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Have you ever been selected to sit in business class or first class on an airplane even though you just had a ticket for the economy section? Well, if you have, today’s phrasal verb will be very useful for you. The phrasal verb “bump up” has two meanings:

1. to put someone in a higher group (usually on an airplane). For example:

I can’t believe it! The airline bumped me up to first class for my flight to Hawaii!

I was bumped bumped up to first class for my flight to Hawaii! (passive voice)

I’ve never been bumped up to business class or first class on a flight, but many of my friends have.

2. to arrange for an appointment to be earlier than scheduled. For example:

I’m afraid the doctor has to leave the office at 4:00, so we’d like to bump up your appointment to 2:30. Would that be alright with you?

My appointment was bumped up to 2:30. (passive voice)

We had to bump up the time for the meeting to 11:00 a.m. Could you please tell everyone about the change in schedule?

As you can see, the preposition “to” always comes between either the words “business class/first class” or the new time for the appointment.