Upgrading From Economy To Business

[kunash]

On the LHR-BKK Thai used to have an offer of USD800 to upgrade if there was room, not sure if they still do it. I know USD 800 looks a lot but compare the prices for economy and business.

it is 1080 US dollars now

[zanger535]

On the LHR-BKK Thai used to have an offer of USD800 to upgrade if there was room, not sure if they still do it. I know USD 800 looks a lot but compare the prices for economy and business.

it is 1080 US dollars now

[zanger535]

Just an experience i had

...i've started using business class lhr-bkk-lhr now for my last few flights...definately worth it if you can afford it...tried several airlines and all pretty good altho non stoppers are the best...BUT my last trip from BKK to London was a nightmare..Business was half empty and we all thought within minutes of takeing off we might have a nice comfortable environment...then it just filled up with women and kids...well that was it, screaming and bottle feeding and flight attendants spending all their time taking care of them...turns out it was overflow from economy and they got upgraded free gratis...

not a nice experince .....same thing happened on second leg....Qatar airline wasnt very helpfull when i send an email to them asking for some sort of compensation...just a reduction on my next flight would have been nice....after all i paid good money to travel that class...SO!... all tho's who say upgrades are great ...think about it if you've paid full wack for your seat...the difference being £1000 for me that time.

Edited May 2, 2011 by zanger535

[tw25rw]

Just an experience i had

...i've started using business class lhr-bkk-lhr now for my last few flights...definately worth it if you can afford it...tried several airlines and all pretty good altho non stoppers are the best...BUT my last trip from BKK to London was a nightmare..Business was half empty and we all thought within minutes of takeing off we might have a nice comfortable environment...then it just filled up with women and kids...well that was it, screaming and bottle feeding and flight attendants spending all their time taking care of them...turns out it was overflow from economy and they got upgraded free gratis...

not a nice experince .....same thing happened on second leg....Qatar airline wasnt very helpfull when i send an email to them asking for some sort of compensation...just a reduction on my next flight would have been nice....after all i paid good money to travel that class...SO!... all tho's who say upgrades are great ...think about it if you've paid full wack for your seat...the difference being £1000 for me that time.

I would complain to the airline. If they're going to upgrade in flight, it should be to move people away from the kids!

I always fly Tha LHR-BKK in business and haven't had any experiences like that yet. I'll make a fuss if it does happen.

[TobiasMattsson]

Just an experience i had

...i've started using business class lhr-bkk-lhr now for my last few flights...definately worth it if you can afford it...tried several airlines and all pretty good altho non stoppers are the best...BUT my last trip from BKK to London was a nightmare..Business was half empty and we all thought within minutes of takeing off we might have a nice comfortable environment...then it just filled up with women and kids...well that was it, screaming and bottle feeding and flight attendants spending all their time taking care of them...turns out it was overflow from economy and they got upgraded free gratis...

not a nice experince .....same thing happened on second leg....Qatar airline wasnt very helpfull when i send an email to them asking for some sort of compensation...just a reduction on my next flight would have been nice....after all i paid good money to travel that class...SO!... all tho's who say upgrades are great ...think about it if you've paid full wack for your seat...the difference being £1000 for me that time.

I sure understand your feelings.

My thought when I read your post is that if they upgrade passengers from eco to business they might have done so prior boarding discreet... Sure, it is the same thing, you pay full price for your ticket but it must sting when you are looking forward to your first drink and meal order and instead your cabin gets overcrowded women and their kids.

Cheers!

[zanger535]

...well actually when i said business filled up with kids and women it was actually just a few minutes prior to doors closing, not during flight...anybody sits in their seat with no one next to them with a minute or 2 to go, has a shock when its suddenly filled up...of course thinking they have it all to themselves...by that time.

anyway it only happened the once with qatar airline and no sympathy from them....

all done now, but using Qantas next month ....i hear that if you havnt bought a business class fare with them then thats your lot....fingers crossed..

Edited May 3, 2011 by zanger535

[RabC]

...well actually when i said business filled up with kids and women it was actually just a few minutes prior to doors closing, not during flight...anybody sits in their seat with no one next to them with a minute or 2 to go, has a shock when its suddenly filled up...of course thinking they have it all to themselves...by that time.

anyway it only happened the once with qatar airline and no sympathy from them....

all done now, but using Qantas next month ....i hear that if you havnt bought a business class fare with them then thats your lot....fingers crossed..

I fully agree I have seen this in Business 3 times now on Qatar and will not use them any more. Only seems to be on the Doha/Bangkok/Doha legs.

[tw25rw]

I don't object too much to people being upgraded. I'd love to have it happen again. But I would object to it causing me discomfort and also to them receiving any kind of preferential service.

[lomatopo]

TG's current stand-by/check-in upgrade pricing schedule.

[tombkk]

Would be good if there was a last minute upgrade fare where you could pay an upgrade fee between economy and business and get to sit in the bigger seat, but forfeiting the other benefits like business class food, fast track, lounge access etc. I would certainly pay more for the big seat without the other benefits.

There is. My friend always buys a TG ticket MUC-BKK-MUC in economy and then upgrades for EUR 500 or so at the airport. He says it's cheaper than buying a business class ticket outright, but the risk is that business is alrady booked out.

[tw25rw]

Would be good if there was a last minute upgrade fare where you could pay an upgrade fee between economy and business and get to sit in the bigger seat, but forfeiting the other benefits like business class food, fast track, lounge access etc. I would certainly pay more for the big seat without the other benefits.

There is. My friend always buys a TG ticket MUC-BKK-MUC in economy and then upgrades for EUR 500 or so at the airport. He says it's cheaper than buying a business class ticket outright, but the risk is that business is alrady booked out.

But do you still get the business class perks? I only really care about the big seat and can do without the other stuff, though the fast tracks are nice. If I could skip those and reduce the upgrade cost to a minimum, I would.

[tombkk]

Would be good if there was a last minute upgrade fare where you could pay an upgrade fee between economy and business and get to sit in the bigger seat, but forfeiting the other benefits like business class food, fast track, lounge access etc. I would certainly pay more for the big seat without the other benefits.

There is. My friend always buys a TG ticket MUC-BKK-MUC in economy and then upgrades for EUR 500 or so at the airport. He says it's cheaper than buying a business class ticket outright, but the risk is that business is alrady booked out.

But do you still get the business class perks? I only really care about the big seat and can do without the other stuff, though the fast tracks are nice. If I could skip those and reduce the upgrade cost to a minimum, I would.

Depends... You might not have time to go to the lounge. And comparing the check-in time versus just taking economy, getting and paying for the upgrade certainly takes some time.

[CNXBKKMAN]

...well actually when i said business filled up with kids and women it was actually just a few minutes prior to doors closing, not during flight...anybody sits in their seat with no one next to them with a minute or 2 to go, has a shock when its suddenly filled up...of course thinking they have it all to themselves...by that time.

anyway it only happened the once with qatar airline and no sympathy from them....

all done now, but using Qantas next month ....i hear that if you havnt bought a business class fare with them then thats your lot....fingers crossed..

I fully agree I have seen this in Business 3 times now on Qatar and will not use them any more. Only seems to be on the Doha/Bangkok/Doha legs.

I have been upgraded to business 3 times DOH-BKK. Everytime its because economy section is full and it helps the airline sort a problem out. Qatar business class is excellent especially so when its a free of charge.

[chrigus]

I'm star alliance gold with LH but now as I live in LOS I was always contemplating whether or not I should rather become ROP member:

- I would start again with no status

- business in ROP only gets you 1.25 bonus vs. 2.0 on LH

+ I finally might get an upgrade from time to time (on LH I was upgraded about 20% of my flights) but never got one on my 50 TG flights in the last two years

+ My credit card rewards points would finally make sense (Citibank & UOB) by transferring them into ROP miles

Does anyone know if I could still use my LH Gold card for the checkin, lounge & preboarding priviledge despite using a non-status ROP membership for mileage accrual an the same flight? Asked ROP customer service two times but got no reply...

Cheers

Christian

[lomatopo]

Does anyone know if I could still use my LH Gold card for the checkin, lounge & preboarding priviledge despite using a non-status ROP membership for mileage accrual an the same flight?

This is doable but challenging. You'll need to get the gate agent to remove your LH M&M FF# from the record and add the TG ROP FF#. Agents may be reluctant to do this, or not know how to do it, or <deleted> it up, badly. You can also have the LH M&M FF# removed from the record entirely, then retro-actively claim ROP credit (save your boarding cards). LH may extend certain benefits, like preferred seating (exit row), so not sure what might happen at the gate when the record is modified.

And no, you can't double-dip.

Edited June 25, 2011 by lomatopo

[infernalman7]

The only time I have received a legit upgrade like this was when TG uses their 747s for their domestic routes. You can get first class seats even though you pay for Business.

Also you should have a loot at this (if you fly TG often)

http://www.thaiairways.com/frequent-flyer/en/platinum_Status.htm

Edited June 25, 2011 by infernalman7

[elliss]

If economy is overbooked, they might upgrade you. But it's for their operational convenience, not the passenger's.

do away with buisness class ,

have all seats cattle class, and at lower prices.

empty buisnes seats, is not a good economic policy .

:jap:

[smokie36]

If economy is overbooked, they might upgrade you. But it's for their operational convenience, not the passenger's.

do away with buisness class ,

have all seats cattle class, and at lower prices.

empty buisnes seats, is not a good economic policy .

:jap:

Let's have non profit making airlines as well....worldwide....run it as a service to the people of the world. Peace and love.

[tw25rw]

If economy is overbooked, they might upgrade you. But it's for their operational convenience, not the passenger's.

do away with buisness class ,

have all seats cattle class, and at lower prices.

empty buisnes seats, is not a good economic policy .

:jap:

Without premium classes, economy would cost more.

[Captain Chaos]

Also you should have a loot at this (if you fly TG often)

http://www.thaiairways.com/frequent-flyer/en/platinum_Status.htm

Believe BA operate some kind of "Black Card" scheme, above the regular One World gold status scheme, for ultra high value customers. Singapore Airlines also operate their PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club scheme in a similar way, over and above the Star Alliance gold card.

[endure]

"I have just travelled from Heathrow to Doha, en route to BKK. I now have a 3 hour stop over in Doha.

I travelled business class with Qatar, and it was very nice. The service and seating was good. Unfortunately i had not got much sleep in the last 36 hours so was a bit tired and slept much of the 6 hour journey. I am now sitting in the business lounge in Doha, eating and drinking. Seems I can help myself to as much spirits as i want. Easy to get drunk, but I will try and avoid that. /burp. Thank you very much Doha.

One thing I noticed on the flight from Heathrow,was that about 60% of the business class seats were empty. I always thought they tried to upgrade economy class passengers if there was avaiiable room in business, but seems not. So, does anyone know the policy of upgrading? "

Easy peasy. If you want to fly business class buy a business class ticket. Problem solved!

[jonnyscot]

Hi, I fly regularly between Europe/Africa and BKK via Dubai with Emirates, I have the skywards gold membership, I have had the free upgrades also on 3 occasions this year, but always when the flights been full or nearly full, I would therefore agree with a previous poster that airlines generally offer the free upgrades when the flight is overbooked ,,, I never wear a collar and tie, ,,,,,, t shirt and jeans for me and it seems to work ok with emirates.

I am a TG gold member and have been quite lucky on upgrades- i have had 3 upgrades from econ to business in the last few months. The last one was this week- bot upgraded to business from Beijing to BKK, which is nice as its a 4-5 hour flight! In two of the three cases i just asked for an upgrade and they gave it to me (i notice i only get upgraded when i am wearing suit/tie and I have also reached the mileage requirements to get gold membership 3 times over in the last year or so, so that may also be a factor).