10 Tips on How to Turn Your Economy Tickets to First Class for Free
Traveling itself is already a luxury or could also be a dream-come-true for some. For those who’ve taken flights most of the time, you’ll know that an hour or a few more hours flying in economy isn’t that bad at all. However, when flying for more than five or ten hours, you’d wish you’re staying in a more comfortable seat where you can have extra leg room with more perks you wouldn’t expect to have in economy. You wish you were in first class but what it’s worth can be already equivalent to a couple of cheap economy flights. Surprisingly though, there are times getting those affordable economy tickets can magically turn into first class for some unexpected reasons. Here are some of the tips that can get you from economy to first class based on real-life experiences, but of course, we can’t guarantee that these are 100% effective at all times.
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Get frequent flyer membership for every airline you fly with
It is recommended for every newbie flyer to sign-up for a membership in any random airline they’re about to book flights from. It won’t hurt to do so because most of them are for free and you just need to fill up a form with the usual details needed. If later, you figure out your favorite or the one with better chances of giving you more flyer points, stick to it to give you more chances of earning.
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Choose an alliance
Know your airlines well. To get better chances of earning points, put your mileages into one account, and you can do it easily even without trying hard to fly via the same airline as long as the airlines you choose belong to the same alliance. Star Alliance? One World? Sky Team? Take your pick.
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Earn your miles
You earn miles by flying, that’s true. But besides sticking with an airline or their alliance partners, you can earn more miles through other ways like signing up for credit cards, purchasing using your debit or credit card, signing up on Netflix, answering online surveys, or booking at hotels that lets you transfer hotel points to their partner airlines.
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Be loyal
Stick to an airline or an alliance. The other airlines may offer cheaper rates but think about if the deal is all worth it when it comes to earning more points.
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Fly on your birthday
This won’t always work, but there are chances that if the ticket agent notices you’re flying on your birthday, he/she may grant you a simple gift of bumping you up to business/first class. But that doesn’t mean you can easily walk straight to your ticketing agent and say, “It’s my birthday, hurray!”
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Be late
When most of the time you want to be early as possible in the airport for the check-in, this time you better take things slow and be late on purpose. Being late leaves you with a possibility that all the seats in economy are taken, and there’s nowhere else available for you but a seat in the business or first class.
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Find something wrong with your seat
Not really recommended to do in every flight, trying to spot on a defect around your seat can make you actually find one that’s worth notifying your flight attendant. No matter how small they are, they could be your way to suddenly change your seat into first class. It may be faulty entertainment system, broken tray tables, or anything wrong that makes your seat uncomfortable. Just don’t break anything, of course.
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Fly alone
Flying solo gives you more chances of getting an available business or first class seat right away. It’s easier to spot on an available seat for one than for a pair or more.
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Be polite
Even if you have all the chances to use the tips indicated before, it‘s better to be polite and patient when asking your ticket agent or flight attendant for a free upgrade. Don’t think pushing your way in will get you easier access to first class, so chill and smile when asking.
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Ask
Just be a curious cat and ask politely if it’s possible to get an upgrade from economy to first class (or business class). You won’t lose anything. If they say no, you can move on right away to your original seat. If they say yes, bingo! As long as you’re not asking it in a pushy or bully-like way, you’ll have a nice chance to get what you wish for.
