Originally Posted by
Gynob001
Well, Ethiopian Airlines offers a bidding for upgrade and my original ticket qualified. I have made a bid and am waiting for their response. They charge by each segment.
caveats:
1. They might accept upgrading partial itinerary. I might not get upgraded EWR-ADD (17 hr) but might for the shorter ADD to JRO!
2. Wouldn't know seat selection if upgraded, until I board the flight (according to the airlines).
3. Don't know whether my "special meals" would be honored as I wouldn't know until later.
4. If I am accepted for the shorter flight, I wouldn't know whether I would qualify for the lounge access!
There is a long thread about ET's upgrade auction here with plenty of info and data points
Ethiopian - new online upgrade auction
However, to summarise your questions :
1) In my experience, as long as there are at least 2 Business class seats available for sale, you will be upgraded at the lowest price offered in the auction.
2) Your upgrade will be confirmed at EXACTLY 48 hours prior to departure if available and the segments upgraded will be automatically rebooked into "C" class. You can then select seats online via the Manage Booking function on the Ethiopian website or app. You will not be able to generate an OLCI boarding pass however in most cases as that needs to be manually processed after a PlusGrade upgrade.
3) Your SPML should be processed as 48 hours is in excess of the minimum cutoff for SPML requests. However, this can again be verified on the Manage Booking function or by calling the ET call center.
4) You will be entitled to lounge access based upon your class of service for the next departing flight (viz. if flying ADD-JRO in Business Class, you will be entitled to use the Cloud Nine Lounge in Addis).