Scamming Your Way to First Class: You Won't Believe What People Say to Get Upgrades

Yahoo Travel
Updated
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Travelers make up fake honeymoons, pregnancies, and even deaths to get upgraded. (Photo: Thinkstock)

Some of us lie to get out of speeding tickets. Some of us lie to get out of work. And apparently, a lot of us lie to get upgrades on airplanes.

Australian booking website lastminute.com.au surveyed 5,700 people, and found that 16 percent of them admitted to lying to airlines to get an upgrade.

And 44 percent of the admitted fibbers were actually rewarded for their deceit.

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A lot of passengers aren’t above lying to get out of flying coach (Photo: Thinkstock)

Lastminute.com.au tells The Daily Mail the most common lies had to do with injury (“I have a bad back; business class seat, please”) or fear of flying (“I’m scared to fly and the only thing that’ll make me feel better is extra legroom”). Fake marriages and honeymoons are other popular lies.

Related: How to Get Upgraded on a Plane (It’s Not as Hard as You Think)

Some respondents also said they’ve faked pregnancies and morning sickness to get class upgrades. Which is odd because one would think that claiming morning sickness would just get you moved closer to the bathroom rather than to a first-class seat.

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Prediction: A fake pregnancy will not help this passenger score an upgrade (Photo: Thinkstock)

But for some people, the desire for better seats leads them to get really dark. Respondents admitted to faking cancer diagnoses and even killing off relatives.

“Some [people] are happy to go to all lengths in order to get an upgrade,” LastMinute.com.au’s Louise Ryan tells The Daily Mail.

But despite its success rate, Ryan recommends more honest ways to score upgrades, such as traveling at off-peak times or joining frequent flyer programs.

Watch: “Mansome 234: GETTING YOUR FLIGHT UPGRADED”

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