Upgrading to premium economy

[Bazinga 39]

We are planning a west coast trip next summer, when booking flights I usually want to get there as cheaply as possible, as this is a longer flight I’m wondering whether to treat ourselves to premium economy, my question is should I opt for it when I first book flights or is it likely I could add it on later maybe at a cheaper price? Thanks

[megaflyer]

Cheap(er) upgrades can happen at any time - often when one books or proactive offer shown in MMB. However, my view is when the boarders are open and epically next year, 3 years of travellers will want their holidays and I wouldnt expect as many offers as there has been of late - noting those with vouchers (like mine) are ‘promised” priority booking over cash or miles fares


So my motto is when one sees a price you are happy with grab it, dont dilly dally and dont look back

[Bazinga 39]

Originally Posted by megaflyer

Cheap(er) upgrades can happen at any time - often when one books or proactive offer shown in MMB. However, my view is when the boarders are open and epically next year, 3 years of travellers will want their holidays and I wouldnt expect as many offers as there has been of late - noting those with vouchers (like mine) are ‘promised” priority booking over cash or miles fares


So my motto is when one sees a price you are happy with grab it, dont dilly dally and dont look back

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Thanks for that reply, yes it makes sense that nothing can be relied on to be the same🥴

[landandword17]

Also note that were you to book the cheapest economy seat with the intention of upgrading you may not be able to. Many airlines only allow certain fare codes to be upgraded and the lowest fares are excluded. At the moment the premium cabins are doing good business. When tourism returns I think a lot of people will feel that premium cabins may be safer, much of that will be psychological, but certainly you do have more privacy and the kind of people who can afford premium cabins will have 3 years of savings and investment growth and they’ll be itching to offload some of that into a blow out holiday so my own hunch for 2022 is book the seat you want at a price that is acceptable to you and be prepared for award seats, upgrades and availability to be wonky until travel returns to 2019 levels.

[berneslai]

Some good advice on this thread. Set yourself a price that you are happy with, stick to your guns and take whatever is available - don't assume an upgrade is available or even possible, particularly flying a peak times.

I know there are a lot of PE fans on The Dibb but I rarely think it's worth the additional £ (work out what you could spend the additional money on during your holiday). I've always taken the view to typically fly economy and occasionally splash out on business class (usually using Avios) than continually flying PE which is a high markup for not much more.