Travel Question of the Day: Simon Calder on bidding for a flight upgrade

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Sydney: Problems with upgrade bid

Q In Sydney I received an email from Etihad asking I would like to bid for an upgrade on the journey home to Heathrow via Abu Dhabi. I put the in lowest bid for the sector from Abu Dhabi to London, gave my debit card number and heard nothing. When I tried to check in online the system said there was a problem. I contacted the airline’s Sydney office and was informed was the problem was connected to an upgrade. When I was informed of the cost, I said “No”. I was then able to check in and was given economy boarding passes for Sydney-Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi-London.

At Abu Dhabi the Etihad desk informed me I had been “given” an upgrade. Back in UK I found this was not a gift and my debit card had been billed for £810. I was furious about this and have contacted airline to no avail. They were told verbally by me on the morning of my flight that I did not wish to take up the upgrade. My bank says it is not able to help as the service had been provided. Your view?

Susan Woods

A Etihad is one of several airlines that invites bids from economy passengers for upgrades to business class (with a few exceptions, mainly those with the very cheapest tickets). It works for passengers who are seeking some extra comfort on a long haul but don’t want to pay the normal business-class fare. And it works for an airline by generating extra revenue at negligible additional cost - with little risk of “cannibalising” existing business-class revenue, because of the degree of uncertainty.

Etihad makes clear that if you put in a bid at a particular price and do not withdraw it before the airline decides to award you the upgrade, then you are obliged to pay for it: “If your Offer is accepted before you cancel or amend your Offer, you are legally bound to complete payment for the price stated in your original Offer.”

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles readers’ questions. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder