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Blag yourself a seat in first class

Ever wanted to get a taste of how the other half lives? Sick of slumming it in the cramped and stuffy confines of economy? For those of us who’s budget won’t stretch to the frankly astronomical extra cost of first class flight tickets or who can’t rely on the perks of work-related travel to get a taste of business class, it might be best to reconcile yourself to a lifetime of economy class discomfort. Unless, that is, you manage to wangle the holy grail of air travel � an upgrade.

There’s a lot of mystery surrounding the subject of flight upgrades and you certainly won’t get the airlines themselves publicly stating a company policy on the matter. The logic being I suppose that if passengers come see it as a realistic possibility they’ll be less than thrilled when it turns out not to be possible � not good PR. Indeed, before I go any further I should suggest that this remains a working assumption � upgrades aren’t something most of us should come to expect but, hey, it can’t hurt to give it a try. Familiarise yourself with the following tips and who knows?

� What every prospective upgrade blagger should be aiming for is an SFU stamp on their boarding pass. This stands for Suitable For Upgrade so if you see NSFU (Not Suitable For Upgrade) forget it, the games up.

� So, how does one go about getting the SFU stamp of approval? Well, first of all make yourself presentable. This basically means dress to impress and let’s face it nobody’s going to be impressed if you roll up looking like you’ve just spent the night sleeping rough. The logic here is obvious - dress like a well-heeled businessperson and you won’t look out of place in business class.

� Travel alone and you’re bound to improve your chances over anyone who turns up with their whole family in tow. Essentially the lone traveler will always be easier to accommodate in those elusive first class seats than a large party of people. The big exception to this rule is honeymooning couples, if you genuinely have just got married take along your marriage certificate or at least let the staff know - even if you don’t get an upgrade a complementary bottle of champagne is a real possibility.

� Who you are can make a big difference and I don’t just mean the usual Celebrity / VIP candidates. It’s actually well reported that those with a Dr or Rev title on their passport are often given very accommodating treatment. Whether this is because they’re considered more likely to maintain a disciplined attitude to the complementary champagne on offer remains a mystery.

� Logically it makes sense that the more first class seats there are going, the better chance you’ve got of nabbing one. Check out which of the viable airlines for your journey has the largest fist class area by looking on their websites.

� On a similar note, avoid travel times when business class is likely to be full. This means non-working hours or the weekend. In fact, whilst nobody wants to have to drag themselves to the airport in the early hours of the morning, this might just improve your chances.

� You’re not likely to get very far by making a loud appeal for an upgrade - if you’re within earshot of other passengers who might kick up a fuss if you get an upgrade and they don’t check-in staff probably won’t take the chance. A bit of subtlety could go a long way.

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Tags: first, class