These two words could get you an upgrade on your flight - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Travel These two words could get you an upgrade on your flight By You Magazine - March 1, 2018 We’ve all done it – plastered on our widest smile, batted our eyelashes and turned on the charm at the check-in desk in the hopes of getting an upgrade on a flight. But despite our very best efforts, we still end up stuck in standard class, wondering where we went wrong with our (ever-so-polite) request. New York Times best-selling author Tilly Bagshawe, who flies an average of 100,000 miles a year, may have just solved the mystery. During an interview with Bloomberg, the British expat revealed that there are two words that make all the difference when you’re angling for an upgrade. Her preferred airline is Virgin Atlantic – mainly because the attendants are ‘so nice, always laughing’, but also because they bring Fab ice lollies around half way through the flight (a woman after our own hearts). And when you’re travelling with Virgin, she says that the trick is to call the reservations team before you fly and drop the name ‘revenue management’. Getty According to Tilly, it’s this team’s job to make sure that a flight is profitable, and because not many people know they exist, ‘by mentioning it you reveal yourself as someone who knows how things work and understands how seats are released.’ ‘Say to the agent: “Have revenue management released any first-class seats for miles upgrades yet?”‘, she advises. ‘When they say no, ask them to check or just be put through to revenue management so you can ask when they will release some, as well as how many seats are left.’ ‘Politely respond like this: “You have 20 seats unsold? Why aren’t you releasing them?” Often by the end of the conversation they say, “OK, we’ll release one for you,’ or they might tell you to call back tomorrow.”‘ Of course, there’s no guarantee that this method will work – but Tilly’s rate of success is 100%, and as the old adage goes, if you don’t ask you don’t get… RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Hotel review Wyndham Residences Costa Adeje National Trust is giving away free tickets this autumn Hotel review Una St Ives Cornwall DON' T MISS Fiona Bruce Sometimes I struggle not to cry November 14, 2021 17 beautiful 2021 diaries to help you to look forward to December 4, 2020 Why women leave men for women What’ s fuelling the rise of April 28, 2019 Hollywood veteran Laura Linney on plastic surgery friendship and her stellar July 3, 2017 You can shop the khaki jumpsuit from Holly Willoughby’ s new M& S July 17, 2019 The secrets and lies behind this happy family photo April 11, 2021 It’ s cocktail hour Olly Smith’ s cocktail recipes and Eleanor Maidment s canapé November 14, 2021 BBC One has revealed its Christmas TV schedule and there’ s lots December 2, 2020 YOU Beauty Box August Reviews August 1, 2017 Rome has been named the cheapest major city to visit in August 7, 2019 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved