https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bc40b10028.png
I just received an email outlining the range of the costs for an AC upgrade bid from Toronto to London. Hope this information is useful to some of you:

I ended up bidding $640 and getting it. (HND-YYZ). Was notified 72 hours prior to flight.

Just another addition for information for others.

Booked on AC 11 and AC 12 YVR-TPE-YVR in Premium Economy (N) it was a sale fare, fairly good price.

Bid Minimum was $600 each way, I bid $610 each way and was upgraded.
We had an amazing crew and flights.

I'm flying YYZ to FRA tomorrow.

I booked premium economy. Bid range was 700 to 1500. Bid midway with half the seats available a week out. At 72 hour mark, there were 3 of 30 seats left. Bid was declined.

I was offered chance for LMU at 1900+. Why do they even offer a bid upgrade range so low if that is what they're offering LMU for? Still J class from PE is not worth 250+/hour more.

FYI I paid 2300 for the PE flight. PE is 2500+ with J class 7527.

As others have acknowledged here, it can be difficult to get upgraded using eupgrades vs bid-upgrades vs LMU.

There is rarely good reasons why bids are rejected. I've had one bid which was strong (don't know why I was willing to spend so much) but it was denied, and in other cases (usually for Y to PY), I give a fairly weak bid and they seem to go through.

I'm flying YHZ to YYC via YUL on Friday. Booked economy at time of booking

YHZ to YUL AC7565 (J Full - so unable to bid)
YUL to YYC AC323 ( 9 seats was available at time of bidding, bid range was $250 to $900, Bid $250 for 2 seats and offer accepted just after 72 hours mark passed)
Original Booking Class- Y
Bid: C$250
Status: Accepted

Apologies if this has been answered upthread but couldn't find anything definitive:

If a non-status pax wins a bid upgrade to J on an international flight (e.g., YYZ-LHR), do they get MLL access? Nothing is stated either way on the AC website, except to say no Signature Suite access.

Aeroplan reward in Business Class, bid upgrade, upgrade, and being a companion to a Star Gold all get international MLL access. The only thing that doesn't are MLL certificates AFAIK.

Technically eUpgrades do not entitle you to lounge access.

AC Rouge YYZ-MEX: Bid for Upgrade Now or Wait Until Check-in?
 

We are flying from YYZ to MEX next Wednesday. Right now I can bid for an upgrade to Premium Rouge, but the lowest possible bid is $300 (too much for that service and a 4 hour flight). Does anyone have an idea what the upgrade offer might be during the check-in window? Looking at the seat map for that flight, only one seat has so far been claimed in the Premium cabin, so I'm thinking that bodes well?

Availability right now is:
AC 1980 (0840), a 736: J9 C9 D9 Z9 P9 R9 Y9 B9 M9 U9 H9 Q9 V9 W9 G9 S9 T9 L9 A9 K9
AC 1982 (2020), a 319: J9 C9 D9 Z9 P9 R6 Y9 B9 M9 U9 H9 Q9 V9 W9 G9 S9 T9 L9 A9 K8

I've never put in a cash bid on an upgrade (I personally would not spend $50 on it, and it has never been that low), so I can't comment.

But route, IME flying south Sundays, returning the Thursday/Friday midnight-ish flight is that it goes from 50% load to totally full, at least on the '319. I have no idea about Wednesdays, but its something to consider.

Thanks for your response. Forgive my ignorance, but what do those figures mean (letter and "9") for the two flights? Our trip is departing Wednesday on AC 1982 and returning Monday on AC 1981.

@mykel67

J9 N9 T9 etc are from the Flight Availability page on Expert Flyer.

For example:


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...31116033d8.png

In early January I was offered an upgrade on 1981 (YYZ-MEX) for $250 when I checked in online (at about 11 hours before flight time) and I took it.. In my case it was out of character to pay that for a 4.5 hour flight - but it was the first time I had flown that route in Rouge and heard the economy seats were really tight. Worked out well since there was a 5 hour flight delay and we were able to wait it out in the lounge (since the seats are coded as J, not premium economy on that flight) and make some changes to our arrival arrangements. It was a long travel day so I was willing to pay the premium. In terms of the bid, my recollection is that the minimum was $250 (that is what is for my MEX-YYZ flight next week). The only time I have done a bid on AC (YVR-YYZ) I bid the absolute minimum - I slid the bid number to the "Poor" range - and was successful.

Thank you, that is very helpful! The minimum bid is $300, so I bid $305 earlier today to get ahead of anyone who bid just the minimum. I would have been happier with $200, but I would rather avoid Rouge main cabin (flew it once—so uncomfortable and unpleasant) than save the money. We’ll see....