'I'm a travel influencer - take these five steps for a free business class upgrade'

A globetrotter has divulged her top strategies for securing a free upgrade, which she claimed has proven successful when flying with airlines such as Emirates.

Securing an upgrade on a flight is notoriously challenging, however, there are certain tactics you can employ to boost your odds. This is according to traveller Eloise Fouladgar, who revealed her ingenious tips on Instagram.

Her first tip is to register with your airline's frequent flyer programme a month or two prior to your flight and ring them up to ensure you're recorded in their system.

"Call again a few weeks later and request a bulkhead seat," Eloise then advised. "Bulkhead seats are the seats you see near the emergency exit with more leg room.

"These seats usually aren't available before 24 hours before take off but the purpose of the call is to pop up on the airlines system. Now, don't actually book or pay for anything, you only want to get logged into their system again."

Then on the day of the flight, you should "dress to impress" and steer clear of wearing tracksuits, jogging bottoms or hoodies.

Ensure you're courteous when checking into the flight, and subtly inform them that you are a frequent flyer member, as per Eloise's advice. She proposed asking if you're going to accrue miles from the flight you're about to embark on your new account.

She elaborated on the approach to securing an upgrade, noting: "Mention to them you've called many times about a bulkhead seat upgrade and some of them will have that logged on their system. There is a chance they may upgrade you to business class from here."

Eloise added that these tips won't work if the plane isn't full and explained: "Airlines tend to sell more tickets than they have seats to ensure a full