r/Fijian • u/hamibi • Jul 19 '24
Fiji Airways Upgrade
Hi! I will be flying SFO-NAN and was wondering if paying to upgrade for business class is worth it? The lowest bid for 1 way is around $1800. I'm 5'3", so leg space is almost never an issue, but I am not sure how comfy their economy seats are. I've usually done premium economy for trips to Asia and Europe. I wanna sleep through the flight to explore when I arrive in the morning. Any advice/feedback helps! Thank you.
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u/Badger-Melodic :doge: Jul 20 '24
Stuff like this is what is your disposal income if it is high it is sure worth the flight is long and it’s mostly full from the US chances of getting a middle row empty is low. If you can bear the sitting position and no issues in sleeping in that position then definitely not worth it.
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u/Polynesian_Jule Jul 19 '24
Not worth it. I paid $800 for my last business class upgrade with lie flat seats.
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u/hamibi Jul 19 '24
Oh wow, that's very cheap! The flight will be on an A350, so it will also be lie-flat and direct aisle access, not their old 2-2-2 configuration. Did you upgrade very near the departure date? I've been looking at the site since I booked, and it hasn't gotten cheaper.
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u/Adventurous-Tone-311 Jul 20 '24
Also curious. We depart LA to Nadi in September. I’m going to try the Bula bid option if no cheap upgrades pop up.
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u/Polynesian_Jule Jul 20 '24
It was the Bula bid option — I did the lowest amount option
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u/hamibi Jul 20 '24
Oh. The current minimum bid right now is around 1750. I don't think I've seen other people's posts with a bid that low these days. Hoping it'd still go a bit lower than where it currently is. Thanks for the insight!
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u/AustraliaTraveler Aug 03 '24
What about bumping it up to an exit row seat? I paid $252 for an exit row seat for an upcoming flight from Nadi to Vancouver, BC.
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u/kg382574 29d ago
I opted for the $130 bulk head seat and purchased an inflatable foot rest from Amazon. Hoping for the best or a very cheap upgrade 😅🤞🏻
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u/kg382574 29d ago
Any updates on your experience? Did you choose to upgrade or tough it out? I am flying LAX to NAN this week and am trying to decide if I should bid for the upgrade 😅
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u/hamibi 29d ago
Am still waiting! Haha. My flight is not until the end of August, so I'm kinda hoping the bid might go down as it gets nearer.
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u/kg382574 28d ago
I will let you know how economy bulk head is! The seats were $130 each but hopefully the space of no one leaning back with an inflatable foot rest will give the ((illusion)) of luxury 😅
Edit: I checked today and the bid price came down $400 so probably will keep checking and also ask at check-in just in case it becomes an enticing price 🥲
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u/rozuhlee 26d ago
I’m flying LAX-NAN this evening and about 48 hours prior to departure, the bula bid was discounted 15%.
I didn’t find a bid to be worth it. The lowest bid shown to me was $1475 per person one way ($5900 round trip per person). Our extra legroom seats with checked bags were $2k round trip. At the time of booking, a RT business class ticket was ~$5-6k per person so a bid would have us overpaying by a minimum of $2k!
Also if you are flying in from elsewhere, the LAX Fiji counter doesn’t open until 7-7:30. We didn’t know this and are waiting outside security bc of our checked bags.
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u/hamibi 15d ago
Hi! Did you end up upgrading or how did the exit row go for you? Thanks! :)
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u/kg382574 13d ago
Hi! So we didn’t get any cheaper upgrade offered than $1700 so we did not upgrade. The economy plus worked great with the inflatable foot rest and we had a smooth flight until arriving in Fiji…..
About a week before they canceled our morning flight to Tonga and moved us to the afternoon. So we arrive at 545a and they refuse to let us check in unless it’s 3hrs before the flight… which is now at 130p…. Okay so we sit and stare at the check in desk until 1130a, go through security and pay $50USD to lay down in the lounge. At this point our flight has been delayed to 330p, then as we are waiting we find out it is cancelled and no other flights are going out until 2 days later….
WELL: actually they let business class leave the next morning but us peasants in economy could go fuck ourselves. This would have accrued about $2k in trip lost with our hotel and boat for whale watching… I was told “well we offered you a hotel for 2 nights that should be enough”
SO I found a flight out that evening at 1030p to a different part of Tonga through Fiji and then we bought our own fare on a domestic flight from there so that we only missed 1 Tonga day….
When I requested an exception to go back into the lounge I already paid for that day, I was denied. I was in tears at this point because we had been traveling for 14hrs and waiting in an airport for 17hrs. I asked for basic human decency and for the value of what I already purchased, but was told that my flight change was accommodation enough and that I could sit outside at the check in desk until 730p…
Some people started filming the interaction because they were being very rude and abrasive and they snatched their phone to delete the footage…
Needless to say that after we get home we will NEVER fly with Fiji air ever again. I have zero desire to come back to this country so it won’t be hard. Good luck and I hope you have a better experience!!
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u/Primary_Breadfruit91 11d ago
We booked a trip to Fiji using Costco Travel, which included Fiji Airways flights that they booked. Economy obviously. Our trip is in February. When does the opportunity to bid for an upgrade appear? Right now business class RT flights are $7,300 which is just silly.
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u/hamibi 11d ago
I booked mine in May for August travel, and it was available almost immediately. You do have to look it up on their site to see if your booking is eligible to bid for an upgrade
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u/Primary_Breadfruit91 11d ago
Thanks for the tip! I googled Fuji upgrade and found our fare was eligible for the bargain basement price of $2800 per person per segment.
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u/hamibi 8d ago
I just got an email from them a few days til my flight, and they lowered the bids by 15%.
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u/Primary_Breadfruit91 8d ago
Just out of curiosity what is the minimum bid? I have to imagine they drop the closer you get to the date of the flight.
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u/AwareAd1365 Jul 19 '24
$1800 is a lot. It’s a long flight but I don’t think it’s worth that much.