Successful/unsuccessful oneup bids
Mar 4, 2016, 1:22 pm
#766
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: NZ
Programs: NZ*E, Global Entry
Posts: 300
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?
Mar 4, 2016, 5:55 pm
#767
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: MEL
Programs: QF Bronze, UA GM
Posts: 145
This is what makes OneUp such a fascinating exercise. It appeals to my inner economist because it gets me thinking 'how much do I actually value business class?'
I am flying MEL-AKL-SFO in October in PE and put some one up bids in for J upgrades.
Initially, I put bids in a fair bit above the bare minimum for each leg, but sitting back and thinking about it, I decided to cancel my MEL-AKL bid because it was a daytime flight so J would offer little benefit, reduce my AKL-SFO bid because I would only get 2-3 hours of sleep with my body clock being on Melbourne time, significantly increase SFO-AKL because it will be on a 772 (so smaller J cabin) and a night flight (this is the only one I really want), and slightly increase AKL-MEL in case I missed out on SFO-AKL and because lounge access during the 3 hour layover would be nice.
lbrownie, some things to factor in:
- are there still frequent flyer seats blocked out? You may get one of these...
- the meals will be better in PE
- you'll get a wider seat with more recline and a leg rest
- you will only have to clamber over 1 person to get to the loo (whereas you may have to clamber over 2 if you get a window seat in Y).
Only you know what, if anything, you value that at. (Personally though, I'd stick in bids just above the minimum and see what happens regardless.)
I am flying MEL-AKL-SFO in October in PE and put some one up bids in for J upgrades.
Initially, I put bids in a fair bit above the bare minimum for each leg, but sitting back and thinking about it, I decided to cancel my MEL-AKL bid because it was a daytime flight so J would offer little benefit, reduce my AKL-SFO bid because I would only get 2-3 hours of sleep with my body clock being on Melbourne time, significantly increase SFO-AKL because it will be on a 772 (so smaller J cabin) and a night flight (this is the only one I really want), and slightly increase AKL-MEL in case I missed out on SFO-AKL and because lounge access during the 3 hour layover would be nice.
lbrownie, some things to factor in:
- are there still frequent flyer seats blocked out? You may get one of these...
- the meals will be better in PE
- you'll get a wider seat with more recline and a leg rest
- you will only have to clamber over 1 person to get to the loo (whereas you may have to clamber over 2 if you get a window seat in Y).
Only you know what, if anything, you value that at. (Personally though, I'd stick in bids just above the minimum and see what happens regardless.)
Mar 4, 2016, 10:22 pm
#768
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Zealand
Programs: NZ*S plus various hotel programs
Posts: 945
Interesting post MELso. It also means that if someone already has gold / elite, then the value is lower since they will already have lounge access, frequent flier seats, extra baggage, etc.
Mar 5, 2016, 4:36 am
#769
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Auckland
Programs: NZ*E
Posts: 186
Equally, the cost is reduced as well (with the 30% boost for golds and 50% for elites) and with access to APD upgrades there's probably not too many Elites that I'd expect to frequently use a one up (mainly because the odds of one succeeding are much lower).
The other aspect for me is that with the amount of flying I'm doing at the moment, I put a higher value on upgrades/premium than normal (even with lounge access, FF seats etc through status) so that offsets that some benefits of Business are negated.
Mar 5, 2016, 12:07 pm
#770
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: New Zealand (most of the time)
Programs: Air NZ Elite *G, Honors Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 6,119
OneUp upgrades for Gold & Elite's are pointless because as I observed with my flights to the US in Jan the starting bid for OneUp on US flights is higher than the standby upgrade. A 30% and 50% boost is meaningless as you can never get a bargain.
I suspect a lot of Gold's would know an Elite member anyway so should just get them to gift them a standby upgrade and transfer the $$ back to their APD account via OneSmart.
I suspect a lot of Gold's would know an Elite member anyway so should just get them to gift them a standby upgrade and transfer the $$ back to their APD account via OneSmart.
Mar 17, 2016, 11:26 pm
#771
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: qf nz
Posts: 18
Hi all, Apologies if I should be posting in another thread.
I am looking for guidance on a one-up bid to Buenos Aires for AKL-EZE NZ30 on 27th March.
Expert Flyer shows:
27th March
NZ30. C4 d4 z4 j4 u4 e4 o4 a4 y7 b0 m0 h0 q0 v0 w0 t0 l0 s0 g0 x0 k0 p0
8th April
NZ31 c4 d1 z0 j0 u4 e4 o4 a4 y7 b7 m7 h7 q7 v7 w7 t7 l7 s7 g7 x0 k0 p0
My gut feel (mostly based on the fact that cheap business class seats are available for NZ30 outbound but not back on NZ31) is that a low(ish) bid should work. The other complexity is that this is for my wife (no status) - I have requested a recognition upgrade which will expire shortly (and won't get used if we don't upgrade!), so we can afford to pay a little bit more to be more certain.
Has any body had success with a one up to Buenos Aires ?
And just to add a data point , I was successful with a USD260 One-up Y->PE (allegedly very weak) LAX-AKl on 30th Nov 2015 (for my son who had no status)
I am looking for guidance on a one-up bid to Buenos Aires for AKL-EZE NZ30 on 27th March.
Expert Flyer shows:
27th March
NZ30. C4 d4 z4 j4 u4 e4 o4 a4 y7 b0 m0 h0 q0 v0 w0 t0 l0 s0 g0 x0 k0 p0
8th April
NZ31 c4 d1 z0 j0 u4 e4 o4 a4 y7 b7 m7 h7 q7 v7 w7 t7 l7 s7 g7 x0 k0 p0
My gut feel (mostly based on the fact that cheap business class seats are available for NZ30 outbound but not back on NZ31) is that a low(ish) bid should work. The other complexity is that this is for my wife (no status) - I have requested a recognition upgrade which will expire shortly (and won't get used if we don't upgrade!), so we can afford to pay a little bit more to be more certain.
Has any body had success with a one up to Buenos Aires ?
And just to add a data point , I was successful with a USD260 One-up Y->PE (allegedly very weak) LAX-AKl on 30th Nov 2015 (for my son who had no status)
Last edited by jaybeedee; Mar 17, 2016 at 11:53 pm Reason: clarify successful one up
Mar 18, 2016, 6:55 pm
#772
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Hi all, Apologies if I should be posting in another thread.
I am looking for guidance on a one-up bid to Buenos Aires for AKL-EZE NZ30 on 27th March.
Expert Flyer shows:
27th March
NZ30. C4 d4 z4 j4 u4 e4 o4 a4 y7 b0 m0 h0 q0 v0 w0 t0 l0 s0 g0 x0 k0 p0
8th April
NZ31 c4 d1 z0 j0 u4 e4 o4 a4 y7 b7 m7 h7 q7 v7 w7 t7 l7 s7 g7 x0 k0 p0
My gut feel (mostly based on the fact that cheap business class seats are available for NZ30 outbound but not back on NZ31) is that a low(ish) bid should work. The other complexity is that this is for my wife (no status) - I have requested a recognition upgrade which will expire shortly (and won't get used if we don't upgrade!), so we can afford to pay a little bit more to be more certain.
Has any body had success with a one up to Buenos Aires ?
And just to add a data point , I was successful with a USD260 One-up Y->PE (allegedly very weak) LAX-AKl on 30th Nov 2015 (for my son who had no status)
I am looking for guidance on a one-up bid to Buenos Aires for AKL-EZE NZ30 on 27th March.
Expert Flyer shows:
27th March
NZ30. C4 d4 z4 j4 u4 e4 o4 a4 y7 b0 m0 h0 q0 v0 w0 t0 l0 s0 g0 x0 k0 p0
8th April
NZ31 c4 d1 z0 j0 u4 e4 o4 a4 y7 b7 m7 h7 q7 v7 w7 t7 l7 s7 g7 x0 k0 p0
My gut feel (mostly based on the fact that cheap business class seats are available for NZ30 outbound but not back on NZ31) is that a low(ish) bid should work. The other complexity is that this is for my wife (no status) - I have requested a recognition upgrade which will expire shortly (and won't get used if we don't upgrade!), so we can afford to pay a little bit more to be more certain.
Has any body had success with a one up to Buenos Aires ?
And just to add a data point , I was successful with a USD260 One-up Y->PE (allegedly very weak) LAX-AKl on 30th Nov 2015 (for my son who had no status)
Good luck
Mar 23, 2016, 10:42 pm
#773
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: AC 50K, NZ Gold
Posts: 222
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?
Mar 24, 2016, 12:17 am
#774
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: New Zealand
Programs: NZ Elite, QF Platinum (LTS), VA Platinum
Posts: 1,672
Free or operational upgrades always seem to be due to economy being oversold. Best to upgrade people to PE and BP and get a few more bums on seat than fly premium seats empty. Only costs them the price of food.
I overheard a guy in the lounge being told he'd been upgraded and he was like "sooooo.......what....how did this come about?" in a tone of voice that says...tell me what I did to deserve this so I can do it again! Haha. I think he was still a bit confused with the agent telling him "it's full down the back"
I overheard a guy in the lounge being told he'd been upgraded and he was like "sooooo.......what....how did this come about?" in a tone of voice that says...tell me what I did to deserve this so I can do it again! Haha. I think he was still a bit confused with the agent telling him "it's full down the back"
Mar 26, 2016, 4:30 pm
#778
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: qf nz
Posts: 18
AKL-EZE NZ30 on 27th March PE->Business
$730 no status
advised T-9
Looks like pretty light loading in PE and Bus (although economy fairly full)
I suspect we could have got it for less but given I already had a recognition upgrade (confirmed 7 days out) were prepared to bid a bit more.
Now to work out the best seating arrangement for a couple in the 777-200 bus cabin.
$730 no status
advised T-9
Looks like pretty light loading in PE and Bus (although economy fairly full)
I suspect we could have got it for less but given I already had a recognition upgrade (confirmed 7 days out) were prepared to bid a bit more.
Now to work out the best seating arrangement for a couple in the 777-200 bus cabin.
Mar 26, 2016, 5:01 pm
#779
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: New Zealand
Programs: NZ*S plus various hotel programs
Posts: 945
When flying as a couple we've tried:
- Across the aisle, e.g. 3J and 3K
- Same side, e.g. 3K and 4K
Our preference is for the same side as it is easier to talk to each other which also seems to be the preference most posters here have. But we enjoyed both combinations and I'm sure you will do too.
Mar 26, 2016, 6:07 pm
#780
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: qf nz
Posts: 18
The seatmap can be seen at - http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/seat-map-boeing-777-200
When flying as a couple we've tried:
Our preference is for the same side as it is easier to talk to each other which also seems to be the preference most posters here have. But we enjoyed both combinations and I'm sure you will do too.
When flying as a couple we've tried:
- Across the aisle, e.g. 3J and 3K
- Same side, e.g. 3K and 4K
Our preference is for the same side as it is easier to talk to each other which also seems to be the preference most posters here have. But we enjoyed both combinations and I'm sure you will do too.