Mention you're getting married, upgrade?

[Sunnybride]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this question but here goes anyway.
Has anyone mentioned when flying to Aruba that they're on their way to get married and then gotten upgraded to first class? I'm not familiar with the planes to get to Aruba so for all I know there isn't even a first class, but was just curious if anyone has success with this. I don't want to seem greedy if I ask at the airport but at the same time would like to just see if it works. Obviously I am getting married in Aruba.

[cukiecutr]

I would not count on it although it would be nice. I am sure those are seats that you are going to have to pay for. Depending on which cc you use to book or what benefits you have with frequent flier miles, you may be able to use points to get the upgrade to first class. By the way, now you've got me thinking. I will have to look into that myself. What I nice surprise if I got us upgrades....especially now that our direct flights have been changed. When's your wedding?

[christene]

My husband is a Delta Medallion member and we didn't get an upgrade. It never hurts to ask though. My husband always asks. My dress flew in first class though - they hung it in a first class closet for me. Although I think they do have a first or at least business class, its not like the international first class you see when you are flying to Europe. Slightly bigger seats and more legroom, but nothing fancy.

[Dicentra]

I tried this on AA when we got married last year and it didn't work. We got a smile and a "congratulations" but no upgrade. No matter, it was a nice flight anyway, we were so excited that they could've stuck us in the cargo hold and we would have been happy.

[christene]

This made me laugh! Us too. We were a bundle of nerves and excitement. Luckily for us Aruba was such an easy flight. Short flight to Atlanta and then just 4 hours.

This weekend we arrived in Kenya - 25 hours and 3 flights. We did have a small problem on our Amsterdam to Nairobi leg. The attendant at the counter in Amsterdam couldn't help us, but she must have felt bad and told the purser, because after the door closed, he came and invited us to come sit up in the KLM 747's "Comfort Class" which was actually quite nice. MUCH better than our assigned seats. So, its always worth asking.

Originally Posted by Dicentra

I tried this on AA when we got married last year and it didn't work. We got a smile and a "congratulations" but no upgrade. No matter, it was a nice flight anyway, we were so excited that they could've stuck us in the cargo hold and we would have been happy.

[Sunnybride]

Originally Posted by christene

My husband is a Delta Medallion member and we didn't get an upgrade. It never hurts to ask though. My husband always asks. My dress flew in first class though - they hung it in a first class closet for me. Although I think they do have a first or at least business class, its not like the international first class you see when you are flying to Europe. Slightly bigger seats and more legroom, but nothing fancy.

lol, how did your dress end up in first class? Thanks for reminding me that first class isn't as fancy as the international flights. We were upgraded once flying from London to Canada and the difference from coach to first class was incredible. But yeah, these shorter flights won't be much of a difference I imagine. Sounds like I should try but not have high expectations.

[christene]

I carried my dress on board. Sometimes if there is room they'll put it in the FC closet for you. I worried a lot about this before our flight - getting the dresses down there safely (I had two). For the smaller jet we took to Atlanta there wasn't a closet so we folded them in thirds and placed them in an overhead (luckily there were plenty available).

The Atlanta to Aruba segment had a closet though, and the attendants gladly accommodated us. Before going I heard lots of stories about the dress having to go in an overhead and it turned out that wasn't as bad as I expected. No matter what, you'll likely have your dress steamed anyway, in Aruba. Someone came to our room the morning of the wedding and freshly steamed the dresses so even if they had been in an overhead for both segments it wouldn't have mattered. The closets aren't very tall anyway - certainly not tall enough for most wedding dresses, so the closet may not save you the need to steam.

Traveling down to Aruba the week of the wedding was kind of fun -- everyone is so nice to you when they see you carrying that dress bag. =) At least the flight crew and customs were really nice. And throughout the airport people will be smiling at you. That was probably the first moment I really felt like a 'bride'... so many people watching and smiling...

I can't imagine paying for what Delta calls first class to Aruba, but if they offered it as an upgrade I would definitely take it! I can't speak for other airlines, though I think we flew US Airways (or Continental?) when we went for our site visit and their business / first section wasn't a big deal either. For us, not worth paying for.

Originally Posted by Sunnybride

lol, how did your dress end up in first class? Thanks for reminding me that first class isn't as fancy as the international flights. We were upgraded once flying from London to Canada and the difference from coach to first class was incredible. But yeah, these shorter flights won't be much of a difference I imagine. Sounds like I should try but not have high expectations.

[Arubalisa]

Delta's cheapest tickets are fare classes are --L, U, and T.

When you search at delta.com by price these are the fares which will be shown first, with the exception that these fare classes or "seats" are already sold out. Obviously there are sold out because they are the lowest priced.
Delta does not sell upgrades to people who have booked L, U or T tickets.
When you see upgrades at the gate for $150 to business class on a flight to Aruba, if you have these fare class tickets above, no amount of pleading will even allow you to PAY for the upgrade.

If you do not book one of the discounted fares above, keep an eye on the difference between business class fares and your coach class fare.

One trip we booked extremely expensive refundable coach class tickets. As we got closer to our departure and were checking fare prices, discounted business class was cheaper than our original fare in coach. One phone call to Delta and they changed our tickets from coach to business and refunded the difference.

Even if your ticket is non-refundable, sometimes even with the cost of ticket change fee you could be paying a similar fare in business class for what you paid for your full fare non-discounted coach fare. If you were paying the same price would you rather fly coach or business class.

To upgrade with miles see Delta Upgrade AwardsAgain, only certain fare class tickets are upgradeable to business class with miles. If there is an upgrade available at least you are able to calculate in advance whether or not you want to spend the extra money for a coach class ticket in order to upgrade for the miles.

[christene]

Arubalisa makes a great point! We've seen that a lot. Like I mentioned, my husband always asks for an upgrade, and most times we're told the 'class of our ticket' does not qualify for an upgrade... that they can't give it to us even if its available. He often gets upgrades when he travels by himself for business because the companies buy the more expensive refundable tickets. When I join him though, we tend to buy the cheapest tickets. We can't complain though - my hubby is a great little saver - we managed to buy like 12 tickets with Delta and AmEx miles.

[Sunnybride]

Originally Posted by Arubalisa

Delta's cheapest tickets are fare classes are --L, U, and T.

When you search at delta.com by price these are the fares which will be shown first, with the exception that these fare classes or "seats" are already sold out. Obviously there are sold out because they are the lowest priced.
Delta does not sell upgrades to people who have booked L, U or T tickets.
When you see upgrades at the gate for $150 to business class on a flight to Aruba, if you have these fare class tickets above, no amount of pleading will even allow you to PAY for the upgrade.

If you do not book one of the discounted fares above, keep an eye on the difference between business class fares and your coach class fare.

One trip we booked extremely expensive refundable coach class tickets. As we got closer to our departure and were checking fare prices, discounted business class was cheaper than our original fare in coach. One phone call to Delta and they changed our tickets from coach to business and refunded the difference.

Even if your ticket is non-refundable, sometimes even with the cost of ticket change fee you could be paying a similar fare in business class for what you paid for your full fare non-discounted coach fare. If you were paying the same price would you rather fly coach or business class.

To upgrade with miles see Delta Upgrade AwardsAgain, only certain fare class tickets are upgradeable to business class with miles. If there is an upgrade available at least you are able to calculate in advance whether or not you want to spend the extra money for a coach class ticket in order to upgrade for the miles.

We're flying with american airlines, does the same thing apply?