At 50k miles a year, you are in the middle of the “elite” zone, a position that makes you important to the airline. You’ll be rewarded with various perks along the way—from quick check-ins, to bonus miles, to first-class upgrades. If you don’t normally travel a lot for business or pleasure, consider “mileage running. " This is the process of finding cheap, long flights and taking them whenever possible. The destination is not important—only the distance. A good rule of thumb for determining if a mileage run is worth it is if the price-per-mile cost is $. 02 or below. Check out online resources such as Farecompare for prices and opportunities. [3] X Research source You might also consider whether you fly frequently enough to maintain elite status.
If the flight is very overbooked, your bargaining position is strong. Approach the gate agent, and be as genuinely charming and sympathetic as you can be. Ask them if they would consider rebooking you in return for an upgrade voucher in addition to whatever other incentives they might be offering. [7] X Research source This will be more likely to work if you don’t have checked baggage, which would entail much more work on the part of the airlines in order to bump you.
Visit your airline’s website, and locate the “Purchase Miles” page, generally located in the frequent-flier part of the site. Enter your account number, and how many miles you wish to purchase.
Based on that, ask about the possibility of an upgrade to first class. If you are a travel agent, travel writer, event planner, or captain of industry, it certainly won’t hurt your chances!
To fly first class for the price of the economy, have a credit card from your preferred airline. Use it for every payment like food and bills. Be an active member in their rewards program.
If you’re not a frequent user of a particular travel agent, they have very little incentive to try to get you an upgrade. Whatever discretionary vouchers they may have will most certainly go to the people who have contributed the most to their agency. Travel agents have much less input regarding your status now than they used to. Your seat assignments are done via computer now, and computers don’t take into account notes that a travel agent may have added to your record. Computers are quite content to simply count the miles and use your earned status.
This is very risky. Airlines have very strict policies against buying frequent flier miles from a 3rd party. If they catch you doing this, you will likely lose your ticket, and you may also lose all your miles, earned or purchased. As a result of strict policies, brokers are hard to come by.
You will most likely need to use miles to get your upgrade. However, you might be able to ask the ticket counter agent to kindly add a code to your ticket. That signifies to the gate agent that you are potentially eligible for an upgrade. You have a better chance with international airlines.
A problem with your seat. In some cases where your seat has malfunctioned and you cannot comfortably sit there, i. e. a seat-belt problem or the seat will not stay in the up position, the flight attendant will make an attempt to find you another seat. If no other seats are available in coach yet space is available in first, you may be moved to first class. However, this is a very rare occurrence, and you should never try to purposely break your seat. Also note that if there is an elite flier in coach, they may get the bump to first class, and you would take the elite member’s old seat. Choose Seats at the bulkhead, where families with children get seated. This can result in an upgrade if they need your seat, which they often do. A problem with a fellow passenger. If by chance you are sitting next to a passenger and you have a legitimate complaint such as harassment, the flight attendant can, at their discretion, move you to another seat. If there are only seats available in first class, up you go!
Be aware that most upgrades are not based on looks, but on status. If you don’t travel frequently but look like an MBA all-star, and the choice is between you and a sloppy-looking but extremely well-traveled NBA all-star, your Gucci’s just won’t count.
