manucanuck

one way? that's madness.
SQ PEY R/T HKG SIN costs HKD$7000

saiweinah

Booked ORD-HKG-XMN PVG-HKG-ORD in E
Option to upgrade to J
ORD-HKG min $1540 max $4615
HKG-XMN $195-$735
PVG-HKG $260-$1015
HKG-ORD $1540-$4615

CX306

HKG to LHR for November 2023 Y to PE bid options showing as:

Min: €550
Max: €1,650

Prices in EUR as booking has a connection to DUB

kennychenhk

Data point:
HKG-SIN
Booked in K
Minimum bid HKD450 (USD57) to PEY
Upgrade cleared at T-50hr at HKD450

meremale

HKG-SGN (A330)
Booked in Q
Minimum bid HKD2690 to Business Class

HAN-HKG (A321neo)
Booked in Q
Minimum bid HKD2100 to Business Class

enelym1978

Data Point:
BCN-HKG in September 2024
Booked in E (Premium Y)
Minimum bid EUR 1060 to Business

HKG-DPS in September 2024
Booked in H (Y)
Minimum bid EUR 530 + EUR 11 taxes to Business

Same rates for the return legs, with taxes only on the ex-HKG leg.

salig

Data Point:

MAD-HKG-SIN on Feb 9th 2024
Booking made via AMEX Travel UK in PEY for GBP 583.20
BA Gold (OW Emerald)

MAD-HKG (CX372)
Booked in E (Premium Y)
Minimum bid GBP 905 to Business

HKG-SIN (CX739)
Booked in E (Premium Y)
Minimum bid GBP 505 + GBP 9 taxes to Business

Looking at the load factors at the time of writing this posting:

- MAD-HKG not busy at all, lots of fares still available
- HKG-SIN quite busy, all Y fares gone, few PEY and J left

By the looks of it, HKG-SIN has more chances for OpUp, bidding makes no sense for this one.

I am considering bidding the absolute minimum GBP 905 for MAD-HKG for PEY -> J, it's a 12:40 long flight after all and would make a difference.
Booking J in the first place (for both legs) would be GBP 2050, so if the minimum bid clears I'd pay a total of GBP 1488.20, having the longest flight in J.
Do you think it makes sense?

Also a quick sanity check: should I bid and get the upgrade, I will earn BA avios and tier points on the higher fare class, correct?

percysmith

If this was GBP 905 to go from Y to J then I'll be all in for it. PE to J not so much. Maybe PE is my baseline for long haul travel anyway. But YMMV.

You enjoy Flounges already and have priority bags to make PE more enjoyable. Also the PE main (at least for the first meal) is from J anyway.

What fare class will an upgrade bid PE ticket into? P? Not really sure here. I'm only sure it won't be U, that's only if you upgraded with miles.

salig

See, Y and PE cash prices are very close, like GBP 120 or so apart, making PE almost as cheap as Y. And GBP 905 is the absolute minimum bid which means it may never go through. But if it does, it doesn't break the bank considering the comfort that J provides. It's all about cabin and seat comfort in this long flight that I'm thinking of.

Here's what I read in t&c's of the bidding:

So if the new fare class is not listed either under BA's rules, then no extra avios for me (which wouldn't be that many anyway...).

I do have a feeling that they will accept the minimum bid, as they'd get some extra revenue since the flight still appears quite undersold. I'm gonna give it a try and post here if it clears or not.
​​​​​​​

Stodgypies

I am flying from LHR to Sydney with CX for the first time and have been notified about the option of an upgrade bid.

I'm travelling Economy so have been offered the option to bid for PE.

I would consider bidding for an upgrade on the longer section of the flight from LHR to HKG (CX252) or the return HKG to LHR (CX257).

The minimum amount to bid starts at £470 + £110 in tax and goes all the way up to £1405.

I paid a base fare for my E return of £1051 (I’ve paid for my seats as it worked out cheaper doing that then paying for E essential where you get free seat selection). PE ticket’s are currently being priced at £3000 for the flight trip I am taking on the CX website.

So I’m wondering is it worth bidding for a PE upgrade for at least one of the longer sections and if so what price would people think it’s too much to offer? Also are chances to get a E to PE upgrade pretty slim?

littlevoices

Only you know what the upgrade fare is worth to you - > If you can give the exact dates of your flights we can tell you the load on the aircraft so you can get a feel whether an upgrade is more likely or not. The reason for offering an upgrade bid is that yes, there is a chance, but my own views for Cathay typically are that the upgrade bid fares, if taken for all the segments offered, would work out more expensive than just buying the original cheapest ticket class in the next cabin 90 days in advance, which it seems you made a clear decision not to. Obviously the LHR-HKG and return legs are double the length so you'd get more value (and if you took the HKG-LHR leg you don't have to pay the extra UK Air Passenger Duty for a better cabin, so that saves you cash too), but the cost is likely to be more as well.

In your case, I would say that any leg is worth the upgrade, as Cathay PE is definitely a step up from economy (though if you are in an emergency exit row, perhaps not as much of a step-up in terms of legroom), and hence you can have value for it on any part of the journey. My approach would probably be to low-ball offer on all 4 legs (not the minimum, but a bit above), presuming that only 1 or 2 would clear at most (or you can retract the return bid if you get upgraded on your outbound leg) and see what happens. Depending on whether you have status, and how long the layover is, you may feel that spending some of that £400 instead on a nice lounge/meal in the various airports, or buying a personal tablet that could give you a better overall journey.

Stodgypies

My outbound flight is 2nd May departs at 12:20 from LHR and departs from HKG at 9:10. The inbound is 16th May and departs 21:50 from SYD and departs from HKG at 08:05. That’s a good point in regard to the fact that the HKG-LHR leg does not have extra tax charge and that leg still starts at a £470 minimum.

I was thinking of offering just above minimum and see how the dice lands. Definitely wouldn’t want to be offering too much otherwise like you said you end up paying more than a PE ticket for the whole journey.

Freddorick

I personally consider 580 gbp too much for an economy to premium economy upgrade on this route. Value is relative though, but personally I think the step from pe to j is much bigger than y to pe.

If you are regretting your choice not to buy pe in the first place I would call up cathay and ask to pay the fare difference to PE and upgrade the full flight. They typically waive the change fee if you stay on the same flight numbers.

Stodgypies

Oh I totally agree the step up from PE to J is worth a lot more than Y to PE. It’s not that I’m regretting my choice to buy PE I’m just trying to weigh up the pros of bidding close to the minimum for upgrading one of the longer legs for that added comfort and better service.

Especially when the cost of PE for the round trip is at least an extra £2000. I can be using that money to go to nicer hotels and experiences in SYD.

enelym1978

I went ahead and bid EUR 1080 for my BCN-HKG leg from PE. It's the lowest bid possible, just wanted to try once CX J in their A350s. I checked the load on this flight, which seems quite light still (flying Sept 7). Fingers crossed