I just saw this option too on an upcoming flight that is still 30 days out. So I put in an offer. Minimum bid was 425 Euro. Interesting to see if it clears.

I've never seen it not clear if there was even a single seat available for sale in Business Class. They are very aggressive about monetising this and in fact they have lowered the minimum bid on most routes again recently.

When they first started out ADD-DXB was at $375, its now down to $140.

Interesting. Maybe I over bid? I bid 10% over the minimum. It is DUB-LAX so I thought it worthwhile to be slightly aggressive as it's a 10+ hr flight.

You can safely bid the minimum. I've always succeeded with the minimum bid except for once where there was an aircraft swap and nothing cleared as a result.

Just as a data point, they seem to have raised the minimum bids again this week.

Two weeks ago flying ADD-BLZ the minimum bid was $180. This week it is $250 for the same route.

Bid your price - winner
 

Well, I got the long haul upgrade (DUB->LAX). Cost me €425. The minimum bid was €420 so I can't complain. Appreciate your advice to lower my bid - saved me €50. For me, $500 is a good deal for a 10 hour flight :) And it was $550 lower than if I booked business straight away.

As of today, 2 days before flight and after my email stating I won, there are still 7 business class seats left (out of 24). Clearly in this case I could've bid the minimum €420.

I have an upcoming itinerary on a UA-issued ticket: SFO-IAD (UA) and IAD-ADD-WDH (Ethiopian). I have entered my Ethiopian booking reference number and last name to "check to see if you are eligible," but the page merely reloads. There is neither an opportunity to bid nor an indication that I am ineligible.

I'm not sure if this is a web page error, but it could be since the FAQ questions don't expand to show the answers, another problem.

Must a ticket be issued by Ethiopian in order to be eligible for the upgrade program?

I would imagine that is the case. You can try to buy an upgrade at the counter at check-in for the Ethiopian leg. The fellow sitting next to me on my last flight did just that.

Yes, it must be a revenue ticket issued on Ethiopian 071 ticket stock to be eligible. Award tickets or tickets issued by other carriers are not eligible.

when does the auction close
 

Hi all, does anyone know what the latest amount of time prior to the flight you can bid for an upgrade is? I.e. when the auction closes and new bids are no longer allowed.

I'm thinking to leave it as late as possible, hoping the minimum bid price comes down. The seats in business class are wide open.

You can officially submit your bid up to 50 hours prior to the flight departure time (although it usually is available up to 49 hours prior).

You will get an email advising if you were successful EXACTLY 48 hours prior to the flight departure time.

If you don't get the email at that time, then you will get an email at EXACTLY 24 hours prior to departure advising that you were unsuccessful.

I've never gotten a successful email later than 48 hours and never gotten an unsuccessful email earlier than 24 hours, but there may be situations where they are able to process in the interim period.

Bidding or try just upgrade?

I'm confronted with the following dilemma: Next month I'm travelling with my mom and sister from Brussels to Windhoek. I booked in C, they're booked in Y. As their birthday will take place during the trip, I'd like to surprise them with an upgrade to C.

I checked the plusgrade option on the Ethiopian website and the minimum bid is between 270 EUR and 300 EUR per segment, adding up to approximately 1.100 EUR for the whole trip, which is roughly the difference between the price they paid for Y and the current discounted C price.

C shows wide open on expert flyer.

Therefore, I have the following questions:
- how big is the chance the upgrade clears with the minimum bid?
- could the minimum still go down?
- as it would be a surpise, can you pay with another credit card than the one used for booking?

Or should I just contact Ethiopian and ask a fee for a secured upgrade?
Though, if I read previous messages, minimum bids have a good chance of clearing.

1) As long as >2 seats are available in Business Class, the minimum bid will almost certainly clear.

2) No, I have never seen the minimum bid reduce for a PNR after it is already offered.

3) Yes, you enter a credit card number at the time of placing a bid and it is a separate transaction.

Do you recall what fare class your Business class upgraded was??? WAs it into the dreaded P??

The flights rebook into "C" class but you get miles as per your originally booked class of service.