I am a heavy, tall male who needs extra space on my flight from Boston to Berlin. I will likely fly on BerlinAir, and purchase either 2 economy seats or a business class seat. I was fascinated by BerlinAir's "auctions". It is my understanding that, a week or two before the flight, an economy ticket holder can bid on one of two things: 1. An upgrade to an available business class seat. 2. A guarantee that you will not have someone sitting next to you in economy. Has anyone participated in this process? Result? Winning bids? Thanks to everyone for sharing your years of experience with us novices!
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8435 posts
I did find this interesting article about another way to get increased room on Air Berlin.
http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/air-berlin-hails-xl-seat-success
Posted by
Green Bay
20259 posts
Aer Lingus does this. I don't care participate, although you stand a chance of getting a business class seat for less than buying it outright. Like Priceline, they give you a range that could result in a successful bid. They email the offer a week or so in advance and notify successful bidders 48 hours before flight time if I recall rightly. It might be something like "$500-maybe, $750-fair possibility, $1000 -highly likely". I thought it was a smart idea to get extra money for unsold business class seats.