Qantas Bid Now Upgrades Available for Premium Economy

22nd Jun 2015

Australian carrier Qantas has expanded its ?Bid Now? scheme, which now allows passengers to bid for upgrades to premium economy on international flights.

For this, customers will need to use a mix of frequent flyer points and cash. The bids start at 5,000 Qantas frequent flyer points, to which is then added cash. For instance ? 5,000 Qantas frequent flyer points plus $1,500.

Customers to Get an Email Seven Days before Departure

?Bid Now? upgrades for premium economy will work much like the scheme for business class upgrades. This means that if the customer?s booking is eligible, he or she will get an email from Qantas about seven days before the plane is scheduled to depart, prompting the customer to put out a bid.

If the passenger does not receive an email within the seven days, they can also go to the Qantas Bid Now page at the carriers? website. From here, they can check their eligibility for an upgrade. This can vary at Qantas? discretion.

Backup for the Business Class Upgrade

A bid for premium economy can only be put together with a business class upgrade bid on that same flight. As such, this serves more like a ?backup plan? in case the business class upgrade doesn?t go through.

The airline will process ?Bid Now? upgrades between 12 and 24 hours prior to departure. In addition, Qantas will only consider an upgrade after regular frequent flyer points have been considered.

It is possible for a frequent flyer that had his ?Bid Now? upgrade request denied to get reconsidered if his initial request failed, and had filed for an ?upgrade at the gate?.

?Bid Now? premium economy upgrades are available on these Qantas international services: Dubai, Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York, Vancouver, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Santiago. San Francisco will be available from December, when Qantas plans to start flying to this city.