Travel Deal of the Day (Feb. 1, 2007)

There are a lot of people in first class who are not paying first class fares. In fact, the majority of people in first class do not pay first class fares. Many are very frequent fliers using free upgrades. But what if you are not a mega-frequent flier? There are now coach fares (that are not even the most expensive coach fares) that allow for free upgrades to first class.

The Deal:
You can now obtain free first class upgrades with a kind of flexible fare usually referred to as YUP fares. (The Fares are called different names on different airlines. The first letter of the name refers to the inventory code that the airline uses. The next two letters, “UP,” refers to the fact that a free upgrade applies to the fare.)

How:
When checking for fares, an airline’s website or an aggregator website usually defers to coach fares. Sometimes, especially when you have very little advance notice or if the flight is close to sold out, it pays to use the “advanced search” offered by most airlines’ websites and search for first class fares (usually noted on the website as “first class fares with restrictions”). In such situations, these fares that provide free first class upgrades can be lower than the most expensive coach fares.

The Inside Scoop:
One thing to note when searching for these fares that provide free first class upgrades is that many of these fares have restrictions similar to less-expensive coach fares. They can be non-refundable, have advance purchase requirements and may have penalties for changes. There may be similarly priced coach fares with such restrictions so you must check all types of fares and verify what restrictions apply.