When Airlines Auction Premium Seats, Some Passengers Win

Does having high-level elite status with an airline matter anymore?

I’m not sure it does, and I’ve stopped chasing it. Airlines offer lots of goodies to their most loyal members, but many frequent flyers focus on just one perk — upgrades to premium cabins. U.S. airlines are more generous than others, but most full-service carriers have some mechanism to permit loyal flyers to sit up front, using miles or chits.

Or at least they did. Business is booming just about everywhere except South America, and airlines can fill premium cabins with paying passengers. Often, passengers commit to premium travel at purchase, but increasingly, they’re buying up after ticketing, sometimes at a discount, through an airline’s mobile app or website. Last month, I wrote about how Delta Air Lines and United Airlines try to persuade passengers to spend more for a better experience.

This week, I wrote about a third-party technology called PlusGrade, which uses an auction-style system for premium seats. On more than 70 airlines, passengers can place a bid for how much they’re willing to pay for an upgrade. “We want to make sure that as the door closes, every possible dollar has been earned and passengers get a better experience,” said Chris Engle, PlusGrade’s chief commercial officer. Interestingly, some passengers pay more for a premium seat through the auction, as they’re essentially buying it in installments — first a coach ticket, and then later, after the credit card bill is paid, an upgrade.

I used PlusGrade earlier this year for a premium economy upgrade on Scandinavian Airlines, and I was impressed by the experience. I now realize that if I want to sit in a premium cabin, I must pay for it. And that’s OK, because at least I’m not chasing high-level status in the hopes I’ll someday score a “free” upgrade.

— Brian Sumers, Senior Aviation Business Editor [[email protected], @briansumers]

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Contact Me

Skift Senior Aviation Business Editor Brian Sumers [[email protected]] curates the Skift Airline Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday. Have a story idea? Or a juicy news tip? Want to share a memo? Send him an email or tweet him.