There may be some merit to this product enhancement, but personally I’d take the new UpgradeMe “insights” with a huge grain of salt. Neither UpgradeMe nor Virgin are obliged to present the true state of bidding so that you can save as much money as possible on n unsold seat. What they are compelled to do though, is make as much money for their partner merchants and shareholders. Deception and obfuscation via an opaque bidding system is one simple way.
IMHO, this is just another ploy to play on the Customer’s emotions similar to other ecommerce websites that have pop up cough claiming “there are x number of users browsing this product right now. Get in quick!”