scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany tips)

[aurora]

just booked flights to england / france / italy for late september - early october... meep! flying VA and EY (BNE-SYD-AUH-LHR; MXP-AUH-MEL-BNE), and as travelling companion "D" is DJ gold, will get lots of lounge access

both D and i are fairly seasoned travellers (D more so than me), but can always benefit from the collective nous. so, hit me up if you have any tips / tricks / favourite pensiones in and around cambridgeshire, cornwall, morbecque (french flanders), paris, lyon, côte d'azur, tuscany and milan.

specific advice re: the following would be wonderful:

- best way to scam an upgrade to W / J from Y with gold card?

- is it realistic to think i can hire a car in cannes and drop it in san remo, or is the cross-border thing just not going to work?

ta in advance

 

[mannej]

Paying for one?

 

[samh004]

I'm not sure scamming an upgrade is the best way, it certainly isn't what anyone here is looking to do, so have you tried just asking?




 

[MatF]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

I won't comment on the scamming question, but I do know that picking a hire car up in one country and dropping it off in another can come with unbelievably high one way charges, so beware.

 

[notzac]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

EY do occasionally offer paid upgrades to J - it's worth asking at check in if one is available and at what price. I recently paid for an upgrade DUB-AUH, which only cost EUR350.

 

[AdMEL]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

I won't comment on the scamming question, but I do know that picking a hire car up in one country and dropping it off in another can come with unbelievably high one way charges, so beware.

A work colleague mentioned the exorbitant one way car hire cost for one day from Spain to Portugal (or vice versa). I thought it didn't seem right, so I checked and was shocked! One way drop fee was either EUR1,000 or AUD 1,000! Can't remember whether the quote was in AUD or EUR, but either way, it was expensive!

 

[MatF]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

Sounds about right. A work colleague was looking at hiring a car in Italy and dropping it off in Spain. From memory it was going to cost him about A$1800 (I can't remember how long he had it for). He ended up dropping it off in Milan and jumping on a plane to Barcelona instead. Hire car (similar time hired, he had more time in Italy instead of driving across) was something like A$400 :shock:

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

Le Etage - Lyon.

Fantastic food! Small, but you'll forget your there once the food comes out. Yummy! 5 stars. (If the Foie Gras is still on the menu, Must Order, same with the cheese for dessert)


L'Etage
4 Place Terreaux, 69001 Lyon, France+33 4 78 28 19 59 ‎

 

[Travel Guru]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

- best way to scam an upgrade to W / J from Y with gold card?

- is it realistic to think i can hire a car in cannes and drop it in san remo, or is the cross-border thing just not going to work?

ta in advance

I would have thought if you were the seasoned traveller you suggest that you'd know that you can't "scam" an upgrade.

On the other question, most companies will ping you $400-$1000 one way dropoff fee when you pickup in France and Dropoff in Italy.

Enjoy VA Economy, it might be cattle but its one of the better ones on offer.

TG

 

[aurora]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

I'm not sure scamming an upgrade is the best way, it certainly isn't what anyone here is looking to do, so have you tried just asking?




apologies all, by "scamming" i of course meant "asking cheekily but politely" - just wondered if anyone had noticeably more success asking at check-in vs sales desk vs lounge, etc etc (first time as an adult travelling with anyone of status, and first time long-haul on VA). alt will take noztac's advice.

thank you for the sound advice re: car rental - will investigate dropping on the french side of the border instead.

Le Etage - Lyon.

Fantastic food! Small, but you'll forget your there once the food comes out. Yummy! 5 stars. (If the Foie Gras is still on the menu, Must Order, same with the cheese for dessert)

L'Etage
4 Place Terreaux, 69001 Lyon, France+33 4 78 28 19 59 ‎

thank you!!! small is not an issue at all - will be sure to check it out

I would have thought if you were the seasoned traveller you suggest that you'd know that you can't "scam" an upgrade.

On the other question, most companies will ping you $400-$1000 one way dropoff fee when you pickup in France and Dropoff in Italy.

Enjoy VA Economy, it might be cattle but its one of the better ones on offer.

TG

TG, that's a tiny bit pointed for a sunday afternoon, isn't it? my bad, though - poor choice of words . wasn't trying to big-note myself on the seasoning - for the record, lived in three countries as a child and have travelled through 16 as a 20-something (17 after next weekend!). as mentioned above, this will be the first trip involving a gold card - backpackers don't tend to ask for upgrades - so not experienced in the magical ways of wooing a better seat. thank you for the recommendation of VA Economy - assuming we do stay at the back, it's nice to know i'll enjoy it regardless.

 

[JohnK]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

apologies all, by "scamming" i of course meant "asking cheekily but politely" - just wondered if anyone had noticeably more success asking at check-in vs sales desk vs lounge, etc etc (first time as an adult travelling with anyone of status, and first time long-haul on VA). alt will take noztac's advice.

I think best not to ask for complimentary upgrade anywhere as you are highly unlikely to get one. In fact I would be careful that the person you ask is not having a bad day and ends up giving you both a boarding pass for middle seat down the back due to operational reasons.

 

[NM]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

These days, most airlines do not allow their check-in agents to upgrade passengers. Upgrades are generally assigned by computer systems or by hidden back-office load management staff to which passengers have not access or means to communicate their desire for an upgrade. Such upgrades are normally a result of one cabin being oversold and a higher cabin having unsold seats.

The only regular exception to this is where some airlines offer a paid upgrade at check-in time. They do this as a revenue earning opportunity when they have unsold seats available in the premium cabins.

And as for one-way car rentals, I suggest you consider using some form of public transport such as train or flying between countries and rent a car locally for each country. As others have noted, the one-way drop-off fees can be very high. In most cases the rental company has to transport the car back to the country in which it is registered and cannot just accept it and rent it out to another customer.

 

[DJ 1D]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

I would suggest one of two things for the upgrade:

- Have your mate call the Gold centre and ask what (if any) options are available. They would probably be in the best position to let you know your options.

- Go to the ticket desk at the airport before you check in. It is usually at one end of the check in counters. Ask if they have any upgrade options. They are usually not cheap (I've heard of $750 for the LAX segment one-way) but compared to a full fare ticket they will be a bargain.

Good luck, and tell us how you go....scammer!


(tongue in cheek)

 

[Justchecking]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

Spare seats in premium cabins are used for....points awards, sometimes discounted paid upgrades at the airport, status pax operational upgrades or remaining empty because an empty F or J seat does have value to the airline, it protects future revenue. Status pax are fairly numerous these days so getting an op-up as a couple on an international sector is pretty unlikely. If you do get one immediately purchase a lottery ticket as well. Oh and the don't ask for an upgrade advice is sound, only you and about 300 other pax will probably ask. It really grates when people ask for free stuff just because they think theyre special. Everyone thinks they're special and should get a free upgrade.

 

[jsoprano]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

Regarding international one-way car rental in Europe, Hertz offer deals on cars which need to go back to their home country (instead of ferrying them at high cost). You can only book this a few days in advance as it depends on availability, but chances are good that there is always an Italian car somewhere in southern France that waits for its journey home.

Check this page which is constantly updated:

HERTZ Transferdesk

 

[drewbles]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

Regarding international one-way car rental in Europe, Hertz offer deals on cars which need to go back to their home country (instead of ferrying them at high cost). You can only book this a few days in advance as it depends on availability, but chances are good that there is always an Italian car somewhere in southern France that waits for its journey home.

Check this page which is constantly updated:

HERTZ Transferdesk

The irony here being that they've probably already charged someone an exorbitant one-way fee, and to avoid having to use that one-way fee to actually transport it back 'home', they just charge normal rental rates to someone wanting to drive it back.

And they get mad with us when we try and double dip

 

[aurora]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

thanks all - very helpful!

jsoprano - amazing tip, thank you - if i can convince D to wait til we're in france, i'll definitely use that service!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

.....backpackers don't tend to ask for upgrades - so not experienced in the magical ways of wooing a better seat.

They ask but don't get. I don't know why anyone who turns up at an airport looking dishevelled & like they haven't bathed in a week honestly thinks they're going to get upgraded. If an airline's going to upgrade people it helps to be a frequent traveller & someone who at least looks like they belong in J.

 

[kroe]

Re: scamming a flight upgrade? car hire to drive the côte d'azur? (+france/tuscany ti

Just back from Europe. Booked car from Rome with drop off in Brive (France). Drop off fee was 650 Euros, however Avis Rome gave us a French car to drive back so no drop off fee - We were just lucky!

Cheers