Towards the end of December 2014 I wrote about what I’d consider The Best Flight Connection Ever.
While on the way to Jamaica, I was able to book a flight (for myself, Kim and Lucas) to Abu Dhabi on Etihad (in coach) for the incredible price of $232.53 per person which came to a total of $697.60.
During the trip we’ll be moving around quite a bit and it sure would be nice to move upfront on our (now) direct 13 hour flight from New York.
Etihad has been offering me the chance to make an offer to upgrade to business class.
Everything comes at some sort of cost and this upgrade isn’t free, but is it a good deal?
First of all, I never priced a business class flight from New York to Abu Dhabi on Etihad so I’m not exactly sure what it would be valued at.
I received the message to make an offer to upgrade a couple of times now. I decided to price what our exact flight is selling for in business class and boy was the price insane. For the 3 of us to fly roundtrip in business class on our exact itinerary it would cost a whopping $37,698.60.
I don’t know about you, but I could think of many better ways to spend that kind of money than on a flight!
If I wanted to upgrade on our flight from New York To Abu Dhabi, the starting offer that Etihad accepts is $1,100. This is considered a weak offer and not likely to be accepted. The highest amount we can offer is $1,800, obviously considered a good chance to be accepted.
If we wanted to upgrade on the way home, it seems like we’d have a better shot when offering a lower amount. Starting out with no offer shows an OK chance for an upgrade. This doesn’t make much sense since we have no status with the airline and are flying on the lower fare. If we were to make the minimum offer of $1,150, it looks like we’d have a good chace at getting the upgrade. The max allowed offer is $1,600 for those of you wondering.
So it looks like if we wanted to upgrade to business class, we’d have a good chance of doing so by offering around $1,300 going to Abu Dhabi and $1,150 on the way home.
Is it worth upgrading our flight for around $2,500 on top of what we’ve already paid? Is it even worth considering an upgrade one-way to enjoy the luxury of Etihad Business Class?
In my opinion, if you have the money to burn, then it just might be. However, for even $1,000 roundtrip I would not pay to upgrade.
The way I look at it is something like this- Paying an extra $1,000 to be more comfortable during a flight could also buy us a pretty nice flight (or multiple flights) for future trips.
While I enjoy flying in premium cabins, I love traveling even more. The less money or miles spent on one trip can be used towards others to help reach my goal to see as much of the world as possible.
Now if Etihad wanted to give me a free upgrade to try out their business class, would I turn it down? I think you know the answer!
Do you feel that it is worth upgrading (and would you upgrade) to business class for an additional $2,000+ roundtrip?
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Charlie- I wouldn’t pay $2,000 per person to upgrade but I can’t say that it is actually a bad deal! For $200 more , I’d have to seriously consider it, only problem is that it would then be x 3! 🙂
Kate- I’m really not sure. I am curious myself. You can check if you are eligible here.
Please let me know if you can/ can’t upgrade.
Marc- I completely agree. To some, this could be a bargain but $2,000+ is a lot of money IMO.
It’s a little expensive in my opinion. But that’s really subjective for each one.
I agree with your thinking though that this kind of money would pay for a nice flight in the future. It’s nice to be comfy upfront, but does that mean that you’ll make one less trip next year?
For that price, I’d probably go with the ride in coach.
Do the paid upgrades only apply to paid tickets? I have one leg of six for my family of three still in economy… I’d love to pay to upgrade that award ticket!
I wouldn’t do it, especially since Etihad economy isn’t really that bad. Of course, on such a long flight, it would be nice to have business. 🙂
If you wanted it, you could check at the gate as well. The cost for upgrading on an Etihad flight for me was a couple hundred more than it was when I asked at the gate out of curiosity.