Dress the Part

 VS.

I have found when traveling that if I travel in my business attire, I receive better treatment than traveling in my "relaxing" clothes.  Usually, this is not a problem as I am seeing accounts as soon as I get my rental car.  However, there are some times when I am catching a red eye, or flying in a day early that it can be really tempting to dress down, but I find the complimentary upgrades are fewer when I am not dressed up.

You are guilty of doing the same thing as the counter agents.  We cannot help ourselves, no matter how hard we try, we at some level judge a book by its cover.  Next time you are traveling by plane, try this: get to the gate early, approach the airline gate staff, smile, and tell them that if any complimentary upgrades are available, you would be happy to accept them.  This will put you in the mind of the gate staff as a friendly person who is just trying to get to your next stop in a little more comfort.

A few other things you can do when asking for an upgrade are smile, use their name, wait until there are no other customers around the desk.  When you smile, you are immediately establishing a friendly rapport with the agent.  This will start out the process without their defenses being raised on full alert.

Next, use their name and introduce yourself as well.  We all see hundreds if not thousands of random faces when we travel from store clerks, check-in personnel, flight attendants, concierges, etc.  Now, think about how many random people these folks see in a day as well.  Also, consider how most of us feel when we are traveling.  We are tired and grumpy and have a tendency to not be the nicest people in the world, after all, we will probably never see these people again in our lives, right?   WRONG!  Well, technically, maybe that is right, but this is no reason to be rude or inconsiderate or condescending to these people as everyone else does.  Instead, smile, introduce yourself and use their name; you will be amazed how far this will go when asking for complimentary upgrades.

My last tip when asking for an upgrade is to wait until there are no other customers around.  You will have a much better chance at connecting with the person you are asking on a one-on-one basis.  Also, they will not be as hesitant to help you out if there are no others that will know and ask for the same upgrade.  If for some reason, they still will not provide a complimentary upgrade, don't give up, instead keep smiling and start negotiating!

While all of these tips are great for asking for the complimentary upgrade, remember, you must dress the part.  As I said, we all at some level judge people based on appearance.  If you address someone in business attire as opposed to baggy shorts and flip flops, your chances of receiving the upgrade are much, much better.