Hi all - got a question around the bid to upgrade pricing, and whether it shifts as time goes on. Apologies if this is old ground, but couldn't find another thread.

Booked Economy (R) MAN > JFK return for the end of July, and was playing around with the bid to upgrade options.

The bid to upgrade wizard presently allows the lowest possible bid of £390pp, per leg, plus an extra fee of £78pp, bringing the lowest possible overall bid to over £1700 (There are two of us travelling). The wizard itself says this is a 'poor bid' and the average offer it suggests is closer to the 600/700 mark PP/PL; you can of course go higher still if you're feeling flush.

Now, the interesting bit - there is also the option to just buy the upgrade outright in the Manage Booking section, which, you guessed it, is currently priced at just over £1700 to secure for our route/fare.

Is this the usual pattern, or is there something awry here? Are they solely relying on people not checking the current going rate and paying over the odds for an upgrade? Perhaps I'm missing the point, but surely the bid to upgrade should allow for bids UNDER the current going rate, otherwise what's the benefit?