Frequent flyer reveals the two words that will get you upgraded to first class every time

As a someone who partakes in flying a couple of times a year, nothing annoys me more than when you have to walk through first class in order to get to standard. You know the exact feeling I'm on about; walking past those passengers with their reclining seats, free snacks and TV screens. It makes you feel like a peasant, like you're not worthy of spending time on the same plane as them and, for this reason, we all dream of being in their place.

But, for the majority of us, we will spend our lives confined to standard class, being squashed by a rather large man, with our knees up against the seat in front while a young child feels the need to boot the back of our chair repeatedly.

However, it doesn't have to be this way. While many of us wouldn't ever have the front to ask for an upgrade, one frequent flyer says that there are only two words that you need to say in order to get yourself a luxury ticket. Tilly Bagshawe, a British authour and former ex-pat, claims that she travels over 100,000 miles a year, with her regularly travelling between her home in in Los Angeles and the UK.

According to Bagshawe, all you have to do to get yourself an upgrade, is simply utter the words "revenue management."

Revenue management is a little-known department that all airlines have, which makes sure that all flights are earning enough money. All you have to do is call up the reservations agent, name drop the department and if you're lucky enough, you could be landing yourself in the peace and quiet of first class.

Speaking to Bloomsburg, Bagshawe said:

"Not everyone knows this department exists and by mentioning it, you reveal yourself as someone who knows how things work and understands how seats are released.

"Say to the agent: ‘Have revenue management released any first-class seats for miles upgrades yet?’ When they say no, ask them to check or just be put through to revenue management so you can ask when they will release some, as well as how many seats are left.

"Politely respond like this: ‘You have 20 seats unsold? Why aren’t you releasing them?’ Often by the end of the conversation, they say, ‘OK, we’ll release one for you,’ or they might tell you to call back tomorrow.

"Doing that, we’ve had a pretty much 100 percent success rate."

Bagshawe claims that the trick has worked with the airline that she most frequently travels with, Virgin Atlantic. In light of her claims, Business Insider thought that they'd give it a go, and to their surprise, it worked.

A Virgin spokesperson said:

"Each year we release thousands of reward seats for our Flying Club members and customers can check availability online and through our contact centre."

So, all you have to do to get an upgrade to first class is simply call up and ask? That's a big fat yes from me.