Imagine. The young lady at the check-in desk steps out from behind her desk and follows you as you head for the waiting area at the gate. She has something for you and asks for the tickets she has just handed to you. Momentarily you think, “What’s happened?” You run through your mental checklist of passport, online booking reference, baggage allowance, wallet, phone etc.
Instinctively you think it’s you who has made a mistake or forgotten something and your well-earned break in the sun is doomed. As you watch somewhat nervously, she takes your tickets and tears them up right there in front of you. You think instantly, “Count to 10, maybe 50!” just then she holds out her hand and says, “Please enjoy your flight and take these with our compliments. Also, these will provide access to our First-Class lounge on the first floor.”
Your first response is to check it’s the same flight as you had booked. Then you check the seat numbers! The numbers are in single figures, you know what that means, you’ve been given a free upgrade. You arrive at the lounge and are invited to make yourself comfortable and enjoy the food and drinks. Unbelievable. You’ve been holidaying or travelling for work for years and this is the first time you’ve been upgraded. So, you pour two glasses of champagne, make up a chicken salad and a fruit plate, maybe some cheese and biscuits, and ease yourselves into the waiting seats. It’s amazing how difficult it is to drink when you can’t stop smiling.
Before long, your flight is called. You make your way to the gate with others from the lounge and notice they don’t wait or join the queue, they just walk forward and hand over their tickets and board. Naturally, you follow and are duly invited onboard, but not to turn right and find your seat, but to go upstairs! It just gets better. You think of all the Bond movies. You picture James sitting at the cocktail bar in first class and imagine yourself in a smart Italian suit ordering a Vesper Martini, shaken not stirred. You are rudely interrupted by a steward offering to help you with your bags and then handing you a glass of champagne. You look at your wife, still smiling, and are then handed the dinner menu, and of course the wine list for this evening’s meal and asked when you would like to eat. Can it get any better?
And cut… Let us just pause a minute and rewind this dream sequence back to when you first checked in. You and your wife have been planning, possibly saving for this trip for some time. You upgraded to Premier Economy as a little extra, and let’s be honest you were so looking forward to the whole experience. The anticipation, the flight, the hot air that greets you when you reach the open plane door as you disembark.
There was nothing wrong with the original plan was there? But suddenly the upgrade, the lounge access, the food and drinks, the service, no queueing at the gate, going up the stairs to your seats, the James Bond cocktail moment seemed so much better. The thing we previously looked forward to is no longer enough. We want this new “First Class” travel experience from now on. That’s the problem with upgrades.
As Seth Godin, a US marketing guru, wrote in his latest blog, “When we upgrade something in our lives, the thing we used to be satisfied with is no longer satisfying.”
I do like his final point though. “At some point, the best upgrade is the realization that we have enough.” For those setting off on holiday make sure you have a relaxing, refreshing and memorable time.