Rex BidUp Success and Failures

[docjames]

Thought it might be useful to have a thread for successful/unsuccessful BidUps.

Rex has introduced a new upgrade bid system. Passengers can bid for spare Business Class seats up to 7 days prior to departure.

As a launch promotion, the minimum bid amount will apparently be just $10.

Rex Bid Up

Certainly makes better financial sense for Rex than just giving away spare J seats for free!

Rex Introduces Business Class "Bid Up" Upgrades

Rex is introducing a new real-time bidding system for passengers to upgrade to Business Class on the airline's Boeing 737 jet services. As an introductory

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

So, has anyone tried this? Were you successful?

Flight and Route:
Bid:
Success/Fail:
Apparent flight loading: % (estimated)

 

[Fortunatecrow]

Tried MEL/BNE two weeks ago and was outbid at $200. I offered $50 each way on MEL/SYD (fares only cost $79 each to start with) and was outbid, but quite late so there was not as much interest as on the longer flight.

 

[jlw]

Just did BNE-MEL in J on an upgrade bid of $70.00

 

[Mattg]

Just did BNE-MEL in J on an upgrade bid of $70.00

That's good incremental revenue for Rex (at scale). Before launching Bid Up, they would have given away your seat randomly for $0.

 

[JordanMess]

Success with a Bid of $55 SYD to BNE

Initially bid $35 7 days out and was advised unsuccessful/outbid a few days later. Flight is very full, economy and buisness was the same price for new tickets yesterday ($349).

 

[Fortunatecrow]

Got my Mum upgraded ADL/MEL for $54 on Saturday, and then going back today at $50. Mum's happy....first time in Business Class

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Ah, so it seems like they notify you straight away if somebody bids higher? I wasn't sure if that all took place only within the 3 hour period before departure.

 

[Fortunatecrow]

Ah, so it seems like they notify you straight away if somebody bids higher?

Correct

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Correct

Great. So far so good then! I bid $120 on an $89 base fare. Fingers crossed!

 

[Easy Tiger]

Great. So far so good then! I bid $120 on an $89 base fare. Fingers crossed!

Hang in there! We bid $50 (x2) from OOL to MEL and got told almost intantly we had been outbid so we thought we'd leave it. Then on the morning of the flight we were told that we had been successful! So not sure what happened there but we were happy for that upgrade

 

[Brissy1]

Hang in there! We bid $50 (x2) from OOL to MEL and got told almost intantly we had been outbid so we thought we'd leave it. Then on the morning of the flight we were told that we had been successful! So not sure what happened there but we were happy for that upgrade

I presume although you were outbid for the seats available at the time, you became the highest bidder when rex released more seat on the day.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

My bid above was successful! Although it was $110 not $120 as I thought. For a flight just before Christmas the loads were much lower than expected. Someone was paged just as I arrived at the gate and walked away with a new boarding pass looking very happy. So it might still have been 1-2 free upgrades… or previously unsuccessful bids.

 

[Easy Tiger]

I presume although you were outbid for the seats available at the time, you became the highest bidder when rex released more seat on the day.

Maybe…dunno, just passing on the good cheer

 

[cavemanzk]

Did ZL390 last night SYD-BNE 2x pax $35 each accepted at the 3hr mark.

Think the whole cabin was upgraded from the convos going on.

 

[Fortunatecrow]

ZL18 on 28/2. $79 promo fare (might have been $89?) plus a $55 bid got me there. The passenger next to me bid $65.

Coming back on ZL141 on 2/3, I stopped bidding at $132.

 

[Mattg]

It's good that Rex has found a way to monetise its J cabin, but is anyone actually paying for J tickets with them?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It's good that Rex has found a way to monetise its J cabin, but is anyone actually paying for J tickets with them?

It’s a good question.

The downside is that I needed a last-minute ticket SYD-MEL, and whereas usually Rex would have had seats for $349 they were all ‘sold out’ because it was within the 3 hour window

I guess that means they are ‘bidding up’ for every seat, not even holding one back for last minute sales?

 

[BrettV]

It's good that Rex has found a way to monetise its J cabin, but is anyone actually paying for J tickets with them?

I have paid for a J seat once! Last year when BNE-MEL was $299. Those were the days .

 

[spade1686]

Flew MEL-SYD twice in the last two weeks, managed to get upgraded both times
1st flight - $40
2nd flight - $30

the second one was a strange one because the night before, I got an email saying I was outbid only to wake up the next morning to a successful upgrade email

no luck on the SYD-MEL flights though

 

[Easy Tiger]

Excellent return on investment there spade! Great work.
Ps. Same thing happened to me re the outbid email. Gremlins or gougers??