California Woman Shares The Cheapest Way To Get An Upgrade On Flight—Procrastinators Will Love It

Via iStockphoto / @morganstephen__ TikTok

A California woman is going viral for sharing a way that procrastinators can get a business class upgrade on flights. The trick? Ask for an upgrade at the gate rather than buying one ahead of time, alongside the ticket.

Morgan Stephen (@morganstephen__) shares in a short video that she accidentally discovered it’s cheaper to upgrade to business class right at the gate. Her video has 170,000 viewers, and Stephen says it’s a hack she’s going to regularly use from now on.

Is It Really Cheaper To Upgrade At The Gate?

Stephen is right: Passengers can sometimes get cheaper business-class upgrades right at the gate. However, it ultimately comes down to the airline and seat availability.

Airlines typically try to sell any remaining business-class seats before a flight. Some airlines offer their customers the ability to bid for business-class upgrades. Others adjust prices in the days leading up to travel to try and gain loyal customers, according to Fodor’s Travel.

But when a plane is about to take off, the airline has a significantly smaller chance of filling any remaining business-class seats. Airlines would understandably rather get what they can for these seats rather than nothing at all.

Some viewers were fans of the hack. Other commenters said there were some notable caveats.

“Please note this doesn’t apply to all airlines, and it depends on seat availability; with some, it’s actually more at the gate,” one viewer said.

However, Stephen’s commenters had more than a few success stories. One viewer explained that they were upgraded to business class on one flight, free of charge.

“I just flew Delta back from Europe and at the gate I asked if there were upgrades to Delta One and she said yes, she handed me my new boarding pass and I paid nothing,” they said.

BroBible reached out to Stephen via TikTok direct message for comment.