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By Abid Habib
Published Feb 13, 2026, 9:30 AM EST
Ever boarded an aircraft and settled down at your seat for a long flight ahead, only to then be asked by your neighboring passenger if you are interested in switching seats with a passenger in first class? This was exactly what happened to Mr. Kim Biel-Nielsen in the 1990s when he boarded an aircraft to fly from Los Angeles to Copenhagen.
This is the story of how Biel-Nielsen was offered a seat in first class by his neighbor in the economy cabin, who persisted in flying with her husband by her side, who just so happened to be flying in first class.
Did Not Want To Stand In The Way Of Love!
In an interview with Simple Flying, Biel-Nielsen narrated what happened during the flight, which took place in the 1990s, when he boarded a flight from Los Angeles to Copenhagen, the capital city of his home country of Denmark. Everything started normally as he boarded the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft operated by SAS, and he settled down in his window seat in economy for his long flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
However, soon thereafter, he heard a commotion from the aisle seat, which happened to be occupied by a woman. The issue turned out to be the fact that this passenger wished to fly with her husband by her side, who happened to have purchased himself a seat, up ahead, in first class.
The woman originally wished to move up ahead to first class and fly with her husband, but when the crew did not allow that, she then proposed the idea of her husband switching seats with Biel-Nielsen, to whom she asked if it would be possible. During the interview, Biel-Nielsen stated,
“I would never want to stand in the way of a loving couple wanting to sit together.”
An In-Flight Upgrade To First Class
While the crew tried to calm the agitated passenger and explain why she could not just move to first class, she proposed that her husband then switch seats with the passenger next to her, who just happened to be Biel-Nielsen. He stated to Simple Flying that it was his duty as a gentleman to endure the “pain” of first class to help a lady in distress and that this felt like karma at its best！
When asked about the reaction of other people nearby and, more importantly, the husband who “grudgingly accepted the change”, he said that the fellow economy passengers and crew members were smiling and trying not to laugh, while the woman’s husband was trying to kill Biel-Nielsen with his gaze.
Regarding this, Biel-Nielsen commented,
“If looks could kill, I would no longer be alive. Still, I did enjoy the first-class experience.”
So, How Do Upgrades Usually Work?
Credit: Shutterstock
While Biel-Nielsen was definitely lucky, it is quite rare that a passenger would be willing to downgrade from first or business class to economy (but not unheard of). So how could passengers flying in economy class get themselves upgrades? Well, there are a few different methods possible, but this will depend on the airlines, the routes, and seasonality.
Cash Or Miles Upgrade
A common method that passengers can utilize to get upgrades without outright purchasing a ticket in premium cabins is to use their airline miles accumulated from their previous flights, credit cards, or even transferred from other airlines. However, the possibility of doing this will depend on the airline making award seats available on a particular flight. These days, because of airline partnerships and global alliances, quite often, passengers with points or miles with one airline can have them transferred so that they can be used for flights with other eligible carriers. Alternatively, sometimes after purchasing a ticket in economy, depending on seat availability, airlines will offer passengers the option to upgrade to premium cabins for discounted prices, albeit with a few caveats, such as no complimentary lounge access, which might only be available for passengers paying full fares.
Bidding For Upgrades
While not all airlines have this system, a considerable number of airlines from all around the world do allow passengers to bid on premium seats after they have booked their tickets for a flight. However, sometimes passengers are limited to bidding for upgrades only to one class higher than their current class of travel, and sometimes certain basic fares are not permitted to participate in bidding. Furthermore, the airline usually sets a minimum and maximum value range for the seats made available for bidding, so the cost passengers end up bidding for upgrades will entirely depend on how busy the flight is and the nature of the route (business or leisure).
A Very Rare And Unpredictable Method!
Apart from upgrading with cash, miles, or bidding, there is one other option available for getting upgrades to premium classes. While this method is extremely rare and unpredictable, if it works, passengers will not need to pay any more than what they actually paid for when they originally booked their tickets. This method is called ‘Operational Upgrades’ wherein some lucky passengers get upgraded for free. This is essentially the airline offering upgrades to passengers free of charge, for their own operational needs, but this is not a strategy that can be relied upon, because, as stated above, this is entirely dependent on the airline’s operational needs.
An example would be when an airline oversells a cabin (say, economy) for a particular flight, and all passengers in economy show up for the flight. In such instances, if there are seats available in premium cabins, the airline will opt to upgrade some passengers to try to accommodate the maximum number of passengers on a flight. Depending on the route and the airline’s operations, sometimes it might be more cost-effective for the airline to offer a free upgrade, when compared to the compensation it would have to offer for denying boarding to a passenger, while also earning goodwill from the passenger.
It is worth noting that this is entirely at the discretion of the airline and the operational needs. Quite often, the airline would choose to offer these operational upgrades to any loyalty members traveling on that flight rather than a passenger who just happened to be among those who overbooked. Therefore, it is worth keeping in mind that while this is a way of getting free upgrades, it is also rare, unpredictable, last-minute, and not a reliable method of getting upgrades.
Flyingdustbinfixer replied：
I have had 1 swap and 2 upgrades that surprised me.
One a BA flight from Geneva to London where a lady wanted to swap from business to economy so she could smoke. Another was when I checked in at Miami for flight to London, was nice and polite to the young ladies on checking in and on arrival at the air bridge was whisked off to First Class..
Flying from London to Dubai via Munich (Cheapest economy return £210 in 2004) I had a fairly long stopover so asked at a checkin desk if i could leave the airport to go into Munich for a few hours.
I was smartly dressed even though going on holiday. the lady asked for my boarding card and reprinted it upgraded to First. (You fit our profile sir） 
But the kindest action I have evr had goes to Emirates. A few years back my Mother in law was terminally ill and was “waiting” for me to get there. At check in at Heathrow the Check in Guy asked if i was ok as I definitely looked upset and when I explained he sent me off to the first class lounge where I was looked after, and on the plane the lovely attendants gave me a free seat at the front of economy and came with kind words and wished me well on exit at Dubai. I was there in time to see M-I-L who woke up at the sound of my voice and passed away peacefully 2 days later.
Now when I fly Emirates I take them some little goodies to share amongst the cabin crew.
Original:https://simpleflying.com/economy-first-class-awkward-seat-swap-commotion/
