Matthew Bennett of First Class Flyer on how to obtain those elusive upgrades
Matthew Bennett, founder of the subscription service First Class Flyer, has been in the business of helping travelers fly in premium classes at economy costs since 1996. But these days, with premium demand high and airlines holding fewer seats open for upgrades, and with some airline loyalty program status rolls having reached a tipping point, getting free upgrades seems more difficult than ever. Airlines editor Robert Silk spoke with Bennett to hear his modern-day strategies for flying affordably, yet in style.
Q: Airlines don’t hold back as many premium seats for status perks as they used to. Has it become harder to search out upgrade opportunities?
A: We’ve been advocating for 20 years not to be loyal to airlines. We think upgrades are something you bestow on yourself. There’s an infinite number of strategies to go about improving your experience for less money. We advocate showing up to the airport with your seat in hand, not waiting for a last-minute leftover, because they don’t really exist.
Q: Tell me some of the strategies people will learn from your service?
A: We published a recent alert on premium economy fares from Denver to Santiago, Chile. They were about $900 to $1,400 on that route on American. It was a flash fare sale, and you could go on a lot of different dates. You could fly premium economy for the price of coach. The idea on this is you’re combining two concepts. United dominates in Denver, so they don’t need special prices. Then you have airlines like American who are trying to poach. They’ve got nothing to lose by lowering the price and only market share to gain. By combining the mindset of being loyalty-free and the mindset of waiting till a flash deal, you can often get what amounts to free upgrades.
We also recommend what we call the iterative mindset. In the post-lockdown era, the cancellation and change fees are zero or modest. Once you buy a ticket a lot of people just forget about it. But if you didn’t get a deal, or there’s a flash deal at a higher class of service, you can cancel and rebook the better class.
Q: American has put rules into agency contracts prohibiting use of automated reshopping software. So at least with them, couldn’t that latter strategy be risky for travel advisors?
A: There’s a time for travel agents to book through Sabre, and there’s a time not to. And so, booking on AA.com or United.com actually can be a good thing because travel agents have sort of Big Brother hanging over them that can hit you with debit memos and do whatever they want with you, right?
Another thing: With consolidation and airlines really squeezing us with higher mileage costs through dynamic pricing, it can feel like there are never any cheap business or first class mileage seats. However, there often are, depending on the route, and we cover this at First Class Flyer and send alerts. A week or two out, there can be great mileage availability opportunities opening up. We love buying miles. So I don’t worry about earning miles because I can just buy them, and when I buy miles on sale and use them for first class, I can save 50% to 90%. You buy the miles directly on websites like AA.com and United.com when they’re on sale, then redeem them for close-in availability and fly to a place like Australia in first class for the price of premium economy, a two-class free upgrade.
Q: Who has the best redemption values among the carriers you follow?
A: American, but you book on a flash sale basis. Delta is ridiculously horrible. United has jacked up their rates recently. One of the secrets on United is to look at their partner redemptions — Austrian Airlines, that kind of thing. And Air France if you’ve got American Express points or Chase transfers.
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