Etihad Upgrades; Push, Instant or Bid?

Lasbindia on 03/10/2017 - 23:42

Hello Folks,

Ok so just a bit of background I have a Velocity Platinum Member and get treated quite well on Etihad whilst travelling. Now I have booked my tickets out of peak (Mid Nov) on the A380 in Business Class, my ticket is a flexi fare. Now I would like to try Etihad First but OMG ITS SOOOO BLOODY EXPENSIVE!!

Anyways always looking for a bargain I thought I might ask a few seasoned people on here if they have tried the airport upgrades? If I were to bid for an upgrade the lowest bid is $1280 that is only from Sydney to Abu Dhabi and it doesn't even give me first class points :( So I thought that wasn't worth it.

Also thinking about calling them up and asking for an upgrade but I dont know if they do have cheaper fares or not available?

Any assistance would be lovely guys!

Thanks!!

Travel

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Comments

  • pantsparty on 04/10/2017 - 09:19
    +1

    You paid $$ for business class? That is not the Ozbargain way!

    • carwashhair on 04/10/2017 - 09:31

      If your employer or business pays it is ;)

      • asbindia on 04/10/2017 - 09:36

        Hahahaha I usually dont pay full fare but unfortunately booked extremely late this time. And since I was feeling ripped off I wanna now get into First Class then it can feel like a bargain!!!! :) :) :)

  • carwashhair on 04/10/2017 - 09:30

    Can't help you with the push upgrade (assuming this is calling up), except to say if you have an expertflyer or awardnexus account you could check the F and J class loads for your flight to see if they have a lot of capacity (may increase your bargaining chips).

    Outside of that, it looks like you can value 68399 miles (the points cost to upgrade to J; not sure if there are other costs in addition) at at least $1280.

    So if you can't get better value from those points (i.e. a whole business class flight somewhere else, or 5 Business class flights SYD-MEL on Virgin Australia for example), or you NEED to fly F class and want to secure your seat, then burn the points now. If it's less of a priority and you can get better value from your points, then put a minimum bid in.

    If that doesn't get approved, then try calling 48 hrs before and bargaining. Good luck!

    • asbindia on 04/10/2017 - 09:38

      hahaha thanks mate! Yeah I was thinking about the 48 hrs as well. Was wondering if it would be cheaper 48hrs before or at the airport

      • carwashhair on 04/10/2017 - 10:05

        Arm yourself with knowledge and check expertflyer or awardnexus for your flight. If you start seeing first class seats disappearing in the week leading up to your flight, I'd say prices at the airport would be above the $1280 min bid (as people's cash upgrade bids or requests via points are seen as acceptable prices).

        If availability stays wide open, you might be able to get it for $1k at the airport - if you're really lucky.

  • PTB on 26/01/2018 - 20:51

    Hi, asbindia, I am in exactly the same position as yourself, with the same status with velocity.
    What was your outcome please?

    Cheers

    • asbindia on 29/01/2018 - 09:11

      Hey PTB,

      Your best option is to see if they can do an Op-Up at the Airport or see if you can upgrade at check in. It was cheaper than the bids at check-in. Apparently when I was talking to the Manager on board apparently you can upgrade on board too but I would wait that late :)

      • PTB on 04/02/2018 - 20:01

        Thanks asbindia,

        So what way did you end up doing it and how much did it cost?
        My bid is coming up as $1280 as lowest possible too.

        Cheers
        PTB

  • alabatusa on 03/02/2019 - 22:54

    So what did you do at the end? Which one was best? in a similar position

  • lilkid28 on 20/01/2020 - 22:51

    Would appreciate if OP came back with some feedback on this went.

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