Old Apr 2, 2017, 9:28 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: warrens
Moderator note: Any questions regarding availability/fare buckets on a specific flight or flights should be posted in the fare bucket check request thread. Any such posts in this thread will be deleted.

Q: When should I use eUpgrades, and when should I use AC Bid?
A: For starters, you can use both of them on a single booking. If one upgrade is accepted, the other is cancelled at no cost to you. One thing to consider is that eUpgrade priority is highly influenced by your Aeroplan Elite status and the fare class of the original ticket, but AC Bid is influenced by your bid as compared to other people. If you don't have a high Aeroplan Elite status, AC Bid may be the better choice for you.

Q: If I use a Bid Upgrade do I get additional SQM / SQD now for my flights?
A: No.

Q: If I use a Bid Upgrade on an International Flight leaving YYZ/YVR do I get access to the Signature Lounge?
A: No.

Q: If I am successfully upgraded, which baggage limit applies?
A: The baggage rules of the upgraded ticket apply. Note that this is different than eUpgrades, where the original tickets baggage rules still apply.

Q: When do I pay for a bid?
A: Your credit card is only charged when the bid is accepted, which will happen no earlier than 48 hours before departure. Note that if your card is declined, even temporarily for a fraud check, you will lose the bid and will not get another opportunity.

Q: Can I cancel an AC Bid?
A: Yes, but only until 48 hours before departure.

Q: If I cancel the booking after successfully bidding for an upgrade, or if I miss the flight, will I get a refund?
A: No.

Q: If Air Canada rebooks me on another flight, what happens to my AC Bid upgrade?
A: You keep it and Air Canada will put you in the upgraded cabin on the new flight. If the new flight does not have Premium Economy, or if there are not enough Business class seats, then your AC Bid will be refunded.

Q: I have a flight going from XXX to YYY on DD-MM-YY and the minimum bid is $ZZZ - what are my chances / what should I bid?
A: No one here really knows how Plusgrade as implemented by AC really 'decides' which bids to accept.
There are so many potential variables that it's best just to bid what you feel the upgrade is worth to you.


AC Bid Upgrade - FAQs

If your upgrade request is accepted, the fare conditions for the original ticket you purchased shall remain in effect and will be applicable with respect to cancellation policies, change fees, conditions for minimum and maximum stay, and rules relating to the accrual of frequent flyer miles. All other conditions will be per the upgraded fare class.

On the AC website:

"AC Bid Upgrade - Your opportunity to travel in a higher cabin class"

https://upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/AirCanada

Print Wikipost

Air Canada Bid Upgrade Program

Old Feb 18, 2018, 12:51 pm
  #526  
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: YOW
Programs: Altitude 75K, LT Marriott Platinum
Posts: 258

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:
qrctraveller is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2018, 3:24 pm
  #527  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
Programs: IHG Gold
Posts: 4,809
Originally Posted by vernonc
See my post. Depending on the load the LMU could be as low as $800 with no need for eupg. I would suggest that you bid $650 and it does not win then try LMU which should be $800. My example was for J=8, i think it went out at j=3 after all upg, LMU and staff were processed.
You could also check what J is being sold for on that day. I have seen it as low as CAD $1500 so depending on what you paid for Y or PY, you could just call AC and pay the diff to get into J. Could be $600 or less.
I ended up bidding $640 and getting it. (HND-YYZ). Was notified 72 hours prior to flight.
mapleg is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2018, 8:18 pm
  #528  
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Calgary
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 771
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.
Diabeetus likes this.
DavidYYC is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2018, 5:38 pm
  #529  
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 1
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.
QueenT is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2018, 5:47 pm
  #530  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: YVR/YEG/YYZ depending on day
Programs: E35K, FPC Platinum
Posts: 392
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.
YVRYEGYVR is offline  
Old Mar 7, 2018, 3:42 pm
  #531  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 52
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
halifaxtraveler is offline  
Old Mar 13, 2018, 1:49 pm
  #532  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: AC*E50
Posts: 594
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.
FrequentFlyerYYZ is offline  
Old Mar 13, 2018, 5:12 pm
  #533  
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Canada
Programs: AC SE 2MM, HH Dd, SPG; IC Pl/A; AA; DL
Posts: 14,320
Originally Posted by FrequentFlyerYYZ
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.
BlondeBomber is offline  
Old Mar 13, 2018, 10:07 pm
  #534  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,186
Originally Posted by BlondeBomber
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.
canadiancow is online now  
Old Mar 21, 2018, 8:14 am
  #535  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 257
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?
mykel67 is offline  
Old Mar 21, 2018, 10:28 am
  #536  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Halifax
Programs: AC SE100K, Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elite. NEXUS
Posts: 4,527
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.
RangerNS is offline  
Old Mar 21, 2018, 11:20 am
  #537  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 257
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 is offline  
Old Mar 21, 2018, 12:36 pm
  #538  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: AC SE100K-1MM, NH, DL, AA, BA, Global Entry/Nexus, APEC..
Posts: 18,877
Originally Posted by mykel67
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:


24left is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2018, 4:05 pm
  #539  
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: YGK
Programs: Aeroplan, AAAdvantage
Posts: 57
Originally Posted by mykel67
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?
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.
pjcanoe is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2018, 5:38 pm
  #540  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 257
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....
mykel67 is offline  

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