Aer Lingus "Upgrade Yourself"

Riskymove

Does anyone have experience of this?

Basically you make a bid for an upgrade.

However, the actual upfront cost of an upgrade to Business on my NYC flight is €700

The bid system is indicating that bids over that to be strong/excellent, up to €950...doesn't make sense

bids of up to €550 are only poor/fair

any views/experiences?

Van.Bosch

Riskymove wrote: »

Does anyone have experience of this?

Basically you make a bid for an upgrade.

However, the actual upfront cost of an upgrade to Business on my NYC flight is €700

The bid system is indicating that bids over that to be strong/excellent, up to €950...doesn't make sense

bids of up to €550 are only poor/fair

any views/experiences?

I bid 330 for Toronto and was successful. I guess it all depends on demand.the 950 could be worst case or spin by EI to get you to bid higher. Like anything, decide what you would pay and no more.

Riskymove

Van.Bosch wrote: »

I bid 330 for Toronto and was successful. I guess it all depends on demand.the 950 could be worst case or spin by EI to get you to bid higher. Like anything, decide what you would pay and no more.

my point is that it costs €700 to just upgrade now so why would anyone bid more than that?

the bid value seems to be off in that scenario

Van.Bosch

Riskymove wrote: »

my point is that it costs €700 to just upgrade now so why would anyone bid more than that?

the bid value seems to be off in that scenario

I get that, what I'm saying is that maybe the differential is usually bigger and the 950 doesn't take that into account or else EI are putting that there to get people to bid closer to 5/6 hundred as a psychological thing.

L1011

If they can convince someone they're getting a good deal when paying more than the normal fare...

arubex

Air New Zealand have done this for a couple of years and appear to have debugged it to the point that there are no bargains. They will leave business seats empty rather than award an upgrade to low bids.

roundymac

The wife is going to JFK ex SNN in early sept. She booked in early march, business class for €1300, they are now selling the last couple of seats for €4047.94. If you can pick up an upgrade for €900 to wherever I'd go for it.

Jawgap

I've put in bids a few times and never won.

Bumps to first are becoming rarer, it seems. I've never been bumped up with AL.

goingnowhere

I've been bumped up courtesy of frequent flyer status.

Bid to upgrade is a nice idea but its more of an insurance policy for Aer Lingus to know it can play musical chairs to either open up more economy or business seats depending on the situation.

Bid to upgrade is confirmed several days in advance.

On the day upgrades still happen but those are mostly due to overbooking (sold more economy seats but still a seat on the plane for everyone) or aircraft change at which point the frequent flyer list is checked and folks moved up from economy.

Jawgap

goingnowhere wrote: »

I've been bumped up courtesy of frequent flyer status.

Bid to upgrade is a nice idea but its more of an insurance policy for Aer Lingus to know it can play musical chairs to either open up more economy or business seats depending on the situation.

Bid to upgrade is confirmed several days in advance.

On the day upgrades still happen but those are mostly due to overbooking (sold more economy seats but still a seat on the plane for everyone) or aircraft change at which point the frequent flyer list is checked and folks moved up from economy.

I think this practice has pretty much stopped as it was wrecking business / first class - as in those who paid the big bucks were getting upset at someone getting a seat just because the back of the bus is full.

My employer has a policy of sending us economy-plus, unless you're travelling with one of the seniors, in which case it's business. The most recent bumps I've gotten were because the booking was messed up by the airline (KLM) and as a gesture of goodwill because of the amount we spend with the airline (BA), rather than the quantity of FF points/miles accumulated.

Riskymove

roundymac wrote: »

The wife is going to JFK ex SNN in early sept. She booked in early march, business class for €1300, they are now selling the last couple of seats for €4047.94. If you can pick up an upgrade for €900 to wherever I'd go for it.

fair enough, I didn't think of the price increasing to that extent as the day approaches and seats sell.

Basically at the moment the grading of bids as "weak" to "excellent" doesn't make sense compared to the current cost but certainly would if it went to €4k

Jawgap wrote:

My employer has a policy of sending us economy-plus, unless you're travelling with one of the seniors, in which case it's business. The most recent bumps I've gotten were because the booking was messed up by the airline (KLM) and as a gesture of goodwill because of the amount we spend with the airline (BA), rather than the quantity of FF points/miles accumulated.

I have been bumped twice, once when I was in premium economy and once in the case of an overbooking.

I certainly bemoan the lack of a premium economy option on AL but at least I can buy exit rows these days

LiamaDelta

Jawgap wrote: »

I think this practice has pretty much stopped as it was wrecking business / first class - as in those who paid the big bucks were getting upset at someone getting a seat just because the back of the bus is full.

Definitely hasn't stopped with BA/Oneworld. I've been upgraded on 5 of my last 8 flights between DUB-LHR-DUB and last summer had two upgrades with Oneworld partners - one being on the MH A380 from KUL to LHR.

arubex

Cheaper for my employer to send us to the USA in economy a day earlier than needed and put us in a hotel for an extra night's recovery than to pay for business class.

Can't imagine that many businesses with the same mindset would pay any notice to Premium economy. That leaves leisure traffic as a source and perhaps Aer Lingus just doesn't see enough demand there.

goingnowhere

EI had a bad period on the TATL where loads where down and upgrades were given out all over the place for no real business reason. Load factors are now up and planes consistently full and there is an effective business machine in charge of yield management.

There are still cases that EI give frequent flyers upgrades on the day, its happened to me and to several of my colleagues. If EI have an overbooking situation or have a standby passenger due delayed connection they need to make room and its only fair that someone who does 40-50 flights a year would be moved up. EI certainly don't do it automatically, first person to the lounge in a shirt generally helps as does having an onward connecting flight.

The upgrade yourself routine is a ploy to fill the business class seats that would otherwise be empty but generating at least base fare revenue to ensure the perception of the product is maintained. If seat sales are strong in economy but weak in business (read Saturday US bound), it creates space and generates a pile of revenue. This obviously means frequent flyer upgrades on the day have reduced but still happen.

Many employers are economy only, cheapest ticket for destination even on long haul. Bid to upgrade can be helpful as can economy plus as we can pay to upgrade ourselves or exchange air-miles. Gone are the days of business travel mean't business class.

faceman

I've only used Upgrade Yourself a few times but I've been successful on each occasion. But I have wondered how long it will last as it is becoming more popular.

Jamie2k9

faceman wrote: »

I've only used Upgrade Yourself a few times but I've been successful on each occasion. But I have wondered how long it will last as it is becoming more popular.

J seem's to be doing rather well so I expect upgrades will become few and far between and once BA rewards kick in I think it will reduce that further.

IRLConor

When the minimum was €400 I bid and won, but at €700 it's a bit harder to justify.

Flying SFO-DUB it pretty much counts as buying a day back. A typical work trip for me in the past would be fly out Sun, work Mon-Fri, leave Sat, arrive Sun and lose all day Sunday to jet lag and be back in work on Monday having had no weekend to speak of. Spend €400 and get your Sunday back? Yes please.

duskyjoe

It must pee the other full fare up front passengers off knowing that 400€ Extra for some gets the comfy seat plus bucket loads of wine and grub. Must try it myself😊

arubex

IRLConor wrote: »

A typical work trip for me in the past would be fly out Sun, work Mon-Fri, leave Sat, arrive Sun and lose all day Sunday to jet lag and be back in work on Monday having had no weekend to speak of. Spend €400 and get your Sunday back? Yes please.

I thought my company was a hard-headed bunch of slave-drivers but at least they give us TOIL days if we travel on a weekend!

Jawgap

arubex wrote: »

I thought my company was a hard-headed bunch of slave-drivers but at least they give us TOIL days if we travel on a weekend!

When I was in the PS we got TOIL for any weekend travel, plus we got the day after we arrived back off (if you'd been to Brussels).

Now, the firm I work for doesn't have a policy on TOIL. I'm left to organise myself so if I wanted to, when I head Stateside, I could arrive a day early, loll about a bit then work and come home, but it would impact charging hours, which impacts bonuses.

Likewise, I can opt for business class but it would drive up costs when we're bidding for work - so if it's out of any budget I control, it's premium economy, taxis and jet lag. If it's the head office paying, it's business class, car services and lazy days!

elastico

duskyjoe wrote: »

It must pee the other full fare up front passengers off knowing that 400€ Extra for some gets the comfy seat plus bucket loads of wine and grub. Must try it myself😊

I doubt they'd be aware of what the person in the next seat paid for their fare.

And in all probability they didn't pay the fate themselves, their company paid it.

goingnowhere

duskyjoe wrote: »

It must pee the other full fare up front passengers off knowing that 400€ Extra for some gets the comfy seat plus bucket loads of wine and grub. Must try it myself😊

That depends, full fare in economy +400 euro works out as less than the cheapest business seat EI sell

IRLConor

arubex wrote: »

I thought my company was a hard-headed bunch of slave-drivers but at least they give us TOIL days if we travel on a weekend!

It definitely depends on the company. At my current one I have extremely flexible hours and an "unlimited vacation" policy. The flip side is that if they're trying to get everyone in the same place for a week I don't really get to choose the timing of the flights.

I definitely get plenty of time off, but sometimes you lose a weekend and can't do much about it. If you have work the following week that can't be rescheduled you can end up doing 12-13 days without a proper day off. Throw €400 at EI and you break it up into more manageable chunks and you can see where the attraction of bid-to-upgrade is.

Tom Dunne

Just wondering what bids have people found successful?

I'm flying to the US next week and have a bid in for myself and herself.

Riskymove

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Just wondering what bids have people found successful?

I'm flying to the US next week and have a bid in for myself and herself.

Just wondering how you got on with the bid?

roundymac

The wife went Business SNN-JFK last thursday, there were two empty seats, so i wonder what you could have got one of them for?

Tom Dunne

Riskymove wrote: »

Just wondering how you got on with the bid?

Got it. 450 Euro each, one way.

Worth every penny.

Riskymove

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Got it. 450 Euro each, one way.

Worth every penny.

cheers

I remain optimistic so

Riskymove

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Got it. 450 Euro each, one way.

Worth every penny.

Just to update that I too have been successful with €450 each

travelling Thursday and looking forward to it!

Zcott

FWIW my mother bid €300 for Dublin-Orlando and was successful.

sasta le

Is it worth it?

afatbollix

Depends if you have €450 spare.

If you don't stay in Economy

If you do I would say its worth it.

Tom Dunne

sasta le wrote: »

Is it worth it?

It's all relative, isn't it?

For myself and my wife, we paid approximately 1200 Euro for return flight each, one leg of which was in Business Class.

Was it worth it for me? Hell yes.

dudara

For me, I wouldn't buy it on an outbound leg to the US, but it would be worth it on the return leg.

I've only ever flown business class twice with AL, when I used my free upgrades from Gold Circle (Gold level). I've never received a gratis upgrade from them. When flying for work, I fly according to my clients' travel policy, and so far, none of them have allowed business class. (Even on Heathrow -> Seattle flight). Doesn't bother me terribly though, as the flights to the East Coast are relatively short.

galwayjohn89

I'd be opposite of dudara. I would do it heading over to America over coming back. Especially if it is a once off treat. Allows you to enjoy the meal/drinks and services instead of sleeping the whole time.

The A330 Business is quite good on EI, B757 not so much. I'd probably only pay a couple of hundred extra for it on such short flights, except maybe SFO/LAX

Ace2007

Quick question guys as i'm looking at heading to the states this year. Currently i can book a seat in economy for 500 i think it is, if i then put in a bid of say 300, that basically means i'm paying 800 for chance to go business class - however it is only 925 to guarantee myself business, so like there's no real advantage, like for the sake of extra 125 i might as well jus buy out right.

faceman

Ace2007 wrote:

Quick question guys as i'm looking at heading to the states this year. Currently i can book a seat in economy for 500 i think it is, if i then put in a bid of say 300, that basically means i'm paying 800 for chance to go business class - however it is only 925 to guarantee myself business, so like there's no real advantage, like for the sake of extra 125 i might as well jus buy out right.

I'm pretty sure that's not a question.

What route is it?

Riskymove

Ace2007 wrote: »

Quick question guys as i'm looking at heading to the states this year. Currently i can book a seat in economy for 500 i think it is, if i then put in a bid of say 300, that basically means i'm paying 800 for chance to go business class - however it is only 925 to guarantee myself business, so like there's no real advantage, like for the sake of extra 125 i might as well jus buy out right.

yes

if you really want Business and are going to gamble €300 you might as well just pay €425 for Business and be done with it

the price is only going to go up over time

Simon Gruber Says

Also, if you did get the upgrade, you can only chose seats at a max of 5 days before the flight and, if travelling alone it's likely you won't get one of the standalone seats. I'd recommend seat 3K, it's the best seat on the plane.

J.pilkington

Riskymove wrote: »

yes

if you really want Business and are going to gamble €300 you might as well just pay €425 for Business and be done with it

the price is only going to go up over time

And get the gold circle points at bclass levels. If you book economy and win the bid you get no extra points for the bid value/fact it's business

pclive

Anyone bid for a seat lately? Flying to NYC next week was going chance a bid

crisco10

pclive wrote: »

Anyone bid for a seat lately? Flying to NYC next week was going chance a bid

Yeah, last month, I bid €400 for outward leg to NYC and got the upgrade. Much more fun on Dub - NYC route as you get all the time to enjoy the 4 course meal etc. Way back is just a bad night's sleep either way really, so may as well slum it!

Business Class was quite quiet which obviously influenced my success!

Tenger

crisco10 wrote: »

Yeah, last month, I bid €400 for outward leg to NYC and got the upgrade. Much more fun on Dub - NYC route as you get all the time to enjoy the 4 course meal etc.

Pics and/or a bit of a review for us plebs?

Simon Gruber Says

Has anyone had any success with this recently. And if so, how long before the flight did you get the email? Anytime I've been successful, I've had it 6 days before the date of travel.

Riskymove

Tenger wrote: »

Pics and/or a bit of a review for us plebs?

Good one here

http://travelskills.com/2015/03/25/trip-report-aer-lingus-new-business-class/

Riskymove

Simon Gruber Says wrote: »

Has anyone had any success with this recently. And if so, how long before the flight did you get the email? Anytime I've been successful, I've had it 6 days before the date of travel.

once it was around 5 days before and once less than 48 hours