One frequent flier has had over 2.5 million views, sharing his top tips to bag a free upgrade when you fly. He says: “A little charm and confidence go a long way” and advises picking up small gifts like chocolate at the airport and boarding the plane last.
“Hand the flight attendants the gifts, with added charisma, as you board, and wait for the magic of a free upgrade to happen.”
On the post, he’s not given an upgrade as such, but his seat is switched to an empty row and he receives free snacks and Champagne, presumably worth more than the value of the snacks.
Viewers seem impressed, with one comment saying: “as ex-cabin crew I can confirm this works”.
But do these Tiktok free upgrade hacks actually work?
Amanda Parker at Netflights says: “The travel hack of buying flight attendants a gift, and sweet-talking them when boarding the plane has gone viral. Kindness will always be appreciated by airline staff, so small gestures like snacks or gifts won’t go unnoticed.
“However, the chances of receiving a complimentary upgrade just by handing over a box of chocolates might be slim.
“Free upgrades are usually determined by strict criteria, including frequent flyer status, ticket class, availability, and airline policies, unfortunately, not by last-minute sweet talk as you board the plane.
“The gift and sweet-talk hack may work, so it’s worth a try; but, we warn you not to get your hopes up, as these moments are the exception, not the rule. You may just strike lucky if your flight attendant likes chocolate M&Ms.”
Recommended reading:
3 ways to get a free flight upgrade or (free perks when flying)
1. Join loyalty programmes
Passengers are most likely to bag a free upgrade by taking advantage of frequent flyer initiatives. Airlines reward loyal and frequent customers, so take advantage of these deals. Even if you don’t fly frequently, some credit cards allow you to earn points that count towards upgrades. Over time, this can significantly boost your chances of an upgrade.
2. Travel in off-peak periods
You can increase your chances of upgrades and free perks when traveling in off-peak hours and days. Flights are quieter, so they tend to have more empty seats in Premium cabins, which can increase your chances of being upgraded. It’s advised to avoid flying in school holidays and Friday evenings or weekends. Midweek flights at midday are typically quieter flights!
3. Be polite and have good manners
Good manners won’t guarantee an upgrade, but they never hurt anyone. Always treat flight staff with respect, regardless of whether you want a free upgrade or not. Being kind can make you stand out, so a small gift like chocolates might be remembered, but even if it doesn’t come with a seat upgrade, it’s a gesture your flight attendant will appreciate.
Home»AIRLINE NEWS» The Sabre: Hypersonic Plane Could Revolutionize Tourism with One Hour Flights from London to New York
Sunday, July 27, 2025
Red swap Icon – black travel across the world where time means the most valuable of assets — a revolution in interconnected international travel has made its connections. The Sabre, a hypersonic plane under development in the U.K., would reduce the time of the flight between London and New York to an hour from the current seven. What is already a super-sonic achievement also has the potential to change the face of the tourism industry if it means cutting down the time it takes to cross the Atlantic. The plane, poised to hit speeds of Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound), is being developed as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Invictus programme, with a planned flight demonstration scheduled for 2031. Exciting as the news is, this leads to pondering on what the tourist industry is going to do in light of this major shift in traveling behavior.
Changing the times of travel and the dynamics of tourism
Few among travelers, business people and the aviation sector haven’t dreamed for decades of shortening the duration of flights between two of the world’s most-visited cities, London and New York. These cities are connected by commercial flights today in about 7 hours, but with the Sabre, that travel time can be significantly reduced to only 1 hour. This has profound implications for the international tourism industry. A cut in flight time of that level won’t just make international travel faster—it will make it easier.
Tourism is based upon the same convenience, and long flights tend to keep tourists apart from one another in terms of geography. Many travellers from Europe, for example, are put off by the long flight times to the US, just as American travellers take a similarly dim view of a trip to Europe. By blanketing the ocean, the Sabre would make it possible for people to travel across the Atlantic for a more convenient day trip, supporting a greater number of one-day pleasure trips rather than long-stay commitments, and injecting money into the New York and London economies.
Reviving International Tourism: Is a New Travel Trend Emerging?
Perhaps the most important thing the Sabre can do for tourism is to make last minute international travel for short periods more possible for more people. Today, long-haul flights are considered a significant commitment of time and resources. Ordinary New York–London travel is seven hours’ flight travel time plus extra hours for check-in, security, and other non-stroll-on-the-grass necessities. Shrinking that time to a mere hour means a visit from the average tourist — for a day or a weekend or even one business meeting — is never more than a few hours of travel away.
And reduced transit time might encourage a surge in weekend travel, as tourists could more easily hop between cities. Let’s say, for example, the New Yorker starts taking spur-of-the-moment weekend trips to London or the other way around. This could mean a good opportunity for cultural interchange between two great cities and their periphery. It might also make it so other cities can benefit from shortened travel windows, with the potential for travelers to more effortlessly pop on a hypersonic plane to take in several destinations as part of the same travel package, bringing international travel within the reach of a whole new group of travelers and would-be travelers.
Economic Effects: The Rise of Hypersonic Tourism
The arrival of the Sabre could unlock new opportunities for businesses in the tourism industry. As flights are reduced, the luxury of high-speed travel may grow in popularity, similar to the way premium class seats on hypersonic jets, as well as for private charters and more customized travel plans. London and New York airports could also experience an influx in passenger numbers, lured by the one-hour flight.
A hypersonic tourism boom could, however, come with challenges. It could have a dramatic impact on existing transportation modes, like long-haul commercial flights. Airlines that currently dominate the transatlantic sector would find their territory challenged by hypersonic jets, and would be forced to innovate and cut costs in order to stay competitive. This may lead to cheaper flights for passengers, driving even more accessibility to the world of travel. But the cost of running hypersonic jets could be higher at first, meaning tickets may be more expensive in the near term.
In addition, since people can travel more quickly now, visit-och-place-h. new ways— The advent of more efficient travel options could mean tourists want more out of their destinations, and cities would have to offer higher-quality experiences in less time. Tourist areas could be overrun with visitors over shorter duration even as demand for lodging, dining and services peak. This is great news for tourism, but it also means you need to have the infrastructure in place so you don´t end up trashing the town!
Technological Innovation and Sustainability of Hypersonic Transportation
In addition to the speed, the Sabre’s novel technology might also change air travel in more far-reaching ways. The plane has advanced cryogenic technology that allows it to handle the high temperatures produced by hypersonic flight. The cooling system, which rapidly cools the air rushing into the engine to reduce engine temperatures, is critical to keeping the aircraft flying in a state of readiness that could exceed 4,000 miles an hour.
These types of technology have potential to lead to even more developments in aviation. As a leap forward, the Sabre itself is promising, but other countries and companies are also developing hypersonic aircraft. This push and pull of competition in the still nascent industry might mean an ever faster and greener airplane in the works. As these advances continue, we could very well see a more sustainable mode of long-distance travel that would make air travel’s carbon footprint a thing of the past!
Obstacles to overcome: High cost, and safety issues
But there are still a few hurdles to clear before the Sabre becomes a commercial reality. Cost is one of the biggest obstacles. The aircraft is believed to cost around GBP 6 billion to develop and, though the technology promises much, it may be years before it becomes commercially viable. Safety, too, is a big issue, for such aircraft undergo tremendous friction and thermal strain. The cryogenic pre-cooler system, developed for Sabre, is fundamental to the engines, but the extended life reliability of this now fundamentally validated technology has to be demonstrated when at the ready to bear the continual day in day out use of commercial aviation.
Meanwhile, the environmental impact of doing so is still poorly understood. Faster travel also could mean less fuel used per trip, but the vast amount of energy such high speeds requires could mitigate that gain, the report found. But there will be a need for even more disruption if the Sabre is to be a viable form of sustenance for people who do not want to ride a camel.
A New Era for Global Tourism
Looking to the future, this hypersonic Sabre jet is ushering in a new age of international travel. The Sabre’s ability to revolutionize air travel, by cutting down travel time and allowing for spontaneous international trips, as well as luxury travel at high speeds, is truly mind blowing. The next 10 years will be critical to whether this technology can make good on its promises and to whether it will be accessible to more than just the premier travelers.
As it stands, the future of hypersonic travel is just over the horizon. But as the engineering, innovation and infrastructure keeps advancing, the Sabre may one day change the face of tourism, connecting cities, cultures and economies at the speed of sound.
With fares starting as low as Dh204, UAE residents are scrambling to book last-minute holidays before Wizz Air ceases operations from Abu Dhabi on September 1, 2025.
The airline’s shutdown has triggered a surge in travel bookings to popular budget-friendly destinations, including Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.
A Khaleej Times review of fares for August shows one-way economy flights from Abu Dhabi priced at:
For many UAE residents, these ultra-low fares have made short getaways accessible and affordable. But with Wizz Air’s imminent departure, frequent flyers fear this era of budget-friendly international trips may soon become a thing of the past.
“It’s rare to find international tickets for Dh204,” said Prachi Mehta, an Indian expat and graphic designer at a media agency in Dubai.
“I checked fares for Georgia and found return tickets for under Dh550. Since my daughter’s school is on break and my husband can take leave too, we are planning one last trip on Wizz Air before they stop flying.”
She shared that her family had postponed a summer trip to Delhi due to expensive fares. “This deal came at the right time, a chance to explore a new country at a low cost.”
For Mohammed Shoib Khan, a 34-year-old Pakistani engineer living in Ajman, the low-cost airline has been a game changer. “I have travelled twice to the Caucasus with friends, but couldn’t take my family because they weren’t in the UAE then,” he said. “Now that they have joined me here, I want to take them on a quick holiday before prices go up.”
With Wizz Air’s exit on the horizon, some residents are already hunting for affordable alternatives. “We are planning to travel to a new destinations before my wedding in December. We have been looking out for options of low-cost airline. Hopefully, the travel is affordable in the month of September or October,” said Mohammed Ootom, a Jordanian expat who lives in Al Nahda, Sharjah.
The sales manager at a retail store in Sahara Centre recalled how the airline enabled spontaneous travel for him and his friends. “Once, we booked a trip to Azerbaijan while sitting at a café. It cost us less than a staycation in the UAE,” Mohammed said.
“Budget airlines like Wizz Air gave many people the chance to explore new countries without breaking the bank. We need more low-cost carriers to keep that dream alive,” he added.
SM Ayaz Zakir is a Senior Correspondent with a flair for extraordinary stories. His playground? Every corner of the UAE. He often ventures into remote corners of the country to capture compelling news and human interest stories.
Families traveling from Korea on select night flights will get complimentary airfare for children under 12 years of age when accompanied by a paying adult passenger, the Guam Visitors Bureau said in a release.
GVB launched its “Kids Fly Free” promotion to help boost travel from Korea to Guam during the peak summer travel season from July through August.
The two-month initiative specifically targets family travelers utilizing night flights operated by Korean Air, Jin Air, and Jeju Air, GVB said.
Under the terms of the promotion, children under 12 years of age will receive a complimentary ticket when accompanied by a paying adult passenger. Fuel surcharges and taxes will be applied separately, GVB said.
The initiative strategically capitalizes on increased seat capacity on Korea-Guam routes and the expansion of night flight options. It is designed to mitigate travel costs for families while also promoting the practical scheduling benefits of night travel, GVB said.
In August alone, Korean Air, Jeju Air, and Jin Air will operate daily night flights from Incheon to Guam. Additionally, Jin Air and Korean Air will offer daily night flights from Busan.
These services collectively contribute 33,697 airline seats to Guam in August, representing 49% of all available seats from Korea, GVB said.
“Night flights provide practical scheduling advantages for Korean families seeking cost-effective travel options,” said Acting GVB General Manager Gerry Perez in a statement. “This promotion delivers tangible value to family travelers while strengthening Guam’s appeal in a competitive tourism marketplace.”
The “Kids Fly Free” campaign was developed through collaborative funding partnerships with leading Korean travel agencies, including Hana Tour, Mode Tour, Yellow Balloon Tour, Very Good Tour, and Nol Universe, GVB said.
Participating travel agencies have further enriched the promotion with value-added benefits such as late checkout, room upgrades, and food and beverage vouchers, which have resulted in booking conversion rates exceeding initial projections, GVB added.
Some agencies have reported customer acquisition rates 25% to 45% above their targets through live commerce channels, signifying a robust market response, GVB said.
GVB will actively promote the campaign through dedicated landing pages on partner travel agency websites and across its official digital channels.
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