After a fabulous flight in Lufthansa first class from Frankfurt to New York last Saturday, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about flying in Lufthansa economy from Los Angeles to Frankfurt yesterday afternoon.
I was booked on a rather pricey economy ticket which I thought would position me nicely for an upgrade on a Monday flight to Europe. Presenting my paper upgrade cert at check-in, I was hoping for the words, "Mr. Klint, we are pleased to confirm you immediately in business class."
Instead, I was told, "Sorry, it’s not going to happen today. We’re way oversold today in business. I’m not even going to add you to the waitlist." Ouch. I’ve never flown in economy on a longhaul Lufthansa flight and was determined not to break my perfect upgrade record.
I asked about routing through Munich instead. While business class was wide open on that flight, I was told that it would cost about $900 to change the ticket. Sorry, an upgrade is certainly not worth that much.
Nevertheless, I tried to find a sympathetic agent who would waive the change fee to reroute me. One felt sorry for me and did his best to help. His supervisor wouldn’t budge on changing the ticket, but suddenly I was told, "You’re upgrade chances actually don’t look all that bad."
Sure enough, the upgrade came through. It was a middle seat and Lufthansa Business Class is not what it once was cuisine-wise, but I was very thankful for the more comfortable seat and to be able to access the "Welcome Lounge" in Frankfurt this afternoon.
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, never give up on upgrading and always insist on being added to the waitlist.
There is nothing more irritating than to hear “the waitlist is already full.” I never accept that nor should anyone else (if you have status). Weird things can happen with misconnects and such to make upgrade chances change dramatically very quickly.
Hey Matthew – was it an op-up or did you use an upgrade instrument?
It infuriates me when an agent won’t add me to a waitlist, whether it be for an upgrade or for a bump. What harm is there in adding another person to the list if it will make the customer happy?
Gene: My guess is that it is about managing expectations. I could see how adding non/low status pax to a long waiting list is pretty counter productive – it just gets their hopes up. Do it enough times and the pax will begin to think that they never get upgrades (which is true). Saying the waitlist is full eases the blow a bit, I think.
magiciansampras has a good point, but that actually provides the rep an opportunity to say “Wow, the waitlist is full,” conspiratorial wink “but I’m going to sneak you on the end of it anyway.” Keeps expectations reasonable but makes the passenger feel the agent is trying.
@Simon: That’s another blog post in itself…
But I’ll answer here: It would have been a free upgrade…if I hadn’t been honest.
The agent didn’t ask for the paper upgrade cert, but I said, “Do you need this?” She looked confused, then said yes and handed me the BP.
Oh well, it expired at the end of the month anyways and I had no other use for it.
Is the paper upgrade cert a 1K privilege to use on other *A carriers?