alt.travel.uk.air - Frequently Asked Questions

This begs the question why do you expect an airline to give you an upgrade for nothing, to which you may answer because sometimes they do.

The easy way to get a free upgrade is to trade in some of your frequent flier miles for it. If the airline has a need to move passengers from the economy to business class cabin they will have an order in which it is done, differing by airline. Normally the upgrades will go to those who have paid the full fare and/or have the highest status in the frequent flier program working downwards in order of both.

Dress smartly. You won’t be marked SFU, suitable for upgrade, if you look scruffy. You stand a much better chance when travelling alone on a flight which is full in economy. Being too tall or wide for the seat won’t get you any favours 

The bottom line is, if you are an infrequent flier, not a good customer of the airline and purchased the cheapest possible ticket you are at the bottom of the heap with about as much chance as winning the lottery. I’ve beaten those odds once in ten years. My other upgrades were because I am a frequent flier on the airline.

Some airlines such as B.A. and Virgin Atlantic provide a premium product in economy class which has seats with an above standard seat pitch, but these come at an extra cost as well.

The most popular answer to this question is to get to the airport early and ask for an emergency row seat. But, there is always a but, passengers who are flying in from somewhere else to transfer to your flight have no doubt checked in many hours before you, at their departure airport and had their seats for your flight assigned at that time. So being at the check in when it opens may not get the seat you want and as these seats are normally only assigned at check-in they cannot be pre-booked.

The next most popular answer is to request a bulkhead seat, but some airlines assign these to passengers travelling with infants first, or to their frequent fliers.

Personally I ask for an aisle seat. Then it is possible to get up whenever you wish without having to squeeze past or get other people to move, and walk round the cabin.

A consolidator is a travel agent who holds an ATOL license with the CAA who enters into a net fare agreement with an airline. Some small agents may only deal with one or two airlines, but the larger agents deal with 40 or more. There is usually no agreement to sell a specific number of seats.

The airline will give the travel agent a contract, with net fares, to sell on to either the trade, or the public. You as the purchaser can sometimes buy direct from the consolidator or from a travel agent who has access to the consolidator fares. Unusual for an agent to do both, but Airline Network is part of the Gold Medal Group who are a wholesaler.

The seats are then booked directly from the Computer Reservation System as normal. The restrictions on such tickets vary from route to route and from airline to airline. It is usual for cheap fares UK-USA to be non-refundable, and have a penalty for date changes, with the outward date being fixed. However that is exactly the same scenario as per the published tariff. For Australia though, it is quite unusual to have a ticket which cannot be changed, nor one which is 100% non-refundable. There are a couple of exceptions around at the moment, but these are the sub- £500 fares to SYD which KAL and JAL have out at the moment. In any event, the agent has a  legal duty to advise you of all of the ticket restrictions before you buy your ticket.

Assuming you know what a courier is, that is the reason you are on the flight. You travel as the courier for an item of cargo, or whatever it is the company wish transported. Cargo is transported this way each week and unlike regular cargo it will clear customs on arrival, very important for time sensitive material. Normally if the item is cargo you only carry the documents for it, but sometimes the item carried could just be urgent documents.

What is in it for the courier? Basically a cheaper ticket than normal. The shipping company will sell you a ticket for the flight at a price below that you would find elsewhere. They absorb part of the cost as your fee for the job. The downside, there always is, is that there would only be one ticket per job and it is very rare to get two jobs on one flight, so if you are travelling alone a courier ticket is ok.

Ask that question in the alt.travel.uk.air newsgroup and you will get a variety of replies. What is a good airline to one is the next person's worst.

Large numbers of people will say Virgin Atlantic are very good. Mainly because they were one of the first to put seatback screens with games in economy class, and they provide a reasonable level of service. Others who don’t put much store in on-board entertainment but prefer comfort, will say Virgin are among the worst because they have one of the smallest seat pitches and widths on the North Atlantic route.

If you fly infrequently and then in economy or charter there is probably nothing to choose between the larger more well-known airlines.

With low cost no frills airlines you do really only get what you pay for.

Well really the short answer is not a lot if travelling short haul, but on a par with the likes of easyjet or Ryanair. Typical charter flight seat pitch is 28" and the food served, if any, is at the discretion of the company chartering the aircraft, not the airline. Charter flights are cheap so don't expect frills and extras.

Long haul charter is a little better but do not expect schedule airline seat pitch or service. Some companies now offer "premium" seating or enhanced food selection for an extra charge. Before you decide make sure you understand what it is you are upgrading from and to. In short ask as many questions as you need to get the information. But remember you don't pay Fiesta prices and get a Mondeo.