Do people win 'bid' upgrades on Virgin Atlantic flights

Janie_Zebra

Hi all

I've just booked a flight to Hong Kong, flying in a little over two weeks time, with Virgin Atlantic.

They offer a service which lets you 'bid' for an upgrade, the lowest I can offer is £205 (plus tax of £73 on the way out)... reasons for asking, my rear is the size of the great wall of China, plus I am tall, I am uncomfy in the economy seats, 12 hrs is a lot when you have zero wiggle room

Two questions. a) Has anyone bid on an upgrade and been successful, even at the lowest end of the scale? b) would it be worth hanging on and seeing if I can do the magical, mythical, free upgrade at the airport? Can this still be achieved with online check in etc?

Many thanks in advance... and seeing there is no suitable emoticon, (_)(_) :rotfl:

Caz3121

Janie_Zebra wrote: »

would it be worth hanging on and seeing if I can do the magical, mythical, free upgrade at the airport? Can this still be achieved with online check in etc?

'free' upgrades happen very rarely
the situation is usually as follows

• flight is overbooked in economy (more passengers booked than there are seats) but there are unsold seats in a higher class
• Upgrades to higher class offered for sale in advance or at checkin
• Not enough takers and problem occurs when the economy seats run out
• Operational requirement to move someone to ensure everyone who had a purchased economy seat get their seat (and the last passengers do not get 'rewarded' for turning up late)
• Upgrade issued based on Virgin's criteria (this may be based on status with Virgin, how much someone paid for their ticket or some other criteria)

Keeping an eye on how many seats there are for sale in the cabin you are booked in can be handy as, if you can still purchase at a reasonable price, the chances of there being any operational upgrades disappear. The requirement for upgrading operationally should interlock with the upgraded bid price too....overbooked flight and someone offers £210, better to accept that than upgrade for free...not overbooked flight, someone offers £210 maybe lower chance as they do not want to somehow 'devalue to product' - if higher class tickets can be gained easily for a low upgrade fee, this may deter people from buying the higher class from the outset.

I have had a free upgrade on BA once on an overbooked long haul flight as a gold card holder travelling alone. I have also travelled on many other overbooked long haul flights where I have not been the lucky recipient and now tend to book the class I want to travel in (often starting outside the UK)
What an upgrade is worth in financial terms to you is a very personal thing
looking at some comparisons for the same dates/flights for your route
economy £470 rtn, PE £987 rtn, Upper £5k rtn
I would not spend £5k on an upper ticket and would be working out in my head what else I would do with the £517 difference between economy and PE
It is a personal decision but I would certainly not rely on any 'freebies' irrespective of honeymoon, birthday, 'rear size'

EssexExile

Due to "size & comfort" issues (& being able to afford it) we always travel upper class with Virgin. To The States it's only about 4 times the economy price. Have had free upgrades but very rarely, not heard of the bidding thing.

Love the DIY emoticon.

Janie_Zebra

Thank you both for answering. I've put in a very low bid for the outward journey, still far less than the Prem Econ seats that are on offer atm, I prefer to arrive in comfort, hopefully more relaxed to enjoy the short break. I'll see if I can smile nicely on the way back. I'll update this when I'm back in UK

malkie76

I vaguely remember Virgin offering a decent price on a second seat which would allow you to spread out with the arm rest up - http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/travel-information/customer-service/optional-service-fees.html scroll down to 'Seat Plus' - from £65 which is less than the upgrade fee

Other thing to consider is paying for a cheaper upgrade at the airport (subject to availability), or think about trying to gain Virgin miles (through credit cards or conversion from other schemes) to upgrade that way. A point of note is that only certain more expensive economy fare buckets are eligible, at which point the base premium economy far might actually be cheaper.

Alan_Bowen

As they are travelling in 2 weeks time, I think suggesting getting a credit card is a little far fetched. As Caz3121 has noted, upgrades are few and far between and with fares at £470 for departure in 2 weeks, BA is £100 more, I suspect economy is a long way from being full, indeed your best bet maybe to try and get a seat near the rear in the centre section where you might get 4 seats to yourself.

The one thing to avoid is to book, and pay for, extra legroom seats behind the doors, the table is set in the arm rest which means seat width is reduced and the armrests are immovable which for a person of size, makes the journey even less comfortable.

Mr_Wang

A couple of years ago I had a flight booked on Etihad in economy and got an email saying I could place a bid for an upgrade. There was a suggested minimum (I can't remember how much) and I bid. Couple of days before the flight I was informed I'd been unsuccessful and have never bothered with it since.

I've never heard of it on British airlines, regarding which I think Malkie76 gives the best advice.

PeacefulWaters

Mr_Wang wrote: »

A couple of years ago I had a flight booked on Etihad in economy and got an email saying I could place a bid for an upgrade. There was a suggested minimum (I can't remember how much) and I bid. Couple of days before the flight I was informed I'd been unsuccessful and have never bothered with it since.

I've never heard of it on British airlines, regarding which I think Malkie76 gives the best advice.

They removed the link to your blog?

blindman

Janie_Zebra wrote: »

Thank you both for answering. I've put in a very low bid for the outward journey, still far less than the Prem Econ seats that are on offer atm, I prefer to arrive in comfort, hopefully more relaxed to enjoy the short break. I'll see if I can smile nicely on the way back. I'll update this when I'm back in UK

You can always as at V-Flyer for a "load" check to see how full the cabins are.

Mr_Wang

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

They removed the link to your blog?

Yeah, I don't know why to be honest, I guess some users might use the signature to spam posts etc.

Shame for genuine users though.