Fiji Air - Bula Bid
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 13
Fiji Air - Bula Bid
So long story short - I won a trip to Tavarua in Fiji which includes flights on Fiji Air from LAX. Woohoo for me.
I am wondering though - has anyone had any experience with the Bula bid for Business Class? I'm definitely going to try it, and it's in the offseason for surf anyways (late January)
I am wondering though - has anyone had any experience with the Bula bid for Business Class? I'm definitely going to try it, and it's in the offseason for surf anyways (late January)
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Sydney Australia
Programs: No programs & No Points!!!
Posts: 14,203
Not done the bid but I fly in paid business class on Fiji Airways but from SYD - NAN - SYD. In all my trips I have seen about 2 free business seats. I gather you can only move to Business if there are free seats. You might need a decent bid to win one of what I imagine are few available seats.
Late January is school holidays time in Australia so flights are often busy.
Late January is school holidays time in Australia so flights are often busy.
#3
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,607
I suspect this is a fairly new feature so you may get the first to try advantage.
My flights from LAX-NAN in June the business cabin was 20/24, but my flights NAN-AKL were 9/24. I think you may have to bid high on the LAX routes since everyone is trying to be up front for the long haul segments. Maybe check the loads on Expert Flier and guess based on how many seats are left for sale before you bid?
My flights from LAX-NAN in June the business cabin was 20/24, but my flights NAN-AKL were 9/24. I think you may have to bid high on the LAX routes since everyone is trying to be up front for the long haul segments. Maybe check the loads on Expert Flier and guess based on how many seats are left for sale before you bid?
#4
I didn't bid when I was offered Bula Bid (SIN-NAN-SIN). I think the lowest price was about 500 SGD. For this route, they didn't fill the seats. On NAN-SIN, I was pretty exhausted, and decided to ask at the counter about same-day upgrades. 500 USD or something. I didn't bite, and wound up sitting beside a stinky guy. Ugh!
#7
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#9
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 16
Not done the bid but I fly in paid business class on Fiji Airways but from SYD - NAN - SYD. In all my trips I have seen about 2 free business seats. I gather you can only move to Business if there are free seats. You might need a decent bid to win one of what I imagine are few available seats.
Late January is school holidays time in Australia so flights are often busy.
Late January is school holidays time in Australia so flights are often busy.
#11
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Tampa, FL
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Delta Platinum
Posts: 1,732
I did it about 10 years back LAX-NAN on the old 744. Got it both directions for about $300 each for two of us. Other pax were not happy that we paid $800 for our tickets and $300 for the upgrades, making our trip $1400 compared to the $4-5k they paid for biz. I've heard minimum bids on the 330 can be as high as $1000-1200 each direction.
#12
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 192
minimum bid on flight 3 weeks ago NAN/LAX was AUD$865, so bid $900 & got it. Business class was awesome. This is a great programme.
Many people don't realise that any airlines aircraft with say 400 seats, say 50 in business & 350 in economy, will take more than 350 economy bookings as long as business is nowhere near full. Then if all 350+ showed up someone who have to be upgraded for $0, so better to get some revenue than do it free. Win-win for everyone. Only catch for airline is, if someone is prepared to pay for business class(there are 3 or 4 different business class fares) then they might buy cheap economy ticket & upgrade, but then again, upgrades can never be certain, but bula bids close off 24 hours out & may still be able to buy upgrades at higher level at check in.
Flying LAX/NAN week ago, checked afternoon of flight & the airline said 7 business class still available. Got held up & only arrived at check in at 9pm for 10.30pm departure & they said only 1 business class left & while I was thinking about it, they seemed to give it to staff (think he was a pilot).
Many people don't realise that any airlines aircraft with say 400 seats, say 50 in business & 350 in economy, will take more than 350 economy bookings as long as business is nowhere near full. Then if all 350+ showed up someone who have to be upgraded for $0, so better to get some revenue than do it free. Win-win for everyone. Only catch for airline is, if someone is prepared to pay for business class(there are 3 or 4 different business class fares) then they might buy cheap economy ticket & upgrade, but then again, upgrades can never be certain, but bula bids close off 24 hours out & may still be able to buy upgrades at higher level at check in.
Flying LAX/NAN week ago, checked afternoon of flight & the airline said 7 business class still available. Got held up & only arrived at check in at 9pm for 10.30pm departure & they said only 1 business class left & while I was thinking about it, they seemed to give it to staff (think he was a pilot).