Air India Launches Upgrade+ To Simplify Purchased Cabin Upgrades

Air India today introduced its latest offering, Upgrade+, for guests with eligible bookings to purchase instant, confirmed upgrades to the front cabins at fixed prices.

Upgrade+ enables Air India guests to opt for upgrades to premium cabins between 72 hours and 12 hours before a flight, subject to availability. Alternatively, Air India guests can purchase cabin upgrades at the airline’s airport counters at the time of checking in.

With the launch of Upgrade+, Air India has discontinued its ‘Bid Upgrade’ programme, whereby guests with eligible bookings could earlier bid for cabin upgrades and were required to wait for up to four hours before their flight’s departure for upgrade decisions.

With Upgrade+, Air India guests will receive the benefits of the upgraded cabin, such as increased baggage allowance, priority check-in at dedicated counters, boarding and baggage handling, on board amenities, and a delectable culinary experience. However, the fare conditions of the original booking will apply to upgraded bookings, including cancellation, rebooking fees, and accrual of Flying Returns miles.

Air India’s premium cabins include Premium Economy (currently available only on select flights to North America), Business Class (available on all domestic and international routes), and First Class (available on select long-haul routes).

Guests with confirmed, Air India-issued booking documents for flights operated by the airline would be eligible to opt for upgrades using Upgrade+. They would either receive e-mail invitation to upgrade their bookings or will be able to check their eligibility using the widget on the Upgrade+ webpage.

About Air India:

Founded by the legendary JRD Tata, Air India pioneered India’s aviation sector. Since its first flight on October 15, 1932, Air India has built an extensive domestic network and also connects with non-stop flights to cities around the world, across USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Far-East, South-East Asia, Australia, and the Gulf. After 69 years as a government-owned enterprise, Air India and Air India Express were welcomed back into the Tata group in January 2022.

Air India is navigating through a major five-year transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI, with an ambition to become a world class airline with an Indian heart. The first phase of this transformation, the taxi phase was recently concluded, and focused on fixing the basics. These included bringing back to service many long grounded aircraft, addition of talent across flying and ground functions, rapid upgradation of technology and strengthening of customer care initiatives amongst others. 

Member of Star Alliance, the largest global airline consortium of leading international airlines, Air India offers seamless connectivity and facilities to passengers all over the world.

It has committed over USD 400MM to completely refit the interiors of all wide-body aircraft and has also planned an investment of over USD 200MM in digital and technology. In January 2023, as part of its transformation efforts, Air India placed the industry’s largest ever order of 470 aircraft across Boeing and Airbus and these will start joining its fleet from later this year. With its enhanced fleet, network and improved on-time performance, the airline is revamping its customer proposition.