Upgrade to first class
 

I would like to get upgraded to first class without paying more, using an upgrade certificate or using milage off my FF. Does anyone know if this is possible? The airline is USAIR.

Not possible,keep the miles and certificates till they expire and throw them or use them for scrap paper.

Try posting your question in FT Miles --> US Airways

http://www.flyertalk.com/forumcgi/fo...e=5&LastLogin=

Welcome to FlyerTalk wjnwjn!

Follow the advice jfe gave you, perhaps the FT'ers at the USAIR board can help you.


BUT,

as you can imagine you are not alone in your wish to get upgraded to first w/o paying more or using certs/miles. To let you know, it can happen, it is known as an "operational" upgrade, but they are rarely given.

Question I have for you is, "why do you feel deserve/should receive the upgrade?" i.e. are you a very frequent flyer on USAIR or someone else? a very large shareholder at USAIR? or.....?

Sweet Willie

I travel a great deal and my company keeps the milage for the VIPs. It would be nice just once and a while to fly first class. Is it possible to purchase a membership through the airlines that allows you first class upgrades. Example, 4 upgrades per membership that can be used for the membership period? I just don't have the time to do the research? Like right now I am sitting in an airport waiting to get on a flight to the west coast and its over booked and I am in the back of the plane. This flight would have been great to get an upgrade.

Leisuremiles

I learned something a long time ago and would recommended you follow it. "If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all"

Thank you for your reply!

The best deal for upgrading to First on an airline is probably through America West. They have a farily new program where you can upgrade within 4 hours of departure for a reasonable price: $50 for flights 0-500 miles, $100 for flights 501-1000 miles, and $150 for flight 1000+ miles. I would really only recommend the splurge for the "longer" flights though where you'll be getting a meal. One catch is that there must be open seats in First to sell at the time you request the upgrade (no standby status).

talk to the US Air folks in the above mentioned forum. without status (which I assume you don't have if you aren't getting any miles credited to you account) you're probably dependent upon the good will of US Air agents.

Our company used to have a similar policy where we didn't get to keep our miles that we traveled on business, they got applied to future business travel. So for instance, I had one Delta FF# for business and one for personal. But the status miles were associated with our business FF# and so if you earned status, you could get upgrades. Any option for this wjmwjm? By the way, our company decided it cost more to administer than it saved the company, not to mention the bad will it caused, so we now get to keep the miles.

good news DE!

With the crap that a road warrior has to put up with, FF miles are an easy perk that the employee looks forward to.

Every boss I had, made mention to me that "UA is not the cheapest airline out there". True, but after getting each boss on a plane back home, w/o a lot of grief/cost, when their flights were cancelled/delayed, EVERY boss never said another word and became FF's themselves.

I didn't think this was allowed per most programs' rules. I just checked the Delta SkyMiles rules, and it says:

One account must serve both business and personal travel needs.

Did Delta know what you were doing? Or did you use slightly different names and/or mailing addresses? Or, depsite the rules, perhaps they really didn't care.

How is this possible? The miles accrue to the traveller, not an organisation.

You'd have to be flying on expensive fares (full/Y where there may be competitive First for full fare in certain markets) if you don't have status on US. And even then, you may be behind status travellers in the upgrade pcking order.

WJNWJN,

Welcome to FT.
A key to getting an upgrade is attitude. Be polite, friendly and humble. It never hurts, especially with someone who deals with agitated travelers all day, CS people like the change.

As you saw, most people try to be helpful. I'm sure the poster above got cut off on the way to work or a dog peed on his leg, thus partially explaining the posting above.

At least I hope so.

Thanks for the idea Thumper!

I will kill them with kindness on Airtran since it is an 8:55pm flight, maybe they will let me have a free upgrade, since I have a feeling the plane will be pretty empty anyway.

I'll post back and let ya know how it goes.

Has anyone ever been successful in the past getting a free upgrade out of just being polite, nice, kind?

In the old days, that used to work pretty well, but times are much tougher now that the upgrade culture has taken hold. However, I have a friend that ALWAYS secures gratis upgrades on his flights between Europe and Asia by being polite and by pointed out that he is too tall (around 6'5") to fit comfortably in Y seats.

Sure - I think six times in a dozen years, I've gotten an operational upgrade. And I'm certain it was always because I'm inordinately civil, polite, and gracious. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif. Nah - I figured I must have looked like the overworked consultant I was and they thought I might live to the end of the route if they put me in first. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

Starbaby - you can buy a "business class" seat (but no real food http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/frown.gif ) on AirTran at the gate if there is availibility - something like $25 per segment ??

Interesting that some respondants tried to offer help and some offered their view that it is possible to benefit from being nice.

It is even more interesting that the more sarcastic the responder, the less likely they thought it was to get an upgrade for being nice to others.

Sorta sums up my argument nicely http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif

Keep snarling all, maybe I'll send a drink back to you in the main cabin next time we meet.

Thumper, I have to agree with you! Being polite and genuinely friendly works wonders. Even if I don't get an upgrade I find the whole flying experience to be so much more fun.

Attitude is so important! One person I regularly travel with gets grumpy and out of sorts and even angry with every little problem. I tend to see it all as a challenge and know that things will go wrong. Gosh, which one of us do you think actually makes friends on the road? And I'm talking the kind of friends who will actually keep in touch and help one another out when visiting their home towns.

Hope I didn't veer too far off the topic.

wjnwjn... i wish i could say united had it for you.. but they dont. my father worked for delta and they didnt either.. thats my info on that... and for all of you wanting something for nothing... i do agree that being kind, and fun to your csr will give you a shot at it.. its happened . we have all done it... but when it becomes expected is when the problem starts... everyone thinks they deserve it. the amount of times agents hear it a day, is a joke.. do people go to the gap.. think they will pay the price of a shirt and get a sweater... i think not... its the same thing....