Airline upgrades by auction

[Katherineryan1986]

We flew Sri Lankan Airlines recently and booked Economy seats. About a week before the holiday we got an email stating that we could place a bid to upgrade to Business Class. We placed a low bid and didn’t get the upgrade, however for the return flight, we increased our bid and did get upgraded. We paid about half what we would have done if we had booked Business Class in the first place.

Anyway, my question is - do other airlines do this auction thing?

Yes, we had the option to do it with Etihad when flying to/from Australia. To be honest I was quite surprised that a luxury airline was offering this - gone are the days of surprise upgrades as a kind/memorable gesture..! It’s just another way to squeeze money out of people.

Yes. We had it on Virgin Atlantic.

Malaysian airlines do it too

Yes they pretty much all do. Some let you pay for the seat next to you to be empty too. It's a great idea.

Yep, aer lingus dose it. I upgraded to business class when flying solo to LA. My economy flight had been paid for and I bid £600 to upgrade and the same on the way back. It was ace. Friend just did it flying SEAsia, €200 for a business upgrade.

We flew Perth, Dubai, Manchester with Emirates and they offered an upgrade on last leg £605 for 2 people from PE to BC ... OMG what luxury!

Yes Air Canada do. I went Vancouver to London this summer. Didn't get the upgrade on the way out but got upgraded to Business class on the way back. Cost around an extra $600 and it was Worth every penny.

We’ve made a bid for first class coming back from Atlanta via JFK with Virgin. Unlikely that we’ll get it but worth a shot I suppose!