vip66

I bought a one-way on TAP in L class, EWR-LIS, Feb. 25. Tried the bidding process, two times. J cabin seemed about 40-50% full.

First bid was 48h before flight departure. I bid the minimum bid, $510. About 9-12h before departure, I was informed my bid was not accepted.

Then I saw another bid option. This required me to download the SeatBoost app. This appears to be an actual “auction”. I entered with the lowest bid, $503. Auction was to close 1h before departure. At 70min before departure, I was the only bidder. Then, after the auction was over I was informed my bid was not accepted.

I find this second auction very odd. If I was the only bidder, I would have expected to win the “auction”. But this didn’t happen. So I’m not sure what the rules here exactly are.

Update:

I inquired with SeatBoost customer service and here’s their (to me somewhat oddly justified) reply:Why would they open an auction when no seats are available? As a side note: I’m pretty sure J cabin was not full when the flight departed. So it’s more likely to be some odd TAP strategy.

And a second note: SeatBoost rules clearly stipulates mileage credit would be in the original booking class. Unlike TAP pre 24h bidding.

labete02

Thanks for replying. I too find this very strange SeatBoost would allow bidding when they didn't have any upgrades available in J class. Their response doesn't make much sense. I placed a bid for $525 for the outbound and $420 for the inbound flight which are slightly above the minimum bid required. I will wait and see what happens as my trip is a few months away but I don't think I will up my bid since I don't think it's worth it based on the price of the current fare in J class.

vip66

I dug through their T&C and, indeed, they leave open the possibility TAP would not accept any bids. I’m sure some lawyer approved this wording but it just doesn’t make sense.

Blaz_SI

Recently, I've won a bid for a flight VIE-LIS, 120 €, lowest bid. The business class ticket had a booking class P, which usually earns only 50% of miles in the most of *A programs. Luckily, my original ticket was in O (0-10% miles), so it was not a loss.

romans

that's weird since P is not business class code for TAP, what do you see in your transaction (AsianaClub?)

EDIT: Ok I see TAP recently changed earning and booking class codes: for example https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...-portugal.html

Blaz_SI

Yes, it seems it took them quite a long time to update their booking classes. In AC Aeroplan, this flight was still considered "Economy - Restrictive (P)". But I don't want to lose time over missing 700 miles.

mkt80

data point: flew LIS-JFK earlier this month. had option to bid for upgrade, first starting at 575. I bid 606 which put me in the middle zone of the dial. I then went on again a few days before the flight and saw the minimum bid option was 610 and had the option to bid 675 to be first. I upped my offer to $660 (back in the middle zone of the dial) and 25 hours before my flight my bid was accepted.

ffay005

I bid 300 EUR for my flight LIS-TMS. It got accepted and I just checked in (only one seat in the J cabin was marked as occupied).

How do I know which booking class they put me in? I'm collecting TK miles, and if it's P, I won't get any.

Is it really so that I cannot claim miles according to the original paid booking class?

nologic

I was told by TAP that if I buy an economy Classic or Plus ticket for a flight 6 weeks from now (mid August), i will get an email after booking offering to bid to upgrade. I was then told that if I bid to upgrade, and there were seats available in that upgrade letter class, that I would learn pretty quickly whether my bid was accepted or not.

Is this the way it works?

I would book in Plus. The fare BOS-LIS-BCN is approx $575 in Plus.

Does anyone know how long TAP takes to confirm or deny this upgrade bid after booking, and what amount should I bid to be likely to procure the upgrade?

Also, do I bid for each segment: BOS-LIS and then LIS-BCN? If so, what amounts would you suggest for each segment (any different for LIS-ATH vs LIS-BCN)?

tff

You'll only have confirmation close to check-in opening time.
The amount varies according to availability and competition from fellow pax. I've had minimum bids that were accepted and very high bids that didn't go through.

It's per segment, yes. The system will suggest you amounts.

nologic

That makes sense but I don’t like the idea of having to wait too close to departure for confirmation.

ffay005

How do you guys know which booking class the upgrade was booked into? My BP says C but I suppose it does so for all business class? I need to know this to claim miles from TK.

(Data point: LIS-TMS 300 EUR and TMS-LIS 310 EUR, both cleared, both were some 20–30 EUR above minimum bid.)

corporate-wage-slave

Booking class P.

ffay005

So it's always P? I thought it might differ.

I wonder if I can manage TK to give me miles according to the original booking class. Any experience? Or perhaps I'll ask at the TK forum.

nefit

Just wondering, was there any success? I have the same research now and goo do to find this topic here, not to consider it when collecting as TK MS Elite Plus.

ffay005 If you remove you FF Card on boarding, and you "claim" the Miles later, might it will work. I did this vise versa once and just got the Miles from the original ticket instead of the upgraded Booking Class, which was a minus.