New options to upgrade with Virgin Australia & Velocity Frequent Flyer

[carpenteria]

UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but I like to think I keep a reasonably close eye on things around here But apologies if it has. So I was browsing the flight upgrades section and noticed that things have changed a bit. Flight upgrades appear to be rebranded as "UpgradeMe," cute. This comes in the usual flavors of "UpgradeMe Points" and "UpgradeMe Platinum Member Offer" But then my eyes were drawn to:

UpgradeMe Premium Bid

UpgradeMe Premium Bid allows all eligible Virgin Australia guests - who have purchased Saver fare and above - to submit an offer for the chance to upgrade to a higher cabin class. Guests can choose the dollar amount they are willing to pay to upgrade to Premium Economy or Business Class, and are notified of the success of their offers no later than two days prior to scheduled departure. Find out more about UpgradeMe Premium Bid.

So, that's a thing now. Certainly one way to fill up the cabin, I assume it is just for the upgrade seats. Would make for a last minute upgrade just about impossible I imagine if it takes off, given they are given out 2 days in advance.

Edit: Did a test on a booking I had on hand, SYD-TSV had a minimum bid per person of $200, goes up to $400 for the super keen.

 

[gwilli1]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

UpgradeMe Premium Bid is only available on Saver Fares or above.

[h=4]UpgradeMe Premium Bid[/h]UpgradeMe Premium Bid allows all eligible Virgin Australia guests - who have purchased Saver fare and above - to submit an offer for the chance to upgrade to a higher cabin class. Guests can choose the dollar amount they are willing to pay to upgrade to Premium Economy or Business Class, and are notified of the success of their offers no later than two days prior to scheduled departure. Find out more aboutUpgradeMe Premium Bid.

 

[Velocity Frequent Flyer]

Hi everyone,
Today we are launching a new upgrade option called UpgradeMe Premium Bid, that will allow you and your fellow travellers to bid for a premium cabin seat.

This will sit alongside our existing suite of flight upgrade products which are already available for Velocity members.

UpgradeMe Points – This is the new name for Upgrade Using Points. You can continue to use Velocity Points for a confirmed upgrade, on domestic and international short haul Virgin Australia flights. Platinum and Gold members can also upgrade on international long haul Virgin Australia flights to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi. Upgrades using Velocity Points can be confirmed as soon as you have purchased your Flexi or Premium Economy fare.

UpgradeMe Platinum Member Offer – This is the new name for Complimentary Fare Upgrades, available exclusively to Platinum members. Platinum members can continue to use available upgrades from a Flexi fare to the Business Class cabin on domestic Virgin Australia flights, which can be confirmed as soon as you have purchased the fare.

And now introducing UpgradeMe Premium Bid. This is Virgin Australia’s new and innovative upgrade system. UpgradeMe Premium Bid gives you the opportunity to submit an offer, of an amount of your choosing, for the chance to upgrade an eligible Virgin Australia booking. You will be notified no later than two days prior to the departure of your flight as to whether you have successfully received an upgrade.
We think this will be a great product for everyone.

For those of you who are thinking that this will mean fewer available seats for Velocity status members, bear in mind that Members who upgrade using Points or their Platinum complimentary fare upgrades up to two days prior to the departure date, will see no change to the availability of upgrade seats.
More seats will also be made available for upgrade closer to departure for all Lounge eligible guests. This gives you a pretty good opportunity to fly in the VA premium cabins.

Of course there are conditions around availability, etc, which you will no doubt debate!

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[anat0l]

Sounds a lot like Air New Zealand's OneUp upgrade programme, except NZ OneUp uses Airpoints Dollars (FF currency) rather than cash. But it has a similar tack (and FF elites on NZ OneUp get an "uplift" in their bids).

Guess it gives everyone (or everyone else) another instrument to upgrade their fares.

One thing to note carefully: if your upgrade request was successful, you are entitled to the baggage allowance of your originally booked class, not the upgraded one.

 

[lovestotravel]

Anything that increases cash into VA coffers is a good thing!

 

[Fruitcake]

Anything that increases cash into VA coffers is a good thing!

...including rescheduling flights?

 

[straitman]

One thing to note carefully: if your upgrade request was successful, you are entitled to the baggage allowance of your originally booked class, not the upgraded one.

I can see that leading to a huge amount of confusion.

I did notice one glitch in the system though. When you view the web site details via a PC/laptop it all looks OK but when viewed on the iPhone it is riddled with spelling mistakes.

 

[hummel]

VA while this is good news...what do you think of the chances of getting a site working where we don't have to log in twice to manage our bookings?

 

[lovestotravel]

...including rescheduling flights?

They can do what they want, as long as they don't reschedule/cancel MEL/SYD-LAX flights

 

[jmphoto]

I'm in two minds. I obviously like the J cabin. And I like ways in which I can spend time in it without spending a fortune. But making it more affordable for me, makes it more affordable for everyone. I relied on this upgrade system years ago living in Europe flying on the now defunct Malev.

 

[Bofter]

Reading through the material on the VA website, it looks to me like if your offer is successful you pay the offer price not the auction clearing price, so not the lowest successful offer for someone else on the same flight. If someone found something to the contrary, please let me know, as obviously as a customer I would prefer to pay the clearing price.

 

[a330j]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

Struck out, 2 flexi fares not even eligible for an offer. No upgrade for me I guess!! ("This is a cheese shop isn't it?" ~ as monty python might say)

 

[anat0l]

Reading through the material on the VA website, it looks to me like if your offer is successful you pay the offer price not the auction clearing price, so not the lowest successful offer for someone else on the same flight. If someone found something to the contrary, please let me know, as obviously as a customer I would prefer to pay the clearing price.

Seems reasonable enough. It is like a silent auction if anything, except there can be more than one candidate to win.

("This is a cheese shop isn't it?" ~ as monty python might say)

The cat's got it?

 

[Plutonus]

I got excited thinking this meant we could upgrade online ourselves

 

[kevrosmith]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

Struck out, 2 flexi fares not even eligible for an offer. No upgrade for me I guess!! ("This is a cheese shop isn't it?" ~ as monty python might say)

Are they within 7-10 days of flying?

UpgradeMe Premium Bid FAQs | Virgin Australia

Oh goody... Another thing to have to add reminders into my calendar for after I make a booking...

 

[kevrosmith]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

And reading the Terms of Service, looks like we won't earn bonus points for the upgrade cost on Velocity credit cards as the merchant will come through as Plusgrade LP.

 

[Jousams]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

Further devalues the premium experience.
I hate the idea.

 

[Jousams]

They can do what they want, as long as they don't reschedule/cancel MEL/SYD-LAX flights

Don't tell me your actually flying virgin?

 

[paultiffen]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

Do you get upgraded scs?

 

[a330j]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

Are they within 7-10 days of flying?

UpgradeMe Premium Bid FAQs | Virgin Australia

Oh goody... Another thing to have to add reminders into my calendar for after I make a booking...

No, not for several weeks yet. I read that as saying you can offer anytime if you visit the webpage or VA will sent an email reminder 7-10 days before, but you may be right. Would explain the reject.