Desperate for an upgrade
 

Hello everyone. My wife and I are not frequent fliers, we fly for leisure a few times a year. She is 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, I am 6' 5" and 240. We're flying to Thailand next March, and we can't afford business or first class. A couple times ticketing agents have taken pity on us and upgraded us to business or first class at no charge, which is terrific when you're our size. I don't care about better meals or better TV selection, but we love that extra room. My question is: what is the best way to try and get a free upgrade from an agent at the counter? Do we look sad and hope for the best? Can I ask for an upgrade and slip the agent a 50 dollar bill or a hundred? Or is there some other way? Economy just kills us on a long flight, we try for exit rows or bulkhead but we don't always get them. Is there a way even to try and secure those early like before the day of the flight? Help!
Also one of our layovers is like 9 hours in San Francisco, from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Is there anywhere we can go to just rest for awhile besides those fine airport chairs ? Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

Who are you flying (and from where)?

I don't know about slipping a gate/counter agent a bill. I don't think it's going to work. Airlines have strict policies about upgrading their prepaid flyers and their elites. Also they have only a set amount of seats on a flight. It's totally unlike a hotel where there can be plenty of rooms.


Have you tried getting tixs thru reputable consolidators?

There are plenty of hotels of all grades and costs around SFO, why not Priceline one?

China Airlines from San Francisco to Bangkok, and Thai Air from there to Phuket. The China Air flights are obviously the long ones...

If it's not too late, switch to BR (EVA) economy deluxe asap (only around $200 more than regular economy)

rumor has it that a high percentage of the j seats between pek and sin on sq are allocated in this manner. that said, sfo and pek are quite different places

Thai's JFK-BKK non-stop on 340-500 has 37" pitch in regular coach, even more in the premium economy. At least 5-6" more than other airlines' coach. Problem solved.

If anything, request a bulkhead or exit row. Your chances of scoring one of these is a lot more likely that an upgrade. Call your airline and see what they can do for you.

There's a century movie complex in San Mateo (~5 miles away). Catch a flick (3 hrs), dinner (1-2hrs) and head back to the airport.