Does anyone know how the Skywards Auction works? I have been attempting to bid on a F1 package for a couple of days. Each time I place a bid the system automatically notifies me that I have been outbid. I then need to place a bid 3,000 miles over my previous bid. I have now placed about 20 bids across 2 packages, and every time I have placed a bid I am outbid. It seems like I am bidding against a computer and there is never a winner.

Not sure about these auctions but many others have an auto bid feature. It is not required but you can give the max you want to pay and the increased bid increment and it will automatically big again if a large bid comes in. For example, if someone bids higher than you you can automatically bid x miles (say 2,000) over their bid. If you go into history you will see that person always out bid you by the same # of miles and it happened seconds after your bid. It is a mice way for the airline to increase the # of miles, but is also convenient for the bidder.

So yes, the computer outbid you but it was based on the directions of someone who really wants the package.

When bidding you can enter a maximum bid which you willing to go up to. However if the next highest offer is less than your maximum bid then only one increment above the other bid will be shown to others rather than your maximum bid.

Therefore it can seem like you are bidding against a computer rather than a computer which has stored maximum bids which it only shows incrementally when the last one has been outbid.

Or perhaps better explained in their T&Cs:

For Auctions where you can place a maximum Bid, the system will place bidding iterations on your behalf until your maximum Bid is reached. If you have placed a maximum Bid (higher than the required minimum Bid), the system will automatically increase the Bid on your behalf, using only as much of your maximum Bid as is required to keep you in the winning position. The maximum Bid is the highest price in Skywards Miles you are willing to pay for the Listed Item. If at the conclusion of the Auction not all of your maximum Bid was necessary to win the Auction, your final Bid will only be the amount of Skywards Miles necessary to be the highest bidder and this amount will be automatically debited from your Emirates Skywards account.

That it explains it, thanks