Bidding on a Biz Class Seat
 

Any advice for doing this? I've read that its best to bid between 20%-40% of the price differential between the cost of the biz class and what you paid for your seat. I want to bid on the outbound of my ticket. I looked at the price for biz class, but not sure if I half that price & half the price of my ticket? Any advice you might have on bidding would be appreciated. This is on Austrian Air if that matters. I currently have a PE ticket. Right now there are many empty seats in Biz. Thanks!

This article is a few years old, but probably worth a look - https://thepointsguy.com/guide/a-gui...ight-upgrades/

This one is more recent - https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericros.../#5dae90d47a4c

I don't think there are any firm rules. But let me ask this - when is your flight, and from where to where? If it's during the summer and it's transatlantic, be advised that it's quite common for airlines to reduce the price on business class seats for outright purchase during that time. This is due to a fall-off in actual "business" bookings due to summer holidays among business travelers; ironically the same period (typically June - August) is the most expensive time for economy travel on the same routes.

So since you've already purchased a PE ticket, I'd probably monitor the cost of actual business class tickets, and see if upgrading the whole deal to a paid business class trip might not be a fairly cost-effective (to you) approach. It would eliminate the "what if" element, and airlines are usually reasonable about waving change fees when passengers "up-fare" an existing ticket. Might be worth some research, anyway.

BTW - I am still vacillating on the RTW and haven't booked just yet.Thanks, Gardyloo! My flight is from IAD to VIE in April. When I follow the cost of business class should I look at it one way since I only want the outbound leg of the trip.

Learn something new every day! Thank you both..I had never heard of this before.