Ethiopian - new online upgrade auction
 

I got an email from Ethiopian offering me a chance to bid for an upgrade on my upcoming Addis - Dubai flight later this week.

Looks like this is a new feature (it wasn't available on the same route last week) in partnership with "PlusGrade". Minimum upgrade bid is $375 for this sector so I gave it a shot. They will get back to me 48 hours prior to departure to let me know if it is successful.

According to the FAQ, it is currently only available on selected routes and for departures from Addis only. Routes are mainly the longhauls, but some key routes like Washington, Beijing and Delhi are excluded. Intra-Africa is only Cape Town, Cairo and Nairobi for now.

https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/bo...plus-grade-FAQ

I saw this as well. It offered it to me to Cairo but the minimum bid was way too much for me to justify on a fairly short overnight route. I don't anticipate much service on that flight and it's a 738. Want to say it was about $300 per passenger.

Unfortunately the Narita flight where I could actually see value wasn't offered. Rather bizarre, Hong Kong is eligible but Seoul and Narita are not, both are extensions of the Hong Kong flight.

I was quite excited when I recieved the email today but my hopes were soon dashed when I clicked through and the lowest amount the system allowed was £430 to LHR. SAA also have an upgrade auction so I assume it is a star alliance feature.

$375 for a 4 hour flight was a pretty decent bid if you ask me. I wouldn't pay more than that to upgrade.

By comparison, what was the price for a J ticket on your itinerary?

Full itinerary was DXB-ADD-EBB-ADD-DXB and the D class fare would have been $1100 RT higher. So effectively around $400 prorated for the longer sector to DXB.

Just saw that my 77L flight tonight has been swapped to a 763, so probably glad that the upgrade didn't clear. I would not have been pleased spending $375 for most of the 767 Cloud Nine seats.

No, plusgrade is a separate company, they have a very motley list of currents. Check out their website.

Just saw a similar option for my KQ flight next week. But the system keeps giving an error when actually submitting the bid.

Also have another couple of eligible ET flights in the next few weeks so lets see if any of those work out.

So my bid for the upgrade on ADD-DXB this week was successful at $375 (minimum amount). Upgrade was processed at exactly 48 hours prior to departure and credit card charged by Ethiopian at the same time. PNR was updated online and automatic seat assignment of 1A was also made.

Unfortunately, when I checked in at the origin airport, the airport staff found it strange that I had been upgraded and after spending close to an hour making phonecalls while I stood at the desk, decided to unilaterally downgrade me back to a middle seat in Economy.

When I reached Addis, no help was forthcoming from either the Transfer Desk, Lounge Desk or Customer Service desk - none of whom had heard of the program. Fortunately, someone suggested that I see the Duty Manager who quickly understood the issue, checked the PNR history and immediately reinstated the upgrade.

So just a bit of warning to anyone who tries this going forward - there is a learning curve for ET staff but the program does actually work. Now lets see how my miles post...

In which booking class were you upgraded? Did you collect miles as well?

Miles as per original booking class.

Boarding pass was reissued in C.

Can I ask you to which airline's mileage program did you credit the miles to?

Turkish.

Excellent, me too. I was worried it may be upgraded to "P" (0% accumulation) but seems that was not the case.

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.

Hi, do you know if it's still $140 or gone up for ADD-DXB/DXB-ADD?

Traveling EBB-DXB-EBB soon and considering between Ethiopian (and plusgrade) or Emirates economy.

Thanks.

As of last month it was at $140 for ET612/613 on the 737 and $250 for ET600/601/602/603 on the 350. If you get one of the days where the 612/613 is operated by a widebody sub, it's a great deal.

Ironically EBB-ADD on the 737 is at $205 minimum bid which is a total waste of money. Bulkhead/exit row is just as good if not better.

Thanks!

The itinerary I'm looking at is the ET602 and ET603 as the timing makes most sent for me and them being the least expensive options on Economy. ($252 return!).

ET603 on 5th Nov is down as the 77L currently.

EBB-ADD would be a waste, I never upgrade those legs. Even ADD-KRT and opposite, minimum bid was like $285 last week or so.

The problem with using 602 on EBB-DXB is the horrid 4am departure from Entebbe and then the 4+ hour transit in Addis. This has been my regular route for the last few years and I've always upgraded the 602 sector from ADD-DXB because it gives access to the Cloud Nine lounge and the "quiet room" with the sleeper chairs, plus a much nicer breakfast spread. And of course, there is the full traditional Ethiopian lunch on the flight as well.

That's exactly why I would upgrade ADD-DXB (the 4+ hour transit and it being in the morning). Also, that time works for me as I get to finish work and the rest of my day comfortably (I'm based in Kampala right now). Plus, no traffic on the way to the airport.

Just booked my ticket and submitted bid.

EBB-ADD/ADD-EBB is $200 minimum bid (737-800).

ADD-DXB is $220 minimum bid on the A350.

DXB-ADD is $220 minimum bid on the 787-8 Dreamliner.

For anyone with the experience, is there any recourse to crediting miles for an upgraded, and then rerouted flight in business?

I booked NBO-ADD-NRT (Q class), successfully upgraded ADD-NRT to business (and reticketed to Z class),
but ended up being rerouted to ADD-BKK-NRT on ET/TG, all rebooked in Z class due to late arrival of NBO-ADD flight.

ET Z class earns nothing, TG Z class earns something, but I am still short of the originally planned ADD-NRT Q class mileage earning.
Any ideas on how to get "Original route miles credit"?

Flying NRT - HKG - NRT and submitted the minimum bid of $350 for the outbound, as flying time is longer than the return and closer to normal bedtime hours.
Will let everyone know how it goes.

Are bids ever approved or denied prior to T48?

No. The first email you get will be exactly 48 hours prior to scheduled departure.

Does ET notify even if your bid is not accepted, and if so, do they give you another chance to buy up to cloud nine (either in tandem with the bid notification, or at check-in)?