Cathay Pacific launches upgrade bidding

Every traveler wants to avail the upgrade on a seat. But only a few airlines can provide you prominent ways to do so. A similar move has been taken by the airline, Cathay Pacific which re-launched its upgrade bidding system under the name “Upgrade Bid”.

The possible reasons behind such a move are the survey being circulated to Cathay Pacific Insights members back in February.

WHAT IS THIS SCHEME ALL ABOUT?

Under this scheme, the passengers who have purchased the premium economy or economy class tickets on selected Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon routes are allowed to bid on upgrades to business class seats.

The selective customers will receive an email notification, seven days prior to the first sector of their booking, inviting them for bidding. Passengers can also choose from alternatives like using their family name or booking reference at the Upgrade Bid site.

WHICH ROUTES CAN ENJOY THIS FACILITY?

Initially, this service was being made available on selective flights between Hong Kong and Adelaide, Bangkok, Amsterdam, Chicago, Dubai, Brisbane, Kathmandu, Cebu, Rome, and Seoul. But within few months, some more routes are added in this series.

On the other hand, routes to China and India are not applicable to this at this time due to some technical limitations. Along with this, the passengers on redemption bookings in fare classes Z, U, T, and X, as well as fare class G group bookings are not permitted to bid on upgrades even on eligible flights.

Winning bids are confirmed within 48 hours before departure and the winners are notified by email.

For this new bidding service, Cathay has selected an airline revenue upgrade platform “Plusgrade”. Currently, it provides upgrade services for Lufthansa, Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines, Air China, Air New Zealand and Qantas.

In the year 2014, Cathay first began looking into an upgrade bidding system at a time when it conducted a trial of the service.

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