Mm, I think the point is that if you're going to bid an amount that brings your paid fare and your bid close to the amount for the desired fare class, you should have just bought the desired fare class in the first place. And then you'll seriously know where you'll be sitting, in addition to getting commensurate APD/SP earn.

I agree with that - but I don't really understand how you could be paying within 10% of a BP fare last minute if PE is full as they would typically indicate BP will be fairly full also.

If I was paying within 10% I'd potentially just buy full price and get the SP earn. After a few flights you'd have Elite and then be able to just use Elite upgrades and not worry about playing a lottery with OneUp.

28 Feb 2016
AKL-BNE
NZ135
Me: Silver/Koru, partner: no status
Y to PE
Bid $120pp, initially declined then accepted 8 hours out.

At check in we also both got another upgrade to business premier so very happy with the investment.

Hi c3rn

What was the basis of the upgrade to BP?

Thanks

How much to bid?
 

My husband and I are flying SFO to AUX mid-week in a few weeks. Any suggestions on how much to bid for successful oneup bid?

FYI it's AKL not AUX :)

Depends on many factors. If you want to guarantee that you're not sitting in economy, pay the $ now for premium economy. If you're OK with some uncertainty, you may be able to get it for 400-500USD per person.

How to make a successful bid?
 

If I make a bid that's ultimately declined do I have any chance of still getting a skycouch at that point? I'm traveling with my husband from SFO to Auckland and I don't want to get stuck in our current seats in the back of the bus. How likely is it that we'd both get bids accepted?

AirNZ loads out of North America are strong. So no bid can be guaranteed to be successful. Oneup bids are the bottom of the upgrade list to be considered after all the frequent flyer instruments.
The only way to be sure of a better seat is to pay for that class.
Sorry to have no better advice.

The only certain way to sit in a PE/BP or Skycouch seat on Air NZ is to pay your $$ up front. RU's, OneUp bids and Standby upgrades are all an entry into a lottery that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

Unlike the US where frequent flyers simply expect to sit at the front and are rewarded with this due to loyalty, Air NZ (and most airlines in the rest of the world) don't operate this way.

OneUp bids can be processed right up until the gate but after T-7 it's too late to pull a bid. If you had a bid that sits in the system right up until the gate and is not cleared the odds of getting a Skycouch row then are a complete unknown, especially as these are still allocated to HVC's at check-in as a benefit if they are unsold. If a row was free you'd be paying full price for it at check-in or the gate.

I thought that they were processed up to 9 hours prior to departure?

Any anecdotal evidence of OneUp clearance rates / premium cabin loads on the EZE route? We'll be flying it in April/May and I'm keen to upgrade PE > J on the return. Given the specials I've frequently seen ex-Australia I'm assuming the business cabin perhaps isn't all that heavily loaded.

Incidentally, for quite a while I could have paid to upgrade our (very cheap) PE fare for EZE-AKL-SYD to biz for A$1,300 (one way) which was a whole lot less than I expected, and I was briefly tempted, but I don't really need the extra status points/miles and I figured OneUp would still be quite a bit cheaper. Now the fare difference is back up to a more normal A$2,400 so OneUp will definitely be the order of the day...

I understood it to be up until the gate, but I could be wrong.

10 Mar 2016
AKL-SYD
NZ103
PE to BP
Bid: $150NZD. (lowest possible)

Accepted today, 6 days out

Unsure, luck and checking in relatively early most likely. Both the PE and BP cabins were full.

OneUp to Middle Seats?
 

Was considering making a bid on one-up for flight from SFO to AKL for my husband and myself, but the plane is a 777-200 and looking at the seat map it appears most of the remaining seats in PE are middle seats since the layout is 2-4-2. Is it really worth $800-$1000 for two middle seats in PE?