Upgrades at the gate

[Kelmn07]

Hello,

 

I was researching the possibility of upgrading to first class at the gate on the day of departure and was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? (Yes I understand there have to be available seats in order to upgrade).

 

On my last trip to NOLA, my boyfriend and I weren't seated together so we asked the gate attendant if there was any way we could be seated together, and she actually put us in first class! We couldn't believe it, and that was our first ever first class experience.

 

I read on some other forums that you have to be a minimum fare class to be eligible to upgrade-I'm not sure where to tell what my fare class is though?

 

I will be on a delta flight, connecting to an Air France flight, and returning on an Alitalia flight, so I'm just wondering if anyone has successfully upgraded at the gate on any of these carriers?

[ducklite]

Most long haul F/C and B/C seats are sold out long before the flight.

 

On domestic flights most carriers will allow you to upgrade for anything from a $50-150 fee (depending on carrier and distance of flight) to the full price difference between your ticket and the F/C ticket.

[greatam]

Hello,

 

I was researching the possibility of upgrading to first class at the gate on the day of departure and was wondering if anyone had any experience with this? (Yes I understand there have to be available seats in order to upgrade).

 

On my last trip to NOLA, my boyfriend and I weren't seated together so we asked the gate attendant if there was any way we could be seated together, and she actually put us in first class! We couldn't believe it, and that was our first ever first class experience.

 

I read on some other forums that you have to be a minimum fare class to be eligible to upgrade-I'm not sure where to tell what my fare class is though?

 

I will be on a delta flight, connecting to an Air France flight, and returning on an Alitalia flight, so I'm just wondering if anyone has successfully upgraded at the gate on any of these carriers?

 

A FREE upgrade on an international flight on a foreign airline with NO STATUS would be VERY, VERY unusual. Status FF take preference over anyone else and it usually takes a high fare class, miles to upgrade or miles AND money (AA). You can always ask when you check in if there is a PAID upgrade but don't be surprised if it is $800-1000pp or more.

[waterbug123]

I read on some other forums that you have to be a minimum fare class to be eligible to upgrade-I'm not sure where to tell what my fare class is though?

 

I will be on a delta flight, connecting to an Air France flight, and returning on an Alitalia flight, so I'm just wondering if anyone has successfully upgraded at the gate on any of these carriers?

 

Fare class: If you searched "lowest fares" when you booked your ticket, you are almost certainly not booked in a fare class that will allow you to upgrade, even for a fee. Well, technically, you could first change your ticket to a higher fare class and pay that difference, AND THEN on top of that, pay the extra fee for the upgrade. You may not recall searching for lowest fares, but the Delta search engine will default to that unless you specify otherwise. You are most likely booked on a L, U, or T fare, which are not upgradeable.

 

If you once got upgraded for free just because you asked if you and your boyfriend could sit together, consider yourself VERY lucky! :) When seats are available at the gate, Delta first upgrades (on a complimentary basis) their most frequent fliers who have the highest elite status first, and continue with elite fliers in descending order. Given the number of elite level fliers, and the limited number of available seats, to is very common for even elite fliers to miss out on domestic upgrades. It is extremely rare for ALL elite fliers to get an upgrade, and to subsequently hear them announce that upgrades are available for a fee to the rest of the pax.

 

On international flights, even elite fliers don't get upgraded simply because there are empty seats up front. If the coach cabin is oversold, then Delta will give a operational upgrades, again going in descending order starting with their highest level elite frequent fliers. After that, they'll let non-revs (off duty airline employees, flying for free) sit up front. I haven't flown Air France or Alitalia, but they are Delta's Sky Team partners and I'm pretty sure they operate similarly for international upgrades (Flyer Talker- please correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

 

Bottom line: Don't get your hopes up. Your chances of an upgrade are virtually nil. Sorry! :o

[Ashland]

Have only had this kind of success with Hawaiian and Alaska Air...Good luck !!!

[Eng23]

It can happen but it is a very rare occurence. It does not hurt to ask, the worst thing that can happen is that the airline will say no.

[tpajet]

Completely depends on the airline. As stated before some will do it for an upgrade fee, and those are going to be the ones less likely to do so because if the agent does the upgrade without charging they can get in trouble for doing so.

 

Although at the same time, I've slipped a few people up front before without paying the fee. I just come up with some plausible excuse to document in the reservation. (They had a bag problem or some other BS that the auditors will never catch.)

[FlyerTalker]

Domestically, the only time you have upgrades offered for sale is when there are NO elites, even silver, on the flight that have not already been upgraded to F. Even then, the upgrades are not available for purchase on LUT fare buckets. Pricing is dependent on the distance of the flight.

 

Internationally, elites do not receive complimentary upgrades on DL, unless they are using special certificates good on higher priced coach tickets. Op-Ups are given based on FF level - between that and non-revs, you have virtually no chance to get an upgrade at the gate. Even non-elites on full-fare coach would get the op-up before they are sold.

 

AF and AZ are even tighter with upgrades than DL.

 

And yes, I have gotten op-ups. But I am almost to the DYKWIA Medallion level, so DL treats me pretty well. For the casual traveler, sorry to say you get to experience international coach.

[Toto2Kansas]

It wasn't all that long ago when we were flying in FF Internationally and we were the only ones seated in first. All of the other seats were empty and there were a dozen of them. So, they must not have been handing out upgrades at all on that flight. It was a very strange feeling to be the only couple in that section of the plane (besides the pilots who took turns coming back to the pilot seat to sleep). ;)

[grandma*knows*best]

I will be on a delta flight, connecting to an Air France flight, and returning on an Alitalia flight, so I'm just wondering if anyone has successfully upgraded at the gate on any of these carriers?

 

I agree with previous posters that there is no chance at all that you will be upgraded on these international flights unless you pay for first class.

[6rugrats]

Another vote for it's not going to happen.

 

I don't know the rules for upgrades on DL, but for airlines I am familiar with you cannot "double" upgrade. That is, if you purchased a ticket in economy, I've only seen upgrades for cash offered at the gate to the next class of service, i.e., economy to business. And, these are only rarely offered, and price I've seen for a TATL is ~$650 each. YMMV.

 

Usually, for international flights, there will be many elites trying to "pay" for upgrades using miles and/or money or some other type of upgrade instrument. Even if upgrades are given at no charge for operational reasons (need to free up seats in a lower class of service), they will be given to elite flyers, not people with no status.

 

All airlines have rules they have to follow, and decisions made by gate agents on who to upgrade are looked at. They could lose their jobs if they don't follow the correct procedure.

[FlyerTalker]

All airlines have rules they have to follow, and decisions made by gate agents on who to upgrade are looked at. They could lose their jobs if they don't follow the correct procedure.

Not just could...there are reports of agents at DL who did lose jobs or were demoted because of violations of procedure.