Can I ask for free upgrade at checkin or at gate?

When I was 16 and flew alone from Vancouver to London, the check-in agent lady told me she was going to give me the seat next to mine, so I could keep my stuff there, and no stranger would sit next to me. While it obviously wasn’t an upgrade, it was a very pleasant experience.

This is somewhat dependent on location, but, generally, is a relic of a bygone era. It’s usually just not going to happen anywhere these days, especially to business or first.

In North America, complimentary upgrades to business or first class are very common… but they are given to frequent flyers based on a very specific set priority, not just to random people who ask. On long-haul international flights, they’re given either to people who pay with miles, people who use upgrade certificates (these are issued to frequent flyers only,) or airline employees who are flying as passengers on the flight. And, of course, they (usually quite successfully) try to sell upgrades to open seats up front. Obviously, the airline’s very frequent flyers are not going to be happy if their upgrade is instead given to some random person who just asked to be upgraded, so that’s pretty much never done these days.

Outside of North America, complimentary upgrades are significantly less common, even for frequent flyers, and airlines will happily let seats go out empty in business or first if no one is willing to pay for them. I’ve had flights in East Asia where I was the only passenger in business or one of only a few, despite there being tons of people in the back.

There are really only two situations nowadays where you might be upgraded to business or first for free without using miles, having frequent flyer status, or working for the airline:

• When economy is overbooked, they’ll sometimes move passengers up to empty seats in business/first. This generally won’t be something you can ask for, though, but rather done by the airline based on fare class purchased, time of ticket purchase, etc. And this will still usually go by the normal upgrade priority, so these will probably go to frequent flyers anyway unless there just aren’t any.

• When you have to be rebooked on another flight (for example, due to flight cancellation or delay or due to volunteering to take another flight in an overbook situation,) if the only seat available on the next flight is in business or first, they’ll usually just put you there. My first couple of flights in First were for that reason.

Can I ask for free upgrade at checkin or at gate?

Yes. Of course. Why not? Go for it. Ask at both locations!

Are you afraid that the only two outcomes are imprisonment or "Yes"?

Whether or not you receive your request is a totally different subject.

Consider the fact that it costs $100-$150 to pick your seats ahead of time on a low-fare ticket and adjust your expectations accordingly.

In the three years before the pandemic I flew intercontinental quite regularly, racking up some frequent flyer points. I’m not the kind of person to ask for upgrades (especially since I’m generally okay with an economy class seat as long as it’s at the back of the plane and next to a window). However:

• Three or four times I received an email a week before the flight asking me to bid on an upgrade. Bids started at around €100 and presumably the highest bidder(s) would be upgraded to make room in an otherwise overbooked economy class. I was successful once.

• Once, at which point I had already gotten the lowest status on a frequent flyer programme, I was upgraded on check-in due to an overbooked flight.

• A few years prior to that when my father had top frequent flyer status with Lufthansa he was on a package trip and was upgraded together with my mother during boarding (The two flew business, the rest of the group economy).

These stories may all be anecdotal but in combination with the Airport Upgrade Programme Abligh mentioned they show how airlines will try and get rid of empty seats for money first and if that doesn’t work they go through the status ranks.

There is no harm in asking but if you’re successful without having status, treat it as a lottery win.

20-30 years ago this used to work. Source: I did it myself, and approximately a quarter to a third of the time it worked. You could turn up at check-in, smartly dressed (apparently that mattered then) and ask if there were any spare seats in business class, and miraculously occasionally you were upgraded for free. Similarly hotel upgrades (that still works occasionally) – I’d get an upgrade to a suite by asking, though the particular hotel I visited so frequently they knew me by sight and that might have had something to do with it.

Now, well, you can ask, but you are very unlikely to be successful. Firstly, airlines load plan a lot better. Secondly, if airlines have additional space, they will be happy to sell an upgrade at the airport. BA have a program called Airport Upgrade (AUP) and their checkin staff are heavily incentivised to sell them to you – given that, why would they give them away? Some airlines allow miles/points earned to be redeemed for upgrades in this way. Thirdly, airlines will on occasion provide operational upgrades (OpUps) – but these in general happen only when one class is oversold and they have to upgrade someone. Note "oversold" can include "sold the right number of tickets but one seat has broken" and "needed a business class seat for a resting crew member" (leading to an upgrade to First). The person they pick is relatively carefully selected (for instance favouring frequent flyers, or someone who has not flown business before and they think might fly business again if exposed to it) – but even if you don’t believe in the magic of their upgrade algorithm, the point is that they select the OpUp, and it’s not given by asking

That said, no harm in asking nicely so long as you don’t mind being disappointed.

I once asked for the emergency seat and they gave it to me. Better still, I didn’t have anyone next to me.
Flying Air New Zealand back to the UK so pretty high-stakes…
Just before we took off, one of the cabin crew came out of the galley, saw me and said "no no no that’s no good, we can’t have you there!" I’m like "wha..?". He goes on "We’re going to be in and out of the galley all night, you’re not going to get any sleep there! Once we’ve taken off I’ll give you the nod, grab your gear and follow me".
We took off, he took me over to premium economy, with unlimited booze and snacks, better legroom etc etc.

Hilmar’s answer is true generally. However, speaking from my own experience, there is one type of upgrade that some airlines are more willing to give. If you’re able-bodied and willing to operate the emergency exit if needed, you can ask for a seat next to it. Those seats tend to have a bit more legroom than normal coach. Some airlines sell those seats, but even then they might give it to you if the person who is assigned to it decides they aren’t capable or willing to operate the exit. The only way to find out is to ask at the gate.

Is that possible to ask for a free upgrade at the check-in desk?

Sure. You can always ask

(and successful)

No.

Upgrades are one of the major perks that airlines use to entice frequent flyers and they are very carefully regulated with complicated rules and upgrade order. Your chances of getting an upgrade as a non-status flyer are basically zero.

For example United gives free domestic upgrades for status members above a certain level. Each flight has an upgrade list that’s sorted by status, instrument and fare class. That sounds better than it is: typically the upgrade list is dozens of names long. I’ve seen lists of over 100 people for a flight with one or two open seats. But as a non-status flyer you won’t even make it on the list.

International upgrades require "instruments", which are a sort of "airline currency" (miles, plus points, upgrade vouchers, etc) that the airline bestows on customers for spending money with them or for reaching a certain status.

Free upgrades outside this system do happen but they are incredibly rare and based on unusual circumstances or operational reasons.