The last overseas flight I took was uncomfortable, to say the least. I was in the middle seat of the middle aisle, with a loud talker to my left and an even louder snorer to my right. About five hours in, I would have given my firstborn to the flight attendant to get into a business class pod—but I should have just bid on a seat upgrade before departure.
How it works: Bid upgrades allow ticketholders the chance to move up to business or first class and travel more comfortably for a fraction of the price if upgraded seats are available.
- Once you buy your ticket (directly from the airline, not a third-party site), you can log in with your flight details and find the bid upgrade option.
- Decide how much more you'd be willing to pay for an upgrade—maybe it's $10 or $150. Some frequent flyers bid $1 and hope no one else is vying for the seat.
- You can also pay the difference with travel rewards points. With Air Canada, it would be Aeroplan.
If you win the bid, you'll be charged, sent a confirmation and issued a new boarding pass and itinerary to reflect your seat change.
Some things to keep in mind:
- You can't place a bid later than 48 hours before departure—some travel hackers say 72 hours ahead is the best time to bid.
- It's blind bidding, so you don't know what competing offers are.
- If you're flying with others and the tickets are all under one booking reference, you can't bid for just your seat—it's an all-or-nothing process.
- If you have multiple flights, your bid only applies to one leg. If you're flying from Toronto to Montreal and then onto a foreign local, bid for the longer booking.
Here's a list of all the airlines that offer seat upgrade bidding.