Iberia to introduce ‘bid for upgrades’ – British Airways to follow?

BA’s sister airline, Iberia, has announced its intention to operate an auction system for business class upgrades. Google Translate offers its own slightly dubious version of the announcement on the Iberia website:

Iberia allows customers offer price to buy upgradings to Business

In these departure and return dates holiday, Iberia offers its customers the opportunity to “buy” upgradings to Business offering price through the website of the company, whose acceptance depends on the availability and offers made. This is a new initiative of the company’s business plan aimed at capturing new revenue and improve the customer experience, both objectives of the Transformation Plan.

Now, once purchased the ticket in economy class, customers can enter your locator to “management reserves” iberia.com, and opt to fly on Business indicating the price they would be willing to pay a fee in minimum / maximum that the company proposes that varies depending on the type of flight for which application for upgrading. The request for upgrading can be performed from the time of ticket purchase, and customers can modify or cancel his offer up to five days before departure.

In the following days, the company will communicate if it has been accepted or not your offer, depending on the price and availability of the promotion on every flight. This new mode upgradings sale is available to all passengers on certain flights economy class, whether they have purchased their ticket in iberia.com or Serviberia, as if you bought in travel agency. The advantages of buying these upgradings are, above all, the ability to fly in Business Class at a very advantageous, and benefit from all the services offered on board Iberia also differentiated billing at airports, VIP lounge access, the use of fast track security desks and priority baggage delivery at the destination airport.

This is not a new business model for the hospitality industry, although it is one that I don’t come across often. I think the Hilton in Stockholm was the last place to email me in advance of my stay offering me a chance to make a binding bid for a better upgrade.

Outside the UK, this system is already widely used. If you look at the website for OptionTown, which runs most of these systems, you will see that they have Adria, KLM, AeroMexico, Vietnam Airlines, Cyprus Airways, SAS, airBaltic, Air India and Corsair as partners. Air New Zealand also offers it, and Virgin Atlantic ran a trial on a few routes – albeit with no signs of a major roll out.

Now, there is always the possibility that whatever turns up at Iberia will eventually turn up at British Airways. That said, this seems unlikely for now.

BA already has a ‘buy an upgrade’ option through ‘Manage My Booking’, where you can be offered a cheap(-ish) one class upgrade. This is not an auction, this is a ‘buy it now’ offering which also gets you tier points and additional Avios points for the upgraded class. This is less tacky than the auction route, whilst still allowing the company to increase revenue.

For long-haul flights, World Traveller Plus also presents a (literal) barrier. With only a modest number of World Traveller Plus seats, BA does not have much spare capacity to auction off to World Traveller passengers. And with so few World Traveller Plus seats, it would not be very cost effective organising an auction for upgrades to Club World – they would be lucky to receive one bid on most flights. Iberia does not have this problem, as you would be upgrading directly from Economy to Business.

So, in the short term, I don’t see this coming to British Airways. If you want a cheap upgrade on a cash ticket, I recommend keeping a close eye on ‘Manage My Booking’ instead for the chance to buy one.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.