Upgrade Emails, what's the point ?!
 

Hey,

I just received 2 upgrade offer emails for the 2 flights I have on 5 aug, and I wonder what is the point of these offers ?

I mean, you get no lounge, no chauffeur... I'm currently booked in Economy Flex Plus, and a paid upgrade for all legs (roundtrip) would cost me ~900 EUR.

And the funny thing is that these two offers cost (500+400) ~900 EUR... And this is only for the outbound flight!

Is this a kind of bait and switch?

(Maybe the price is the same no matter your fare type, and it's more profitable for a special/saver ticket ?)

Cheers :)

The price is afaik the same for all tickets so saving to be had if you had a y special and you didn't want to fly y it's a good deal!

The term bait and switch, a term generally related to felonious behaviour, has been ised a little too loosely on here recently.

They're telling you exactly what you get for X amount and you can choose if you want it or not. The fact that you can get more for the same X amount via another channel with the same supplier doesn't constitute the offer being a bait and switch. And generally speaking the upgrade email offer cost is notably less than paid upgrade though perhaps not significantly enough to make up for lack of auxiliary benefits.

The major issue with them is the lack of lounge access. It severely dilutes the proposition.

AFAIK, they used to offer it (as we used it many years ago), but on a recent upgrade, we could not.

I think severe is probably overstating it - it never ceases to amaze me how much a nicer waiting room and some free food and drink can tip the balance into "value" territory. That's about 40 USD of value, max.

Surely spending x hundred USD on an upgrade is all about the seat?

I measure it more on the experience than the actual value. You could say the same of the seat itself: the additional monetary value in food and beverage isn't significant either.