These days you need more than a suave demeanour and a gold card to get to the front of the plane. Alex McWhirter explains.
Over the years, there’s no doubt as to which question I have been asked the most. How can I get an upgrade? There has never been a fail-safe answer, of course, and the advice was half art and half science. It helped if you were smartly dressed, for instance, and possessed charm and confidence when you addressed the check-in agent. (Strangely enough, few questioners ever admitted lacking these qualities.)
The science element came because the routing played a part, and also the load on the aircraft (ie whether one class was full), as did whether you were a high-ranking FFP (frequent flyer programme) member. But all of that was in the days when airlines maintained rows of check-in counters and employed an army of staff. It was also the time when management didn’t keep tabs on who and how many people were receiving upgrades.
It’s all changed today. As Europe’s mega-hubs have installed automated processes, flight upgrading has become scientific. Airlines use it as a marketing tool to secure their best customers and, rather than the check-in agent providing the upgrade, the process today is determined by an individual behind the scenes.
That’s because passengers who have booked to fly their national airline from a major European hub are probably checking in online. In other words, there’s no longer any passenger/staff interaction at the baggage counter. Any flight upgrade will take place at the gate.
Eagle-eyed readers who regularly fly BA from London Heathrow will have spotted gate staff printing out reams of paperwork while the flight is being finalised. Those confidential listings tell staff who you are and what your commercial importance is to the company.
BA now “scores” passengers according to their worth. Executive Club Premier members have the highest scores, with those holding gold cards being placed further down the rankings. Gold is subdivided into additional tiers based on the amount of flying you do, the class of travel and the routes. The higher the score, the more likely it is you will be offered an upgrade. Clearly your worth to BA will be higher if you take a lot of long-haul business class flights rather than short sectors within Europe.
At this point, it must be stressed that the upgrade process is conducted with secrecy and discretion. No reputable airline wants its first and business class customers to know that some of their fellow passengers haven’t paid the going rate.
Whether or not upgrading does take place depends on a number of factors and it’s one of the biggest mysteries in the aviation business.
The process can depend on the airline, the route, the type of ticket held and even the day of the week.
Upgrading at a major European hub is invariably in the hands of an official known as a “closer.” He or she will be working behind the scenes monitoring the passenger list of every flight. The exact systems vary but, for BA at Heathrow, the closer will be monitoring the passenger list of any particular flight from 24 hours to as little as 30 minutes before departure. So today it is the anonymous closer, not the humble gate agent, who makes the decision as to whether or not you will step up a class.
The closer will weigh up various factors when considering who to upgrade. What is your FFP (frequent flyer programme) status and which company do you work for? Big firms strike MVCC (most valued corporate customer) deals when placing huge amounts of direct business with an airline. So if the closer has already upgraded a few suitable Executive Club members, he or she may then investigate to see if there are any suitable MVCCs on the flight.
The price you paid for your ticket will also have a bearing. A passenger who has bought a full-fare ticket rather than one sold at a promotional or discounted rate stands a better chance of getting the upgrade.
Obviously, if the flight is full, the closer has no room for manoeuvre. But if, say, premium economy (usually occupied by full-fare passengers) is overbooked and there are empty seats in business, then a few lucky passengers will be moved up.
I mention premium economy because one of the reasons it was created was so airlines could upgrade someone and still earn decent revenue. So if flying long-haul, it’s easier to get upgraded from economy to premium economy or from premium economy to business, rather than from economy direct to business, because the price differential (for economy versus business) on some routes can be enormous.
Likewise, business to first is possible because business class fares themselves can be costly, but the drawback on international routes is that it can be harder to achieve the ultimate upgrade as more and more carriers are dropping first class, either across their network or on specific routes. And those carriers who have retained first class have cut the number of seats.
Even on mammoth 480-seater planes like the new Airbus A380 superjumbo, you might only find 12 or 14 first class seats. One of Air France’s B777s can accommodate 264 passengers, but out of this total only four may be seated in first class.
It’s a different scenario on US domestic routes where local carriers still retain large first class cabins because a) there’s no business class and b) upgrading isn’t as secretive as elsewhere. Take a 244-seat domestic version of one of United’s B767s and you’ll find that craft fitted with 34 first class seats. Yet book the 183-seat international version of the same B767 and you’ll find as few as six first class seats on board. Likewise, with United’s B777s: the 244-seat domestic type accommodates 36 passengers in first class while the 269-seat international version holds just eight.
Over the years, this habit of the US carriers of handing out upgrade vouchers like confetti, especially on domestic routes, has led to high-tier US FFP members expecting to be upgraded as a matter of course. This has resulted in some unrealistic expectations – never forget, an upgrade is a privilege, not a right.
Hotel upgrades
Hotel chains aren’t as scientific as the airlines, with upgrading still carried out by front-desk staff. So be polite and friendly to these personnel.
Sometimes the upgrading is carried out on an ad hoc basis and might depend on the hotel’s occupancy. At other times, “guest relations” may have actioned the upgrade behind the scenes because the guest is a regular or because your company is a big provider of custom. Remember that when it comes to being a good customer, hotels will take a guest’s total spend into consideration. They appreciate expenditure on food, beverage and other extras just as much as room nights.
But matters are changing as the big chains seek to reward their best loyalty club members. A spokesman for global chain Intercontinental (IHG) says: “Over the past four years our Priority Club Rewards members have recorded more than 115 million nights at IHG hotels, the equivalent of 315,068 years on the road.”
So if you are a mid to high-tier member of a loyalty scheme you can expect to get upgraded most times you stay at a chain hotel. The upgrade may not always be to the executive level or to a suite, but in general, IHG’s publicity blurb sums it up: “Platinum level members will be offered a complimentary upgrade, as determined by the hotel, which might include rooms on higher floors, corner rooms, newly renovated rooms or rooms with preferred views.”
Similar benefits are offered to gold members of chains like Marriott and Starwood, and the room you receive will usually have been allocated to you earlier in the day. The advantage here is that you can receive upgrade benefits when travelling worldwide, not just at a particular hotel you patronise locally.
