Airlines - upgrade to business class

Alone, very smartly dressed in a suit, polite manners, early to the check in desk, you have a "chance"

Othe than that, zero, unless like my mate who on the plane was sat next to a couple with a young baby and the stewardess asked him if he would move into 1st class to give them more room! Lucky git.
 
As already mentioned,with ba you would be upgraded to world traveller plus not club class if they need to opup you. Suit makes no difference. Being in the exec club increases your chances as does travelling alone. If you picked a non std meal then you probably wouldnt get upgraded. tbh your chances are very slim. economy could well be over sold but if there is a silver card holder they will get the nod over you.
off topic but you can if you put the effort in ,fly business for nearly the same price as economy. i flew in first with ba this year to mexico for £550 :)
Make sure you online check in as soon as it open 24 hours before you fly to pick the best seat you can. if you can get a bulk head seat these are good in my opinion for getting in and out of your seat. sit as far forward as possible to exit quickly to get through customs as this can take ages at certain airports.
 
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BA have upgraded me twice in probally 200 flights.

First flight back from china where work had dumped me in ecconomy and the very nice girl took pity on me sat in the middle of the middle with my arms crossed over my chest and no room at all (im 6'7" tall and quiet a big guy, so im the bloke you DONT want to be sat next to on a plane)

Second one was when i had Gold status and they asked me if id like to be moved form club to first. i was travelling with 3 guys from work more senior than me and I did enjoy turning left instead of right getting on the plane but first isnt that much better than club, deffo wouldnt pay for it. (not that I pay for any of my flights)

Dont rush too much getting off the plane, I've seen peoeple rush off only to end up in the q behiend 3 iranians on student visas at the desk. Houston George Bush airport does nothing quick, this time in I spent 2 hours after getting off the plane.
 
what airline? if it's BA and you're not sucking walsh's willie then no chance.

unless you've paid for a full-fare ticket, economy is overbooked and you're a frequent flyer on one of the highest levels then the chances are very slim i'm afraid.

i was upgraded to Business to singapore and back on Lufthansa last month on a £300 ticket, but that was because i was flying with a Senator member with 1,000,000 miles
 
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Bear in mind that most flight upgrades are decided well before you arrive to check in and so are not dependent on your attire

A bit of advice I got from my brother in law (who's senior ground staff for a airline @ Heathrow) was never get to the gate and then ask for an upgrade and/or other privilages - it just completely knobs the staff off - at that stage they are just interested in getting you on the plane

The best you can do is be polite/joke when you check in and hope the member of staff has the hots for you

If you are a young man and travelling alone you have a better chance of getting an emergency exit row but that's about it
 
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Yep its BA and I'll be checking in at the local airport at Belfast for a through connection to Miami. I know a lot of the young lasses at Belfast from when I used to work up there so who knows. Not sure if they would have any ability to change any class details though if the main flight is from Heathrow.
 
what you can do though, is research the best seat to get.
arrive at check-in very early, and do your best to get a good seat.

find out what aircraft it will be and have a look on Seat Guru
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/British_Airways/information.php

on a BA 747 for example, it would be 29A or 29K

i remember my dad telling me he managed to get that seat, and he just slept for the entire flight without any interruptions. the extra legroom is awesome
 
I have already pre-booked seats which I didn't think would work but somehow the bookings have registered. Maybe its because I have the frequent flyer card.
 
did you pre-book 29A or 29K? because those really are the 2 best seats in the back
if you have pre-booked them, you can always change them..

didn't BA just bring in a charge for pre-booking seats?
 
They will always upgrade loyalty card holders first, in order, so if you are flying BA it will be premier, gold, silver then if it ever gets that far, blue. I've been upgraded a few times, mainly by asking and being dressed fairly smart or when the upgrade is from business to first, rarely from coach to business.
I also just flew to Asia in First on the A380, was definitely the nicest flight i've had! Felt sorry for all those poor chumps in business ;-)
 
mjt said:
did you pre-book 29A or 29K? because those really are the 2 best seats in the back
if you have pre-booked them, you can always change them..

didn't BA just bring in a charge for pre-booking seats?
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Those seats were already gone so I booked whatever was next best recommended. I think maybe the back rows. Yep as far as I know BA introduced charges but my work booking system seemed to let me select seats. Also confirmed this on my BA booking ref so it should all be good.
 
skiba said:
I also just flew to Asia in First on the A380, was definitely the nicest flight i've had! Felt sorry for all those poor chumps in business ;-)
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Singapore Airlines?
you should have got the suite :p

me being nosey - was it a first class ticket or an upgrade?
i presume it was a business trip?

ringo747 said:
Those seats were already gone so I booked whatever was next best recommended. I think maybe the back rows. Yep as far as I know BA introduced charges but my work booking system seemed to let me select seats. Also confirmed this on my BA booking ref so it should all be good.
Click to expand...
shame. you could always have a look when you're checking in online though, no harm done
 
Im dieing to try one of those A380s but for the last year ive been stuck on 747 or 777's back and forth to Houston, BA's fleet is startting to look abit tacky as well on the Houston run. Ive had broken Tvs and power sockets on quiet a few flights now and if its full (which it usually is if your on a weekend flight) then you up a certain creek without a paddle and 10hrs of no tv and no laptop power. I make sure ive got a good book now.
 
mjt said:
Singapore Airlines?
you should have got the suite :p

me being nosey - was it a first class ticket or an upgrade?
i presume it was a business trip?
Click to expand...

It was Qantas, First class ticket, company policy is Business but it was fully booked and we had to go, was a pleasant surprise when I got there and they told me at check-in I was on an A380. Also got upgraded from business to first on Jet back from India, that was actually almost as good as the A380, the lambswool mattress they put down when you want to sleep on Qantas swung it for me though :p

Oh ps, it was Qantas business on the way back on a 747, the seats don't even go flat. rubbish.

As for the above, I would complain and get my money back...
 
ah, nice one!
fancy running out of space on an A380 :eek:

although i guess they've reduced the number of flights now that they have increased capacity per flight..

BA are crap, complaining won't get you anywhere
most of their transatlantic long haul planes are getting very tatty, but that's because the competition also use old planes. South American routes are by far the worst though and south-east asia will have the best planes as they're competing with the best airlines in the world. (singapore, malaysian, thai, asiana, etc)
our A346 to singapore was only a few months old!

what annoys me more than the tatty aircraft on BA long haul though is the stewardess' attitude. in business especially, they're all humourless, stuck-up, moody old bags
 
I fly to Houston a lot too, but on Continental. Their miles & rewards are a lot better than the BA ones. I always go for the 777 flights as well and access to the Presidents Lounge at IAH is also a bonus.

I do make sure i eat well before i fly, love Panda Express at IAH.....
 
Havent flown continental outside the US since 2002, maybe the extra time round to gatwick might be worth it (I assume they still fly out of there)

BA miles are pretty much worthless these days by the time you stick the charges on.

Never tried panda express I usually go to papadeuxs
 
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