Flying soon from London Heathrow to São Paulo on Latam airlines. I’ve made a $1,200 bid for a business upgrade.
Auction page is telling me I have been outbid, and I have to bid $1,900 to regain the lead.
However, if I cancel my bid altogether, I can immediately upgrade for $1,750 haha. So just wondering if the “you’ve been outbid” thing is a complete lie and there’s a chance it gets accepted anyway?
It’s likely a lie.
I bid on a business class upgrade for a transatlantic flight to Europe. The carrier sent me a message about a week before the flight claiming I was outbid and to increase my bid.
I left it alone as my bid was already at the max of what I was willing to pay. And then just two days before the flight, I got a message indicating I won the bid and was upgraded. So the earlier email about being outbid was likely total BS.
@Blaine
This has also happened to me
@Blaine
I hate the bid system. I liked the pay extra options and make a choice.
@Blaine
Be nice if an organisation existed which stopped businesses from cheating, lying, and stealing, you know, maybe like a government.
@Blaine
I literally had the same.
It said there were 8 bidders for 1 seat. I checked the flight a day before boarding (by going through the booking system) and there were 7 business class seats available. Hours before my flight the new bid price was £600 more than my original bid but I got upgraded anyway.
So the earlier email about being outbid was likely total BS.
Not really. I have bid near the max or very high for an upgrade, then a few days before I think the auction is over to discourage bidders, then I lower it down to my actual bid.
@Dakota
Smart tactic.
@Blaine
It’s not a lie, it just means there were multiple seats available by the time the auction ended. There also may have been 0 seats available too and no one won because they sold all the business inventory.
Sounds like you found the better deal lol
It’s two different systems, pay $1750 for an upgrade or bid on an upgrade. If you bid more than it costs, that’s on you; the airline won’t try to save you money. Why would they stop people from paying more?
@Zuri
This is 100% it. The vast majority of users are not going to do what OP did and many times it will go above the non-auction price due to dorks who “need to win” the auction and the airline pockets all that extra revenue.
@Dakota
Guess I was smarter in that case then haha. Would be interesting to see how many clowns end up paying hundreds over what they could have paid without bothering with the auction.
Pace said:
@Dakota
Guess I was smarter in that case then haha. Would be interesting to see how many clowns end up paying hundreds over what they could have paid without bothering with the auction.
They do. It’s frustrating, which is why I bid the equivalent of $1750 or more sometimes, then wait a few days before the end of the auction and lower the bid. If someone ends up paying more than that because of what I did, screw them. Hopefully, all that extra revenue they give the airline subsidizes something for everyone else.
If you want the upgrade then spend the money. London to Sao Paulo is not a flight I want to sit in coach.
Sounds like a scam, I had a similar thing happen where they said I was outbid but then I won anyway.
Fly YVR to Ixtapa
This is some fucked up bullshit. Bidding for a ticket upgrade? Yes, the airline is trying to rip you off, and the other guy bidding. Pay for the upgrade if you want it.
I don’t think it’s a scam, but that’s a lot for an upgrade. Is your current ticket economy or premium economy? Never flown Latam, so I had a look, and the premium looks pretty good.
Kiran said:
I don’t think it’s a scam, but that’s a lot for an upgrade. Is your current ticket economy or premium economy? Never flown Latam, so I had a look, and the premium looks pretty good.
Seems worth it for me for such a long flight.