How Much You Are Willing To Pay For Short-Haul Upgrades? Case: ITA & Aegean

Many, if not most, airlines in Europe and elsewhere as well offer paid upgrades through bidding, at a set price, or when you check in or at the airport.

These online upgrade “bidding” for cash is usually powered by a Canadian company called PlusGrade that also owns Points.com, which handles points and miles sales for many of the same businesses.

You can access ITA Airways here and Aegean here.

Sometimes these paid upgrades can be reasonably priced, and, depending on the airline, may come with the same benefits as a paid business class seat, such as lounge access and extra luggage allowance.

ITA Airways: Rome – Barcelona

I wasn’t actually sure whether ITA Airways, former Alitalia, offers or uses PlusGrade for upgrades, but apparently they do.

The FAQs State:

The same ticket rules apply as with the original purchase fare, including costs for changes or cancellations. The baggage allowance remains that of the ticket of the original purchase fare; any excess baggage charges will be applied.

The page is also unclear about the lounge access status on these upgraded tickets. Does it follow the original ticket, or do you get the lounge?

I felt that € 145 is on the high side for a 500-mile flight. In my opinion, the fair price would have been 90 to 100 euros.

Aegean: Dubai – Athens

I was surprised when I received an email from Aegean earlier this week, trying to sell me an upgrade through bidding or outright, as I thought I had applied an upgrade certificate for this flight that was on the waitlist.

There must have been a system issue, and the upgrade request was dropped from this segment. I had already used an upgrade cert that would have expired by now for the second segment of this ticket.

Also, previously, you couldn’t use PlusGrade for flight segments that were waitlisted using an upgrade certificate.

I decided to offer the lowest amount for this segment, as I only have two upgrade certs left, and I am confident that I can use them for some other flights before May next year, when they are set to expire.

You could have selected 400 euros and been automatically confirmed in business class.

So, I am now waitlisted for both using cash and a certificate, and I am sure that they clear the ones that bring in revenue first.

These Aegean paid upgrades are also great for those who don’t have status with Aegean or Star Alliance, as you then get all the business class benefits, unlike with ITA, such as extra luggage allowance, lounge access, and all airport priority services.

Conclusion

I usually buy reasonably priced business class tickets or use miles, but I sometimes book short-haul flights in economy with airlines that belong to one of the three alliances, as I then receive the standard elite benefits.

This Aegean “short-haul” flight between Dubai and Athens is more than 5 hours long, so even when you basically get the economy seat, you might feel a bit more comfortable in business.

These short-haul upgrades, if they come with all the business class benefits, can be excellent value if you don’t have status, as you don’t need to pay for bag(s) and also get lounge access.

How much would you have been willing to pay for these upgrades? Please comment below.

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