Anyone know how to get First Class seating with coach price?

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Are there ways for upgrades other than mile status, or paying full price?

I have paid a minimal fee at the airport if a seat is available, but are there other ways?
 

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why cant your azz sit in coach like the rest of us..you think your special??:howdy:
 

Home of the Cincinnati Criminals.
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No, I sit there. But if I can get a deal, I'm moving
 

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Are there ways for upgrades other than mile status, or paying full price?

I have paid a minimal fee at the airport if a seat is available, but are there other ways?
hand the person a bejamin? :D

i dunno

-murph
 

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When you getting in again Dante? Tuesday?


BB... wanted to get in thursday but I could not get it off... will arrive friday 3pm and stay until the next thursday aug 19-26

staying at hilton with akillies and leisure for 4 days after the 2 at rio
 

That settles it...It's WED/DAY
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Don't let Obama see you flying first class, he will be coming after your ass to pay your fair share
 

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Easiest way is mileage status. I fly over 100,000 miles on Delta each year and I probably end up stuck in coach less than 3 times on about 50-60 flights.

Next option is to simply be nice. I got a girl a coffee in australia and she upgraded me. Never hurts to ask. Sometimes they have extra seats. Ask if they'd like a sandwich, coffee, etc.
 

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I used points last year to fly back from the Bash in first class....it was a big let down! I used points this year to pay for my return flight from the Bash (for some reason the return flights were ridiculously high.....I couldn't find anything that left later than 9am on Sunday for less than $500/one-way. I used 25,000 points to get the return flight....in coach - the flight into Vegas was $148 on Airtran out of Wash/Reagan)....

I've gotten upgraded to business class w/ my military ID...but never a 1st class upgrade. That would be nice....

---
 

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Dante, did you book your room yet?

Sometimes I can get a friend free night stays also.

I get in on Wednesday, but I can see what I can do if you didnt pay for it yet.
BB... wanted to get in thursday but I could not get it off... will arrive friday 3pm and stay until the next thursday aug 19-26

staying at hilton with akillies and leisure for 4 days after the 2 at rio
 

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the amount of people in first who actually paid for their ticket is approaching zero.
 

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all these answers and noone has asked the KEY question

do you have a ticket already and if so , what airline? the answer to your question totally depends on the airline as the policies are totally different
 

Fah-New-Gee
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As most of you know I fly over 150,000 miles a year (did over 200,000 last year and 186,000 on Delta alone) and have flown over 1 Million Miles on Delta alone. I have been in the back probably 50,000 of those 1 Million Miles.

The secret is keep your flying on 1 airline (and 1 alliance) alone and build status with that airline. Which airline you choose has many factors to look at and are based in large part to where you're located.

Here's the logic I used based out of Buffalo.

First off, I had to pick an airline to fly. I chose Delta, because looking at the competition, here's what I saw.

American - had to connect ALL flights through ORD only. They only offer regional jet service. This can really screw things up if ORD is down as there is nowhere else to go. The regional jets that AA fly's don't have FC (at leas the crj's they fly into buf), so AA was a no go. Frequent flyer program 25,000 miles is low level, 50,000 miles is mid level and 100,000 miles is top level. For low and mid level you're given "stickers" which you can use to upgrade flights. You earn a certain amount of stickers based on how often you fly and you can also purchase extra stickers. At 100k miles you get unlimited upgrades.

United - Offer flights again to ORD, but also offers flights to Washington DC. The flights to ORD can be in full size jets, but the majority of the flights are Regional. All flights to washington are regional. Full size jets offer Economy + seating which give you a lot more room if you're in the back of the bus. Better than AA but not the best choice. Going to be merging with CO soon. Frequest flyer program has 25,000 , 50,000 and 100,000 mile levels. They also offer a "secret" level (global services) that is earned based on SPEND, not on miles flown. Global Service peeps don't sit in coach. Their top level program is good as well (1k) but they can spend time in the back. Having global service really is a better way for most people, not me, as I'm always looking to save a buck on tickets so this isn't the best program for me.

Continental. Offers flights to Cleveland, Albany, Hartford and Newark. Again, most of the flights are regional (and Albany and Hartford are prop jobs), but some are full service. Merging with UA shortly. Frequent flyer program 25,000, 50,000 and 75,000 level. Problem is by having 75,000 as your top level there are WAY too many people on the top level which makes getting upgrades more difficult. Considered to have the best hard product in the industry, however many reports of Platinums (their highest tier) sitting in the back too often. They also have FCM. FCM is FIRST CLASS MONITEZATION. I'll go over this more later on, but they offer people a chance to upgrade for cash and those upgrades can compete with platinums.

USAir ... well, it's more like US Scare. Terrible company and their Phily HUB has the rudest people in the world. Offers flights from BUF to PHL, BWI, PIT, LGA and maybe a few more. If you're a HUB captive then I guess its ok if you can get to Chairman Preferred (100k miles a year), but if you're not chairman you'll sit in the back often.

Southwest - Southworst. The airline of choice for Ma and Pa kettle. They don't even have FC - out of the decision.

Jet Blue - good product but again, no FC, leaves them out.

Airtran - being taken over by Southworst and when they do they are getting rid of FC. Rules them out.

Delta. When I started they offered the most flights out of BUF on full service jets and to dat ethey continue to do so. Decent amount of choice to connect through so if there is weather problems in one area then I can change my flights and go through a different hub. Very, very few Diamond medallions (word has it there are less than 20,000 diamonds in their whole system), so I get upgraded just about everywhere I go. And oh, I am the #1 flyer out of BUF on Delta. Yup, last year I flew more on delta out of buffalo than anybody else. I get taken care of big time by them. Love em and the right choice for me.

Now, I am not in a HUB, so other than going to a few cities I'm going to have to connect on just about any trip. This can be a pain, but it also BUILDS miles. Every time I go anywhere I connect - either in JFK, Detroit, Minny or Atlanta. If I go BUF-DTW, although I'm only flying 241 miles I get credit for 500 miles as Delta uses a minimum of 500 miles for every flight you take. If I go BUF-JFK then I again get 500 miles but fly 301. If I go BUF-ATL I get 712 miles. Then the connecting flight gets me to my final destination. If it looks like I'm going to have poor flight year (not many flights), in order to keep my status (Diamond, the highest you can get on DL), say I'm going to LAX, I'll fly BUF-JFK-LAX, which actually takes me out of the way to get the extra miles (it also helps that Delta offers Business Elite on the flights from JFK-LAX, JFK-SFO, which is more like international first class than domestic first class).

So, after you choose your airline keep flying that one airline. People out there even take what's called "mileage runs" - flights to somewhere and back JUST TO EARN miles (or keep status).
 

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Hey, baccy, are points transferrable? is there away I could buy points from you and upgrade mine to first class from you?
 

Fah-New-Gee
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the amount of people in first who actually paid for their ticket is approaching zero.

Not true anymore Akillies - was true about 5 years ago but things have changed.

#1. Significantly less inventory on Domestic US flights. Many less seats = many less chances of upgrades.
#2. Business is back. I know the Unemployment rate sucks but businessmen are buying First class. I see it. Now, they're not buying FC on a flight ATL-MCI (atlanta to kansas city), but they are buying first class on JFK-LAX (new york city to los angeles).
#3. FCM -= First Class Monetization. Multiple airlines now are offering FC seats for "reasonable" prices and holding back inventory for free upgrades, and eventually selling those upgrades rather than giving them away for free. If you spend anytime at Flyertalk (forum for frequent flyer folks) you'll see many examples of this.
#4. Reasonable cost of First Class. Delta now offers, besides "F" fares, "A" and "P" fare buckets which are first class fares at greatly reduced rates.
 

Fah-New-Gee
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Hey, baccy, are points transferrable? is there away I could buy points from you and upgrade mine to first class from you?

Points aren't transferable and I cannot "sell" you the points as it's part of the terms and conditions of being a Skymiles member that you cannot sell your miles, however I can use my miles to upgrade you, IF you have a high enough fare bucket. Delta uses the following fares:

Y/B/M - high end fares - usually bought 2, maybe 3 days before the trip - prices in the $900 - $1200 level for a RT just about from anywhere to anywhere.
H/Q/K - mid level fares - most businesses get these - normally 14 days out you can find this level - $600 is probably the avg price right now.
L/U/T/E - low fares - ma and pa kettle who book 300 days before the flight gets these tickets. Anywhere from $200 - $400 for a flight.

You can only use miles to upgrade a flight if the fare bucket is "K" class or higher. Shoot me a PM with your contact info and I'll go over it with you if I can throw you a bone. I'm actually on a flight right now as I type (go-go internet access is fricken amazing) going from JFK-LAX on flight 1934 sitting in seat 4-C (Business Elite - LOVE IT).
 

Fah-New-Gee
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Sorry BB but your ticket is a T class. You're one of the kettles.

Now, keep in mind it takes 12,500 miles to upgrade a k+ ticket EACH WAY, and then only Medalllions (Silver + higher) have the right to upgrade to FC. Now, if you have a Y fare (FULL FARE COACH), then it takes 5,000 miles to upgrade your fare each way, but the cost difference between a T-Y can be over $1,000 USD. Those 25,000 miles to upgrade each way is what it costs to get a domestic round-trip ticket, so having anybody give you 25,000 miles is a lot)

Now, here's probably the best way of getting an upgrade for a regular coach class customer. You know it and love it - BRIBES.

Just like somebody posted above, bringin somebody a coffee, etc, can make your seat mysteriously move up front. Casually ask around if there's any space up front (and if you're on DL check the monitors as that will list if there's any space available still) and get talkative with your gate agent. Be sweet and you could end up sitting up front. Now, that's not going to work on a heavy business route (ATL-DCA) as three quarters of the flight will have medaillion status.

LAS is a recreational destination. There's a chance that yourr flight will have open seats. Be nice - ask nicely.
 

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