Discounted Upgrades for £'s at Check In
Feb 1, 2003 | 2:44 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Harrogate UK
Programs: SK*G, BD*S, HH-Gold
Posts: 198
Discounted Upgrades for £'s at Check In
Does any airline offer upgrades in exchange for cash at airport check in counters
Have recently heard BA offered to upgrades at check in for £200 from business to first on a flight from LHR - JFK
Is this common, is it worth offering an amount at check in, am travelling business class tommorrow from LHR-BKK with TG confirmed in Business Class. What is a sensible amount to offer or will they just quote the published fare difference between business and first
am intuiged so any help appreciated and of course will be posting full trip report on my return!
Have recently heard BA offered to upgrades at check in for £200 from business to first on a flight from LHR - JFK
Is this common, is it worth offering an amount at check in, am travelling business class tommorrow from LHR-BKK with TG confirmed in Business Class. What is a sensible amount to offer or will they just quote the published fare difference between business and first
am intuiged so any help appreciated and of course will be posting full trip report on my return!
Feb 1, 2003 | 4:12 am
#2
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Thread in UA forum on this in last week or two. UA flights to USA ex LHR, and it ran a LOT more than £200 though. 
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Feb 2, 2003 | 4:09 pm
#8
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
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Last summer I was at the airport at BOS checking in next to the LX counter, and they had a sign: "Upgrade to Business Class on today's Zurich flight for $300. Inquire at the counter."
I don't know how common this is, but they were advertising it quite vividly.
I don't know how common this is, but they were advertising it quite vividly.
Feb 2, 2003 | 5:08 pm
#10
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Guess it is Miles Buzz if you get a lot more miles doing this than you otherwise would via class of service bonus. 
Which no-one seems to have mentioned .... would these "on the spot" upgrades apply for COS bonus?
They never do on upgrades with points or certs, but this is kind of a 'paid' J/F class cabin seat I suppose? Does anyone know?
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~ Glen ~
Come and visit the most ** FRIENDLY FORUM ** on FlyerTalk. No flame wars, no personal abuse, no substance abuse. Not much of anything really!
Which no-one seems to have mentioned .... would these "on the spot" upgrades apply for COS bonus?
They never do on upgrades with points or certs, but this is kind of a 'paid' J/F class cabin seat I suppose? Does anyone know?
------------------
~ Glen ~
Come and visit the most ** FRIENDLY FORUM ** on FlyerTalk. No flame wars, no personal abuse, no substance abuse. Not much of anything really!
Sep 18, 2003 | 3:59 am
#12
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: BA, LH, BD
Posts: 1,486
nearly every airline i have asked in asia, malaysian, Ba, Garuda (with a watch), KLM, etc. have said yes to this, but i was poor at the time and have only taken up the offer once. but for sin- lhr with malaysian was about £400 - and i was only flying super cheap econ,
Sep 23, 2003 | 1:05 am
#13
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Quite a bit of money for an asset that's 100% sure to go to waste 1 minute following departure. How popular were these "sales"?
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Sep 23, 2003 | 1:26 am
#14
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by OttoGraham:
Quite a bit of money for an asset that's 100% sure to go to waste 1 minute following departure. How popular were these "sales"?
</font>
Quite a bit of money for an asset that's 100% sure to go to waste 1 minute following departure. How popular were these "sales"?
</font>
I guess they hae to protect the integrity of their fare structure. Why would anyone pay for F if they could upgrade a V fare for two hundred bucks?
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ozstamps:
Guess it is Miles Buzz if you get a lot more miles doing this than you otherwise would via class of service bonus.
Which no-one seems to have mentioned .... would these "on the spot" upgrades apply for COS bonus?
They never do on upgrades with points or certs, but this is kind of a 'paid' J/F class cabin seat I suppose? Does anyone know?
</font>
Guess it is Miles Buzz if you get a lot more miles doing this than you otherwise would via class of service bonus.
Which no-one seems to have mentioned .... would these "on the spot" upgrades apply for COS bonus?
They never do on upgrades with points or certs, but this is kind of a 'paid' J/F class cabin seat I suppose? Does anyone know?
</font>
I don't think that they should earn a COS bonus, but I'd take one if offered.
Of course, what are the odds that NW/CO start selling upgrades to Europe at the gate???