[LuganoPirate]

I came across this on MarketWatch.com and thought it would make an interesting discussion.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-lying-to-get-an-airplane-upgrade-so-bad-2014-12-05

What do other posters feel about this and has anyone done it and been successful?

For the record I’ve never done this either in hotels or with an airline. I do sometimes ask discreetly but only been successful with hotels. I don’t think I could lie to get an upgrade as I think it is wrong, and to be honest never really thought about it till I read the article.

[seasonedtraveller]

[quote quote=734133]I came across this on MarketWatch.com and thought it would make an interesting discussion.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-lying-to-get-an-airplane-upgrade-so-bad-2014-12-05

What do other posters feel about this and has anyone done it and been successful?

For the record I’ve never done this either in hotels or with an airline. I do sometimes ask discreetly but only been successful with hotels. I don’t think I could lie to get an upgrade as I think it is wrong, and to be honest never really thought about it till I read the article.

[/quote]

Not something I have done and I never will do.

To my, perhaps old fashioned way of thinking, it’s immoral – even more so if one claims a disability in order to grab an upgrade.

[stevescoots]

Never lied to try and get upgrade, and to think of it I have never even asked for a free upgrade.

I did lie to get an Indian Visa once, 2 days before travel realised i did not have a visa and the consulate would only take emergency applications…I got an Indian friend to write an urgent invite about some death in the family and as we are so close i am needed urgently. I think the fact the letter was written in Hindi and I am blond blue eyed etc must have swayed that this wasnt some BS when i went for my interview….or the consulate really did not give a crap.

and there was a couple of times i continued to use a walking cane long after my knee surgery had healed just so I could use the seniors/special requirments lane crossing the border from Shenzhen to HK, it was that or wait an hour in the normal line

[TominScotland]

I am not sure that there are major, soul-searching ethical issues at stake here. I don’t try for upgrades in that way because I don’t think asking will make an iota of difference. Upgrade decisions are not likely to be in the giving of check-in staff. Airlines upgrade in their own interest, not ours!

A few years ago when travelling with family long-haul with KLM, I was upgraded at the gate (as a Platinum flyer). My wife tried her luck with the “its my birthday, you can’t leave us in Economy” routine. Gate staff looked very sceptical but asked for our passports. Indeed it was her birthday and all three of us were upgraded to the nose of the 747.

[Swissdiver]

[quote quote=734148]To my, perhaps old fashioned way of thinking, it’s immoral – even more so if one claims a disability in order to grab an upgrade.[/quote]

I must then be old fashioned as well! I could not look at myself in the mirror if I was cheating that way. Now I am regularly asking for an upgrade, but frankly and honestly. Hardly work nowadays with airlines but often helps to get a better room in hotels…

[travelworld]

I’m a lawyer. If I did this I’d be acting dishonestly and liable to be struck off (disbarred in US terms). So I don’t. In any event, my experience is that any upgrades I get (I’m gold on BA and Emirates) result from my FF status as opposed to anything else. Getting an upgrade is nice but life is too short to go through a pantomime every time you get on a plane.
As one poster put succinctly a while back, the easiest way to get a seat in a premium cabin is just to pay for it..

[MrMichael]

I too wont lie for a free upgrade, indeed I have never even asked.

I have offered a derogatory sum for one on more than one occasion (in hotels), it has been accepted at a couple of Hotels, an upgrade to a Suite at a hotel in Barbados was something like £120 per night, I offered £20, they took it (it was just 1 night). If nothing else it opens up a negotiating position whereby both parties can benefit. I think upgrades when it comes to flying, hotels, car hire etc are down to offering the right amount at the right time, ultimately they are both highly perishable products, and once past sell by date worthless.

1 user thanked author for this post.

travelworld

[MartynSinclair]

I was discussing this subject with a friend of mine who regularly makes up “stories” to obtain enhanced benefits, especially on cruise ships and hotels.

Personally, I think its very wrong to obtain a benefit of any kind through lies. I find articles about how to cheat the system through lies as equally distasteful.

And for the record, ex-Europe tickets are legal 🙂

[CathayLoyalist2]

I wonder how any of us would feel if someone got something from one of us I such a manner. Nothing to be proud of or something he should be boasting about.

[FDOS_UK]

Unethical means’not morally correct’.

Of course, as we know, airlines are operations with the highest moral levels of behaviour – not.

I tend to agree with Tom from Scotland, this behaviour likely won’t achieve anything, but I can’t really blame people for trying it on, since there is a kind of symmetric reprocity of bad behaviour.

[travelworld]

FDOS-UK -no, I don’t agree. Two wrongs…

[EU_Flyer]

Laughed when I read this topic.

I’ve just stepped off a 10 hour flight with Turkish Airlines where I was upgraded from Economy to Business.

I could see from the seat map that the flight was heavily booked so at check in I very politely asked if I could be considered for an operational upgrade – should these be needed. I’m Star Gold but not a TK frequent flyer so figured I’d be down the list. At the gate, heard the beep and was shifted from 6A to 2A.

In my experience, if you ask politely and without any sense of entitlement, even check-in staff can have the power/responsibility to screen passengers for upgrades (also happened to me on Emirates where I hold no status). Lying or making up some dramatic story will unlikely cut it with airport staff who have seen it all before and probably worse.

There’s also the credibility issue. Do you really want to make up some ridiculous story in the hope someone MAY believe you, failing which you’ll look and feel like a royal tosser.

The honest, straight forward and polite approach usually yields better results, in my experience.

1 user thanked author for this post.

MrMichael

[MrMichael]

FDOS, I don’t agree either. Reminds me of people that shoplift because the store can afford it and the stuff is too expensive, or those that steal from their employer because in their view they are underpaid.

Interesting that Martyn brings up ex Europe fares. Do I have double standards? Am I being two faced on this issue? On two occasions I have bought ex Europe fares to Oz and RTW and skipped the last leg. Am I cheating the system, am I thieving…got me thinking maybe it is one rule for me and one for everyone else. Am I actually no better than the shoplifter?

[travelworld]

Mr Michael- an interesting question. I would say no, because your absence from the last flight sector doesn’t actually cost the airline anything. Indeed, it saves them cash (albeit very marginally) because it’s not having to pay for the extra fuel burn/cost of you plus luggage, refreshments and so on. Plus it just might be able to sell your seat again if you don’t show- perhaps to a passenger on standby.

I think this just underlines the absurdity of a system whereby it costs more to fly less. Emirates today were offering business class returns in an ad from London to Hanoi (via Dubai) cheaper than London to Dubai. And as we all know, every airline seems to do it, at least in Europe.

[MartynSinclair]

My opposing view would be that MrMichael is guilty.

Had MrMichael not flown one of the sectors he had purchased, the fare would likely to have been more…

Therefore, MrMichael should pay for the route he requires…

In mitigation, it could be argued though that as the airlines have never put this problem to the test in the courts, the answer is not really known….

[Author]

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