Etihad Airways Etihad Guest - J to F: Make us an offer.

Had this email from Etihad offering me the chance to "make them an offer" for an upgrade from J to F on my upcoming flights. It's on the outbound LHR-AUH and inbound AUH-LHR section.

Anyone had any experience with this?

Any ideas what the "minimum" bid would need to be?

Had this email from Etihad offering me the chance to "make them an offer" for an upgrade from J to F on my upcoming flights. It's on the outbound LHR-AUH and inbound AUH-LHR section.

Anyone had any experience with this?

Any ideas what the "minimum" bid would need to be?

Mmmm. Interesting. Not had it yet but I have a J class AUH to LHR coming up in a few weeks. How far in advance was the email from EY?

Thanks.

Mmmm. Interesting. Not had it yet but I have a J class AUH to LHR coming up in a few weeks. How far in advance was the email from EY?

Thanks.

Flying on the 11th May. Back about 10 days later.

So... I've been through this, read the T&Cs, and this is what I've found:

You will only get the email if you booked your flight direct with Etihad.
The emails are sent 14 days prior to the flight.
You are notified if you're successful 48 hours before departure.
Winning bids do get access to the F lounge at AUH.
Winning bids do accrue bonus miles, but I think this is less than you would get if you booked a revenue F ticket.
Extra luggage is only valid for the F legs of your ticket, so if you're just transiting in AUH the extra allowance is as good as useless if you don't/can't upgrade your entire journey.
The "bid" amounts are set by Etihad, starting as £385 per sector, and increasing to £750 per sector. If you move the slider to £750 you stand " A good chance" of being successful. If you stick at £385 it is "Very unlikely your upgrade will be successful".

I was offered this for a Y-J upgrade on AUH-LHR. Didn't bother in the end...I'd rather take my chances at the airport.

I was offered this for a Y-J upgrade on AUH-LHR. Didn't bother in the end...I'd rather take my chances at the airport.

I've made a bid for the inbound (never flown F on EY so I'm curious), but I'm happy with J outbound.

I've made a bid for the inbound (never flown F on EY so I'm curious), but I'm happy with J outbound.

Is your existing ticket a cash or miles redemption fare? Thanks. Oh, and good luck with the bid!

Is your existing ticket a cash or miles redemption fare? Thanks. Oh, and good luck with the bid!

It's a cash booking. I wouldn't have thought you'd get the offer on a redemption booking.

It's a cash booking. I wouldn't have thought you'd get the offer on a redemption booking.

given they are just trying to have you hand over cash to move to an empty seat in f i don't see any reason why not

given they are just trying to have you hand over cash to move to an empty seat in f i don't see any reason why not

I checked the T&Cs and you will not receive the upgrade email if:

You have booked using a travel agent
You booked a promotional fare
You have a redemption booking
You have already upgraded your booking using miles
You are travelling with an infant.

I checked the T&Cs and you will not receive the upgrade email if:

You have booked using a travel agent
You booked a promotional fare
You have a redemption booking
You have already upgraded your booking using miles
You are travelling with an infant.

well then that is bit more clear-cut :D

Had an email saying my offer has been accepted.

I fly on Tuesday. Should be interesting.

I have tried it once flying LHR-AUH-LHR on the A346 and I selected the lowest possible bid showing on the screen using the arrow which you control by the cursor.

Surprisingly, The bid was accepted and confirmation was sent to my e-mail after one hour of me doing the bidding process.

I have tried it once flying LHR-AUH-LHR on the A346 and I selected the lowest possible bid showing on the screen using the arrow which you control by the cursor.

Surprisingly, The bid was accepted and confirmation was sent to my e-mail after one hour of me doing the bidding process.

The sliders were between £390 and £750. I bid £420 and got it, so I was pretty surprised as well.

I mentioned that this was coming to Etihad on one another thread over here. The company behind this technology is Plusgrade. Probably will lead to a lower number of opups for Gold members.

I mentioned that this was coming to Etihad on one another thread over here. The company behind this technology is Plusgrade. Probably will lead to a lower number of opups for Gold members.

Yes, the new system sucks. Not only for free upgrades (none recently), but also for my ability to book reasonably cheap fare buckets few days ahead of the flights. All packed with el cheapo upgraders.

Stupic idea, EY! If you want to sell your open seats, then please do it 2 hours before departure. And leave me with the chance to buy a revenue ticket (which is much more attractive for you, anyways).

I bid £420 and got it, so I was pretty surprised as well.

Enjoy EY first class. One of the best in the market and don't forget to order the limo service. They will send you a BMW 7er any where in London or the suburbs to pick you up to LHR.

I am flying out next Tuesday LHR AUH and return. I have put in an offer of £600 for each leg, which said "more likely to get upgrade". Just wondering if I should change it to a lower offer? Really keen to fly business but obviously keen to get a bargain. Suppose it all depends on how booked the fight is and what other offers they receive.
Difficult to know where to pitch it.

£600 EW I'd imagine you'll definitely get your upgrade. I mean, a standard return fare to AUH in J is £1800 anyway. If you wait for the fare deals, you can often pick it up for under £1500. In fact, my ticket to KUL rtn was only £1800 in one of their sales.

So I guess it comes down to how much you think it's worth. You obviously thought £600 was a good price when you made the offer, and you're pretty much guaranteed to get it at that bid I would think. If you change it, you might get a bargain, but you should also be prepared to fly in Y.

Enjoy EY first class. One of the best in the market and don't forget to order the limo service. They will send you a BMW 7er any where in London or the suburbs to pick you up to LHR.

Their J service has been pretty good, to be honest; those window seats feel like mini suites.

I already have the car booked on my J ticket. They picked me up from my house (just outside Birmingham) to take me to LHR without charge. Kudos to them for that.

Interesting that EY ignore the rules of their own terms and conditions in offering the 'Plusgrade' - I was sent an email for a two leg upgrade (LHR-AUH and AUH-LHR) despite having (a) booked with an online travel agent; and (b) bought a heavily discounted J class ticket - £1500 rtn LHR-KUL. My slider started at $700. Was tempted to bid, but I've decided not to, as the AUH-LHR sector already seems to be full (oversold?), so would rather take my chances on a free upgrade. J class is good enough for a comfortable trip anyway.

So... I've been through this, read the T&Cs, and this is what I've found:

You will only get the email if you booked your flight direct with Etihad.
The emails are sent 14 days prior to the flight.
You are notified if you're successful 48 hours before departure.
Winning bids do get access to the F lounge at AUH.
Winning bids do accrue bonus miles, but I think this is less than you would get if you booked a revenue F ticket.
Extra luggage is only valid for the F legs of your ticket, so if you're just transiting in AUH the extra allowance is as good as useless if you don't/can't upgrade your entire journey.
The "bid" amounts are set by Etihad, starting as £385 per sector, and increasing to £750 per sector. If you move the slider to £750 you stand " A good chance" of being successful. If you stick at £385 it is "Very unlikely your upgrade will be successful".

this is very nice. i wonder if other airlines would actually take this in as well.

Seems like a bit of a no-brainer. I did AUH-JFK last December, was booked in J but felt a bit devil-may-care when I arrived in AUH and asked how much it would be to upgrade to F on the AUH-JFK leg. Took a while to sort it out but it was about US$600. I was so impressed that I did it on the return JFK-AUH leg as well.

EY F is certainly comparable to EK - the food is better and there are some nice little touches like the companion seat, but the décor seemed a little gloomy to me, too many dark colours.

So the advice would be to ignore the e-mails and the bidding system and ask at the airport, probably won't be cheaper than what I reading above! :)

Trip report, as promised:

EK vs EY; The Showdown (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/etihad-airways-etihad-guest/1349858-tr-ek-vs-ey-showdown.html#post18640315)

There are a few threads that deal with this topic. This one seems to concentrate on the nitty-gritty... dollars & cents. I am flying LHR-AUH in a few days and did receive the upgrade email from Plusgrade. I put in the lowest available bid on the slider £420 including airport tax. At under 7 hours of flight, I am not terribly concerned about comfort, more interested to see how the system works. Will post results.

Just for comparison purposes, I requested an airport upgrade from Y to J with BA from LHR to RUH a few months ago and this came to £699, one-way.

Probably will lead to a lower number of opups for Gold members.

+1