Your own seat in the sky

Want to fly business class but don’t want it to cost you an arm and a leg? Try bidding for a seat. You can take part in an auction on a host of international airlines like Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Air Canada and SriLankan. In better news, in April, Jet Airways brought the bidding route to India.

The bidding process is fairly simple. For instance, Jet Airways passengers can check if they are eligible for the bidding process on the airline’s website seven days before departure and can even expect an email from the airline if they are.

Like other airlines that allow bidding, Jet too has a minimum and a maximum bid amount for a given sector and passengers can place bids within that range by using a credit card. If the bid is successful, the card is charged and Jet Airways notifies the successful passengers within six hours of the scheduled flight departure.

By and large, all airlines offer this facility on their websites. What varies, though, is how long before a flight departure are successful bidders informed. SriLankan Airlines informs successful bidding passengers via email between 24 and 35 hours prior to departure. In Lufthansa’s case, passengers are informed of a successful bid 24 hours before departure and SwissAir and Austrian Airlines do so 48 hours before departure. Lufthansa said that seats vacated by successful bidders on their airlines are put on sale again.

Singapore Airlines gives you the option of making, changing or cancelling your bid up to 50 hours before departure. Virgin, too, allows a flyer to make changes to the bid or cancel it until two days before the flight is due to depart, as long as it hasn’t already been accepted.

Tempting prices

The most appealing aspect of the bidding is the price differential between paying upfront for, say, a business class seat or going in for an upfront upgrade from economy, and what you pay through the bid.

Explaining the minimum and maximum bid amount, Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC Travel, says, “These amounts are decided purely based on the inventory that the business class is carrying on a particular flight. If there are sufficient empty seats, then the airline could consider the difference between the highest economy class fare and lowest business class fare.”

For instance, last month, on the Chennai-Delhi sector, a seat in the Jet Premiere class was up for bid between ₹7,000 and ₹12,800.

For a flyer who had already paid ₹4,214 for a seat in economy, the maximum amount to be paid was ₹17,014 and the minimum was ₹11,214 in the bidding process. An upfront Premiere ticket on the sector usually costs ₹20,000 (Premiere saver).

The bidding process makes sense for airlines as it is a good way of finding another “incremental source of revenue” if the economy class is full and there are seats available in business class. Carriers like Singapore Airlines specify that the success of a bid is subject to seat availability and is decided at the sole discretion of the airline. Further, the bidding process can also be a way of expanding the market as it introduces people to luxury flying. Airlines also see a substantial number of upgrades or upgrade requests at airports and the bidding process could appeal to such passengers.

“We have received an encouraging response, which is likely to strengthen with increased awareness,” Jet Airways says.

Or there is the attraction of paying less for more. Says John Nair, Head, Business Travel, Cox & Kings Ltd, “Travellers always love a good deal and Indians are beginning to enjoy an upgrade via bidding for a seat which comes at a discount compared to a normal business class fare. It’s a win-win for both as the airline earns ancillary revenue for a seat which would otherwise go abegging and the customer gets to fly on an upgrade. Moreover, it may tempt him to bid every time he travels.’’

Catches galore

However, there are a number of things that one needs to watch out for when bidding. For instance, Jet informs successful bidders only six hours before departure.

This is likely to lead to uncertainty among flyers as Jet Airways does not extend Premiere benefits to those who have won an upgrade. This means that the baggage allowance remains the same as on the economy ticket, there is no lounge access and the miles earned are according to the economy class ticket.

Further, as of now, Jet Airways has First Class seating only on its international routes. However, those with an economy ticket cannot bid for first class; only those on Premiere can do so.

On Singapore Airlines, not all flights are available for upgrade. Though the airline carries all special requests on the original booking to the upgraded flight segment, there are no guarantees that these will be fulfilled.

Long haul or short flights?

The jury is out on whether bidding makes more sense on long-haul or short-haul flights. According to Suri, the bidding process is likely to do well on all Jet’s metro (domestic) and long-haul routes while Lufthansa told BusinessLine that it saw an increase in bid upgrades from economy to business on its inter-continental flights. “The customers value the additional benefits they get in the higher compartment, especially on a long-haul flight,” the carrier said. “However, on Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, we also observe a high demand for upgrades to Premium Economy Class,” the airline added.

COMMENT NOW