01/08/09, 00:21:36 UTC

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Tips to help with the upgrade game

chicagotribune.com

Scoring a free or low-cost upgrade from coach to business or first class is among the most coveted of traveler perks. And these days, airlines are offering fliers more ways than ever to fill their first- and business-class seats.

Frequent-flier miles, upgrade coupons and vouchers, last-minute paid upgrades and the ever more rare "operational upgrade" are some of the more common paths to a more comfortable flight. All these options and each individual airline's policies around them have made winning the upgrade game a confusing and sometimes frustrating undertaking. The rules of the game can change even when you are flying on the same airline.

A colleague of mine was flying from Chicago O'Hare to London's Heathrow Airport in August on British Airways. She had purchased discounted tickets for her and her husband in World Traveller Plus, BA's business-class lite, which comes with a bit more leg room than a regular economy class seat.

Four days before her flight she called BA to inquire about an upgrade to business class. For an additional $200 (cost to change the ticket) plus 15,000 frequent flier miles each, she secured business-class seats between Chicago and London.

Upon arrival in London, she inquired at the BA service desk at Heathrow about doing the same for her return flight to Chicago. She was confused and disappointed when she was told no, that only the flights from the States offered that type of upgrade.

Despite repeated queries to a BA spokesman and visiting BA's Web site, it is about as clear as mud what exactly my colleague paid for and why it was not available on her return flight.

Unraveling all the various rules regarding upgrades is a challenge, even for someone who devotes his life to it.

"Do I get confused? Yes," said Matthew Bennett, a.k.a. "Mr. Upgrade." He is the publisher of the Web site FlightBliss.com and the monthly newsletter First Class Flyer, which has about 15,000 subscribers, he said.

"It takes time to understand them," he says, likening upgrade policies in their complexity to insurance policies. "That's our job to unravel them."

The newsletter is written more for the frequent flier and business traveler, not the average leisure traveler. A one-year subscription costs $97. But FlightBliss features a free blog where Bennett weighs in with some of the latest news and tips on upgrades.

My colleague's upgrade from the States was actually typical if unusual in that it was unavailable on her return flight. Most airlines these days will not allow passengers who have purchased many types of discounted tickets to use miles to upgrade, especially on international flights. Some, like BA and American Airlines, charge an added fee to upgrade. Others, such as United, only allow upgrading on certain types of fares.

If you are booking tickets on United's Web site, there is an option to book an upgradeable fare. But for the uninitiated, the array of seven choices is confusing.

I decided to test United's upgradeable fare options for a flight from O'Hare to Heathrow in mid-November (these fares are for comparison only and may no longer be available). When I clicked the first category of upgrades using miles -- an alphabet soup of 10 fare types -- I received a message saying that option was not available. The second option, "miles-MH," yielded a round-trip economy class "upgrade eligible" fare of $822, or $340 more than the lowest non-upgradeable fare of $482. That is in addition to 30,000 frequent flier miles each way.

But here's the rub. Even if you pay the extra $340, you are not guaranteed an upgrade. And if your upgrade is waitlisted and does not go through, you are not entitled to a refund even though the only benefit to the higher fare is the ability to upgrade.

Knowing the ins and outs of a particular airline's policies is key to increasing the odds of getting an upgrade. But getting that information from an airline's Web site can be a challenge. FlightBliss is one resource for travelers but another is FlyerTalk.com

FlyerTalk is where frequent fliers, mostly business travelers, meet to exchange ideas, tips and personal experiences of flying. The Web site has a forum where members contribute content based on their personal, by-the-seats experience. It can be a bit intimidating to the uninitiated, as the acronyms fly faster than a Boeing 747. Fortunately, there is a glossary under the "Help" tab at the top of the page.

Every airline frequent-flier program has its own forum for questions and advice. Under British Airways is a post for "The BA Upgrade Guide." Other airlines have similar sections.

Here are a few tips that can help you increase your likelihood of scoring an upgrade:

- Concentrate your flying on one airline and use a credit card that earns miles on that airline. An old canard and one that I have always ascribed too. The advantage is you have more miles to utilize and can earn elite status, which helps put you ahead of others in line for upgrades. The caveat: It ties you to an airline that may not have the best upgrade policies to meet your needs.

- Use a credit card like the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. Though you are earning hotel points when you use it, it allows you to transfer miles to 30 airlines' programs (though not United) with a 25 percent bonus. This is Bennett's advice. He says my tip above is "largely old school thinking."

- Fly on bigger planes. The bigger the plane, the more premium seats it will have and the greater the chances of getting an upgrade. Most airlines' Web sites will tell you what type of aircraft you are flying on. Check out SeatGuru .com which shows, by airline, exactly how many seats are in each class on a given aircraft.

- Do your homework in advance. Don't fall for the old "wear a suit and tie" routine and expect to get an upgrade out of thin air at check-in. "The oft-cited garbage 'rules' of dressing nicely and putting on a smile will not work," according to the BA Upgrade Guide on FlyerTalk.com. The airlines are much more sophisticated than that, and everyone and their brother asks for an upgrade as they check-in. The airlines want to reward their best customers and the gate agents know exactly who they are -- frequent fliers and customers who have paid the highest fares. You need to know their rules better than their own employees.

 Printable Version  | published Oct 09, 2007