciate it. Also I remember there was a mother traveling with her child who was VERY well behaved, and didn't have seats together. So I "upped" them. I also had a newly married couple who are on their honeymoon and are not sitting together... so when they asked me if I had 2 seats available, I said "Show me your marriage certificate" , with a little wink and gave them Executive. But again, these are very rare exceptions when I need seats in Economy. Upgrades are closely monitored by our airport managers.

AC_boy

I have met cattle and I can confirm this :p

Welcome back. I'm glad you're now spreading your criticism more equally around :D

When in J, you can tell who paid: the guy wearing fubu that's actually a successful record label owner, the middle aged man that hasn't shaved in a few days that's actually the CEO of imperial oil, the kid with the skateboard that's sponsored by nike. The people that didn't? The guys wearing the suits.

..unless they're coming right from work or their company has a travelling dress code of course :P

going OT, great lyric from Mos Def:

Like, late night I'm on a first class flight
The only brother in sight
The flight attendent catch fright
I sit down in my seat, 2C
She approach officially talking about, "Excuse me"
Her lips curl up into a tight space
She don't believe that I'm in the right place
Showed her my boarding pass,
And then she sort of gasped
All embarrassed put an extra lime in my water glass
An hour later here she comes by walking past
"I hate to be a pest but my son would love your autograph

I firmly believe it is attitude and civility that counts. Even as an SE there are situations where the GA has to make a judgment call -- who is he/she going to pick? Someone who is mature, polite and civil -- or some snotty-nosed youth who is proclaiming loudly that they have earned their upgrade?

One has to be subtle about this. I can remember two separate instances clearly where men, 50ish, non-status, in full suit & tie, flying overnight from YYZ to (different) South American locations were being over-friendly to the GAs and flight attendants and were clearly angling after an upgrade. After each exhausted their supply of faux charm they could no longer contain themselves they asked outright (whispering conspiratorially) for an op-upgrade and got turned down flat, dead cold. A bit pathetic really – particularly after 8 and 11 hours respectively in the suit.

It is quite surprising to me how often you do hear people ask for upgrades when on the plane.

...or at least a dressing down ;) :D