BlackBird

Does it happen? Complimentary upgrades? I never expect upgrades, but would be interesting to know if Finnair ever does it to their Platinums or other Emeralds. Though I doubt it.

During last two years (as Gold) I got op-up twice on European routes. As Platinum I haven't got any economy flights yet, so I can't say anything about that.

NoWindowSeat

Very, very rarely. Only when Y is overbooked and AY upgrades not only according to status but also based on coach booking class = more expensive ticket, more chances for op up...

The M11 mid-cabin (rows 5-6) are sometimes used for elites if J load is light but it's then Y service.

mosburger

Upgraded on longhaul but then it was an "upgrade light" with biz seat and eco service as mentioned.

kaiflyer

NEVER been upgraded on AY

miikka

Upgraded once - I was rerouted from HEL-LHR-overnight stay-LHR-HKG to HEL-BKK-HKG on 24 Dec and I found myself in Business class with Business class service on HEL-BKK. But I think it was a combination of LHR fog, 24 December (a lot of tourists traveling to BKK) and HEL-BKK route.

Most of the airlines do not just give complimentary upgrades without a good reason - why would they, it is costing them money and there isn't any reason even for the frequent flyers.

kaiflyer

I disagree, an occasional upgrade on short haul need not cost more than the catering, but the cost would be offset by the goodwill and the image that AY appreciate and value their top tier customer

At the same time I appreciate the realities of airline business, which is more numbers than marketing driven these days

miikka

Well, yes ... but the problem comes from the fact that it is pretty difficult to make sure that each of the FFs gets their complimentary upgrade once a year. Otherwise it would be just creating bad image as some FFs would be getting those upgrades more than the others. Of course the airline could concentrate on the highest flying FFs but it would require additional systems to monitor where these people are going. Or additional time from the GAs to check all their FFs in the flight (pull their profile and check the amount of mileage) - automatic system would be the best but that requires development and then it would take out the flexibility in case gate needs upgrade space for some reason (late passengers re-routed from some other flight etc.).

In theory it is very good recognition to upgrade the best FFs but in reality it would be difficult and would just raise a question how passenger A is better Platinum than B.

Then there would be the questions who are the top customers?
- A customer who only flies with AY when the company pays and on leisure the passengers chooses some other cheaper airline
- A customer who flies with AY on own money and rarely with company money

Which one is the better customer, in the first case the company is making the decision and not the passenger; in the second case the passenger isn't flying so much but makes the decision.

kaiflyer

and we know how good AY is with 'systems'

I was thinking about this from a more casual point of view, where the crew would be given the discretion to provide an upgrade to any status passengers onboard, the info is already available to them.

But yes I agree that a fair system is difficult to come up with, but I also think that not many things in life are fair anyways so why does air travel need to be? I suppose the counter argument is that a system of NO upgrades is the most fair one

miikka

Unfortunately we know all too well. I wouldn't like to see any new systems as the existing are still working quite badly.

The good question is that are we sure this doesn't happen already? The fact that nobody here gets them doesn't mean that nobody gets them. Maybe there are some true flyers who get the upgrades all the time.

kaiflyer

Indeed... the fact that I never get them could even be sign of AY being cleverer than we thought as although I am Platinum, I am pretty worthless to AY as I fly 98% on other OW carriers...

frankvb

After becoming BA Silver (1W Sapphire) I was upgraded on the next flight I took on AY, HEL-LHR. However by doing this AY did set an expectation which was as far away from the reality as possible - never got any other upgrade since then (even now I'm Emerald). As well I'm almost always flying on full Y tickets when in economy (last year I did over 12 return LHR-HEL trips on AY).

BTW: just to be clear, I assumed that one upgrade was operational (even business class was completely full on that flight).

BlackBird

My two op-ups as gold were both sunday evening flights back to HEL. First one from AMS and another one from LHR. But they weren't complimentary, I just got lucky because economy was full. First time I was flying with a friend (no status) and they upgraded him too.

GetAA81Back2ARN

Have had one (1) op-up with AY as AA EXP even though flying with them rather often. Have had one op-up on BA with an AY-ticket. In both these cases with low booking classes.

Also got moved to the mid-cabin in the MD11 once on a AA-ticket (fare class B) so I assume there is real thruth in AY "upgrading" full fare passengers before there own status members if required.

Once I thought I got a complementary upgrade. Having a seat on the first row of the Economy cabin, when I got onboard it showed that the curtain was behind that row rather than in front of the row. It was discovered by the crew who called for technical assistance and rearranged the cabin...

However, I have seen passengers being moved from Y to C after checkin, but I have always assumed they using coupons or something similar.

cressers

Just got to the end of this thread and still chuckling........upgrade.......on Finnair.......really.

In all seriousness, over the past 8 years, I have had one. As Gold & Platinum.

Cloud Lounger

I've had one - from SVO to HEL. My AC Elite tags must have been the reason... or my horrible attempt to chat up the Russian check-in agent in Finnish The flight was not full.