Airlines continuously experiment with new ideas on how they can sell the maximum number of premium cabin seats. Jet Airways is no exception. Just a few months ago, Jet Airways started allowing guests to bid for upgrades on their upcoming flights. This is over and above the fixed price upgrades which have been on offer for the longest time.

Jet Airways has now started upselling upgrades while booking domestic flights on jetairways.com or their mobile app.

Upgrades are only available for Deal fares and above with a uniform fee across fare classes. However, one must keep in mind that other benefits such as baggage allowance, lounge access and change/cancellation charges remain the same as per the original fare class. Like you can see, this upgraded fare is still INR 3000 lower than the lowest available Premiere Fare on the flight.

If booking as a JetPrivilege member, your JPMiles and tier points are also determined by the fare you book. For example, you buy a ticket from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Saver fares, you will earn 266 JPMiles and a single tier point instead of 665 JPMiles and 3 tier points, which is the minimum you earn when you book Première. Elite bonuses and benefits apply as per the booking fare.

This new option is only available on select sectors with the upgrade fee varying from sector to sector.

Jet Airways hasn’t talked much about this new change, but they clearly are moving in aggressively on the space of capturing more revenue by selling upgrades via all means possible, including bidding, upgrade offers at check-in and now this.

Bottomline

Jet Airways is clearly making efforts to fill up the front cabin with passengers who are willing to pay for better seats and service. Upgrades would cost you less than a paid Première class ticket, but also, there is the lack of additional benefits of that come with the latter may not make it attractive enough for a few people. (Editor’s note: We notice that this upgrade books into P fare class, something we are trying to explore further).

Have you tried this new option to buy Premiere Fares as upgrades? Do share if you’ve booked this fare and know how it works.