Virgin Australia UpgradeMe pricing and success

[bbtlife]

My recent PER – MEL return both unsuccessful at $135 (minimum bid +$10) . When I first bid I did think $125 was a bit low for east-west; minimum bids typically start much higher. Does the minimum bid change closer to the flight?

Another interesting PER - MEL bid success, following on from my last message on minimum bids changing:

• After purchasing flight, min bid was $125 so I bid $140 (min + $15)
• At ~T-36, I went to alter my bid just to check and now the minimum bid was my bid of $140. 5/8 J seats available at this time
• Just for some extra peace of mind I upped this by $10 to $150
• At ~T-24 (usually just after the first tranche of upgrades are offered) 2/8 J remained available
• Upgraded at T-13

 

[Disco]

Upgrade bid for SYD to PER of $170 was successful: think the min was around $150. Advised day prior. Good flight, landed 30 mins early.

 

[austgap]

Upgrade bid of $55 for Saturdays SYD-BNE, submitted last night and accepted T-25. Cabin has gone from 4/8 to 6/8

 

[gtrod]

Looks like some major changes to UpgradeMe. It now shows your position on a leaderboard.

The slider has gone when updating your offer. You just get to choose one of the 3 values on the right.

 

[Luke B]

View attachment 516647

Looks like some major changes to UpgradeMe. It now shows your position on a leaderboard.

The slider has gone when updating your offer. You just get to choose one of the 3 values on the right.

Just checked my two upcoming economy bookings MEL-SYD-MEL and both still have the old page.

 

[gtrod]

Just checked my two upcoming economy bookings MEL-SYD-MEL and both still have the old page.

Might just be rolling out now. I modified the bid yesterday and it was the old style slider to update your bid.

When you increase your bid with one of the 3 values it also updates the leaderboard immediately. So I guess you can keep adding extra until you are within the number of seats available.

I have a feeling this is going to increase the amount you are going to need to bid to secure upgrades in future.

In the past there were a lot of people just bidding near minimum and hoping it was enough. Now they know for sure and can add a bit extra.

Perhaps sniping just before upgrades are allocated is now the best strategy. Make your way up the leaderboard before others have time to react.

 

[Luke B]

Might just be rolling out now. I modified the bid yesterday and it was the old style slider to update your bid.

When you increase your bid with one of the 3 values it also updates the leaderboard immediately. So I guess you can keep adding extra until you are within the number of seats available.

I have a feeling this is going to increase the amount you are going to need to bid to secure upgrades in future.

In the past I think there were a lot of people just bidding near minimum and hoping it was enough. Now you know for sure.

Perhaps sniping just before upgrades are allocated is now the best strategy.

Very interesting. I just placed a bid for one of the flights, what route was yours?

I suspect you're right, definitely more money to be had for VA with this new layout.

 

[MooTime]

Looks fixed to me, there's no telling the bids above you are genuine, random initials. Of course they couldn't have real pax initials there, or could they?

Just smoke n mirrors to get you to bid higher amounts not just $10 or $20.

 

[gtrod]

what route was yours?

This is PER-MEL on Friday. PER-MEL bids start at $125.

In my experience bids on this route on Fridays tend to be higher, so it's not unusual to be losing out with a $207 bid. Still a while until upgrades are allocated so will be interesting to see where the leaderboard ends up.