An odd way for air passengers to upgrade their seats
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (363803)
Rockingham, Australia
September 21, 2024 8:59am CST
The photo has nothing to do with the post. It's typical Australian bushland.
I wrote about picking up our elderly friends from the airport. I was hoping they had flown home by business class but they hadn’t been able to upgrade because they had flexi-tickets, and apparently that made all the difference.
They told us the only way they could have upgraded was to ‘bid’ for seats in business class. Bidders don’t know how much others have offered and the seats go to the highest offer made. This, to me, seems really ‘off’. I think this is a very unprofessional and quite unethical way to allocate spare seats.
21 people like this
23 responses
@xFiacre (14471)
• Ireland
21 Sep 24
@judyev That’s no way to do business - kind of thing you might expect at a funfair. The upgrading thing with airlines is a bit of a swizz anyway. Too many conditions and they make it sound like they’re doing you a favour. When I’m king I shall decree that all planes only have business class.
6 people like this
@moffittjc (125924)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Sep 24
Just another example of a business being greedy and sucking as much money as they can out of their customers. There should be a "fixed" price for the seats, and they should be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.
4 people like this
@marguicha (228764)
• Chile
21 Sep 24
@moffittjc You are right. And the last shameful thing I experienced was that they gave me no food on a long trip.
5 people like this
@moffittjc (125924)
• Gainesville, Florida
21 Sep 24
@marguicha Airlines already have so many other hidden fees that they charge customers, and this is another example of them trying to squeeze more money out of people who have probably overpaid already. Such a shameful business practice.
4 people like this
@Tampa_girl7 (53482)
• United States
21 Sep 24
Wow, I have never heard of bidding for plane seats.
3 people like this
@snowy22315 (197344)
• United States
21 Sep 24
Interesting, like a lottery but with bids. I don't think I would care for that either.
3 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (48491)
• India
22 Sep 24
Airlines seem to be figuring out clever ways to fill their seats and earn good margins.
I think that one cannot term these practices as "unethical" as the Airlines can say that we always have Terms and Conditions for such Bidding and that a person should be careful and blah blah !!
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (48491)
• India
24 Sep 24
@JudyEv
The Airlines and their varied "Shades of Grey"
1 person likes this
@marguicha (228764)
• Chile
21 Sep 24
Airlines should not "bid" for the seats that have not been sold. It is not fair for the people who bought their seats in a certain place.
3 people like this
@allknowing (154216)
• India
22 Sep 24
@JudyEv This is the first time I have heard there being bidders for seats.
2 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (93688)
• Arvada, Colorado
21 Sep 24
Bidders huh?
We used to get the stand by tickets when I was young..a flat rate so cheap.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (79360)
• United States
22 Sep 24
Another thing that shows I’m doing well by not flying.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (363803)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Sep 24
My sentiments exactly. Just an awful thing to do.
@LindaOHio (203074)
• United States
22 Sep 24
Bidding for seats? That's nuts. They just want to get as much for the seats as possible. There should be a standardized price. Have a good day.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (363803)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Sep 24
Yes, that's true. The customer doesn't have any option but to go along with these outlandish rules.
@Beestring (15606)
• Hong Kong
22 Sep 24
Yes, that is weird to allocate seats this way.
2 people like this
