Singapore Airlines is rolling out a bidding system to allow select customers to upgrade from economy class to the next cabin on select flights. The new bidding system is by invite only and will only allow an upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy. The bidding system will work like other airlines that offer this feature, allowing bids to be submitted for an upgrade and then only charging for those bids which are accepted. In other words, if you are not upgraded your credit card will not be charged for the bid that you make.
Singapore Airline Upgrade Routes
As mySQupgrade is only available on routes with Premium Economy, this limits the number of upgrades and routes available. Current routes with Premium Economy that should be upgradable are the following long haul routes and mid haul routes:
- Singapore to Europe: Frankfurt, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Manchester, Dusseldorf, Zurich, and Munich
- Singapore to South Africa: Johannesburg & Cape Town
- Singapore to Oceania: Auckland & Sydney
- Singapore to North America: Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
- Singapore to East Asia: Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai
- Singapore to India & Middle East: Dubai, Mumbai, New Deli
- North America to Asia: Los Angeles to Tokyo, San Francisco to Seoul
- North America to Europe: New York to Frankfurt
MySQUpgrade – How it works
The mySQupgrade experience is quite easy to understand. If you qualify, Singapore Airlines will email you 7 days before your flight to allow you to submit an upgrade up to 50 hours before departure. At this time bidding ends and the upgrade process begins. Based on space availability Singapore Airlines will select the highest bidders or those who bid over the threshold and upgrade said customers. The upgrade bidding price range is preset by Singapore Airlines, so lowball bids cannot be made. However bidding the lowest allowed will likely not result in an upgrade either. It is somewhat a balancing act as you have to decide what is a fair offer without bidding to much or to little.
This new process is a fun way to upgrade to a higher class of service, but not every flight will have the option to upgrade. So if you want Premium Economy then pay for it when you buy your flight, or take your chances with the mySQupgrade.
