Etihad upgrade via bidding system

[hubbert0403]

Interested to se if anyone has ever done the Etihad upgrade where you bid, you basically give them an amount you are willing to pay and see if you are successful, have you done it and won?!

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Never even heard of it, so is this to get in to first/business class?

[Petkula73]

Interested to se if anyone has ever done the Etihad upgrade where you bid, you basically give them an amount you are willing to pay and see if you are successful, have you done it and won?!

 

 

We looked in to it earlier in the year and decided it wasn't worth it. My parents were visiting us and the idea of giving them a bit of room on the way back seemed nice. Per person the bidding range was something like £500 -£1000 each way so when you factor this on top of the cost of the economy ticket you get close to what a business class ticket costs anyway. The last time I flew from MAN-MEL in business I paid (well actually work paid) £2800 return. The Etihad economy tickets they had were £1100 a person, so adding on upgrades each way of £850 a person would end up at the same price.

 

I think the best tactic really is only fly in business when it's not your own money. Grit your teeth in cattle and think how much money you're saving.

[tingtongman]

I think the prices start at 400£ minimum after buying the original ticket.

[Guest littlesarah]

I'm guessing you mean using Optiontown? Last time I flew Malaysian they still had a deal with Optiontown, although they went with a system in which you were given an upgrade price. I gave it a try, was unsuccessful and was notified the day before my flight that my upgrade request wasn't successful. The money was refunded to my credit card within a couple of days, so it was all good. I guess if it works, you're in luck, if not all you lost was the interest on the money you bid. Whether or not it's worth it depends on what price the minimum bid takes the fare up to.