UpgradeMe pricing and success

[williamsf1]

Pardon my ignorance but I have put in a bid for my flight from BNE to LAX and the return leg late in November and have just had a look on Expert Flyer to check seat availability on the return leg and it is only showing Premium Only seats as being available. I was wondering if that would mean only passengers with elite status would be allowed in those seats or the fact I have bid means it may still be possible to get those seats. If they are unavailable I will cancel the bid for the return leg and just up my bid for the trip over to LA. Thank you for your help.

What are you trying to upgrade from ? Y to PY or PY to J ? ....

Expert flyer is not always accurate, and seats can always become available anytime . Your bid will not be confirmed until 72-24hrs before departure, so a lot can happen between now and then. It all comes down to what you bid, if some one put down more than you they win!

 

[zealbee]

What are you trying to upgrade from ? Y to PY or PY to J ? ....

Expert flyer is not always accurate, and seats can always become available anytime . Your bid will not be confirmed until 72-24hrs before departure, so a lot can happen between now and then. It all comes down to what you bid, if some one put down more than you they win!

I was wanting to upgrade from Y to PY. I understand that if someone bids more I won't get the upgrade but was just wondering whether anyone had any idea whether seats listed as Premium Only on Expert Flyer were actually only reserved for elite status members on Virgin Australia or would be available if I bid enough.

I have bid $510 per pax (2 pax) on the LAX to BNE return flight on the 19th of December.

 

[bullerdude]

The premium seats will likely have no affect on your ability to win the upgrade (if you bid enough).

 

[zealbee]

Thanks!

Any thoughts/comments on how much to bid? I have read this thread and seen some people manage to get the upgrade from Y to PY despite only bidding around $350 but noticed that most of them were platinum members.

 

[Johnno101]

I was wanting to upgrade from Y to PY. I understand that if someone bids more I won't get the upgrade but was just wondering whether anyone had any idea whether seats listed as Premium Only on Expert Flyer were actually only reserved for elite status members on Virgin Australia or would be available if I bid enough.

I have bid $510 per pax (2 pax) on the LAX to BNE return flight on the 19th of December.

I would suggest that the savings you make by upgrading by bid are not really that good. For example in the January to February period Economy Saver is $783 to LAX from BNE and $698 return. At the same time PE saver is $1537 and $1467 so taking the risk of not being upgraded can save you $244 each way. As many of us here are interested in SC's the difference between an upgraded Y and Y+ is from 40 to 120 per sector (so that is a good return on the extra $244) and also points increase from 3780 to 9375 as a base Red (which is not bad).

Just some thoughts for your trip as a FF.

 

[zealbee]

I would suggest that the savings you make by upgrading by bid are not really that good. For example in the January to February period Economy Saver is $783 to LAX from BNE and $698 return. At the same time PE saver is $1537 and $1467 so taking the risk of not being upgraded can save you $244 each way. As many of us here are interested in SC's the difference between an upgraded Y and Y+ is from 40 to 120 per sector (so that is a good return on the extra $244) and also points increase from 3780 to 9375 as a base Red (which is not bad).

Just some thoughts for your trip as a FF.

Unfortunately I am already booked to fly out on the 28th of November and fly back on the 19th of December. Managed to get the Y tickets for about $1,100 each so don't mind bidding for an upgrade, just not sure i have any chance being a Red member.

 

[stux]

Unfortunately I am already booked to fly out on the 28th of November and fly back on the 19th of December. Managed to get the Y tickets for about $1,100 each so don't mind bidding for an upgrade, just not sure i have any chance being a Red member.

As far as I know, status has no impact on bids

 

[mooingchicken]

pretty sure status doesnt make a diffrence when it comes to bids (ie plat bidding $250 wont be approved over red bidding $300) maybe only if they happen to bid the same it may matter
if the min bid is 350 and your bidding 510 there is probably a half decent chance you would likely be one of the higher bids... (you could even be the only bid, who knows)

The premium seat on experflyer your talking about are probably just restricted for prior seat selection at T-80/OLCI time these would be open if they havent previously been allocated. they dont block seats for plat status only and not sit anyone else there. If they dont have enough plats flying then they would be left empty, which would be kind of stupid...

 

[zealbee]

pretty sure status doesnt make a diffrence when it comes to bids (ie plat bidding $250 wont be approved over red bidding $300) maybe only if they happen to bid the same it may matter
if the min bid is 350 and your bidding 510 there is probably a half decent chance you would likely be one of the higher bids... (you could even be the only bid, who knows)

The premium seat on experflyer your talking about are probably just restricted for prior seat selection at T-80/OLCI time these would be open if they havent previously been allocated. they dont block seats for plat status only and not sit anyone else there. If they dont have enough plats flying then they would be left empty, which would be kind of stupid...

Thank you for that. Just checked and the minimum bid is $400 but I am pretty comfortable with my current bid, seem to be enough seats available in PY for me to have a shot and like you said other people might not even bother bidding.

 

[get me outta here]

Is waitlisted in MMB a very good sign for QF 8 on 29 Oct? This may be in the wrong thread as I meant a points upgrade.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Is waitlisted in MMB a very good sign for QF 8 on 29 Oct? This may be in the wrong thread as I meant a points upgrade.

I'd be thinking wrong thread too .

You seem to need a QF point upgrade thread, you've posted into a VA UpGradeMe thread! :shock:

 

[clarkkent]

I have a DL-ticketed itinerary coming up that includes codeshares on VA's BNE-LAX and LAX-BNE. Although the Virgin system doesn't retrieve my itinerary properly (including a flight to "not available" heh), it apparently does offer UpgradeMe bidding on the BNE legs, which it identifies as VA7 and VA8 despite my booking actually having DL numbers. Anyone had experience in upgrading on a DL flight number? Minimum bid to premium economy "$355 USD" (really USD?). Having not flown premium economy before, I'm not sure how I'd value it.

 

[zealbee]

Have read the terms and conditions closely and status is a factor Virgin take into consideration when weighing up a bid. I have also read that they do have seats unoccupied but reserved for elite status members which is annoying. Looks like the LAX to BNE flight will have no availability then.

 

[Moopere]

Have read the terms and conditions closely and status is a factor Virgin take into consideration when weighing up a bid. I have also read that they do have seats unoccupied but reserved for elite status members which is annoying. Looks like the LAX to BNE flight will have no availability then.

I know nothing about such things of course, but I think that status probably only comes into play when two otherwise equal bids have to be evaluated. Seems to me that with airlines as with most businesses "cash is king".

If that is nearly right then a heap of 350$ bids would definitely appear to favour the plat membership and an urban legend would quickly be born about upgrades like this being only for status holders. Again, guessing only, low status holders (or no status holders) putting in higher than average bids would probably do reasonably well.

 

[meshelle]

Hi Everyone

I am new here but have been lurking for some time. Anyway I am due to fly out from BNE to LAX next week and have submitted a bid for an upgrade. My bid amount at a paltry 440 bucks, while I dont hold out much hope am I right to be slightly encouraged by there being 26 premium economy seats available.

I booked a saver class ticket does that mean if successful I get to be in premium economy? I am hoping so as that is the reason I put in my offer, rather than paying an extra 400 bucks to sit in the same cabin.

Seat map for the day of my flight

---

Hi everyone

I think I posted this in the wrong thread before so forgive me for the repeat. I am new here but have been lurking for some time. Anyway I am due to fly out from BNE to LAX next week and have submitted a bid for an upgrade. My bid amount at a paltry 440 bucks, while I dont hold out much hope am I right to be slightly encouraged by there being 26 premium economy seats available.

I booked a saver class ticket does that mean if successful I get to be in premium economy? I am hoping so as that is the reason I put in my offer, rather than paying an extra 400 bucks to sit in the same cabin.

Seat map for the day of my flight [attached]


Economy shows 79 seats available also, but I don't know if that is average or underbooked or out of the ordinary. I am hoping that because I will be travelling at a time when school is still in session and missing the "school holidays" wave I might have a chance.

I am also a silver velocity member but I fear that holds no weight.

Do I have the remotest of remote chances of getting a premium economy seat?

 

[farstar]

I know nothing about such things of course, but I think that status probably only comes into play when two otherwise equal bids have to be evaluated. Seems to me that with airlines as with most businesses "cash is king".

If that is nearly right then a heap of 350$ bids would definitely appear to favour the plat membership and an urban legend would quickly be born about upgrades like this being only for status holders. Again, guessing only, low status holders (or no status holders) putting in higher than average bids would probably do reasonably well.

The non-status pax gets more benifit than ststus pax that have lounge access, priority boarding and bagage already. From VAs point of veiw it may be cheaper to give the upgrade to status pax if bids are equal. VA plats are only paying for a more seat space and better food and bev.

The thing that amazes me is that if you have a saver or flex fare the minimum bid is the same. I wonder if flex have priority.

 

[PLANT]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

Sorry to say premo ain't worth the extra $400+....I have flown all classes and its better in economy window.... Middle seat than premo end seat of middle section in premo..... Service blah blah blah..... If you get business that a whole different story!

 

[robd]

Re: UpgradeMe? (Rebranding, bidding)

Hi Everyone

I am new here but have been lurking for some time. Anyway I am due to fly out from BNE to LAX next week and have submitted a bid for an upgrade. My bid amount at a paltry 440 bucks, while I dont hold out much hope am I right to be slightly encouraged by there being 26 premium economy seats available.

I booked a saver class ticket does that mean if successful I get to be in premium economy? I am hoping so as that is the reason I put in my offer, rather than paying an extra 400 bucks to sit in the same cabin.

Seat map for the day of my flight

View attachment 37392

If your bid is successful, you will indeed be in the PE section of the aircraft (if that was the offer that you bid for). The current seat map looks promising, but as there is still a week to go, who knows?

IMO opinion, PE is a lot more comfy than economy and well worth the extra $440, depending on how much your original saver fare was.

Good luck with your bid. Let us know if you were successful or not.

 

[serfty]

Hi Everyone

I am new here but have been lurking for some time. Anyway I am due to fly out from BNE to LAX next week and have submitted a bid for an upgrade. My bid amount at a paltry 440 bucks, while I dont hold out much hope am I right to be slightly encouraged by there being 26 premium economy seats available.

I booked a saver class ticket does that mean if successful I get to be in premium economy? I am hoping so as that is the reason I put in my offer, rather than paying an extra 400 bucks to sit in the same cabin.

Seat map for the day of my flight
...
Economy shows 79 seats available also, but I don't know if that is average or underbooked or out of the ordinary. I am hoping that because I will be travelling at a time when school is still in session and missing the "school holidays" wave I might have a chance.

I am also a silver velocity member but I fear that holds no weight.

Do I have the remotest of remote chances of getting a premium economy seat?

Welcome to AFF

It's not the seat map you need to look at, it's the fare bucket loadings.

For that flight it is looking good (O5 - 5 PW seats at deep discount prices just one week out):Results from ExpertFlyer.com

Flight Availability Search, Departing BNE on 19/11/14 12:00 AM for LAX, Flying VA  

                                                                     Frequency
Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     
0 Connections
VA (**) 7     0      BNE                LAX                77W       Daily           
                     19/11/14 11:15 AM  19/11/14 6:30 AM             91% / 18m

Available Classes
J7 C7 D7 I4 [B]W7 R7 O5[/B] Y7 B7 H7 K7 L7 E7 N7 V0 Q0 T0

 

[zealbee]

Welcome to AFF

It's not the seat map you need to look at, it's the fare bucket loadings.

For that flight it is looking good (O5 - 5 PW seats at deep discount prices just one week out):Results from ExpertFlyer.com

Flight Availability Search, Departing BNE on 19/11/14 12:00 AM for LAX, Flying VA  

                                                                     Frequency
Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     
0 Connections
VA (**) 7     0      BNE                LAX                77W       Daily           
                     19/11/14 11:15 AM  19/11/14 6:30 AM             91% / 18m

Available Classes
J7 C7 D7 I4 [B]W7 R7 O5[/B] Y7 B7 H7 K7 L7 E7 N7 V0 Q0 T0

Can you please explain this for a noob?