Has anyone tried to pay cash to upgrade from economy to business class on Korean Air as you check in at Chiang Mai airport?  I called the Bangkok number yesterday to get a quote.  The price to upgrade for just the outbound portion of the ticket (CNX to JFK) was 3,800 US dollars.

Ouch!  I had the same question.

That doesn't sound right.     That's more than if you purchased a R/T ticket off the get go.

 

You can fly Business Class on China Southern  R/T for 85,000 baht.    That's CNX to JFK.    I used the dates of 29 Oct for 21 days.

 

Do a search on Google ITA Software.

Google ITA Software finds flights, but doesn't let you book flights.

 

Here's an interesting trick I came across while researching my next flight.  Go to Google travel.  Put in your departure airport, destination, and preferred date of travel.  Then click on the calendar in either of the date boxes, a five week calendar will open up with your travel date in the center and the best fares for two and a half weeks before and after that date (it may take a few minutes to research and present all the numbers).  Don't get too excited, the really good fares are usually for nightmare itineraries. 

 

Now go to the top of the page and change the box that says "Economy" to "Premium Economy" and open the calendar again.  The fares will double or triple.  If you do this for Business class the fares will quadruple.  First Class is ridiculous.

 

That's why we put up with Economy.

 

Regarding the OP's question; if he wants to know if he can get a better deal on upgrading by paying cash at the airport--I don't know but I doubt it.

These airlines crack me up. I once landed at LHR on a BA flight connecting to Newcastle. I was hours early, so asked if I could get an earlier flight. You would *think* that they would have happily given me a seat on this early morning, not full flight for a reasonable amount, leaving them with the possibility of selling a seat on the later flight as well.

Instead they wanted more for going earlier than the return flight cost.

My response, of course, would be <deleted> if I posted it.

 

 

3 hours ago, jimmym40 said:

That doesn't sound right.     That's more than if you purchased a R/T ticket off the get go.

 

You can fly Business Class on China Southern  R/T for 85,000 baht.    That's CNX to JFK.    I used the dates of 29 Oct for 21 days.

 

Do a search on Google ITA Software.

The same itinerary is 5,500 - 6,200 for business class if you want to book it through Korean Airline's website.  The agent on the phone also told me I could upgrade for half of the flight with 50,000 miles if I also paid an additional 800 dollars.

 

About a year ago, I was listening to an economic journalist on Bloomberg.  When asked what currency was being hit hardest by inflation, he said, "Airline frequent flier miles."