SWISS Upgrade Bargain (Bid or email invite to upgrade)
Mar 25, 2015, 6:39 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 11,551
SWISS Upgrade Bargain (Bid or email invite to upgrade)
Effective 25 March, SWISS will introduce the SWISS Upgrade Bargain on Intercontinental flights (without CAI) with departure as from 15 April.
SWISS will offer Economy Class passengers two possibilities to participate in the SWISS Upgrade Bargain Offer:
• the passenger will receive an e-mail invitation from SWISS
• for bookings made on swiss.com it will be possible at the end of the booking process to
select the suitable amount via the link “Bid for an upgrade”.
If bid accepted by SWISS, these passengers will be rebooked into Business Class P-class.
The regular Business Class benefits apply except:
• the original free baggage allowance of Economy Class remains valid (as shown in ticket) and must be applied
• no further upgrading to First Class either with miles/e-vouchers or a free operational upgrading due to C-Cl overbooking
SWISS will offer Economy Class passengers two possibilities to participate in the SWISS Upgrade Bargain Offer:
• the passenger will receive an e-mail invitation from SWISS
• for bookings made on swiss.com it will be possible at the end of the booking process to
select the suitable amount via the link “Bid for an upgrade”.
If bid accepted by SWISS, these passengers will be rebooked into Business Class P-class.
The regular Business Class benefits apply except:
• the original free baggage allowance of Economy Class remains valid (as shown in ticket) and must be applied
• no further upgrading to First Class either with miles/e-vouchers or a free operational upgrading due to C-Cl overbooking
Last edited by hugolover; Mar 25, 2015 at 6:50 pm
Mar 26, 2015, 3:40 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,294
Oh well - here we go with the monetization of the spare front cabin capacity. FFP upgrades and/or Business class rewards will now compete directly with a latent revenue offer for that same seat.
And as for occasional operational upgrades in cases of overbooking... well, good thing I'm not investing in retaining Miles&More status any more.
And as for occasional operational upgrades in cases of overbooking... well, good thing I'm not investing in retaining Miles&More status any more.
Mar 27, 2015, 3:44 am
#4
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: my heart is on the shores of the north Italian lakes
Programs: LX Senator Lifetime, Relais&Chateaux Club5C, ex ! "Amanjunkie", ex LHW LC, hate chain hotels
Posts: 2,515
Oh well - here we go with the monetization of the spare front cabin capacity. FFP upgrades and/or Business class rewards will now compete directly with a latent revenue offer for that same seat.
And as for occasional operational upgrades in cases of overbooking... well, good thing I'm not investing in retaining Miles&More status any more.
And as for occasional operational upgrades in cases of overbooking... well, good thing I'm not investing in retaining Miles&More status any more.
Of course operational upgrades will become less, but it is a thing you can not speculate getting anyway. And LX C is pretty full always because simply excellent - I doubt there will be much space available for the "auction" in P. Hopefully LH will protect its F soon as LX did already - excellent award availability for its own elites.
Mar 27, 2015, 3:46 am
#5
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: BRU
Programs: LH (SEN), IHG (Plat Amb)
Posts: 498
That said, KLM has this system for a while now, and I have placed an upgrade bid 2 times, it got refused, and I got up-upped at the gate for free. I hope for Swiss they have a different system
It is not new from today that you don t need to keep status in order to get op-ups, unfortunately.
Mar 27, 2015, 6:45 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,294
behuman, thank you for your kind words. It is sad indeed, but I increasingly felt like the proverbial frog in boiling water, and I decided to jump before it's too late. (By the way, as recognition for 10 years as SEN and many years as SR TCGM before, I got... two status stars! :-::-
In the last few years, the continuous enhancements to M&M (less accumulation on many fares, redemption grid inflation, outrageous cash surcharges, program rules restrictions etc.) became a real headache. The final straw was when last year, LH childishly reduced status mile earn on TK after I had already booked 3 revenue J tickets with TK. They essentially pushed me out.
No, but with eVouchers with expiry dates...
Well, on my trunk route YUL <-> ZRH, Y is notoriously full and C / F notoriously empty, so my op-up score in the past few years, especially around holiday periods, was near 100%.
Since about last year, I noticed LX counter staff in YUL actively flogging their last-minute cash upgrades (at fixed amounts), but still with few takers. However, with the new bid system they can opaquely accept a $100 upgrade bid if they really have to, before giving out any op-ups.
Don't get me wrong - I work with airline economics and I perfectly understand the financial rationale behind products such as Plusgrade. However, airlines using this system trade emotional / intangible brand loyalty against short-term revenue boosts. And sitting at the other end of that trade, I made my choice to walk.
In the last few years, the continuous enhancements to M&M (less accumulation on many fares, redemption grid inflation, outrageous cash surcharges, program rules restrictions etc.) became a real headache. The final straw was when last year, LH childishly reduced status mile earn on TK after I had already booked 3 revenue J tickets with TK. They essentially pushed me out.
No, but with eVouchers with expiry dates...
Of course operational upgrades will become less, but it is a thing you can not speculate getting anyway
Since about last year, I noticed LX counter staff in YUL actively flogging their last-minute cash upgrades (at fixed amounts), but still with few takers. However, with the new bid system they can opaquely accept a $100 upgrade bid if they really have to, before giving out any op-ups.
Don't get me wrong - I work with airline economics and I perfectly understand the financial rationale behind products such as Plusgrade. However, airlines using this system trade emotional / intangible brand loyalty against short-term revenue boosts. And sitting at the other end of that trade, I made my choice to walk.
Mar 27, 2015, 6:47 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,294
Mar 27, 2015, 6:57 am
#8
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: BRU
Programs: LH (SEN), IHG (Plat Amb)
Posts: 498
So do I!!
As for KLM, there the system cleared/refused updates until 30 hours before departure, so it stays a guess for the airline. This may be the clue: they were probably still hoping for C tickets to be sold, people to upgrade, or Y pax to cancel, so they decided my 300 EUR upgrade offer was not worth it. At boarding time they saw that they had to op-up me because they could not charge me my 300 EUR any more. From the fare availability I was pretty sure I would get the upgrade, paid or not
As for KLM, there the system cleared/refused updates until 30 hours before departure, so it stays a guess for the airline. This may be the clue: they were probably still hoping for C tickets to be sold, people to upgrade, or Y pax to cancel, so they decided my 300 EUR upgrade offer was not worth it. At boarding time they saw that they had to op-up me because they could not charge me my 300 EUR any more. From the fare availability I was pretty sure I would get the upgrade, paid or not
Apr 2, 2015, 4:54 am
#10
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,132
The system is the same as OS/SN/LH: op by plusgrade.
The website is now live too: https://www.swiss.com/gb/en/book/swi...pgrade-bargain
I don't see this in confllict with the other avenues: miles/evoucher/cash upgrade at the airport. Compared to the latter its even better since you get rebooked into P and earn full miles...@:-)
The website is now live too: https://www.swiss.com/gb/en/book/swi...pgrade-bargain
I don't see this in confllict with the other avenues: miles/evoucher/cash upgrade at the airport. Compared to the latter its even better since you get rebooked into P and earn full miles...@:-)
Apr 2, 2015, 8:10 am
#11
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the heart of Europe
Programs: some
Posts: 1,114
From the FAQ
Not sure if this one holds - since they "sell" a business class ticket I would assume that standard downgrade compensation should apply. If they enforce this new rule it will also have quite negative consequences for mileage/voucher upgrades ....
What happens if your upgrade has been accepted, but SWISS cancels your flight?
Your upgrade remains valid if you are re-booked to another Swiss flight subject to availability. Otherwise, we will refund the amount.
Your upgrade remains valid if you are re-booked to another Swiss flight subject to availability. Otherwise, we will refund the amount.
Apr 6, 2015, 2:40 am
#12
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,449
Not sure if 100% true (heard it first-hand from a colleague) but last week, he was supposed to fly in K with his +1 to PEK (from ZRH), and got a call around 28 hours prior to departure, asking if he was willing to pay 1000 CHF for an upgrade to Business class. He denied it. During Online-Checkin a few hours later, they were already upgraded to the Stübli. SEN and No Status.
Seems on popular holidays routes, when LX is massively overbooking Y but lots of seats empty in C/F (like PEK imho appears to be in spring, personal OpUp experience is also very good) they really try to squeeze some money instead of giving out free opups if they can..
The terrible OpUp rules from LH was the last piece that took me off LH completely, steps like this (or the removal of any baggage allowance even for SEN/HON..) will make me considering flying any LX even more.. well, I'm fairly sure QR, EK, EY, TK, SU, BA, AB etc. won't mind my money..
Seems on popular holidays routes, when LX is massively overbooking Y but lots of seats empty in C/F (like PEK imho appears to be in spring, personal OpUp experience is also very good) they really try to squeeze some money instead of giving out free opups if they can..
The terrible OpUp rules from LH was the last piece that took me off LH completely, steps like this (or the removal of any baggage allowance even for SEN/HON..) will make me considering flying any LX even more.. well, I'm fairly sure QR, EK, EY, TK, SU, BA, AB etc. won't mind my money..
Apr 28, 2015, 9:49 am
#14
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: FLR-GRU
Programs: Miles&More ; A3*G
Posts: 85
Hello to everyone.
I can read, on the Swiss web site, this: "SWISS Upgrade Bargain is currently available on all SWISS long-haul flights. In order to qualify for SWISS Upgrade Bargain, your ticket must be issued at least 120 hours before departure."
Well... I have 3 legs long-haul. All tickets bought in Italy, on Swiss web site italian version. GRU-ZRH-FLR, this end of may (as the second part of a round trip eticket that started with FLR-ZRH-GRU), then FLR-ZRH-GRU and again GRU-ZRH-FLR. I bought the first ticket some months ago and the last round trip on day 14th of this april.
I cannot find WHERE, on my account or during booking process through Swiss web site, I could enter my BID.
Yesterday I sent an email to Swiss customer service and they replied few minutes ago with this:
"...
Con la presente desideriamo informarLa che "Swiss upgrade bargain" e' un' opportunita' che viene offerta ai nostri clienti solo per alcuni voli e l' offerta viene effettuata esclusivamente su invito tramite email.
RingraziandoLa per la Sua comprensione rimaniamo a Sua disposizione per qualsiasi quesito in merito ai nostri voli.
Cordiali saluti,..."
This, informing that the Swiss upgrade bargain is only available for some flights and only through an invitation email by Swiss.
Are these infos correct or the agent who replied to my email was not well informed?
I can read, on the Swiss web site, this: "SWISS Upgrade Bargain is currently available on all SWISS long-haul flights. In order to qualify for SWISS Upgrade Bargain, your ticket must be issued at least 120 hours before departure."
Well... I have 3 legs long-haul. All tickets bought in Italy, on Swiss web site italian version. GRU-ZRH-FLR, this end of may (as the second part of a round trip eticket that started with FLR-ZRH-GRU), then FLR-ZRH-GRU and again GRU-ZRH-FLR. I bought the first ticket some months ago and the last round trip on day 14th of this april.
I cannot find WHERE, on my account or during booking process through Swiss web site, I could enter my BID.
Yesterday I sent an email to Swiss customer service and they replied few minutes ago with this:
"...
Con la presente desideriamo informarLa che "Swiss upgrade bargain" e' un' opportunita' che viene offerta ai nostri clienti solo per alcuni voli e l' offerta viene effettuata esclusivamente su invito tramite email.
RingraziandoLa per la Sua comprensione rimaniamo a Sua disposizione per qualsiasi quesito in merito ai nostri voli.
Cordiali saluti,..."
This, informing that the Swiss upgrade bargain is only available for some flights and only through an invitation email by Swiss.
Are these infos correct or the agent who replied to my email was not well informed?
Apr 28, 2015, 11:20 am
#15
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,294
If your flight is eligible for SWISS Upgrade Bargain, you will either see an invitation at the end of your booking on swiss.com or we will notify you via email.