Auctioning Upgrades?
 

I recently read an article that said LY has been auctioning upgrades.

http://au.businessinsider.com/airlin...pgrades-2013-5

Anyone have any experience with this? I thought the whole point of being a Matmid elite was that they gave the upgrades free, so is this yet another reason to not be loyal to El Al? I flew to MXP a couple of weeks ago and was never offered the opportunity to upgrade (and I paid over $1000 for the ticket, so I should have been).

Plusgrade has been around for a bit already. As far as I was aware though, no one, even Matmid elites, get free upgrades to C

Yes - it used to happen - in addition to the OpUps from coach to business because of full flights (it happened to me TLV-JFK a few years ago when I was PL) I seem to remember that if you were a PL or TPL and you bought a full fare coach ticket, you had a very high probability of an automatic upgrade based on their calculus of status and how much you paid for the ticket. Thus, frequent LY travelers never paid full price for business class. Likewise, I have been op-upped from business to first on LY when flying on a full-fare business ticket (that someone else paid for) probably to make room for someone else to get bumped to business.

Can anyone else out there who flies/flew LY more than I do confirm this?

My father-in-law (to be) is a TPL, who is frequently on Y/S/M tickets. He said they don't do free upgrades (other than op-ups) to anyone, even when he's on a Y ticket, though they allow him to upgrade with points for any class ticket, and at lower rates.

IF you are SL or higher and you buy a Y/S/M economy class ticket you get upgrded for a small amount of points (This morning I got upgrded to C on TLV-BCN on a 747 upper deck for 75 points, definatly worth it...)

Did they automatically upgrade you and automatically deduct 75 points from your account, or did they first give you the chance to reject the upgrade?

In your account you can chose to automaticly accept.
I don't know what happens if someone dosne't tick that box.
I am always happy to get these upgrades when I have a Y/S/M ticket.

In case one doesn't choose automatic upgrades, he can call them and have it arranged starting 2 days before the flight.

Just a data point:
I have a cheap ticket (don't know what class) TLV=>Moscow. And I am a no-status Matmid member.
I got email to bid for an upgrade to biz, but the min bid was $200 so I gave up, since I already got exit-row Preferred seat (paid w/Matmid points).

You can change it in the website as many times as you want.
I think that even if you don't have your FF number in the reservatoin you can add it at check in and then you are on the list.

One thing that I learned today-
I'm never able to OLCI when I get upgraded. The check in agent told me today that the reaon is that they need to subtract the points from your account manually.

It's not just EL AL who does this. Several airlines including Austrian Airlines, Air New Zealand, Etihad, and Virgin Atlantic have upgrade auctions.

You can read about it here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ess-class.html

From a revenue generating standpoint this could be both and positive and a negative for the airlines. The positive is that empty "C" seats could be auctioned off for added revenue as oppose to given away for points or free upgrades. The negative is that people catching on will stop buying "C" and opt for the auctions. Another negative is that ff's may become angry with the airlines that do this and avoid them because their upgrading chances are minimized.

This is an industry trend worth watching. If it catches on and more airlines follow suit, then this means both degrading of ff benefits and premium product exclusivity.

Indeed.

I think its a bad move in general. I think its better A) to reward loyalty by having a relatively reliable system for upgrading using points, and B) to offer a restricted C product for a price that leisure passengers are willing to pay. (I'd pay 3.5k for a C ticket North America to TLV, I won't pay 8k, but I'd be willing to book 6 months in advance and accept a significant cxl/change penalty).

I completely agree, however from the airline revenue management standpoint, the issue of the premium seat going out empty remains. On my recent UA flight from HKG to EWR there were 3 empty seats (one of which was incidentally next to my seat) in C while economy was oversold. Allowing those 3 seats to go out empty was a complete waste, and should be somehow avoided.

Therefore some sort of formula needs to be developed which involves, on one hand, balancing a system for upgrading using points AND a restricted C product for a price that leisure passengers are willing to pay WITH some sort of last minute revenue generating scheme to ensure that C class seats do not go out empty on flights oversold in Y, on the other. This scheme should also be tactful and preserve the exclusivity of the C product.

Bid to Upgrade
 

Any body have any recent experience on the TLV- LHR route getting their bid to be confirmed in business ?? and how much should do you think is the right amount for my bid to be accepted to get a business class seat?

Thanks for your help.

Why would a body care where they were sat...? ;)