The 'No Nonsense' Economy to Business Class Flight Upgrade Guide

Updated 24 March 2019
Summary of our Upgrade Guide:
  • We don't believe the question of 'will I be upgraded?' should be a mystery. There are many urban myths, and we want to make it clear how upgrades work, and who gets them.
  • Our research outlines 8 reasons why you won't be upgraded, and 6 ways you can will be. 
  • In almost every case, airlines only upgrade passengers when a flight is full. Airlines know some people will change their tickets at the last minute, cancel or not show up, and for this reason will sell more tickets in Economy knowing they can move people to a higher cabin, for example Premium Economy or Business Class.
  • The path to an upgraded ticket is not one of luck. The most influential factor is airline status. For example, if Air New Zealand needs to upgrade one passenger to Hawaii, is it going to pick an elite-level Airpoints member, or someone with no loyalty who bought a cheap seat+bag fare? The answer is easy - the elite-level member will be upgraded. 
  • Airlines increasingly are realising the value of extra revenue and will offer passengers last-minute opportunities to 'upgrade', by either placing a bid, or for a nominal fee.
  • This guide has been published to dispel myths and make it clear exactly how and why airlines upgrade.

Know This First: When and Why Airlines Upgrade

Upgrades at random, the most relevant type of upgrades for this guide, are known as 'operational upgrades'. Operational upgrades is the term to describe the procedure that happens when a cabin on a flight is full and the airline is moving some passengers 'forward' to make space. This is also known as upgrades when the cabin is 'oversold'. For example, Air New Zealand has 270 economy class passengers check-in for a 787 flight with 263 seats. In this example, 7 passengers would be 'upgraded'. In general, 'operational' Upgrading only happens when:

  1. The flight is overbooked in economy class - 99.9% of operational upgrades happen for this reason. The airline doesn't want to fly with empty seats, as moving people forward is the easiest way to make more money.
  2. The flight MUST offer business class in the first place - all too often, Air New Zealand passengers wonder if they will be upgraded flying Auckland to Australia unaware that the aircraft operating the route is a one-class-all-economy Airbus A320 or A321. 

As this guide details, upgrades are likely only to be available when a flight is over-sold. Airlines do not upgrade without a valid reason, given the value premium cabins command. There is a lot of media reports and articles which suggest 'dressing to impress' and 'smiling' will secure upgrades regardless of whether the aircraft is oversold. We believe these articles are idealistic but not true to the nature of the airline industry.

In the preparation of this guide, MoneyHub has consulted with a range of airline frequent flyers, airline ground staff and airline employees working or involved in head-office-level operations.​

8 Reasons Why You WILL NEVER be Upgraded to Business Class...

You are travelling with children

Airlines make a significant amount of their profits from business class, and very rarely will upgrade children. For this reason, even if you are a frequent flyer, travelling with a child or children under 18 years of age is likely to diminish the chances of being upgraded to near zero. 
​

The airline upgrades based on fare-type and/or loyalty first, as well as encouraging cash upgrades

Airlines only upgrade passengers at random as a last resort. Before a flight, many airlines email passengers with a cash offer to upgrade. This works for the airline by providing additional revenue (knowing it's unlikely they will sell the seat before the flight is scheduled) and also offers added benefits to the passenger for a reduced cost. If the airline still finds itself needing to upgrade passengers to ensure everyone gets a seat, the airline will prioritise their most loyal customers first, with some also considering those on expensive flexi-type tickets. Only when the airline clears this list will it upgrade passengers 'at random'.

You have ordered a special meal

Ordering a special meal means your seat is attached to a special meal. If you were to be upgraded, your special meal wouldn't be served to you. Business class have different catering than Economy, so they couldn't serve your special meal there - the airline would have a problem. Your special meal couldn't be offered to anyone else either. For this reason, ordering a special meal invalidates any chances of an upgrade.
​

Your flight is operated by a one-class aircraft

This is often overlooked, but is very important. Air New Zealand operates a mix of widebody (i.e. Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft) and narrow-body (i.e. Airbus A320 and A321, both economy-only aircraft) on its Australia and Pacific Island routes. For example, you may fly to Fiji in a widebody Boeing and return on a narrowbody Airbus. For this reason, upgrades will only be an option on the Boeing aircraft. You may know it's oversold, school holidays or happy to pay with Airpoints Dollars a fee to upgrade, but there is zero possibility of that.
​

Your flight isn't overbooked or oversold

Airlines operate with around 80% to 95% seat occupancy - this means 5% to 20% of seats on a flight, on average, will be empty. You can get an upgrade by paying for it with cash via an airline special offer, or by using a voucher (see point 6. next). If the aircraft isn't full, there's almost zero chance of being upgraded voluntarily by the airline - the value of business class is just too high.
​

The airline is selling upgrades, but you decide not to buy

Your airline may send out an offer to upgrade a week or so before you are due to fly. For example, you are booked on LATAM from Auckland to Santiago and receive an offer 'upgrade to Business for NZ$850'. Many airlines send offers like this, hoping to make additional revenue on the flight just before it is scheduled to leave. If you decide not to accept the offer of the upgrade, there is little chance you will be upgraded for free later on because other people would have taken the airline's offer.
​

Asking for an upgrade without a valid reason

If you're tempted to ask at check-in for an upgrade, you are almost certainly going to be disappointing. Airlines operate in one of the most competitive industries - there is no incentive for them to offer their most expensive and valuable service, Business class, for free. An airline would rather fly an empty premium cabin than give it away for free. For this reason, asking for an upgrade without the willingness to pay the airline's upgrade fee is wasting everyone's time.

Understand that airlines don't 'give away' upgrades because the flight is empty

If you understand this, you'll never be disappointed. Until recently, New Zealanders flying from Auckland to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne had reasonably good chances of an upgrade when booked on Emirates due to the low demand for Business class seats but high demand in Economy due to year-round cheap fares. The airline would overbook Economy and upgrade at the airport - sometimes 20 to 40 people at a time. The flights were loss-making, and in 2018, Emirates ended its Auckland to Australia services altogether. 

The airlines flying to and from New Zealand exist to make money. They will sell their premiums seats up to the moment the plane takes off for as much as they can and will never give anything away for free if there is no business reason to do so.

6 Ways You CAN be Upgraded to Business Class...

With any of the points below, please be aware that frequent flyers in an airline's frequent flyer program will be prioritised for upgrades before any other passengers. Without exception. There is nearly no way around this - some airlines will preference very flexible (and therefore expensive) ticketholders, but this is rare. It's unlikely you will be one of these ticketholders, and therefore your priority for an upgrade will be low.

Why Airline Status is Near-Essential to Securing a Complimentary Upgrade
Everyone wants an upgrade, and those most loyal to an airline are also the most valuable. Airline status holders, who comprise the airline's most loyal airline customers, will take priority for an upgrade in their own order. For example, in the case of Air New Zealand, this will mean their Gold Elite, Gold and Silver Airpoints members will have priority over anyone else, in that order respectively. For Qantas, the order is Platinum, Gold and Silver respectively. Orders also affect airlines in an alliance. For example:
  • A Turkish Airlines Star Alliance Gold passenger will be upgraded on Singapore Airlines (also a Star Alliance member) before any other passenger without status.
  • A Qatar Airways oneworld Alliance Saphire member will be upgraded on British Airways (also a oneworld Alliance member) before any other passenger without status.
  • An Air France Skyteam Elite Plus member will be upgraded on Korean Air (also a Skyteam Alliance airline) before any other passenger without status. 

If I don't have 'status', does this mean an upgrade is impossible? 
No - there are still options and possibilities, and we have detailed these extensively below.

Fly during peak holidays when airlines overbook economy

It's a fact, airlines get very busy around Christmas, Easter and other public holidays. The holidays also coincides with less demand for business class seats. For this reason, airlines will over-sell Economy seats knowing they can upgrade on-mass knowing their other cabins will be much emptier than normal. If you fly our on Christmas Eve or back from holiday on Easter Monday for example, your odds of an upgrade are much higher.
​

Fly on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and alone if possible

Flights, all other things being equal, tend to be busier later in the week than earlier. This is because relatively more business travellers move around at the end of the week. Adding to this is the fact that relatively more leisure travellers head off Thursday-Saturday and return on Saturday/Sunday. For example, this means Thursday and Friday evening flights out of Auckland will be busier than those leaving at 1pm on a Tuesday. Airlines sometimes just need to upgrade a lot of passengers. This means that upgrades are more likely during these 'peak' time. 

Adding to that, those flying alone are more likely to be upgraded than those travelling as part of a group. Airlines tend to do the majority of unexpected upgrades at the gate. You may be flying with people but are on separate tickets, which heightens your upgrade chances. ​

Be loyal to an airline...even a little loyalty can go along way

As we have made clear throughout this guide, being loyal to an airline gives you the best chance of an upgrade. But even if you don't get lucky at check-in or at the gate, there are ways to get the certainty of an upgrade. 

Use Points or Miles to upgrade - most airline flying to New Zealand offer frequent flyer programs - if you fly long-haul and credit the flights you take to the program, it is likely you'll earn enough to upgrade a flight later on. 
Use Upgrade Vouchers - Qatar Airways, Air New Zealand and many other airlines offer upgrade vouchers to its most loyal customers. In practice, you can receive one or two upgrades per year which can be guaranteed in advance.
MoneyHub reader Liz writes:
We flew from Christchurch to London in 2018 with Emirates and paid around $1,800 each, which earned around 14,000 Skywards points. This year I paid $350 to fly from Christchurch to Sydney in economy, and I used my Skywards points to upgrade to Business Class (which was very easy to do). It turned out to very good value for money and a great experience. 

MoneyHub reader Phil writes:
I am a relatively new Air New Zealand Gold member, and received two upgrade vouchers. I used them to upgrade a cheap Economy flight from Auckland to Chicago - this was a very long flight and I was delighted to see it work! It made the $1,500 return airfare fantastic value.
​

Buy an upgrade when the airline offers it - it can be significantly cheaper

So many airlines now do this - Air New Zealand (around seven days before you fly), Qantas and Qatar Airways (usually two to seven days before you fly) and countless others. Our list of airlines flying to/from New Zealand explains the current upgrade policy.

If you are flying further and don't see your airline listed, simply Google '(your airline) and upgrade bids' and you will see what your airline offers.

Expert Tip: If you booked directly with the airline, and not via a travel agent, you should receive emails from the airline about upgrade opportunities.

MoneyHub reader Matthew writes:
I booked a cheap flight to Bangkok on China Southern. I asked about upgrades leaving Auckland once onboard the flight, and was quoted US$800 which was more than twice what I'd paid for the entire airfare! From Guangzhou to Bangkok the price for the upgrade was US$150, which I also thought was poor value for money given it's a 2-3 hour flight. 
​

Have Airline Status? Beat others by befriending a 'Lounge Dragon'

If you have airline status, you will still be competing for upgrades against other frequent flyers at the same level. 'Lounge Dragon' is a term of endearment for the people who control access at the front desk. By casually mentioning you are 'happy to move seats if needed' or 'take a later flight if needed' you are elevating yourself on a personal level if the flight is overbooked.

Lounge Dragons are experts in remembering names, so you won't be forgotten and should the airline's ground crew put a call to the lounge telling them to upgrade a certain number of people and reprint their boarding pass, as so often happens, having a pre-existing relationship will help a lot.
MoneyHub reader Mike writes:
I frequently fly from Christchurch to Dubai on Emirates, and many times in Sydney (where the plane stops for an hour or so) I am upgraded. I've put this down to being very friendly to the Emirates Lounge staff in Sydney when I transit, being Skywards Gold, and travelling alone.
​

Offer to take a later flight if your flight is overbooked

When you check-in, it always helps to helps to ask if the flight is over-booked and offer your willingness to take a later flight. The terms and conditions of the airline usually include an upgrade, hotel or food vouchers while you wait, and an airline credit vouchers. Airlines don't like to deny boarding - it's terrible public relations and damages the reputation. For this reason, volunteers are consistently rewarded for 'helping out'.
MoneyHub Reader Erica says:
I was checking in at Sydney for a flight to Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific told me the flight was overbooked, and asked if I could take a flight four hours later. I would receive an upgrade and a $500 airline credit. I immediately took it, had my boarding pass re-issued and went to the Qantas lounge. It was a great start.

Airlines and Upgrade Offers

Below is a list of airlines currently flying to New Zealand. We have outlined how each airline offers and processes upgrades to help the decision-making process.
  • Bid offers: The airline will send an email asking you to consider upgrading by way of a 'bid'. It will give a range, for example $300 to $1,200. You bid what you are comfortable with, and if successful, your credit card is charged and your flight is upgraded. 
  • Cash offers: The airline offers, usually via email or at the airport, an upgrade based on a fixed amount of money. For example, a Qatar Airways flight upgrade from Auckland to Doha may be offered for NZ$1,400. 
  • Check-in offers: The airline will offer an upgrade at check-in for a fixed fee. For example, Singapore Airlines offers an upgrade to Premium Economy class for NZ$350 from Auckland.
  • Upgrade onboard: The airline announces onboard that upgrades are available at a fixed fee. This is common with Chinese airlines. For example, China Southern offers to upgrade passengers onboard for US$800 from Auckland to Guangzhou. 
  • Not available: The airline is currently not offering paid upgrade opportunities.
Airlines and their upgrade process
  1. Air Canada: Bid offers and cash offers
  2. Air China: Bid offers (email sent before departure)
  3. Air Tahiti Nui: Check-in offers may be available
  4. Air Vanuatu: Not available
  5. Aircalin: Bid offers only
  6. American Airlines: Not available
  7. Cathay Pacific: Bid offers (on selected flights)
  8. China Airlines: Not available
  9. China Eastern Airlines: Not available
  10. China Southern Airlines: Upgrade onboard (USD cash price, payable by credit card)
  11. Emirates: Fixed-fee cash upgrades
  12. Fiji Airways: Bid offers only
  13. Hainan Airlines: Upgrade onboard (USD cash price, payable by credit card)
  14. Hawaiian Airlines: Bid offers only
  15. Korean Air: Not available
  16. LATAM: Bid offers only
  17. Malaysia Airlines: Bid offers only
  18. Philippine Airlines: Fixed-fee cash upgrades
  19. Qantas: Bid offers only (selected routes)
  20. Qatar Airways: Cash offers (via email, at check-in and at Doha Hamad International airport)
  21. Samoa Airways: Not available
  22. Sichuan Airlines: Not available
  23. Singapore Airlines: Bid offers only
  24. Thai Airways: Fixed-fee cash upgrades ($2,000+ for Auckland to Bangkok, other offers available)
  25. Tianjin Airlines: Available at check-in or onboard
  26. United Airlines: Not available
  27. Virgin Australia: Bid offers only
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