Muppster166

I put a bid in a few weeks back for my flight this Tuesday evening VS155 LHR-LAS for £550 each (two passengers) upgrading from PE to Upper. This bid was shown as "poor" on the dial but hey ho. Had been watching the seats in the last couple of weeks, there were 13 free out of 31 on Saturday night. When I looked at my bid on Saturday evening it showed a countdown timer, this expired at 0335 on Sunday morning, this was exactly 62 hours before the flight.
I woke up on Sunday morning to an email from my CC company telling me there had been a charge on my account and if I wanted to query it I was to get in touch, otherwise all was ok. This email was timed at 0336, just one minute after the auction ended. I got an email from VS around seven hours later telling me i'd been upgraded, I logged in to manage my booking and chose two of the (still 13) empty seats.
Looking at the seatmap now there are only six empty Upper seats and my old seats in PE have been taken by someone else.

TLOU24

A little update, we ended up bidding £20 over minimum and won! When i checked the bid page yesterday it told us to bid higher for first place, stuck to our guns and stayed the same and the money came out as soon as the bid closed last night, then logged into my account and could pick my UC seats

abhisheks77

After you were upgraded from PE to upper, were there still empty PE ?
I am thinking to ask Economy to PE upgrade at counter, maybe if they still have vacant seats, may cost less there

Muppster166

No, PE was full before the upgrade was won, so i'd guess that as my two upgrades went through from PE to UC, then two upgrades went from Economy to PE to fill my original seats.
Upper still had five empty seats during the flight itself.

PE on the 787 is relatively small (35 seats) compared to the other aircraft (46 A330Neo, 48 A330 and 56 A350) so you might stand more chance of getting a desk upgrade for those aircraft with the larger cabin.

abhisheks77

Mine is from SEA to LHR on Thursday and it is showing "Aircraft Boeing 787-9". Currently I am in Economy. Was wishing for UC, but I guess it would be expensive even at desk at airport. I would try for PE.

NewbieMilesFlyer

Flight in 40 hours, still not charge and bid is ‘pending’.

its a pretty busy flight so I’m guessing I’ve not been successful

mbbarron

Suggested Bid amount from Economy Classic to PE? IAD - LHR booked with points.

RAPC

The bidding setting depends on the individual flight, so on some it will start lower and on others a high start. You need to work from whether you are willing to pay the minimum bid level for an upgrade to PE and then work from there upwards as to what you value it at.

rajitmathur

I booked SFO-LHR for Apr 10 using reward points, I dont see a bid option for UC. Is that because its sold out already? I see open seats if trying to book with cash.

hurijo

Which class did you book? Are you looking through "Manage my booking" or bid for upgrade page?

maui0623

First time flying with Virgin Atlantic. Would appreciate advice on the bidding process from Classic Economy to either PE or UC. We booked using 15k points and $151 cost per ticket for the flight from LAS to LHR. Since our flight leaves at 9pm we would like to try to get some sleep in a more comfortable seat. Current min bid is $845 for UC and $620 for PE. Seat map shows 11 seats left in UC and 12 seats in PE. Should I try and bid now or wait to see if we get a cash offer to upgrade closer to our departure? I am thinking bc we already booked using points we may not get lucky with a lower price to upgrade? I know either way it's a gamble!

RAPC

$845 to Upper is a pretty good price from LAS, especially compared with $620 for PE. I doubt you will get anything remotely cheaper at the airport for UC, but you possibly could for PE.

rajitmathur

Reward booking for 3pax in P. Tried Manage my booking, don't see link. The bid for upgrade page redirects to the manage my booking page

selector

I have a Economy Classic to Delight bid for 4 pax (2 adults/2 kids) BOS-LHR. The bid has a status of Pending but I have also have a pre-auth on my CC for the total bid amount. However, ExpertFlyer only shows 3 random open (blocked) seats and the rest of Delight occupied. What is the likelihood this will go through? Will they sit us all apart if we have kids?

RAPC

If it gets processed, you get to choose from what is left available. If there are only the exact number of seats available for your party, then you will be allocated those.

It is something you do need to consider with any paid upgrade, when you have children, especially young ones in your party. When I've done airport upgrades, I usually check what seats are open before proceeding. It is a bit more tricky with bid to upgrade, so all you can do is check the current seat maps to give you an idea of what is available.

If the bid is processed and your children are of an age where they need to be seated alongside you, as per normal airline policy, then you are going to be relying on some assistance from staff on the ground or when boarding.