How to Get an Upgrade: How Full is Your Plane?

There are many factors that determine whether you will get an upgrade. First, are you willing to pay for it? And second, do you have mileage priority status with the airline? The simple fact: first consideration goes to people willing to pay full price or even a lesser bid. Then come the REALLY frequent flyers with diamond plus mega super awesome status. BUT, the rest of us have a shot. Sometimes. There are tricks to the trade, but the first thing is knowing how many people are on your flight. The more people on your flight, the better chance that they have oversold it. And the better chance you can get an upgrade. Before you fly, sign up with the airline’s frequent flyer program, regardless of whether you have miles.

Get an Upgrade Step 1: How Full is Economy?

Checking the seat map on the airline’s site if you booked directly with them is the easiest way to see how full it is. (By the way, this is one of many reasons that I book directly with airlines. I’ll explore prices on third party sites, but there are too many benefits to booking direct.) Go into the website, enter your

reference or reservation code, and then choose the option to switch your seat. If you haven’t already selected your own seat (if you just let the airline do it), make sure you have one you really want! SeatGuru.com is great with advice on specific seats on specific planes. If your plane isn’t full, just wait to see what stays available. You can check this all the way up to 24 hours before flight. Why would you do this?

a) why pay for “premier economy”, which only gives you a few extra inches of leg room, when your plane is half full? Everyone in coach will end up stretching out, some people even getting a whole row to themselves. So you just paid up to $80 for a few inches instead of $0 for at least an extra seat if not a whole row. In this flight, at least half of the regular economy seats are open with less than a month to go; why pay for premier for more space?

b) why pay for the emergency exit row upgrade (which is fabulous space on big planes) if no one else has paid for that and they’re wide open? Airlines HAVE to sit people there. It’s a rule. If no one pays up to $180 extra to sit there, then they will upgrade someone there for free. Why couldn’t that be you? If you know those seats are open, then you know to get to the airport early and ask the check-in desk and gate attendant very, very, nicely. In the flight above 11 of the 12 exit row seats are still available AND there is plenty of other space left. Why spend that money?

c) or you now know that your plane looks FULL and you decide to pay for one of those better seats in economy and/or you start your first class hustle.

Step 2: How Full is Business/First?

Those rat bastards. The airlines won’t let you see the seating charts for the classes that you’re not ticketed for. So now here’s a travel geek secret.

You can go to Orbitz and look up the flight you have already selected. CHOOSE BUSINESS OR FIRST CLASS IN YOUR SEARCH. Click the drop down option to see more details and embedded in all the information is something that says “preview availability.” Bless them, you can see the seats available without purchasing. Which means you can see business and first class without having that ticket.

For example, you can see now that this same particular flight, set to leave in less than a month, has 22 seats in business class remaining. Why is that important?

a) if you made an “upgrade bid” through the airline you can see if you have a chance. Upgrade bids mean you’ll pay for an upgrade, but at 50-70% off. You can also determine if you WANT to make a bid and how much you should set the bid for to be successful.

b) you can also determine if it will be worth your effort to try to get an unpaid upgrade. This takes communication, time, balancing assertiveness with politeness, and an outfit that is snazzier than your plane sweatpants. 22 seats? Worth a shot to me. 8…meh, those will go probably go to priority people and bidders.

Maybe I’m the only one that geeks out about all of this but I’ve tasted business class, paying with points, and I’m hooked. So if you’re as interested as I am in living the luxe life, this is where to start.

Most people don’t do these steps, so if you check it out in advance, you’ll have the edge on making the best decisions to position yourself for an upgrade. Pin this to save and reference!

May the road rise to meet you, travelers, and may your airport visit include the business lounge.