National carrier Air India is offering upgrades on a seat available (SA) basis at the airport on its international and domestic sectors under its the “Get Up Front” promotion.
On domestic routes, from 43 stations, Air India offers economy class passengers an opportunity to upgrade to Executive Class, based on seats available and on a first come first served basis on payment of a fixed amount. Sector distance up to 750 kilometres for Rs. 5000 and for distances above 750 Km for Rs.7000
The offer is open to all passengers holding revenue tickets in economy class, including the deeply discounted APEX fares. The scheme is valid till October 31, 2014.
Passengers can avail the domestic “Get Up Front” offer from: Delhi, Mumbaı, Kolkata, Chennaı, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bagdogra, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Goa, Guwahati, Jaipur, Jammu, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Khajuraho, Kochi, Kozhikode, Leh, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Nagpur, Patna, Port Blair, Pune, Raipur, Rajkot, Ranchi, Silchar, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Tirupati, Udaipur, Varanasi, Vijaywada and Visakhapatnam.
A similar upgrade scheme is also available for the airline’s international sectors up to June 30, 2014, though they would make more sense for passengers travelling at the last minute, where competing international carriers do not offer as many discounts compared to fares purchased a few months in advance.
Airport upgrades between India and USA
Upgrade from economy to business class on seat available (SA) basis. USD 1500 each way between Mumbai/Delhi and New York JFK or between Mumbai/Ahmedabad and Newark, or between Hyderabad/Delhi and Chicago
An upgrade from executive to first class on SA basis is USD 1800 each way between Mumbai/Delhi and New York JFK or between Mumbai/Ahmedabad and Newark, or between Hyderabad/Delhi and Chicago
Airport upgrades between India and the UK
The upgrades between India and London / Birmingham appear to be more reasonable. An upgrade from economy to business class costs USD 550 ex Ahmedabad/Mumbai/Delhi/Amritsar to London Heathrow and ex Amritsar/Delhi to Birmingham. An executive to first class upgrade costs USD 600 to London. Since Air India flies only a two class Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Birmingham there is no first class. An economy to business class upgrade from London to India will cost GBP 250 and ex Birmingham it is GBP 350.
Upgrades to Europe, Australia, Middle-East, Far-East, Gulf, SAARC
Air India is offering this upgrade scheme across almost all its flights. Full details of the schemes can be found on the Air India website here.
Alternatively, You can buy Air India upgrade from the website Optiontown. Air India recently joined them. It is much easier thing to do than lining up at the counter before the flight.