How can I maximize my chances at an upgrade due to pregnancy?

August 5, 2008 4:12 AM

How can I maximize my chances for a free airline upgrade due to pregnancy?

I'll be flying at 29 weeks pregnant and I'd love to get an upgrade into a better class.

The first leg of the trip is Yerevan, Armenia - London (~5 hours) on British Med and the flight should be full this time of year. I figure on this end they'll either offer or be jerks about it.

Then I have a 20 hour layover in London and my SO will be joining me for the next leg of the flight. I figure I will ask the Yerevan desk to NOT ASSIGN ME a seat, because I want SO to sit with me. (Unless they can upgrade us both without him being there?) But I do want them to check my luggage through to Los Angeles (Can they do that without assigning me a seat?).

Then the next flight is London - Los Angeles (~11 hours) on United. Our plan is to go to the airport relatively early, ask the people at the United desk to please upgrade us. (And I do have some air miles, but not enough for both of us.)

So, my questions are:
- how can I maximize my efforts at the London United desk? I will wear a shirt that makes me look as obviously pregnant as possible. Should I bring documentation of how pregnant I am?
- can I have the Yerevan desk check my luggage through without assigning me a seat for London-LAX?

posted by k8t to travel & transportation (18 comments total)

Tough one. I'm thinking about all the people (like me) who fly on a full fare economy ticket and have the upgrade coupon. Or the people (like me) who flash around their frequent flier card and ask for upgrades at the desk that sometimes and sometimes don't work.

I would: flash your equivalent frequent flier stuff around if you have it. More importantly, I would call the customer service number before flying and request bulkhead seats because you're pregnant. (Having just flown from Heathrow transatlantic myself in the back of the bus yesterday, those bulkhead seats make all the difference.) By having a note of your pregnancy attached to your booking, you have a better chance of that upgrade when the agent checking you in sees it. (It's happened to me often that they will then mark for "Upgrade" in your booking, give you your economy boarding pass, and then when you swipe it through at the gate upon boarding - it will either beep and voila you've made it up to the front, or nothing will happen if business class has filled up.)

20 hours at LHR is a long damn time. Definitely ask for the lounge pass for you and your SO. I was going to say that this won't be a problem because United always used that Star Alliance/Virgin lounge in Terminal 3 and I have talked myself into it many times. But I just checked and United switched to Terminal 1 in June, so I'm unsure how easy the lounge access will be. But any check-in agent that is an actual human being should not subject you to wandering around the wasteland that is Terminal 1 for 20 hours.

No idea about checking bags through without a seat. I'd say, if it's not possible - just do it anyway and go to the check-in and explain the situation about your SO joining you when you get to LHR. Pregnant ladies should not be humping luggage around. Good luck!
posted by meerkatty at 4:33 AM on August 5, 2008

Just to add - we'll leave Heathrow for those 20 hours!
posted by k8t at 4:36 AM on August 5, 2008

Oh thank god, but still go for the lounge pass!!
posted by meerkatty at 4:42 AM on August 5, 2008

I believe UA requires medical documentation for pregnant women beyond 32 weeks that they are okay to fly. So if you are going to try to make your appearance seem really pregnant, you might want to have that documentation so you aren't barred from the flight.

Last time I took a LON-U.S. flight on UA I was invited to buy an upgrade at check-in. I wouldn't get your hopes up for a free upgrade, and if there is one, don't expect it until the very last minute, because they will almost certainly want to leave open the possibility of selling it to someone else.
posted by grouse at 5:02 AM on August 5, 2008

First answer is to not go into this process with any kind of expectation - you are almost certainly going to be disappointed irrespective of what you're planning on trying.

The best you can hope for is an SFU marking on the booking (suitable for upgrade), but depending on the carrier, you'll unlikely be alone in that. Your frequent flier card is your best friend here, your pregnancy is almost irrelevant. My wife has a lot of business miles on her FF card yet rarely gets any upgrades despite frequent requests, even when pregnant or on honeymoon, upgrades are more rare that you'd like to hope.

First things first, get yourself booked into a seat in the class that you've paid for that will be comfortable for you. We flew from Australia to the UK when my wife was 14 weeks pregnant and Qantas did nothing for us. Having a FF card and being pregnant made no difference. The suggestion of a lounge pass is a decent suggestion.

So be prepared for disappointment - in other words, expect to receive only what you've paid for and nothing more. If you want to fly at the pointy end, the easiest way is to pay for it. That's not meant to sound patronising, but upgrades are things that happen in the movies or to other people.

And at 29 weeks, the customer services people are more likely to give you a hard time for even flying at all, let alone bumping you up.
posted by unsliced at 5:32 AM on August 5, 2008

And at 29 weeks, the customer services people are more likely to give you a hard time for even flying at all, let alone bumping you up.

Trust me, it wasn't my choice to do this.

The U.S. government funded program which I am a part of right now wanted me to wait until week 35 and I had to fight them to let me fly back at week 29. Also, when I tried to change my ticket from December to August back in March, the particular day that I am flying was the ONLY open seat from Yerevan for the month of August. (Damn diasporan kids doing internships, grumble grumble).
posted by k8t at 5:51 AM on August 5, 2008

I don't think anyone is criticizing you for traveling while 29 weeks pregnant. I think it's obvious that no one would do that unless they really felt they had to. My point, at least, was that emphasizing the late stage of your pregnancy to the airline might cause you more trouble (and I think it's unlikely to get you any benefits).

As for the lounge pass people keep mentioning, you can ask, but I personally think it's even less likely than an upgrade. You can buy one for $50.
posted by grouse at 6:03 AM on August 5, 2008

I believe UA requires medical documentation for pregnant women

See here. Certainly not a universal requirement; I flew at 33-34 weeks and Delta didn't give a toss. Neither did anybody at any check-in counter, neither did any stewardess. At least on buses people usually give you their seat...

However, years ago, I (non-pregnant) did get bumped to first class after mentioning that I wasn't feeling well, and asking to be seated near a toilet, which is a very reasonable request for a pregnant woman to make.
posted by kmennie at 6:54 AM on August 5, 2008

I think the best you can hope for is bulkhead. Check flyertalk.com forums for any other suggestions, lots of experts over there who can assess your chances and who you should talk to to make a request.

You're probably going to be pretty uncomfortable, so invest in lots of water and maybe even compression stockings for the trip. Good luck, safe travels!
posted by wingless_angel at 6:54 AM on August 5, 2008

If you're a UA Premier Exec or higher or have Star Gold status on another Star Alliance carrier, you should get lounge access in LHR on the outbound and LAX on the return. You might be able to swing a free upgrade to Economy Plus on UA (more legroom, same craptastic coach seats) but certainly not up to business class or an exit row.

On an international flight, there's going to be a list of at least 20-30 people who will get upgraded ahead of you because of frequent flyer loyalty and status. (Also consider that on a 777 or 747 there's going to be at least one or two other 2nd or 3rd trimester passengers.)
posted by nathan_teske at 7:05 AM on August 5, 2008

If you're a UA Premier Exec or higher or have Star Gold status on another Star Alliance carrier, you should get lounge access in LHR on the outbound and LAX on the return. You might be able to swing a free upgrade to Economy Plus on UA (more legroom, same craptastic coach seats) but certainly not up to business class or an exit row.

This is a good point. If you are Premier or above on United you get to sit in Economy Plus. Even if you aren't you might at least try for this since these seats have more legroom (I can cross my legs in Economy Plus. In Economy, my knees hit the seat in front of me) and they're more likely to be lenient about letting you go there instead of Business Class.

Also, if your SO (or anyone on the flight really :) ) has any kind of Premier status on United, you can also sit in Economy Plus as a guest of a Premier member.
posted by vacapinta at 8:03 AM on August 5, 2008

Regardless of the upgrade, the compression stockings are a really good idea. Your feet will thank you after the long haul leg.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:42 AM on August 5, 2008

Hm. A few things you can do ahead of time which may or may not help you get better seats in economy (and, who knows, up at the pointy end, too?):

- register for an free account over at FlyerTalk and ask this question in their United Airlines/BMed forums; many people who work for the airlines and many extremely frequent flyers participate: it's like a little aviation AskMe over there!
- check SeatGuru for the type of plane you're taking (it should say either on the United website or the ticket you have) and examine the good/bad/ugly seats, then call United (Skype if it's pricey from Armenia) and request the specific seats you want in economy; I've done this on a few airlines before and the agents I've spoken to are always willing to do it
- approach the United service desk/ticket counter at Heathrow on arrival from Yerevan and check that the seats you requested in economy are still assigned to you: this shouldn't take more than a quick jaunt around the airport and may pay off well
- if unsuccessful or unhappy with the seats you've been given when you arrived, ask about changing them again when you arrive back at the airport for your flight to LA; there's probably a shift change after 20 hours and perhaps you'll have better luck the second time!

All that aside, though, I feel like this is something that will have to be dealt with on the plane itself and will totally depend on the mood of the cabin crew and the loads on the flight. I'd play it like this: upon boarding (and you should board first, as you are a passenger who, as they like to say, "needs a little more time to get up the jetway", ask to speak with the cabin service director/purser (the head flight attendant) for economy and very politely mention that while your seat is perfectly adequate (mention your seat number here), it would be *wonderful* to be able to sit in a bulkhead seat if it's *at all* possible after boarding is complete and the final head count has been done, and that you are happy to wait until after takeoff or the meal or whatever. It's obvious that you're not just angling for some space that you don't need, and because the purser isn't in front of 400 people yet, he/she has the freedom to offer you something.

Essentially, you being all glowing-with-child and beaming and friendly and ingratiating means that the purser is in the mental position of being able to offer you a range of options since you're not complaining (which is probably most of what he/she has to deal with when talking to passengers): a polite apology, first choice of meals, a business class amenity kit, or even just some extra attention from his/her staff. Even if you don't get a new seat, you may very well get better service, and that's half the battle.

Remember that the fact that all the seats are sold doesn't mean that all the seats will be occupied when you depart; even "totally full" flights as announced at the gate have people who miss their connections.

And congratulations on your new arrival! Have a safe trip.

PS: Lesson for next time: Air New Zealand from LAX to LHR is AWESOME. I've flown them three times and they never fail to impress with their service and how well they treat passengers.
posted by mdonley at 3:16 PM on August 5, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Thanks all for the advice.

Unfortunately I can't imagine being able to buy compression stockings in Armenia. There isn't a postal service either, so no online ordering.

I also have to fly an American airline over the ocean.
posted by k8t at 9:06 PM on August 5, 2008

And here's the FlyerTalk thread if anyone is interested.
posted by k8t at 11:59 PM on August 5, 2008

Wow, those FT people make MeFi look like a friggin' tea party. Goodness.

I'm sorry I assumed you could get compression stockings any old place; I don't know anything about Armenia. My next suggestion would be that on your 20 hour LHR layover, you pop into Boots or a more traditional, independent chemists and buy a pair. There is potential for the swelling to be, well... legendary. The stockings also help lower your risks for DVT. Everyone is at risk for DVT but in pregnancy, the risks are just higher. Stay very hydrated and walk around the plane often.

If you are flying Y, I'm sure you know your best bet is the bulkhead seat. Even if they cannot seat your partner next to you, the chance to elevate your feet on the bulkhead wall is worth being seated apart. Were I flying long haul and were I 30 weeks pregnant and were the airline resistant to giving me a bulkhead seat, my strategy would be to burst into tears. And they would be sincere tears.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:34 AM on August 7, 2008

Jesus. I think I would have lost my temper if I had been subjected to similar responses. Kudos to you for staying calm under pressure.
posted by grouse at 5:34 PM on August 7, 2008

Resolved: we didn't get any upgrades whatsoever. We got aisle seats though. Bulkhead was "economy plus" and was ~$800 for an upgrade. Yow!

However, on both flights I asked for and was given extra pillows to sit on. It wasn't actually TOO bad. I drank a ton of water, got up quite a bit.

Thanks all!
posted by k8t at 2:52 PM on August 24, 2008