First off, just want to say Hi! New member here and found this site just looking for some advice. I am pretty new to the traveling/frequent flyer lifestyle. Well Im not that frequent of a Flyer but do have to do about 6-7 international trips to china/vietnam/taiwan a year for work. Recently my company put a policy in where premium economy tickets are no longer allowed to be purchased with the company travel site. If you are VP and above you can fly business, but the rest of us bottom feeders have to go coach no matter the distance traveled. It is a pretty crappy situation for the guys who have to travel alot and travel on several 13-15 hour flights. As more products are moving to vietnam it is even worse. I am caught up in this and now will soon be staring the dreaded regular coach seats on these long journeys. I am wondering if there is a way, or if any of you guys know, that certain frequent flyer program levels might give you free access to seat upgrades so I can at least get a premium economy ticket after booking economy? Like United MileagePlus gold or something? Basically I am looking for a way not to break any company rules but still manage to get onto the premium economy section xD. Are there any hacks you frequent flyers might know about? I heard one co-worker I had who travelled a lot more said he has always managed an upgrade but he bascially just said because he travels so much. I am wondering if at some level this is possible and which airlines are the best if this is possible? Thanks in advance for your advice!

Welcome to FT. It is unclear where you are travelling from, so that will make a big difference. The short answer is that no airline will give you free upgrades to a premium economy cabin just for being a frequent traveller. Some FFP allow upgrades with miles or certificates, but these need to be earned first. Some airlines, like United, allow their higher status members to sit in economy plus, which is not premium economy but simply gives more legroom. Other airlines allow you to bid for an upgrade to a higher cabin. It really depends on where you are located and what airlines you fly. There is, however, no free lunch.

I typically fly out of JFK in New York. I guess typical airlines are EVA, China Southern and Cathay Pacific. However, with the travel agency my company uses it sometimes books those as either a United Flight, Delta Flight or American.

Welcome to FT! You may as well join all three programs (American, Delta and United) since membership is free, but you will obtain the best results if you can concentrate your flying on one airline and its international partners. United has a hub at Newark. In addition, you may wish to consider obtaining credit cards that offer substantial bonuses for new members.

If flying on a codeshare even less chance of an upgrade even with a ffp instrument/ff miles. That is UA, DL, AA flight number (marketed) on a flight operated by Eva, China Southern or CX (codeshare). And cross airline/ffp upgrades are uncommon. You really need to be flying (marketed & operated) on the airline of your frequent flyer program to even enter the upgrade lottery with ff miles/cash co pay/certificate (e.g. SWU). You will not get freebie upgrades.

Are you subject to the Fly America Act or what ever it is called?

Are you permitted/willing to fly a double-connection route? If so, pursuing oneworld status -- with either AA or another oneworld carrier -- would entitle you to Main Cabin Extra seats on AA flights (at 24 hours before departure with lowest-tier status, and at time of booking with any higher oneworld status). MCE seats are not the same as Premium Economy, but they typically have 34" seat pitch, have dedicated overhead bins for MCE passengers, and include free alcoholic beverages -- even on domestic flights.

You could fly AA to China, Hong Kong, or Tokyo, and then connect to CX or JL to the flight to Viet Nam.

ANA used to offer their Diamond members exactly what you want, the ability to sit in Premium Economy (if seats were available at check-in) with an economy ticket, but this program ends on March 31, 2020. There's no other frequent flyer program (I'm aware of) that offers something comparable between the U.S. and Vietnam.

Some airlines, including ANA and Japan Airlines, offer a buy-up to Premium Economy on the day of departure for a fixed cost.

I am in the same situation. I fly united, book on our corporate travel site, then login to my mileage plus account and change my seat to free economy plus. Its not economy premium, but still better than coach. I get upgraded fairly frequently on domestic flights though.