Upgrade at airport.

[grimsbyuk 13]

it seems that airlines generally are giving free upgrades less and less so was wondering if anyone has upgraded at check in for a price, and if so what sort of prices have been paid.

i am particularly interested in Man-Doha-Bkk with Qatar but any info would be welcome.

[Grandpollo 366]

They oddly have decided that they want passengers to pay for the class of service vs. give it away for nothing or nearly so. Good for them.

 

Cathay gladly flies with empty seats if not paid for properly as they should.

[ttk 236]

Delta gives free upgrades ONLY if the have oversold coach. I have gotten one free upgrade since the merger with NorthWest. Before it was 1 in 4 legs(status has been Diamond or Platinum). I suspect lower would have no chace. My last trip, I had purchased a coach seat but saw an option to upgrade to business for all legs for about 1/2 of what a business class seat cist.

[jacko 8,814]

Delta gives free upgrades ONLY if the have oversold coach. I have gotten one free upgrade since the merger with NorthWest. Before it was 1 in 4 legs(status has been Diamond or Platinum). I suspect lower would have no chace. My last trip, I had purchased a coach seat but saw an option to upgrade to business for all legs for about 1/2 of what a business class seat cist.

Don't airlines often oversell coach suspecting a number of no-shows, particularly in the USA?

I recall a Gulf Air flight from Dhaka to Bahrain and Muscat, I was sat in the front and there was a big overflow of Banglas from the back.

What a bloody circus and the toilets were unusable in no time!

[Gus 97]

grimsby, Thai offer a paid upgrade subject to availability on thr LHR-BKK route. This has to be done at check in and costs about £600+ one way.

On Wednesday I wii be seeing if it is available on the BKK-LHR leg,

[TheFiend 1,181]

On our way back to Manchester with Etihad on my last trip me, Mrs Fiend and my daughter all got upgraded to Business class at the gate at Abu Dhabi....I suspect it was because it would free up 3 seats together the fully booked economy cabin - they had substituted an Airbus 340-600 for what was normally a 777 flight.. It was my daughters first trip with Etihad and it shocked her getting an upgrade.!!!!

[ttk 236]

Don't airlines often oversell coach suspecting a number of no-shows, particularly in the USA?

I recall a Gulf Air flight from Dhaka to Bahrain and Muscat, I was sat in the front and there was a big overflow of Banglas from the back.

What a bloody circus and the toilets were unusable in no time!

 

Yes, but they have it down to a science and in most cases do not have too many show up.

 

 

Another reason for fewer upgrades( but the possibilty of a travel voucher) is that airlines have started using planes with far fewer buisiness ckass seats. SEA-NRT-BKK on Delta used to be 747's with 48 seats. Now it is A330 or 767 with 36 or so.

[jacko 8,814]

On our way back to Manchester with Etihad on my last trip me, Mrs Fiend and my daughter all got upgraded to Business class at the gate at Abu Dhabi....I suspect it was because it would free up 3 seats together the fully booked economy cabin - they had substituted an Airbus 340-600 for what was normally a 777 flight.. It was my daughters first trip with Etihad and it shocked her getting an upgrade.!!!!

I am looking at Etihad for my upcoming flight and want to ask you how was the transit in Abu Dhabi?

My last trip via there there was some construction work going on and it was bad. Also very frequently I seem to land in one terminal and have to fly out from the other one which entails a long walk and a zoo at security, which pays no heed to class of travel.

 

Even Qatar no longer use the specific Premium terminal in Doha which was excellent.

[TheFiend 1,181]

The transit wasn't too bad in Abu Dhabi.... we had 4 hour waits in both directions, and the security queues weren't as bad as the first time we flew with them. On the return from BKK, we had to walk from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 for our onward flight.

[jacko 8,814]

The transit wasn't too bad in Abu Dhabi.... we had 4 hour waits in both directions, and the security queues weren't as bad as the first time we flew with them. On the return from BKK, we had to walk from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 for our onward flight.

Arduous with a family in tow I expect... surprised by the long transits though I usually have just 2 hours to/from Manchester and I just looked and it was 02.15 and 1.55. I did notice some options said ETIHAD ON JET AIRWAYS CONFIGURED AIRCRAFT... what is that about?

[TheFiend 1,181]

Arduous with a family in tow I expect... surprised by the long transits though I usually have just 2 hours to/from Manchester and I just looked and it was 02.15 and 1.55. I did notice some options said ETIHAD ON JET AIRWAYS CONFIGURED AIRCRAFT... what is that about?

 

My daughter is not really a problem as she is 25....

 

Etihad currently have 6 777's on lease from Jet Airways.... I saw a couple of them whilst waiting at Abu Dhabi

[jacko 8,814]

 

My daughter is not really a problem as she is 25....

 

Etihad currently have 6 777's on lease from Jet Airways.... I saw a couple of them whilst waiting at Abu Dhabi

Thanks for that feedback, should not be any reason to discount them. (I expect they have had the smell of curry removed from the carpeting).

[Fatboyfat 361]

I did notice some options said ETIHAD ON JET AIRWAYS CONFIGURED AIRCRAFT... what is that about?

On the return from BKK, we had to walk from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 for our onward flight.

Etihad currently have 6 777's on lease from Jet Airways.... I saw a couple of them whilst waiting at Abu Dhabi

Mixed reports on those, but mostly poor. They are very old aircraft. Herringbone Biz class, but they do have 8 x 1st class seats (Rows 1&2 )which would be worth trying to get if they are just running their normal 2 class fares on the 777s.

 

That walk from Terminal 1 to 3 on the BKK - UK leg seems to be standard practice, with them parking the plane out on the tarmac and bussing you in on the BKK - AUH flight. They were doing that 4 years ago when I last used them. Pain in the arse!, especially having to deal with that internal immigration mayhem. I wrote 3 "Mr Angry" letters to them about it repeatedly happening, and barely got an acknowledgement or apology from them, let alone any "sweeteners".

[jacko 8,814]

Thanks for that too Fatboyfat, the needle just swung back slightly into the red!

[grimsbyuk 13]

They oddly have decided that they want passengers to pay for the class of service vs. give it away for nothing or nearly so. Good for them.

 

Cathay gladly flies with empty seats if not paid for properly as they should.

in your opinion !

[grimsbyuk 13]

grimsby, Thai offer a paid upgrade subject to availability on thr LHR-BKK route. This has to be done at check in and costs about £600+ one way.

On Wednesday I wii be seeing if it is available on the BKK-LHR leg,

 

hope u got it bud! enjoy your holiday !

[grimsbyuk 13]

The transit wasn't too bad in Abu Dhabi.... we had 4 hour waits in both directions, and the security queues weren't as bad as the first time we flew with them. On the return from BKK, we had to walk from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3 for our onward flight.

 

 

Ha ha not such a long walk when you got a biz class upgrade eh ??? :=) congrats bud!

[Fatboyfat 361]

Cathay gladly flies with empty seats if not paid for properly as they should.

Not if they have oversubscription in Economy they don't; As with all the airlines, an economy fare is better than no fare at all. I was in the presence of a "confessed" upgrade pax with Cathay from Hong Kong to UK last year.

[TheFiend 1,181]

 

 

Ha ha not such a long walk when you got a biz class upgrade eh ??? :=) congrats bud!

 

My daughter couldn't believe it.... if was her first trip on Etihad.

 

I've had upgrades before and those were with Emirates and on both occasions they were on trips booked using my accumulated air miles and before they dropped the number of tier miles awarded when 2 trips a year would give me "silver" status.

[Gus 97]

Yesterday I came back to LHR on TG916, I enquired at BKK how much it was to upgrade and he told me 41,000 THB, thanks but no thanks.

I had checked seat availability about 3 days before and it looked like only 16 empty seats but the guy on the desk told me that there would be no one sitting next to me, in the event I had 3 seats so I am very very glad I didn't go for the upgrade.

 

A bit of excitement at LHR, a couple of armed police boarded the aircraft and took a way a male passenger aged about 30, he was sat just 2 rows behind me.

[Gogolover20 13]

in your opinion !

No just basic facts mate

 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

[Fireman Sam 336]

it seems that airlines generally are giving free upgrades less and less so was wondering if anyone has upgraded at check in for a price, and if so what sort of prices have been paid.

i am particularly interested in Man-Doha-Bkk with Qatar but any info would be welcome.

I'm still a gold card frequent flyer with Qatar Airways, although my days of travelling extensively are well and truly over thankfully. I always found the times I asked or was offered a paid upgrade at the airport it was not any cheaper than pre-booking on the website, in fact probably more expensive. If you book when their offers are on probably the best way to save a little bit of cash.

 

 

Regards

[Butch 3,456]

They oddly have decided that they want passengers to pay for the class of service vs. give it away for nothing or nearly so. Good for them.

 

Cathay gladly flies with empty seats if not paid for properly as they should.

 

Cathay have this policy and uphold it which is fair enough. Whenever we fly from the UK to the RP It's Cathay each and every time, via HKG for some duty frees. One thing about Cathay is their professionalism, the Cabin crew are pretty switched on and I've only once had to write them a "snot-o-gram" which then came back with an apology, some promotional gear and a few token additional flyer points.

 

I've never known them to upgrade anyone gratis, but then again I've never known them to overbook a flight and have to do so. If I'm flying alone I'll always book economy and use the points to upgrade, but even then it's slightly hit and miss and depends upon seat availability etc.

 

I might also be wrong here, but I gather that Emirates offer (or at least used to offer) this upgrade purchase option at the airport, I have no idea on the cost though.