Have you ever been in a conversation where someone said something like,
"Well, I was flying from Boston to D.C. and, luckily, I got upgraded." and
then you smile or say, "That's great," without being sure of what an upgrade
is? I mean, you always hear about other people getting them -- but that's
about it. Well, simply put, an upgrade on an airline gets you out of coach
and into business or first class. For some insight, I spoke with Ann Leonard
of Inside Flyer Magazine. She just wrote on article on the subject.
If you're someone who doesn't fly 100,000 miles a year, then you're going to
have to use your frequent flyer points -- and at this point you have to make
a judgement call. For instance, let's say it's taken you a year to save
25,000 frequent flyer miles. An upgrade, on average, will cost you about
10,000 -- so, you'd probably be less likely to squander those away on an
upgrade when those same 10,000 miles would help you get a free coach seat.
But if you'd rather not fool around with miles, Bob Burg says go ahead and
try to charm 'em. Bob's the author of Winning Without Intimidation. He
says with the right attitude, you can shuck and jive your way into first
class. You just need to follow a few simple rules.
You should also try Bob's techniques to get upgrades at hotels and car
rental agencies. And if good ol' fashioned charm doesn't work at those
places, there's still a way to get a deal. Hotel chains and auto rental
places usually have their own version of "frequent flyer" programs. Or you
might just luck into it, a hotel might upgrade you because the class of room
you reserved isn't available -- there's also a pretty good chance of talking
your way into a nicer room without paying for it if you check in late at
night. It's not very likely that the hotel will be renting the room out to
anyone else that night -- so why not you? Just follow Bob's rules -- smile
and ask the clerk nicely. Car rental upgrades on the other hand have more to
do with luck. When I was in France a few weeks ago I had reserved a dinky
stick-shift Renault to shuttle me around, but when I got there the agency
didn't have any in, so they upgraded me to a Mercedes -- and I didn't even
have to pay extra.
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Savvy Resources for Upgrades:
- We spoke with Ann Leonard at Inside Flyer Magazine. She recently wrote an
article on how to get an upgrade. Inside Flyer has some more helpful tips
on their website, at www.webflyer.com.
- Bob Burg has charmed his way into quite a few upgrades -- and he says that you can too. Bob is the author of Winning Without Intimidation. To find out more about him and his
publications -- go to www.burg.com.
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