With demand for air travel cratering, even low-tier elites are receiving complimentary upgrades on many U.S. domestic routes. It was so cute to watch the joy of a young couple who were upgraded on my recent flight from Washington...
Lufthansa Aggressively Hawks Upgrades
Lufthansa has fully embraced the upgrade monetization game with its upgrade bidding system and more aggressive fixed-price upgrade offers. A client is traveling from Paris to Frankfurt this week. We just booked an “Economy Classic” ticket for her, the...
Spend Your Upgrades Early and Often
Hotels, airlines and even car rental companies give us benefits that are good all year, but sometimes we treat them too preciously. This is the year to spend your upgrades early and often! If you haven’t followed us on...
United PlusPoints Bring Old Problems to New Situations
United’s new PlusPoints has some benefits to travellers adding flexibility. However, old problems with United’s Global and Regional Premier Upgrades carry over to new situations. If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today. PlusPoints Add...
Lovely Husband Always Takes The Last First Class Upgrade, Leaving Wife Behind
What happens when you are traveling with your spouse and only one of you gets upgraded? Who gets the first class seat? What if one spouse insists on an “all or nothing” upgrade approach? Those are the questions posed...
United’s Plus Points Makes MileagePlus Best In the US?
United Airlines has changed their Regional Premier and Global Premier upgrade system, replacing them with Plus Points instead. And now it’s not just 1K flyers that benefit. If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today. Replacement Upgrade...
Upgrade Scam Leads To Ban On Cathay Pacific
Fraud is never a good idea and certainly never worth an upgrade to business class. One woman had to learn the hard way. Jacqueline Ng is a self-described “social influencer”. She told Christopher Elliot that she emailed Cathay Pacific...
Another Positive Upgrade Policy Change From United Airlines
Overlooked in the big announcement yesterday from United introducing PlusPoints was a re-classification of four routes, which will effectively halve the cost of an upgrade on them. Starting on December 4th, United will move from a system of Global...
United Introduces PlusPoints, A New Upgrade Currency
United Airlines is jettisoning regional and premier upgrades for a new points currency called PlusPoints. Believe it or not, the news is actually quite positive. On December 04, all your regional or global premier upgrades will vanish from your...
A 99EUR Lie-Flat Business Class Upgrade On KLM
I had many choices to fly from Bali to Singapore, but could not turn down the chance to sample KLM’s 777-300ER on an exotic Fifth Freedom route. It turned out to be a tremendous deal as well. I may...
I Still Suffer From Upgrade Phobia…
10 years later and my condition has not improved. I still suffer from upgrade phobia. When will I outgrow this? Unless I buy a business class ticket, every United flight is a careful cost/benefit analysis. Do I take the...
An Unexpected Suite Upgrade…To GM’s Apartment!
Last week was a first for me…I was upgraded to the general manager’s apartment at the Hyatt Regency Mainz. Well, room 252 to be exact, a suite I did not even know existed (even though I’ve stayed dozens of...
