I work at the ticket counter at Denver International Airport for all the major international carriers. I work for companies that contract out to British Airways, Volaris, Aero Mexico, Elite Airways, Air Canada, Iceland Air, and Lufthansa, and there are a few tips and things I have picked up while working that other might find most helpful.
1) Getting Good Seats
After this, if you don't want to pay for the seat, make sure to show up early. The earlier you are, the more likely it is that you can get a good seat. First thing first, ask the agent if the flight is going to be a full one. Ask if you can get the aisle/window that you want. And then ask if you can sit at the very back of the plane. Why? Most programs that check people in seat people from the front of the plane to the back, so if you have a seat in the back and the plane isn't full, then you might have empty seats next to you.
If there are two of you traveling, always try to book a window and an aisle seat with an empty seat in the middle. Chances are, if the flight is not full, you will have an empty seat between you two. If the flight is full, then the person will be happy to switch with either one of you.
We all know that feeling of apprehension when you throw your bag on the scale and you hope that the bag won't be over 23 kilos (50 pounds). My first tip here is BE NICE TO THE TICKET AGENTS. We are the sole person watching out for heavy bags. If you are nice to us and polite, we might let a pound or kilo go that we shouldn't. If you're close and you're nice, you're more likely to get away with that extra pound.
Other things to keep in mind are that some people are told to let weight go to a certain degree. As an agent, I was told to not charge people until 25 kilos. With another carrier, we charge less for a second bag than an overweight bag. We even supply boxes for passengers to repack in.
Moral of the story: always ask the agent where there is to do to reduce the cost, they are usually willing to help figure something out for you.
3) Carry-ons
ALWAYS check out heavy they can be, this can vary widely! At Lufthansa, you're only allowed 8 kilos and at British Airways, you're allowed up to 23 kilos. Many times the companies can check in carry on bags, especially when the flight is full. Always ask if they can be checked. Often times they can and you pretty much get an extra bag for free.
4) Upgrades
First of all, joking about how you can totally get upgraded if we need to makes us uncomfortable. Some airlines have an upgrade list that you can get on. It requires miles to upgrade and they move people on the list at the end of check in to fill empty seats, but each of the upgrades require a certain number of miles. I have never worked with an international company that had this program. I've only ever seen this with American Airlines.
However, if you want to do a miles upgrade, then you should do that about a week before hand just to make sure it happens. Only a few companies can do miles upgrades day of.
Paid upgrades are always appreciated, since they are companies after all. Everyone I've worked with always has a deal at the desk for upgrades. Often times, it is cheaper to upgrade at the desk than it is online. On average it takes $1,000 to go from economy to business and about $400 for economy to premium economy. There are times that they run specials that they don't advertise, so always ask what it would cost to upgrade. It might fall into your price range.
5) The ticket agent can be your best friend when it comes to any and all of the above. We have the authority to let a slightly heavy bag go, give you the discount price, or withhold the information about the second baggage fee being less than a heavy bag. So don't be the dick that:
A] Walks up to the counter without being called up
There's often times work we have to clean up before we can assist the next customer.
B] Throws bags on the scale without being asked.
A lot of scales are shared scales between two agents and it's not nice to throw off another's weight just because you want to get rid of your bag faster.
C] Just smile and be nice. Ask questions up front, but don't get mad if we can't answer them right away, there's usually a huge process that we have to go through to check someone in. We will get your answer as soon as we can.
The longer I work, the more tips I think of. Stay tuned for more ways to make travel easier!
