EY Upgrade Auction

[rcn]

As a data point, I inquired about an airport upgrade for a SIN-BNE flight and was quoted SGD500. The lowest offer on Plusgrade was AUD385. The J cabin was perhaps about half full.

 

[Mrcliveo]

I bid $1200 for upgrade to F from J, SYD-AUH, and won, AUH-LHR was full. I consider it money well spent, the lounge dragons wouldn't let me in the F-lounge at AUH though....:evil:

 

[Blinky]

I bid $1200 for upgrade to F from J, SYD-AUH, and won, AUH-LHR was full. I consider it money well spent, the lounge dragons wouldn't let me in the F-lounge at AUH though....:evil:

See, this is what I just don't get. I paid for an upgrade to F from J, MEL-AUH and it cost $800. Same experience with the F lounge, but as I was told, it's called a departure not an arrival lounge.

I'll try to upgrade the AUH-MEL leg in a couple of weeks time when we return, which would get me F lounge access. I now have a precedent, so hope the $800 differential stands. It was a bargain.

 

[IrishPete]

I just got my auction upgrade email for my flights to Dublin in 2 weeks time. But the base bid for the Sydney Abu Dhabi leg is over $800, and about $600 for the Abu-Dhabi Dublin leg (which is just tolerable in Economy anyway). Add that all up plus the economy original fare, and it comes to near the price of buying a Business fare in the first place, so I won't be taking the bait. I have enough points to probably upgrade the long leg on my way back to get some good sleep before arrival in Sydney, and will hope for "operational upgrades" or a reduced price auction for the others. Or maybe cheaper offers at the airports.

IP

 

[RAM]

I just got my auction upgrade email for my flights to Dublin in 2 weeks time. But the base bid for the Sydney Abu Dhabi leg is over $800, and about $600 for the Abu-Dhabi Dublin leg (which is just tolerable in Economy anyway). Add that all up plus the economy original fare, and it comes to near the price of buying a Business fare in the first place, so I won't be taking the bait. I have enough points to probably upgrade the long leg on my way back to get some good sleep before arrival in Sydney, and will hope for "operational upgrades" or a reduced price auction for the others. Or maybe cheaper offers at the airports.

IP

The cost for instant upgrade at the airport for the 13.5 hour leg is $750USD. When we did it in Jan13 the exchange rate used was 6% worse than Amex, and even worse than Worldexchane/TravelEx - so if tempted (and you check online before hand for available business seats) then I would suggest getting the USD from Amex and paying cash - save you approx $30 to $40. So should cost you less than $800 AUD (unless AUD plummets more in interim).

The flat seats, food, drink and comfort are worth the extra for the long flight. Our 3 teen age kids eagerly agreed to contribute towards the cost difference and were miffed when it was booked out on return journey.

I agree not worth it for the 2nd leg.

 

[Jack_OC]

I just got my auction upgrade email for my flights to Dublin in 2 weeks time. But the base bid for the Sydney Abu Dhabi leg is over $800, and about $600 for the Abu-Dhabi Dublin leg (which is just tolerable in Economy anyway). Add that all up plus the economy original fare, and it comes to near the price of buying a Business fare in the first place, so I won't be taking the bait.

If you were successful getting upgrades for those amounts, I doubt if the total cost would come anywhere near the cost of buying a Business fare. Obviously I don't know what you paid for your original fare, but assuming it was around the typical $2,300 mark for a Y rtn, plus $800 + $600 x 2 for the upgrades, that would be a total of $5,100. The cheapest Business return fare I've ever seen with EY from Aus-DUB is about $7,500, and the norm is somewhere between $8-9k, so you'd be saving anywhere from about 30-50% versus paying for the J fare up front. Not a bad deal if you got it IMHO!

Having said that, I agree that the AUH-DUB leg is tolerable in Y, especially if it's in daytime hours.

I have enough points to probably upgrade the long leg on my way back to get some good sleep before arrival in Sydney, and will hope for "operational upgrades" or a reduced price auction for the others. Or maybe cheaper offers at the airports.

IP

If you want to upgrade with points I'd be requesting it now - EY normally only allow two Y to J upgrades per flight, and they can be very strict about enforcing that rule, even to the point of allowing the flight to depart with empty seats in J. Last year I travelled to DUB at very short notice due to a family illness, and tried to upgrade whatever legs I could using points. Initially, they said the only leg out of the 4 that I could upgrade using points was AUH-DUB, so I took that, but they did say I could upgrade any or all of the others for cash (so there was definitely at least one J seat available on each leg). I sucked up Y on the long flight on the way out, and took the gamble that they would release seats for points on the way back if they stayed unsold. However, even at check in at DUB they said no unless I want to pay. I then tried again at the lounge, and the girl on the desk said she'd try but whoever she phoned to ask about it said no. She went well out of her way to argue on my behalf, pointing out I was EY Gold etc etc, and eventually got the guy to agree to upgrade me for points if the seat remained available after check in closes (in other words, when they had exhausted all posibilities to get someone to pay for it). It came good, but I think I was very lucky to have got that particular member of staff on my side.

It got better from there though - the AUH-MEL leg was still a no go for a points upgrade when I was leaving DUB, so I decided I'd try again at the lounge in AUH. But when I got there, they said those magic words "You have already been upgraded to Business as the flight was oversold". So I got that one for free

 

[IrishPete]

I haven't had a problem using miles to upgrade in the past.

As for the cost, yes Business Class from Oz to Ireland is 8000 or so. But from Ireland to Oz is about 5000 or less. So next time I'll be more savvy, and try to book flights that allow me to access the much cheaper fares they get - i.e. I'll book something with a return date far in the future, then buy a return flight from Ireland to Oz that gets me back to Oz when I want to, and back to Ireland for the next trip. I should be able to use a relative's address for the booking.

Pete

 

[EuroFlyer]

Sounds like a plan

I haven't had a problem using miles to upgrade in the past.

As for the cost, yes Business Class from Oz to Ireland is 8000 or so. But from Ireland to Oz is about 5000 or less. So next time I'll be more savvy, and try to book flights that allow me to access the much cheaper fares they get - i.e. I'll book something with a return date far in the future, then buy a return flight from Ireland to Oz that gets me back to Oz when I want to, and back to Ireland for the next trip. I should be able to use a relative's address for the booking.

Pete

 

[Jack_OC]

I haven't had a problem using miles to upgrade in the past.

Good to hear, but you may just have been lucky. Anyway, in case you're not aware, you can now check availability of points upgrades for your specific flights online, using the "Manage my Booking" link.

As for the cost, yes Business Class from Oz to Ireland is 8000 or so. But from Ireland to Oz is about 5000 or less. So next time I'll be more savvy, and try to book flights that allow me to access the much cheaper fares they get - i.e. I'll book something with a return date far in the future, then buy a return flight from Ireland to Oz that gets me back to Oz when I want to, and back to Ireland for the next trip. I should be able to use a relative's address for the booking.

Pete

Yeah the price differential is unbelievable if you start your trip at the other end. My parents came over here recently on J returns DUB-MEL-DUB for about AUD$4,500 each, and that wasn't even a special offer. So if you can make it work by buying a return starting over there and then use the "return" part leaving AUS on your next trip, that's definitely a great plan. I don't think you even need an Irish address by the way, I think you can book a trip starting in Ireland with your Aussie address. It won't work for me though, because you can only book 11 months in advance, and I would pretty much never have two holidays to Ireland in the space of 11 months (it's normally one every 2 years).

One other comment about using points to upgrade: if you do that from AUH-SYD it will cost you approx 72,500 points. I don't think that's great value if you have the option of paying just $800 instead. If you save your points, you could get a free one way J fare from SYD-DUB for 145,000 points next time, which would otherwise cost you about $4,500. And then you could pick up your return flight starting in DUB for the way back. Obviously depends on other factors like imminent points expiry etc too though.

 

[alex_au]

Hi

Long time reader first time poster! Been reading through this thread and really can't see if anyone has had much success upgrading either through Plusgrade or at check-in when travelling on a VA points redeemed flight. I have a flight booked for my partner and I on 24th Dec MEL-AUH-MUC.

I noticed on EY's website that for those who don't receive the Plusgrade initiation to upgrade can request the email/upgrade offer simply by contacting EY 14 days before your flight, again can this be done a VA points redeemed flight? Would you like to upgrade yourself?

Any insight would be great.

Cheers

 

[IrishPete]

Hi

Long time reader first time poster! Been reading through this thread and really can't see if anyone has had much success upgrading either through Plusgrade or at check-in when travelling on a VA points redeemed flight. I have a flight booked for my partner and I on 24th Dec MEL-AUH-MUC.

I noticed on EY's website that for those who don't receive the Plusgrade initiation to upgrade can request the email/upgrade offer simply by contacting EY 14 days before your flight, again can this be done a VA points redeemed flight? Would you like to upgrade yourself?

Any insight would be great.

Cheers

I'd be very surprised if you can upgrade a reward flight, either with points or the auction, especially one bought with points from another airline. Why didn't you just get a Business Class fare in the first place?

In early July I upgraded my return from Dublin to Abu Dhabi with points at check-in and the Abu Dhabi to Sydney leg for $850ish through the auction. It seems I got the last seat in Business on both flights. I was only notified of the auction success on the day of the flight, so wasn't able to upgrade the Dublin-Abu Dhabi leg using points through the online system, as it was too close to departure time. So had to take my chances at the airport, and wait a fairly long time to be attended to and for the computer to eventually say "yes".

Being full, and unable to check-in online, I wasn't able to get the best (window) seats in the Business cabin. Which greatly diluted the experience. Not 100% sure it was worth the money and points this time. (I also had a dodgy screen, which was also irritating.)

IP

 

[alex_au]

Hi Pete

Thanks for the info. I am not looking to upgrade using points (there were no reward flights left in business at the time of booking - VA 15% off reward bookings) otherwise I would have. Was more interested to see if a cash upgrade is offered on reward flight either through auction or at check-in.

Cheers

 

[IrishPete]

Ask Etihad a question on Facebook or Twitter - they are pretty good at responding there (much less good at responding to enquiries made through their website).

IP

 

[alex_au]

Thanks Irish Pete

 

[RAM]

Was more interested to see if a cash upgrade is offered on reward flight either through auction or at check-in.

Cheers

Upgrade auction seems to only be successful (at a reasonable bid) on flights that normally do not approach sold out status for business. Use one of the online services to see how many seats are available three weeks before you're due to fly. If there are only one or two business left then you've virtually no chance of getting the auction win for a reasonable price.

However, as soon as you can bid, lodge the lowest possible bid available as long as Etihad (or any other one that does this) is not gaming the system. For some legs I've looked at the minimum bid was over USD100 more than the buy-at-counter price.

So if many seats left & min bid < buy-at-counter ==> lodge min bid
& min bid > buy-at-counter ==> buy-at-counter BUT be early to get best seat choice

few seats left & min bid < buy-at-counter ==> lodge min bid BUT accept likelihood of middle seat (ZERO Privacy from neighbour's feet, legs & arms if unlucky - on B777 definitely)

If traveling as a couple or family then middle seats are fine as long as others are not 'active' sleepers.

 

[IrishPete]

My flights were showing as sold out for Business class seats for weeks and days before I "won" my auction upgrade and was able to upgrade with points at the airport. I assume some Business Class passengers changed their bookings, leaving a spare seat for me...

IP

 

[lobo76]

I'm flying J class to Europe on Monday... when do they usually send out the email offer? Seatguru says there's at least 6 free first class seats on the 2nd leg... I'm hoping for an Auction upgrade or maybe one at checkin... any tips?

 

[IrishPete]

I got my email weeks in advance, with a closing date of 48 hours in advance (so if you haven't received it by 48 hours before, you possibly won't). But mine was to upgrade from Economy to Business, so it could be different from Business to First.

 

[RAM]

I'm flying J class to Europe on Monday... when do they usually send out the email offer? Seatguru says there's at least 6 free first class seats on the 2nd leg... I'm hoping for an Auction upgrade or maybe one at checkin... any tips?

I would ring up the Etihad Customer number and ask if your email address is listed with your booking. If not ask them to add it. Also have a look through the previous posts as one had a link to the auction upgrade page fro Etihad.

 

[alex_au]

Hi Lobo76

Try this link - has all the information required.

Etihad Global

Cheers