Airlines still generous with upgrades
 

Hi all

As you can see Im a newbie here hello to everyone

A question which has been bugging me
Are there any airlines who are still generous enough to give upgrades if you politely enquire
Im a frequent flyer and get upgraded when I have the points but are there any airlines who are nice enough to upgrade you just through courtesy

When I first started travelling with my job in 98 Cathay Pacific were very good at giving upgrades if you asked politely and they were feeling generous

Any airlines still good at these freebie upgrades ?

None of the ones I fly. You better have upgrades in account, or hope they roll the cabin forward due to overbooking in coach.

I can't understand the mentality of people who wish to get something for free by simply asking.
Do you also do that when you shop for things?
When you buy a new car do you politely ask if you could have their top-of-the-range model for free? Don't think that would work even if the sales person felt generous that day! Same should be true for air travel. If you want to sit up front then pay for a ticket with cash, miles, vouchers etc. and be happy if the airline might give you a free upgrade because of overbooking or other unusual circumstances.
SQ is known to not give upgrades to people who ask for one. They pride themselves on the excellent product they provide in their premium cabins and, for the benefit of those who actually pay for the product, do not wish to see it become "diluted".
It is interesting to see how different the premium products of airlines that allow "easy" access (status based upgrades, vouchers etc) to those seats is compared to those that really only have paying customers upfront. Next to you fly keep that in mind.
My 2 cents woth!

Thanks for the reply
As I can see this is a strong subject for you

It was a general question as I wondered if any airlines still did this out of courtesy as I'd experienced with a previous boss who when asking Cathay for upgrades many times got one

Sorry to brew up a storm

AA gives complimentary domestic upgrades to their top tier elites.

Alaska Airlines gives free, unlimited upgrades to elites on a space available basis. Non-elite flyers can purchase upgrades the day of flight for something like $50/1,000 miles if any are left after elites are upgraded. As an elite AS flyer, I'm given free upgrades about 90 percent of the time. As an elite flyer on AA, I have to redeem electronic upgrade coupons I've either earned or purchased to get an upgrade. I would be seriously upset if someone else were given a free upgrade when I had to pay for mine.

I think most airlines are offering free upgrades first to their frequent flyers (i.e., those who have attined elite status); it is extremely rare for the free upgrade to be offered to someone who just walks up and asks. If you don't have elite status with the airline your flying, I seriously doubt you'll ever get a free upgrade.

Free upgrades, called "operational upgrades" or "op-ups" for short, often happen when a flight is oversold in back but there are seats up front. The airline will upgrade some passengers to make room for more people.

Unfortunately, airlines usually choose who to upgrade on the basis of elite status. Fare paid may also be a factor. If you just ask, you will probably be told politely "I'm sorry, but if we have to move anyone forward, it will be our best customers" or "I'm sorry, but [ditto] it will be those who paid full fare." Asking won't hurt, but don't expect a positive result.

And I'd like to welcome you to FlyerTalk and apologize on our behalf for the answer you got a few posts up. Your question was not unreasonable, and you asked it nicely. The fact that the answer may be "no" does not, IMHO, justify attacking you for asking it.

And I'd like to welcome you to FlyerTalk and apologize on our behalf for the answer you got a few posts up. Your question was not unreasonable, and you asked it nicely. The fact that the answer may be "no" does not, IMHO, justify attacking you for asking it.[/QUOTE]

I agree completely. You never know until asking. I always ask for upgrades everywhere. I usually get them at hotels. Never on airlines. Joking and being kind gets you everywhere in my opinion. :)

^ I concur. I just wish I had spoken up sooner myself.

To the OP:
Although I forgot to say so in my earlier post ...

there are some people that hate free stuff, tax rate on that stuff is high. and from my experience you usually have to ask for it, business or people usually just say "free stuff here", so my point is there is nothing wrong with asking for complementary upgrade.

Free Upgrades
 

Continental, Northwest and Alaska offer complimentary space available upgrades to their Elite members (any level -- silver, gold, platinum). AA and UA offer complimentary space available upgrades to their highest level elite flyers (Platinum Executive or 100K). I don't know about US Airways or Delta.

Make sure to mention it's domestic US and Central America (at least on AA andCO, don't know about the others).

UA does not offer complimentary upgrades to anyone.

It does, to full fare (Y/C) passengers.

Also, while there are no complimentary upgrades for 1Ks, the fact is most 1Ks never run out of instruments to upgrade.

I guess we're all talking domestic here. AFAIK no airline offers complimentary international upgrades to anybody.

I don't believe so either. However some award some sort of upgrade instrument to elites. AA, for example, gives 8 system wide upgrades (good for 3 segments up to 25K miles on AA metal) per year to its top tier elites.