Flying is a necessary evil if you want to get from one place to another. The level of evil you must submit to, however, is directly proportional to the class of seat you have. First class seats on a long flight are simply heaven on earth.

First class. Ah… People feed you grapes and fan you with big palm leaves. Okay, maybe not. Still in first class is where you find seats made for the human body and flight attendants who don’t act like French waiters. On a long flight, first class is where you want to be.

Make no mistake, flying these days is almost as relaxing as going to the dentist. You don’t want to go, but you know there’s no way around it. From lengthy security checks to late takeoffs and flight cancellations, it’s enough to put anyone in a bad mood.

As with many bad situations, there may be a silver lining to the current joke known as the airline industry. What is it? Last minute update. It is the stuff of legend and luxury. Pull it off and you’ll become that annoying person at the party who just can’t shut up while telling your friends over and over how you flew back from some destination in the lap of luxury.

So how exactly do you get a breaking update? Simple. You ask for it. On domestic flights, your chances depend on the flight. Is it late at night, a full plane, etc.? In general, you can expect to achieve it maybe 20 percent of the time. That 20 percent, however, will be worth your effort.

On international flights, the stakes are higher. You are going to sit on a plane from 8 to 25 hours depending on where you are going. The difference between sitting with your ears or traveling first class is extreme. Well, you’ll be glad to know it’s easier to upgrade to first class. For some reason, first class is rarely full unless it’s a major city to major city flight, like New York to New York. Even then, you have good luck.

So what are examples of such updates? Here are a few that I have accomplished. $75 to upgrade to first class on a flight from Paris to Los Angeles. $56 from Bangkok to Los Angeles, which is a very long flight with a layover in Japan. $90 from San Francisco to Seoul, Korea. $35 from Costa Rica to Houston.

You can do this? Yes. Hardly anyone asks for door upgrades. The worst that can happen is that they say no. The best thing is that you are eating grapes in first class with the breeze of palm leaves blowing through your hair!