EY Upgrade Auction

[Ozmutz]

Just thought I would add my experience. I booked BNE - SIN return through VA codeshare.
Did not get an email upgrade offer.
I emailed Etihad and asked and then they sent me an offer email.

I bid on the SIN - BNE leg only. I think min was around $380 or $400 something like that.
I bid $455. I am not an Etihad member nor did I bother to join.
Didn't hear anything from them so thought I didn't get it.

Went to check in and I asked them how much for an upgrade Economy to Business and was quote $885 (or something like that).
I declined.
Then she printed out a Business boarding pass for me - I was pleasantly surprised.

So I won the auction but was not notified.

 

[mikenz]

I've just returned from my trip to the uk and in the end I bid the minimum amount for each of the 4 legs hoping to get one or two accepted.
I was succesful for three out of the four legs and I had a confirmation email around 2 or 3 days prior to each flight. I was travelling alone, not sure if that helps.
All flights were full in BC but there seemed to be lots of space in economy on the longer legs.
A wonderful experience that I probably won't be able to do again.

 

[Austff]

does that mean she would have sold you the $885 upgrade , even knowing you won your auction bid ? .

 

[Phillippe M]

So I won the auction but was not notified.

That was the same experience that we had, that when we got our boarding passes in Manila last Christmas, the first leg was Business and then the second was First. Although about an hour after we got the boarding passes, we got the confirmation email that we had won the auction for the second leg.

 

[Ozmutz]

does that mean she would have sold you the $885 upgrade , even knowing you won your auction bid ? .

I'm sure if she tried it would have failed or something.

 

[jordanva]

Question - My itinerary has a flight on Saturday (16/11) SYD-AUH then onwards flights to ORD next week then return flights from JFK-AUH , AUH-SYD later in the month of which I bid for upgrades on all to business class. I have been accepted for my first flight which is within 48hrs. Does this mean I didn't get the others? Or do they review/accept each flight individually not as a whole booking (?) and will notify me if I was accepted for my remaining flights 48hrs before them?
Ps. All bids were more than min + I'm a Etihad guest gold & VA plat member

 

[guerre64]

Question - My itinerary has a flight on Saturday (16/11) SYD-AUH then onwards flights to ORD next week then return flights from JFK-AUH , AUH-SYD later in the month of which I bid for upgrades on all to business class. I have been accepted for my first flight which is within 48hrs. Does this mean I didn't get the others? Or do they review/accept each flight individually not as a whole booking (?) and will notify me if I was accepted for my remaining flights 48hrs before them?
Ps. All bids were more than min + I'm a Etihad guest gold & VA plat member

I'm pretty sure the way it's supposed to work is that you get notified about 24-72 hours prior to each sector for which you've won your upgrade.

 

[IrishPete]

I've just returned from my trip to the uk and in the end I bid the minimum amount for each of the 4 legs hoping to get one or two accepted.
I was succesful for three out of the four legs and I had a confirmation email around 2 or 3 days prior to each flight. I was travelling alone, not sure if that helps.
All flights were full in BC but there seemed to be lots of space in economy on the longer legs.
A wonderful experience that I probably won't be able to do again.

Could everyone posting their recent experiences here please post the price they paid for each leg and the exact itinerary? It's very helpful.

Pete

 

[guerre64]

I recently flew Manila to London in J - could only bid for an upgrade on the Abu Dhabi to London sector as MNL to AUH only uses a 2 class 777-300.

The minimum required bid to upgrade from J to F for AUH to LHR was AUD$750 - as I wanted to experience F, I put in a healthy AUD$900 bid and was successful. Received email notification about 36 hours prior to departure.

Flight from AUH to LHR was on an A340-600 and had F Suites - absolutely amazing experience, with incredible service, lovely staff and outstanding food, wine etc. I also managed a good sleep on the extremely long flat bed, which was made up on request with a fitted sheet, duvet and huge pillow.

Oh, and Princess Mary of Denmark was in Suite 1A, right in front of me (2A), returning home from her recent visit to Australia!!

 

[Justinf]

I'm definitely going to bid on my MEL-AUH leg of my MEL-LHR flight.

 

[mikenz]

Could everyone posting their recent experiences here please post the price they paid for each leg and the exact itinerary? It's very helpful.

Pete

Hi Pete,

I made the minimum bid for each of the three legs that were available and was succesful for each of them. This was Econ to Bus.
Mel - AUH was $1040
LHR - AUH was $790
AUH - MEL was $1050

I hope this helps.

Mike

 

[alex_au]

Did EY461 on 24/12 Mel -Auh, paid upgrade at airport from Y to C, paid $1200 (well worth it), interestingly had a connecting flight Auh-Muc, and enquired at transfer desk in Auh what the cost would be and was quoted the same as Mel-Auh, asked them to double check, and they confirmed a new pricing structure on Auh- European destinations for airport paid upgrades. Safe to say I stayed in Y which was a great decision considering that there were 75 pax in Y on a A340.

 

[IrishPete]

Did EY461 on 24/12 Mel -Auh, paid upgrade at airport from Y to C, paid $1200 (well worth it), interestingly had a connecting flight Auh-Muc, and enquired at transfer desk in Auh what the cost would be and was quoted the same as Mel-Auh, asked them to double check, and they confirmed a new pricing structure on Auh- European destinations for airport paid upgrades. Safe to say I stayed in Y which was a great decision considering that there were 75 pax in Y on a A340.

1200 times 4 sectors, plus the Economy fare, is getting into the realms of the full cost of a Business Class Fare which is about 7k (though it's 5500 in the other direction). Too rich for me...

 

[Jack_OC]

1200 times 4 sectors, plus the Economy fare, is getting into the realms of the full cost of a Business Class Fare which is about 7k (though it's 5500 in the other direction). Too rich for me...

Very true, and I agree $1200 each way to upgrade from AUH-EU is not great value. But still, there is the opportunity to effectively get a mixed Y/J fare for as little as $4k, and be in J for 2/3 of the flying time. That's not a bad deal IMHO. Also, you could potentially get J all the way for ~$4k + 70k EY miles by using miles to upgrade on the shorter sectors.

 

[IrishPete]

Very true, and I agree $1200 each way to upgrade from AUH-EU is not great value. But still, there is the opportunity to effectively get a mixed Y/J fare for as little as $4k, and be in J for 2/3 of the flying time. That's not a bad deal IMHO. Also, you could potentially get J all the way for ~$4k + 70k EY miles by using miles to upgrade on the shorter sectors.

True. I've always done a mix of paid upgrades and miles upgrades, though I don't usually have enough points until the return leg. (Am currently sitting on about 80,000 so the next trip should be fine!) That's if I bother with an upgrade on the Abu Dhabi to Dublin leg (or v.v.) at all. It's quite bearable in Economy if you have just had a sleep in Business, or have one to look forward to. Lounge access really seals the deal though, as it makes the time in Abu Dhabi airport much more acceptable. Otherwise it's a very unpleasant place, with queue after queue after queue, and departure lounges not big enough for the planes' capacities.

 

[Justinf]

I just received the offer for my MEL-AUH-LHR flight and return.
I only bid on the outbound MEL-AUH leg and the minimum was $1200. I bid $1250 just to make sure I outbidded everyone who put the mimumum.
Hope I am successful.

 

[Justinf]

I ended up upping the MEL-AUH leg to $1350. I realty wanted it. Departs 11.15pm so the sleep factor is important as I can hit the ground running in London.
It got accepted. I feel I probably overbidded, but I wanted it, so I guess there's no such thing if you really want something.
I ended up being notified of the upgrade by Expedia whom I booked the fare with. I got an email from them saying Etihad had upgraded me. I quickly checked my bank details online in the hope that it was a free opup but the money had been taken out.
Still haven't heard from Etihad though.

 

[Justinf]

any tips on what the best seats are and the ones to avoid?

 

[LACE]

any tips on what the best seats are and the ones to avoid?

If you're traveling alone the best J seats are the windows (A & K), followed by the aisle seats (C, D, G & H). Best to avoid E & F as they are generally for couples.

 

[IrishPete]

I think this depends slightly on the airplane, with different layout in different planes. Perhaps you've already checked.

I found that the last couple of times I got an upgrade, because I was last in I was worst dressed, and I ended up with aisle seat. Because of the staggered layout I had the wonderful view of the bare feet of the guy across the aisle from me. There was no privacy panel for me to put up to block that view.

Also the passing foot traffic was a bit annoying.

Those flights definitely took the shine of my previous wonderful Etihad Business Class experience, as did the misbehaving touch screen on the long leg. If I'd paid 8k for it I would have been annoyed, having paid a lot less than that I grinned and bore it.

One Etihad airpine I flew on had an enormous toilet - one where you didn't have to stoop constantly (and I'm only 5'8"). That was luxury. There was almost enough room for a shower, but I guess they're never going to carry enough water and waste tanks to bring that in.