Travelling or planning a trip anytime soon?
American flight attendant, Cierra Mistt, has shared the ultimate tip for getting upgraded to first class — and she says it works almost every time.
Mistt started her now-viral video by saying her hack to get a free upgrade was top secret.
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“Let’s look at the big picture. Everyone is flying right now, and no one is more excited about that than commercial airlines,” she said.
“The majority of airlines are overbooking every single flight they have.”
Mistt clarified that while her observation is “not scientifically proven”, she had noticed it anecdotally.
“It comes from the last month of me trying to get home and not even being able to get on standby because every single flight has been oversold,” she said.
“I am not talking about one or two seats. I am talking about 10-30 seats that have been oversold.”
Herein, Mistt explained, lies a potential positive for air travellers.
“If everyone does show up, including the extra passengers that were oversold their tickets, the airlines have no choice but to financially compensate,” she said.
The flight attendant shared that airlines “normally start off with vouchers for $500 or something”.
“Normally they say a voucher but you can ask for it in cash,” she said.
“Depending on the flight and how desperate they are, they will go up to, like three, four, five thousand dollars.
“This is where the free upgrades come in.”
Mistt said not only could you ask for a free upgrade in such circumstances, but you could “also ask for other incentives”.
“For example, drinks, dinners, breakfast, even a hotel if you have to stay overnight until the next flight,” she said.
“And, yes, you can also ask to be upgraded to first class.”
Her video received more than a million views, with people praising the hack.
“I got upgraded to first class by doing this,” said one.
“This is awesome,” said another.
“Thanks for the info,” said a third.
