Upgrading business trip

I am about to book a business trip. The company will pay for premium economy. But I have noticed there are some excellent upper fares available for my dates. Problem is, the company will reject a business ticket, even if it's cheaper.

Has anyone got any advice on trying to pay the difference by yourself? Presumably this would need to be done up front because the upgrade price won't match the original price difference?

The only thing I can think of is to book premium, get the receipt, cancel it, rebook in upper and claim back the amount using the original receipt.

Thanks!

Be careful of doing it that way in case there are stiff cancellation fees. I used to be in the exact same situation and eventually convinced my company to check the price that they are prepared to pay, and i would then book and provide a receipt which is less than they were quoted. I did pick and choose my days when certain fare buckets were sold out

[Neil]

Can you just not offer to pay your company the difference?
The cheaper PE fares are usually not cancellable / refundable so your plan is very unlikely to work.

Can you screen grab the prices. Pay for upper and submit a claim to your HR dept for PE?

I decided to ring flying club and ask for help. I had to press the issue a little, since they wanted me to book the premium tickets and then upgrade without really guaranteeing the upgrade price. But in the end, the agent was very helpful, checked the fare difference, booked me the premium ticket and let me upgrade with a separate payment. Result!

Hope this helps someone else in the future!

Thanks for the suggestions in the meantime

10 out of 10 for going for it ! as you say..... useful for others in the future.

and what a great feeling to be in UC and knowing it's mostly paid for by the boss. All in a day's work !!

I decided to ring flying club and ask for help. I had to press the issue a little, since they wanted me to book the premium tickets and then upgrade without really guaranteeing the upgrade price. But in the end, the agent was very helpful, checked the fare difference, booked me the premium ticket and let me upgrade with a separate payment. Result!

Hope this helps someone else in the future!

Thanks for the suggestions in the meantime

Well done