More Legroom for Less Buck

As the climate for air travel -- and likelihood for delays -- has gotten progressively worse, smart business travelers are always looking for upgrades.

The standards of service in coach or economy class, which many business owners and employees frequently travel on, "have reached what consumer reports would call an unacceptable level," says Ed Perkins, contributing editor to SmarterTravel.com. "There's no legroom, the seats are two inches too narrow to accommodate [the average] male American and there are rarely any meals served on a lot of the airlines. It's a miserable experience."

"Comfort aside, from a practical standpoint, any chance business travelers have to upgrade their seats during a work trip, the more opportunity they have to be more productive," adds Matthew Bennett, publisher of upgrade-strategy blog FlightBliss.com. In business and first class, passengers have more room to spread out, open up laptops and be able to engage in uninterrupted business discussions over the phone, he says.

Keeping the business traveler in mind, here are four upgrade strategies you can try out for your next journey:

1. Know which aircraft offer the best seats, says Bennett.

For example, say a business traveler is flying from New York to London out of Newark Airport on Continental Airlines (CAL). In this case, the traveler should be aware that Continental flies two types of aircraft between Newark and London: the narrow-bodied 757, and the wider 777.