Upgrade your airline seat on the cheap

Upgrading to business or first for less
Use frequent flyer miles: With economy cabins so crowded and uncomfortable, and with coast to coast flights still available for $200 round-trip when there's a sale, I think the best way to use frequent flyer miles these days is to upgrade to first or business class rather than to buy economy fares. Depending on the route, the fare you paid, your frequent flyer status, and airline, mileage upgrades from economy to business or first "cost" as little as 7,500 miles each way.

It's important to note that airlines vary as to how many miles they require to upgrade a discounted economy fare. American charges 15,000 mileage points to upgrade "most" economy domestic fares, and 7,500 miles from full coach. Delta charges 5,000 miles for full-coach upgrades and 10,000 miles for upgrades from "select" discount fares. (It is very mysterious about what these fares are, advising passengers to "check with Delta.")

Airline specials: From time to time, airlines have very good deals on business and first class. Just look under the specials section of your favorite airline's Web site, or at the Airfarewatchdog.com blog. In a repeat from years past, Continental has a sale on its very comfortable BusinessFirst cabin to Europe for holiday travel between Thanksgiving and January 11. Fares are less than half what you'd normally pay. Other airlines are likely to follow suit. Also look at the newer all-business-class airlines, such as MaxJet, L'Avion, EOS, and Silverjet. They're rewriting the fare rules for international business class, and offer frequent specials, such as two-for-one fares.

First/business class consolidators: Another strategy is to buy first- or business-class fares from consolidators. The Web site 1stair.net specializes in low cost business and first class fares at savings of 50 percent or more. Another good source is Planet Amex/Cook Travel. These discounted fares may have restrictions that full fare business- and first-class fares don’t have.

UP fares: On many domestic routes, most airlines offer what they call "Y UP," "H UP" and "Q UP" fares — that's "UP" as in "upgrade." These are restricted full-fare economy fares that can be upgraded at the time of purchase to confirmed business or first class for much less than a full first-class fare. The only downside is that they're not changeable or fully refundable without paying a penalty.

You can find these fares by searching for business- or first-class fares "with restrictions," or choose the "all types" option. On Travelocity, for example, to include restricted business/first fares, you need to click on the less-than-obvious "more search options" link from the home page and then search for business class, then choose "All Types" under the fare type selector. So, for example, you could find a confirmed first class flight on Delta from New York JFK to Los Angeles for $1,200 roundtrip plus tax. Clicking on the "adult fare rules" you'll see this fare code: H7UPNBV (see the "UP"?). A fully refundable "Y" fare on this route might cost $400-$800 more.

Attain upper levels of frequent flyer programs: Frequent flyers already know this route to a comfortable seat. Many airlines will award free or low-cost space-available upgrades to their very best customers, so it really does pay to fly often and to give all your business to just one airline.

It doesn't hurt to dress and act nicely
A friend of mine was flying on Air Canada from San Francisco to Vancouver recently, and the gate agent handed him a first-class boarding pass even though he had bought an economy ticket. He asked why he was being upgraded, and she told him, "Well, you're very nicely dressed and the station manager put you in first class." Simple as that.

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It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. Airlines tend to re-assign their best customers to first class if there are no seats left in economy, especially when flights are oversold or canceled. These are called "operational upgrades," in airline-speak. If you're an upper level frequent flyer and there's only one seat left in first class but a lot of people with the same frequent flyer status are waiting at the gate for upgrades, it seriously doesn't hurt to stand out as the nicest, friendliest, and best dressed customer. All else being equal, why wouldn't they choose you over the others?

And whatever airline you're flying, it never hurts to ask if the check in agent can offer a paid (or even a free) upgrade to a more comfortable seat. You'll sometimes see airlines tinker with upgrade options, often just before departure, and you just never know what you'll find if you ask.

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