This was something that fascinated me. When I was away, I met a lovely woman who had been upgraded on her flight, had her cabin upgraded to the largest stateroom and was invited to the captain's table for dinner!

We chatted frequently and from our conversations about it, there seemed to be no particular reason for the upgrades. She said that she was surprised as well.

She was traveling alone but so were many other women. I suspect that the way she looked had a lot to do with it.

My sister and I tried to analyse it (we had plenty of time on our hands..lol) and came up with this:

She was nicely dressed but not current. In fact, her look seemed a little dated. Her clothes didn't look particularly expensive, but they suited her. She always wore a heel, even for walking on the cobblestones, when everyone else wore trainers or sensible flats. She always wore skirts and tops, never pants, so she wore a more traditionally feminine style. She appeared to be a natural blonde, and her short hair was always 'done' in a 'big hair' style....sort of teased out and sprayed. She always wore noticeable makeup, but it was always light blue eye shadow and everything else very subtle. She seemed happy and friendly, but quietly spoken.

Do you think that there is a certain look or style that helps people get upgrades when they travel?

Have you been upgraded and do you think that your style had anything to do with it?

I find this so interesting and, because I travel quite a bit, and have never been upgraded, I wonder if I should rethink my travel look.