It’s becoming an embarrassingly common occurrence. I rock up to the terminal gate with my ticket in my hand, the attendant takes it from me and a little red light shows up on the scanner.
She presses a few buttons on the keyboard and then says: “Oh, you’ve been upgraded. And, just like that, seat 5E becomes seat 1A.
I’ve just scored a hat trick with Etihad Airways. For the third time in a row, my business class seat has been upgraded to first class. On a long haul flight (from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne in this case), it’s simply the best way to fly.
The experience was, of course, luxurious. The seat is huge, even for a big bloke like me and makes for a comfortable bed, and there was plenty of attention from the cabin crew, including the onboard chef, who made me a marvellous steak, — and, remarkably — the same person who looked after me on my previous flight, from Munich to Abu Dhabi (She said: “I know you; the last time you were wearing a very colourful shirt.”)
As I’ve written before, I don’t really know why I’ve been so lucky to get these upgrades. However, I think being happy to share the experience is definitely part of the mix.
So too are these common tips (after photo):
+ Be polite and cheerful in all your dealings with airlines staff. That really shouldn’t have to be said, but a lot of people do get grumpy when they’ve had to queue, or they are tired or running late. I’ve done it myself. The trick is to try to snap out of it when you’re face to face with the person who can make your life more enjoyable (or miserable).
+ Be a frequent flyer with that airline.
+ Be flexible. I once got an upgrade and 20,000 Etihad Guest points and a US$300 voucher because I changed flights — it cost me all of 10 minutes in terms of arriving at my destination.
+ As I’ve already said, spread the word and say thank you to the airline, which is easy to do in this age of social media.
The only problem, as I’ve also said before, is that you might just get hooked on the experience.
Great article. It is unfortunate that over the last years, the travel industry has already been able to to fight terrorism, SARS, tsunamis, bird flu virus, swine flu, as well as first ever true global recession. Through all of it the industry has proven to be solid, resilient as well as dynamic, getting new solutions to deal with hardship. There are constantly fresh troubles and chance to which the industry must all over again adapt and reply.
Much thanks! This is definitely an terrific website.|
I left flying Emirates because of their upgrade policy. I was sick of paying full price for a business class only to find sitting around me were upgrades saying loudly how they had paid $X for a cheap economy ticket to be upgraded. I was told by the Australian purser on one of these flights that this was Emirates policy… over book economy and then fill up business with overbookings. I just found it hard to get my head around having to outlay all these hard earned $$$$$ all the time to secure seats when the cabin was full of upgrades. Having to say that, one cannot complain about the service on Etihad…. there is none to complain about! $10K for a ticket Melbourne to Abu Dhabi and no food, no bedding and no drinks. Sat in business class (yes downgraded myself) for the last 2 hours and I got a steak sandwich and a glass of coke 1/2 and hour before landing. To downgrade on the return from first to business they wanted 2k! Think I will put up with the upgrade issue with Emirates and enjoy service again……. they were good at that…. at least they gave it unlike Etihad!
Sorry to hear about your experiences. I can honestly say I’ve never had a bad experience with Etihad. I hope you gave them, and Emirates, some feedback. Meanwhile, here’s a story about frequent flyers who are ruining first class on some airlines: https://www.brettdebritz.net/first-class-foolery/
Can only agree with you. Etihad has excellent service and airlines staff.
Sometimes passengers should really use more patience, courtesy and words like please and thank you.
As an ex airline staffer, Brett is absolutely right. Politeness gets you a long way in life, not just in the airline check-in queue. However a simple please or thank you can be the difference between a great seat and experience or a grumpy one.
Remember your flight attendant deals with up to 300 passengers per flight, Times that by 4 flights a day and that’s a lot people. We all stand out for what we do. If you treat the person serving you with courtesy, it won’t be forgotten.
I just agree with you Etihad is the best Airline, I always fly business class and i never had any problem the crew alsways friendli and they realy take care of you.
But you need to be flying business class in the first instance?
Yes, it would be very unusual to get upgraded from economy to first, but economy to business is possible.