Upgrade...!

[MikeyB]

Has anyone ever received an upgrade on a flight to Aruba, I mean from economy to business or first..??

4 years ago, we missed our connection & Delta put us on another later flight. This was the airlines fault. They gave us 2 meal vouchers & a $100 credit towards our next flight with Delta. I asked the manager if there was any chance, in lieu of the credit, we could get an upgrade...? He said no because we had booked with a 3rd party (travelocity).



40 DAYS TO GO !!!!!!!!

[Andrea J.]

yes a few times
a couple of times when AA asked for volunteers to go on a later flight due to overbooking. we not only got the voucher for travel but also got upgraded to 1st.

another time on US Air there was the same situation and we got first class and the voucher as well.

3 or so yrs ago we got upgraded to 1st on Air Tran for $29 each.
unfortunately the 1st in Air Tran is not such a great thing.

i have a few friends that will "not" fly JB or SWA due to lack of 1st class seating.

Has anyone ever received an upgrade on a flight to Aruba, I mean from economy to business or first..??

4 years ago, we missed our connection & Delta put us on another later flight. This was the airlines fault. They gave us 2 meal vouchers & a $100 credit towards our next flight with Delta. I asked the manager if there was any chance, in lieu of the credit, we could get an upgrade...? He said no because we had booked with a 3rd party (travelocity).



40 DAYS TO GO !!!!!!!!

[Arubalisa]

Our last "free" upgrade was in 1998 "just because" on AA out of JFK.

This past July family members had their Delta flight from West Palm Beach to Atlanta canceled and were unable to make the connection onwards to Aruba. Delta refused to book them on AA out of Miami though they were willing to get to Miami from West Palm Bch on their own dime. Instead Delta sent them home to their house paying for round trip car service and flew them out the next day. No upgrades, just a $250 pp voucher.

Perks for Elite members are at such a premium nowadays on Delta, there is no room anymore for free upgrades. I can understand it though I may not like it

[corona]

With all the perks airlines are passing out, especially tied to airline credit cards, it's nearly impossible to get a "free" upgrade, even for the frequent fliers who have earned their status from actual flying.

[AndyM]

In 2006(?) we couldn't fly out of Aruba because Boston was having a blizzard. We finally flew out on stand-by Tuesday (AA). Wife got called up, I didn't. She complained that we were flying together and they put me in first class. Nice way to fly.

[Shnyda]

In June 2010 I was flying down on a solo reservation and I was a Continental One Pass Gold member at the time. I received a 1st Class Upgrade on a EWR - AUA flight. It was a nice surprise!

Other than that - I did a miles upgrade on a US Air Flight from AUA - CLT last June and they had the lay down seats in first --- It was sooo nice to take a looong nap on the plane. Sadly I got to CLT and my CLT - EWR flight was delayed 6 hours!!

[~Amy~®]

Chances are next to none for a free upgrade on Delta unless you're a Medallion member. Both my husband and I are Delta Medallion members and free upgrades to First/Business Class are one of the perks of flying way too miles every year (whoever told you business travel is fun, lies! LOL!) Anyway, all Delta Medallion members on each flight are put on an upgrade list (based on various criteria) and sometimes we don't even get the upgrade. There can be as few as two seats available and as many as 20 Medallion members on the upgrade list.

[Chadd]

With all the perks airlines are passing out, especially tied to airline credit cards, it's nearly impossible to get a "free" upgrade, even for the frequent fliers who have earned their status from actual flying.

Most of the upgrades I see on flights to Aruba are top two tiers of the FF levels. Those upgrades start a couple days before the actual flights, long before you actually get to the airport.

[corona]

Most of the upgrades I see on flights to Aruba are top two tiers of the FF levels. Those upgrades start a couple days before the actual flights, long before you actually get to the airport.

That's true from what I've seen as well. The days of the unexpected free upgrade for the occasional flier is very rare nowadays. My husband has elite status on a couple of airlines (Delta & US Air), and he still, on occasion, is assigned the dreaded center seat in no man's land. Thankfully, that's not usual. He does get bumped up to first fairly often, but he says not often enough .

We use points for Aruba for first class, but we book as soon as the flight is open for reservations to get it. We usually fly US Air to Aruba, and they keep cutting back on flights, and we've been rescheduled a couple of times. Fewer flights with more awards status being offered equals far fewer opportunities for the average flier to get an upgrade unless there's extenuating circumstances such as a canceled flight, and even at that, it probably doesn't happen too often.

That's a long way of saying, don't count on a free upgrade to first. But if you get it, you're off to a lucky start, and you should make your way to the casino as soon as you land in Aruba.

[~Amy~®]

We usually get our free upgrades for Delta Medallion members confirmed anywhere from 1-3 days prior to our flights. On occasion though, we will get them at the gate at the last minute. Flying to Aruba last Sept. we were upgraded one day before our flight (notified via email) - flying back from Aruba, we were near our gate at the Aruba airport and heard our names called - went to the gate agent and they gave us new boarding passes with our upgrades about 15 minutes before boarding.