Upgrades: How much would you pay?

Today I had a little interesting e-mail pop into my inbox; asking whether I would like to upgrade one sector of a return flight I have booked from Economy to Business Class for £671pp. But is it worth it?

The 10-hour flight is a redeye from Los Angeles to London Heathrow; a journey which I have done in both cabins before, but of course the ability to lie down does have its benefits. If I did upgrade, it would work out at me spending an extra £67 per hour for the experience. But it does seem a little high… even if you are bypassing the Premium Economy cabin to get there.

I don’t really need to go into the advantages and disadvantages of the upgrade, as we all know what the answer would be. But for the price of £671, I could easily book another flight for the future. However, there is one little tidbit which still has me thinking…

Upgrading would allow me to retain my Frequent Flyer status for another year, which would entitle me to benefits such as a single-use one-category recognition upgrade, lounge passes, priority airport standby and a dedicated hotline for any assistance I need… benefits which I do seem to exhaust quite a bit.

Airline upgrades are always a funny business. Some carriers use those “bidding” systems, whilst others set a flat-rate for any upgrades from one cabin to the other. There is the possibility of asking on the day at the airport for the chance of late-availability in a better cabin, but would you take the chance?

If you had the money at your disposal, would you splurge the extra to enjoy the extra space on a redeye flight home and then celebrate that you will then have another upgrade voucher to use next-year; or would you save the money and use it on something else – and forget about retaining your airline status?

I’d love to hear what you would do, and how much you would be willing to pay. It might make my decision a little easier. Let me know your views in the comments below.