• About Us
  • Contact Us
Account
GTB
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
No Result
View All Result
Account
Ghana Talks Business
No Result
View All Result

How to fly first class for (almost) free

19/10/2019
Reading Time: 5 mins read
first_class
0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp

Be honest – you stopped playing the first class upgrade game a long time ago.

First class for free: And for good reason. Airlines demanded way too much in exchange for a slightly more comfortable seat: unquestioning brand loyalty, an encyclopedic knowledge of their arcane and constantly changing loyalty program rules, or a briefcase full of cash.

So you said: “Enough! Let the super-elites have their lie-flat seats. I’ll suffer quietly in the back of steerage.”

But that may be the wrong strategy. There are ways to get into a better seat without having to sell your soul to the airline or take out a second mortgage. They include booking certain flights, becoming a savvy bidder for first-class seats, and waiting for the right time to ask.

Find a flight with empty seats

If you have your eye on a first class seat, try selecting a less-popular flight. Generally, the more popular the flight, the more scarce and expensive the upgrade. Certain flights, like the first flight of the morning, or the red-eye (overnight flight), tend to be emptier.

“I watch the seat maps and wait until the end to board,” says Shawn Crowley, a college recruiter based in Washington, D.C. If there’s still an open exit row, he asks the flight attendant if he can sit in one of the premium seats without paying extra. “I’ve had it work every time the seat has shown open.”

Of course, the definition of a “better” seat has changed in the last few years. A decade ago, that would have meant a “premium” economy or business-class seat. Now, with all the seat assignment games airlines play, a better seat can mean anything that’s not a middle seat.

Learn how to bid for an airline upgrade

The hours and minutes before your flight leaves are the best time to find an upgrade. That’s because empty first-class seats are worthless to an airline, which means the company will do everything it can to monetize them. Many carriers allow you to bid for a first-class seat online, but you need to know a few things before you jump in and name your price.

How do you know if your seat is eligible for a bid? After you’ve made your economy-class reservation, log in to the airline site to see if you’re eligible. Often, the airline also sends you a notification. It’s a blind auction, so you won’t see what other passengers are bidding for the same seat. You’ll get notified 24 to 72 hours before takeoff.

“The key to success, of course, is knowing how many seats are still available, and, more importantly, how much to bid,” says travel writer David Yeskel, who has successfully bid on dozens of upgrades.

You can check available seats on your airline website or a site like Expertflyer. Yeskel says you should never bid the minimum. Instead, bid somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the difference between the cost of your original seat and the cost of your desired seat. Rates vary based on the length of the flight.

“Then pray,” he says.

Unconventional times demand unconventional upgrade strategies

Air travelers share their upgrade stories with me almost every day. They say that airlines, in their mad dash to monetize every seat, have created a lot of upgrade opportunities beyond bidding.

A polite, direct appeal to a gate agent still can work, although believe me, they’ve probably heard it all already. But bizarrely, in their efforts to cash in, airlines sometimes will upgrade you even if you haven’t asked.

Actually, sometimes they’ll upgrade you – and charge you – without asking. That’s what happened to Robert Ryan, a marketing consultant from Chicago, who was flying from Copenhagen to Chicago recently. SAS decided to upgrade Ryan and his wife, even though they hadn’t bid on an upgrade.

ALSO READ: 5 very useful travel tips you must never ignore

“No airline should be able to force a customer to accept an unrequested upgrade,” says Ryan.

He’s right. I contacted SAS on his behalf and it refunded the $1,609 it charged for his business-class seat.

More tips for getting a first class upgrade

• Be selfless. That’s what Meera Sundram did on a flight from New York to Phoenix. “I gave my exit row seat to a really tall man who was about to be squished into an economy seat,” says Sundram, a retired health care executive who lives in Amman, Jordan. “The flight attendant saw that and offered me a first-class seat.” Instead, Sundram gave it to the tall guy invading her space. There’s a special place in airline passenger heaven for folks like Sundram.

• Don’t be afraid to let the flight attendants know about any issues. Maybe your seatback TV or overhead light isn’t working properly, or a nearby passenger is rude or excessively loud. “Try politely telling a flight attendant and asking if there are any other seat options,” says Molly Cowen, travel expert at the travel site TravelPirates. “If you’re lucky, you might be moved to a more premium seat.”

• Just move to a better seat. Nathan Segal, a professional speaker from Calgary, Canada, waits until the flight reaches cruising altitude and then moves. “I have been able to move within coach to a window seat this way,” he says. It never hurts to ask (Segal does), but flight attendants can’t police every seat in economy class, so if you see an empty seat within your class of service, you have my permission to claim it.

Author: Christopher Elliott

Source: www.linkedin.com

Previous Post

Producer Price Index dropped to 9.7% in September

Next Post

World’s most expensive cities revealed

Related Posts

dubai_facts

Check out facts you probably never heard about Dubai

24/05/2020
Nigeria air passengera

Ghana’s domestic flights to resume soon, passengers will be screened before boarding

22/04/2020
Tamale Airport

MPs votes in of favour $20.9m tax waiver for phase two of Tamale Airport

03/04/2020
ban on travels

Covid-19 Pandemic: GCAA anticipates 20% drop in revenue due to ban on travels

17/03/2020
Wa_airport

VIDEO: Travelling to Northern Ghana made easy as Wa airport opens for commercial flights

17/10/2019
airlines_operating_in_ghana

38 airlines operating in Ghana; This is how much Ghana made in 2017

17/10/2019
Next Post
expensive_cities

World's most expensive cities revealed

jobs_that_won't_exist_in_the_next_20_years

9 jobs that won't exist 20 years from now

  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us

© 2021 Ghana Talks Business

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Premium
  • Business
  • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Retail/Fashion
  • Podcast
    • Business Chat
    • Retiring Richly
    • Sika Nkommo
  • Videos
  • Analysis/Features
  • Login

© 2021 Ghana Talks Business

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In