Let’s face it, we all would rather fly business class. I’m not sure when upgrade bidding was introduced but it appeared on all of my flights this summer. For those of you unfamiliar, it works like this; a few weeks before the flight, even up to a few days you are sent an email that indicates that bidding upgrades are available for your flights. This means that you can bid a certain amount of money to try and win an upgrade.

Most airlines have a little meter telling you how strong your bid is and then you go from there. After you have made your bid you have to enter your credit card info as a guarantee that if your bid is accepted you can be charged. You can withdraw your bid before the closing of the auction but not after it has been accepted.

I bid on all of my flights this summer. I won one. It wasn’t the best experience. I’ll explain how it worked on my Etihad flight from Bangkok to Abu Dhabi to Rome. Other carriers do it as well, Cathay Pacific and TAP were airlines I also tried. This post may answer questions as well.