Bean Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Dress smart, be polite, but the main one really is being a member of a frequent flyers club. I average one upgrade per return trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Never found a free upgrade yet. On the way back from Qatar in March this year with Emirates, the flight from Qatar to Dubai was delayed and we missed the flight from Dubai to Heathrow so Emirates had to book us onto the first flight in the morning. What did we get to apologise for us being on our feet for 25 hours before we finally got on the flight home? Not a free upgrade, they'd waive the 'missed flight charge' they wanted because we didn't show up for the original flight home ... because their flight into Dubai hadn't even landed before our home flight was already in the air. They did book us into the seats with extra leg room, right at the front. Brilliant, after 25 hours of running around the airport in a confused, tired mess I thought we'd be in for some sleep on the plane. Except the seats at the front is where everyone takes their babies to cry, at any one time there were no less than 3 screaming brats that combined, could scream their way through a pair of Bose noise cancelling headphones, all the way home, 8 hours of screaming babies and no sleep for 32 hours made for an interesting drive back down the M4 to get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Pal of mine got upgraded from business to first on an Emirates A380 last year. Can sum it up by saying that, at one point, there was a knock on his cabin door and the steward said "What time would you like to take your shower, sir?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Almost made the giddy heights of BA 'Silver' status last year. Wow.... Having moved house shortly after achieving Bronze though, no holidays for a bit so they rescind it. Gits. Now a pleb again with 'Blue' membership, which I think entitles me to 4/5 of not much. Can't see me getting much of an upgrade with that. Would be nice to try Business or even First once before I die. Best I have managed so far was Premium Economy. Twice the price for a gnats more legroom was a bit much for me really although it did make it a lot more comfortable a trip. Got a trip to Tampa with BA coming up at the end of the month. Pleb class again. Couldn't even use Avios to buy an upgrade. No wonder they gave me 20000 of the damn things a while back when I moaned about crappy service, they are worthless. On the topic of the Tampa flight, noticed yesterdays didn't go - nosewheel collapsed "during preparations for flight" apparently. Can't wait to see the the IAAB report on that one! Dibby....I'm sure there was a good reason why you didn't, but why not use Qatar Airways to fly from Qatar? (just curious). Used them once to go to the Maldives and they were great. Airport was weird mind. Duty free like some marble palace, the rest was a building site and nowhere to sit. You could miss a connecting flight in Dubai just getting from arrivals to departures. Place is mad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Almost made the giddy heights of BA 'Silver' status last year. Wow.... Having moved house shortly after achieving Bronze though, no holidays for a bit so they rescind it. Gits. Now a pleb again with 'Blue' membership, which I think entitles me to 4/5 of not much. Can't see me getting much of an upgrade with that. Silver makes a big difference, got that within 6 months Will narrowly miss out on gold, this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 My ex boss was always on a plane and had a BA black card. Not many people know about this but it's one up from gold. Gives you all the same benefits as gold with one extra - no matter where you are in the world, if you want to get the next BA flight out of there then you can. Even if it's full - BA actually guarantee to bump some other poor sod off the flight to get you on. He's changed jobs and does less flying now so he's lost it - but he gave BA so much money over many years that they've given him a gold card for life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestyNottm Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Got upgraded from premium economy to first class wth Virgin a few years ago from Antigua to LGW. Was in their Frequent Flier Club at the time and had Richard Branson for company. Top bloke! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile E. Coyote Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Dress smart, be polite, but the main one really is being a member of a frequent flyers club. I average one upgrade per return trip. Lucky git. I went from no status to Gold on BA within 4 months (was spending more nights on planes than at home!) and never once did I get an at the gate upgrade (aside from the vouchers). Much more successful getting them on AA / United in the US where a 3 piece suit* and English accent appears to move you to the front of the upgrade queue. * replaced by more casual stuff before boarding! I now don't see much value to "status" and just keep the points for free flights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boombang Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 In the first place you need to have booked a flight on a route and a time where economy and premium get overbooked but business and first will be quiet. Accepted there are exceptions, if a frequent flier and a slot comes up in class above they might bump you, but if there is no seats it won't happen. If you fly to somewhere like NY or Pheonix in the US at a time where you would arrive at the start of the next business day just forget it. Fly to Sarasota where it takes off and lands at an awkward time for anyone other than holiday makers and you have a head start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Dibby....I'm sure there was a good reason why you didn't, but why not use Qatar Airways to fly from Qatar? (just curious). Used them once to go to the Maldives and they were great. Airport was weird mind. Duty free like some marble palace, the rest was a building site and nowhere to sit. You could miss a connecting flight in Dubai just getting from arrivals to departures. Place is mad. We wanted to stop over a few days in Dubai on the way out, check out the city, see what life is like and compare it to life in Qatar. Hopefully making the move over in the new year, after seeing them the wife would be much happier in Dubai than Qatar. Our mates out there have flown Qatar airways and they don't recommend them, Emirates/ BA every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 We wanted to stop over a few days in Dubai on the way out, check out the city, see what life is like and compare it to life in Qatar. Hopefully making the move over in the new year, after seeing them the wife would be much happier in Dubai than Qatar. Our mates out there have flown Qatar airways and they don't recommend them, Emirates/ BA every time. I've done LHR to DOH direct 7 times this year with Qatar Air and have had no bad experiences. They are not flash (at least not in economy) but seem to be mostly punctual and hand out the drinks when I ask.Onboard crew are always polite and freindly. I would describe them as solid performers. The new Hamad airport is much nicer than the old place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I never travel for work (well, only once - all the way to Amsterdam) and until I win that lottery, no way I will ever make Gold on my own shilling so suspect I will always be a no-status pleb as far as the airlines are concerned. Probably a fair assesment of me full stop to be honest. I have a mate that moved to Doha for work. He loves it out there. For a while at least. Making his pile of cash then coming home in a few years for an early and easy retirement. There's a lovely irony to his situation. He was forced out of his job where I work by a vindictinve, dishonest, corrupt, bully of a manager. His new job put him in charge of an operation with a bigger budget than our entire business unit within our organisation......Oh how we enjoy that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Funny, I hate working in Doha... Nothing to do with the locals or Asian workers who I have found to be freindly and polite. It's the Western Expats that do my head in (no disrespect to your mate CorseChris) it's just they seem to have so much power over workers and earn so much cash, they get up themselves... Every incident of rudeness I encountered was from an expat... They treat the Asian workers in hotel and shops like dirt. And when they saw their new smartphone was worth more than my clothes, luggage and laptop put together, they pretty much treated me the same way... Again not all, just most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Agreed, the worst side of society was the westerners and their complete lack of respect, not only in the middle east but abroad in general. I can't stand this attitude that's boosting UKIP votes at the moment of 'It's our country, our rules' when we go to countries where alcohol is illegal and set up bars all over the place. Some countries value modesty and have quite a conservative culture but the Brits wander about local markets in bikini tops and then blame the local population for perving at them. Certain countries don't eat pork but we import bacon by the truck load to sell in our western supermarkets, yet we complain when a single Polish shop opens on a British high street. That's the plan Corsechris, get in, make the money and get out, steer clear of the hooray-Henry type westerners where money = status, I'm getting pretty sick of Britain so it could well be Canada or New Zealand on the other end. Being mortgage free by the time the wife and I are 40 means she could go part time, we can get a dog, life would be easier on the other end. Phew ... apologies for the rant, there's a combination of push and pull factors leading the decision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Quite agree - we should respect others values when in their homeland if we expect ours to be valued in return. 'When in Rome' cuts both ways. Trouble is, it's hard to shake the legacy of empire isn't it. Ingrained into some people somehow. Can't see my mate being someone who would act that way TBH...but no question there will be plenty who do. I always appreciate anything anyone does for me, especially if they do it well, regardless of who what or where. Makes me cringe the way some folk treat others doing jobs they consider to be menial. A colleague is a fairly frequent visitor to NZ as he has relatives living there......and at one point was really keen on emigrating over there, but after a few long stays, he has changed his mind. Apparently they are prone to being very anti-immigrant (ironic of course, given none of the indigenous population are left - even the Maori are interlopers) and there were a number of less obvious things that he didn't much care for ranging from the standard of driving to their almost totally absent employment contract sytem. I thought about Oz a few years back but too old/poor now to make it happen. I do know someone who moved there many years ago and has had a good life over there, but nowhere is perfect of course. Sounds like a good plan Dibby - hope it all comes together for you as you'd wish mate. Rant away!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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