stewaran

This is a good place to be, as you will not be disappointed.
In something like 300 Ba Flights with Silver or Gold status i have had one ET - CE upgrade, one WT - WT+ and one WT+ to CW.

Camflyer

Back when I used to do about 6 WTP long haul returns as Silver, I had an upgrade rate of about 1 in 4 legs. In other cases I used points to upgrade.

I can only remember one short haul upgrade.

GateLouse2

For the period I was Gold, I used to have to travel LGW-BGI-LGW 7 or 8 times a year, always on my own and a fully flexible J fare. My upgrade success rate to F for the LGW - BGI sector was virtually nil, but about 1 in 3 for the return BGI - LGW, almost always by being called forward to the gate for a new boarding card shortly before boarding commenced.

Now I am Brown, our only long haul travel is by avios in the highest available cabin, so no opportunities for upgrade!

Crofton138

As a Silver, I've only ever had one Y -> J upgrade in over 200 sectors on short-haul, which was LHR-ATH on the old 767.

I've had three Y -> W upgrades long-haul, which were all provided at the gate: LHR-BKK, HKG-LHR and LHR-LAS.

If you were trying to fish for upgrades, selecting routes and timings where load is higher is definitely more of a factor than status.

flyingmonkie

It's not about status it's about CIV (and potential future CIV and a load of other factors). I fly BA on routes where there are other options and I think somehow they've clocked that I have decision making power in our company about travel. I also fly routes that tend to be oversold in WTP which is the cabin I often travel in. I think the latter is more important than the former but I tend to be upgraded more often than not these days. It's got to the point that in HKG the other day travelling in WT for a personal trip home they asked for our upgrade preferences at check in... "Would you be happy with a middle seat in WTP?"... I said no (had exit row) and assumed that would disqualify us for the bump but no at the gate we got two aisles...

fotographer

As a OWE (AA) I have been upgraded J to F 3 times... all of them for J being oversold.
(LHR to BOM)

Aus ATC

We have had 2 WT+ to CW upgrades. The first a few years ago for Mrs Aus ATC and me - I was OWE (QF Platinum) at the time. LHR to HKG. Second in April for Mrs Aus ATC (QF Bronze, BA nothing) travelling solo SIN-SYD. In both cases it was consequential to WT being oversold and people being bumped to WT+.

Brisbane Road

Although unusual, I've heard stories (and certain it's happened to me) where you can get upgraded when the flight isn't full, not entirely sure of the reasons why but it can happen.

But it's fairly set in stone that BA will only upgrade on oversold flights. I've seen stories of people with Gold/GGL status that complain to have never gotten upgrades or haven't in years but they're clearly not flying on routes that are oversold or in cabins that are more subject to upgrades. As said above, it's highly cabin/route dependent.

My track record is pretty good because I'm a regular east coast USA flyer in Y or W. JFK/EWR/IAD are flights (mostly the first two) that do regularly go out oversold. If you're regularly flying to a lesser served destination that often goes out with capacity and you're flying in J, it doesn't matter how many sectors or hours you've put in, you can't really complain if you've never been upgraded to F, because that's how the game works.

ThatT1Feeling

Back to the OP's question, it's not like (for example) hotel loyalty programmes where an upgrade (where available) is a published part of the level.

I've been all levels in BA apart from Bronze and Premier and it's certainly never been in any of the published status level information at any level. However, if the lower cabins are full and BA needs to move some people forward, then a higher status generally (although not always) helps.

So, although I tend to spend about the same per year with Hilton and BA, I would think that my upgrade rate at Hilton is about 5 times the rate I get with BA... luckily I tend to spend more physical time in the Hilton room than I do on the BA plane

ginger_lord

First time I ever flew with BA (and first time transatlantic) I got upgraded from WT+ to CW from LHR-AUS, having also had a complimentary upgrade via the 3rd party that organises our companies travel from WT to WT+. Later learned it was due to an aircraft change, was a 747 to another 747 so presumably the original had a larger WT+ cabin and the CW crew were very apologetic that the menu was printed on paper.

In the 50+ flights since never a hint of it happening to me again though have seen it happen to others on same flight.

alexwuk

This is a tough question. As other have noted it really depends on the flight being full in your cabin (and/or cabins below yours) and how many passengers in your cabin have status.
For instance: Friday night LHR-JFK often has lots of people going for a weekend in NY without status so there are frequent upgrades from W->J. The same flight at 2pm on a Tuesday is highly likely to more full in J than W.
J -> F is tough as there are usually a lot of high status flyers in J, especially on routes like HKG, SIN, JFK.

ppp909

As others have said there's no simple rule, and there are a lot of factors. Status is only part of it. I'm pretty sure that the fare paid is a factor; the first time I experienced club world was when I was with my wife, on a trip to BKK. We were both bronze, but had paid full-whack on a last-minute Y fare. We were pretty sure they were trying to tempt us, and it worked.

I've had most success when travelling solo though. I'm usually silver, but when I was gold for a couple of years I got a single upgrade the whole time: a short hop from Key West to Miami on AA. I actually declined it as they were going to split me from my wife and baby daughter. Instead, they upgraded them too, which was nice.

What I have noticed recently though is the seat next to me being blocked more often than not. On a daytime flight upstairs on an A380 I'd rather have a row in Y than a middle seat in W. I can live without the warm Prosecco.

NicoFly

In 3 years of Gold I just got an upgrade on BA to CE, but did on Qatar twice (to Business Class) and on JAL (to PE).
It seems easier to get the upgrade on partners airlines than BA.

Newly Wed

Its not quite correct that BA does not give free upgrades for status. At 2,500 tier points BA gives an upgrade voucher that can be used for 2 passengers and at 3,500 TPs you get 2 x upgrade vouchers for 1 passenger. There must be award space availability in the higher class cabin to use these vouchers. 2,500 - 3,500 is quite a stretch and mostly unobtainable other than to the most hardly of business travellers or those prepared to do TP runs.

My husband who is GGL does get regular upgrades on overbooked flights but it is never guaranteed.

volta

In 4 years as gold (flying in CW mostly TATL and some APAC flights, >2500TP/year), never been upgraded to F. Once on LHR-MAD, on 777 was sitting in F, but the entertainment system was turned off, food was regular CE. In my experience, BAEC makes it hard to use GUF2. I even lost one, as for the trips I wanted to use them, couldn't do it.