Has anybody been booked on a flight in coach and asked if they could sit in 1st class if seats are avaiable? If you got to move up to 1st class what reason did you give them?

hey, beeatch, upgrade me nao

it worked for me

what can I say

These days it takes $$$ or status to get upgraded.

Good luck. Never hurts to ask but odds are very low unless you have status and are just out of upgrades. If it was your anniversary, birthday......maybe but not likely.

Your best bet is to be towards the end of those checking in for the flight and ending up on the oversell list. That's a really risky path to take though. If you don't end up at the very top of that thing, you may not make it on your flight at all, and if you do, you'll definitely have the worst seats available in coach.

Here's what I do- if you are on a flight that isn't full, wait until they are just about to close the gate to board the plane, ensuring that you are the last passenger aboard. If there is a First Class seat open, slide in like it's yours.

I've been surprised at how often it has worked and getting caught in a "mix up" is less embarrassing than you might think.

I fly First Class a lot.

VBITs trying to get upgrades

Wow, I had to look that one up in the Acronym Dictionary (Vacation Bound Infrequent Travelers)

Here's what I do- if you are on a flight that isn't full, wait until they are just about to close the gate to board the plane, ensuring that you are the last passenger aboard. If there is a First Class seat open, slide in like it's yours.

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Don't embarrass yourself like that. If you can't afford to pay for the upgrade, then sit down in your assigned seat. I hate people that beg.

Andy07
DITTO

piag94
DITTO

I will never forget a flight I was on from Houston to Chicago to attend a conference. Guy told the attendant he wanted first class because of a funeral he was attending and needed more privacy. Once we are up in the air, he gets his satchel out and gets a bunch of pamphlets out on the conference. He then tells the guy next to him that he is going to the conference, in which the attendant overhears. No sooner does he finish his sentence, she abruptly confronts him and tells him to leave first class and return to coach in his assigned seat. Best part was he had to sit between two larger people that spilled over into his seat which made for a much more pleasant flight for him, Im sure.

Who said anything about begging? I've only been asked about a FC ticket twice and neither time was it a big deal. All I did was head back to my seat.

For the record, I've paid for FC several times and never felt like it was truly worth 3 times Coach.

Bottom line, it's fun and harmless. You self righteous *******s should learn to live a little.

Vero, I would never use a funeral excuse for anything. Bad karma. Serves the guy right.

I've never asked to be upgraded. I just use the method mentioned above (which I learned from a wealthy lawyer friend) and take the seat that wouldn't get used anyway.

eh, I guess I will try asking on my honeymoon, cant hurt trying....

Texangler

Continental has recently offered the ability for non-elites if space is available once all FC and elites have been upgraded.

I know you wouldnt, Tex. There have been posts by some people on here that have pulled that one before, and I think that is a shame.

Bottom line, it's fun and harmless. You self righteous *******s should learn to live a little.
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I do know how to live a little. I am sure the flight attendants love people that want to be "fun and harmless". They probably are thinking "great, here's another jerkoff". Most airlines will charge you $100 if it's less than an hour before takeoff.

The flight attendants don't know and probably wouldn't even care given the situation that the flight wasn't full.

I'm starting to wonder how I slipped into this topic full of Elites, being a Non-Elite and all. This is not a big deal. Why are most of you getting your panties in a wad? Lighten up.

The flight attendants DO know, and know if someone should be in that seat, paid for or upgraded.

Several years ago in Norway (Bergen) an older friend waited around the ticketing counter. Then he went up to the oldest agent there and asked if he could possibly be upgraded to first class. She took a look at him and said, "Sure." Flight wasn't too crowded and it pretty much bought his lifetime loyalty for the airline.

Okay . Lots of interesting answers here. I'm not a VBIT and I'm not begging for a seat (I can afford to fly 1st class if I want).

My best friend since childhood and I are flying to Florida next week for a girls trip. We were originally flying into Miami and then last week I changed the flight to go into Ft. Lauderdale so that we arrive at a better time. We have tickets to a private party at a Miami nightclub. Since I changed the flight so late my friend and I do not have seats together. She is one row ahead of me. When I spoke to the lady at continental last week she recommended checking back a few days before the flight because seats together may open up. When I looked yesterday all that is open side by side is in first class which is pretty much empty.

So I thought that if I can't change our current seats to side by side in coach that I might ask them if we can sit in First class if it is availiable. This is a birthday trip for me and I just thought it would be fun if we could sit in first class together to start the fun. The rest of the trip is 1st class since we are being picked up by a limo at the airport and staying at the Eden Roc hotel in miami.

Just looking for advice.

OMG, WHATEVER WILL YOU DO IF YOU DON'T SIT NEXT TO HER ON A TWO HOUR FLIGHT

You could always ask the person sitting next to you or your friend if they would mind switching seats so you two can sit next to each other. There's always that option.

I know we will survive the flight. We could just pass notes between the seats. Just kidding. I just thought that if there were empty seats in first class maybe we could sit there.

Last year when we traveled together we did end up switching seats with somebody that was in between us and it really confused that poor women. I think she thought we asked her if she could switch as if she sat in the wrong seat on the row.

I would just make sure you are sitting behind her and make sure to kick the back of her seat constantly

Good idea about kicking her chair. That way she will feel like her kids are there and she won't miss them on the trip.

If you know that FC is mostly empty, try my method. It will make you feel young again and get your crazy weekend off to a good start.

Texangler

Just so you know. They know exactly who you are. They address you by name in First Class

I won't lie and tell you that my strikingly handsome features haven't helped me in situations like these. If it were truly a big deal I think I would have been asked to move more times than it's happened.

So you are basically saying you never tried it. Thanks for explaining yourself

Guess I'm the poors, never saw the point of first class. Hell, if they would let me, I'd fly in the restroom area jumpseat if if would save me money.

Give me Southwest and let me stake out a seat in the last seat near the restroom, and I am a happy traveler.

quote:

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So you are basically saying you never tried it. Thanks for explaining yourself

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I'm not sure where the miscommunication stems from but I thought I made myself clear earlier when I said that I have done this many times without confrontation or question.

I know what you wrote and tried to imply, but your answers prove to those that understand First Class that you did not do what you say you did.

What Texangler does is steal. You are taking something you didn't pay for without permission.

If you partake in any of the drinks, warm nuts, hot towels, etc. you are stealing.

On AA, I've been in FC many times where the FA would ask somebody to see their boarding pass because they knew that the person should be in coach. They have the manifest and know when a seat should be empty. All the FC passengers always chuckle a little bit when that happens to somebody. I think it's pretty pathetic that people stoop to that level to try to steal a seat they can't afford.