Any strategies for bidding on upgrades?

[qwerty11]

I am trying to figure out if there are any strategies for bidding on the upgrades MSC offers on their website. For example, is it worthwhile to low-ball, should you wait till closer to departure to submit bid, are the minimum bid prices dynamic and change depending occupancy rates in the given class? 

[BermudaBound2014]

The bidding process is extremely new for MSC. There have been two postings that I can recall where someone bid for YC and won, but I don't recall if they ever stated the amount of the bid.

 

Keep in mind, that the experience does not upgrade with your bid. If you have a bella inside and win an fantastica or aurura bid you will still get the bella experience.

 

It appears that if you win YC you will get the YC experience by default, but that has been up for debate on several threads.

 

How about you start a bidding thread?? Screen shot the offer? I'd love to start gathering some data.

[Até]

From the bid offers I've seen I'd say the strategy is all Plusgrade's/MSC's.  The lowest bid amount is just about what, at some point in time, you could have paid for the cabin type outright.  If you move up your offer up from the minimum/poor to the point your offer is accepted before two days of sailing you probably paid more than the average rate paid.  The fair to strong bids are usually more to far more than the average rate paid for that cabin. 

 

Due to YC prices often increasing as sail date approaches if you haven't noted the initial cabin pricing some of the YC bids may at first seem reasonable, but for my non-YC sailings I could have paid less than the minimum bid if I had booked the YC to begin with.  My YC Interior to YC Deluxe bid would save me about $400 if I bid the absolute minimum, not worth it to me for losing the cabin choice.  I would pick my cabin and just pay for the upgrade if I wanted it, and then I should have done it a while back as the current remaining choices are mediocre.  For regular cabins the overall savings also seem to be minimal especially when considering no choice of cabin location and that Fantastica and Aurea cabins don't come with any of the respective perks.  In fact no experience level is mentioned in any bids other than the YC, which is now shown as getting all the YC benefits.  Bid categories can thus be confusing, I feel it's intentional, and some upgrade bid offers I've seen mentioned are in reality downgrades.  I also don't like that when you select a bid amount it states in a small note "The actual upgrade price may vary depending on your original fare and upgrade availability".  Huh?

 

I've decided against bidding on offers for three sailings now.  My post bidding system booking strategy will be:  Book the YC cabin I want as early as possible to when the itinerary is initially offered.  When possible, book non-YC cabins I want well after final payment to pick up the increasingly more frequent last minute deals on regular cabins.  Advice for bidders: Don't bid unless you understand if you bid on a "Balcony" it can easily be the Bella one in the worst area of the ship that no one wanted - bid accordingly.  You also really should know what that cabin has been historically offered for rather than believing the bid meter is based on any sense of reality.

[Até]

23 hours ago, qwerty11 said:

... and change depending occupancy rates in the given class? 

I can say that one of my offers did change from when it was initially sent, the minimum bid on one cabin type went down by $5pp.

[jdvmd]

My minimum changed also.

 

Booked at the end of August for this Saturday's sailing on the Seaside. Bella Balcony. Also received a Voyager's Club discount and the 5 + 5 deal. Because we have Black member status, we will also get a $50 per person OBC.

The first email was $125 a person to move up to a S2 suite. Went ahead and bid this. Then last week, I upped the bid to $150 a person. I checked again last week and now the minimum was $110 a person. I changed our bid to the $110 and sure enough, it was accepted a day later.  After doing some research, I had planned on canceling the bid all together but hadn't gotten to do that when the Upgrade acceptance email came.

 

[Até]

56 minutes ago, jdvmd said:

The first email was $125 a person to move up to a S2 suite. Went ahead and bid this. Then last week, I upped the bid to $150 a person. I checked again last week and now the minimum was $110 a person. I changed our bid to the $110 and sure enough, it was accepted a day later.  After doing some research, I had planned on canceling the bid all together but hadn't gotten to do that when the Upgrade acceptance email came.

It's good to see they're breaking up the bid categories a bit more, rather than how when they first started and it was just a "Suite".  Although I still haven't figured how to value this type of upgrade should be worth, since none of the Aurea benefits are given.  But I'd be interested if you possibly get the MyChoice dining.   $110pp for a larger balcony, to me it's a personal decision.  Maybe you'll get super lucky and get an aft facing S2.

[jdvmd]

17 minutes ago, Até said:

It's good to see they're breaking up the bid categories a bit more, rather than how when they first started and it was just a "Suite".  Although I still haven't figured how to value this type of upgrade should be worth, since none of the Aurea benefits are given.  But I'd be interested if you possibly get the MyChoice dining.   $110pp for a larger balcony, to me it's a personal decision.  Maybe you'll get super lucky and get an aft facing S2.

I apologize. I should have been more clear - I did bid on a suite, not a specific suite. I knew what was available because I was able to see which cabins were unbooked. When I saw only sideways angled balconies were available, that's when I decided to pull the plug on the upgrade but was too late as the bid was already accepted.

[Até]

Now I'm more confused.  Did you end up with an extended balcony Aurea suite on deck nine or one of the angled balcony suites on each end of the hump of most decks?  The Aurea ones have hot tubs, the Fantastica ones don't.  Have you been assigned a cabin number, or can you post a similar cabin number from another deck?

Edited October 8, 2019 by Até

[jdvmd]

We have been assigned cabin no. 10221, an angled S2 balcony. I bid $110 a person ($220 USD total). We originally were in a Bella Balcony, which cost about $1,400. Bidding on a suite with a whirlpool on the balcony was a separate category. I did not bid on that one as it was a minimum $635 a person.

[Até]

Ah, I'm not totally familiar with all the S1?, S2, S3... category numbers some websites use with MSC ships, or that they even used that number system since Seaside has so many different suite types.  I couldn't remember that they called 10221 an S2 since it's a Fantastica Suite, to me I thought they were an S1 but I'm not sure if Seaside even has that designation, I guess that would be too confusing as it might be thought of as an Bella suite.  So... for some reason I was thinking you had one of the deck nine Aurea suites, or if really lucky an aft facing condo suite, not remembering they are considered an S3.  Thus MyChoice dining or other Aurea benefits do not come into play.

 

Anyway, I agree about your attempt to remove the bid since there's not much of a difference cabin space wise, probably 20-25 extra square feet in the angled corner.  I'm hesitant to additionally mention ... but rather than you find out once on the ship I feel obliged to go ahead and let you know the divider on that balcony is not as shown on the deck plans.  The divider between the whirlpool suite actually comes out at a 45 degree angle to the side of the ship rather than the 90 degree angle as shown.  This gives the whirlpool suite extra space while making the Fantastica suite's balcony considerably smaller than shown. 

 

I could rattle on here about other factoids, but I think by now most people on this forum know so far I'm not a bidding system fan.   I do want to thank you for openly providing and discussing this information with me/us about your bidding experience.

[mapsmith]

I kinda wish they would expand the bidding to experiences.  Would be nice to get Fantastica or Aurea at a slight discount.

 

[Até]

It must be possible since they do it for non-YC to YC upgrades.  They probably chose against it because it would create a very large number of bid categories and a crazy algorithm to figure out bid amounts.  How much to set the bids from a Fantastica inside to a Bella balcony?  Would it be an upgrade to go from an Aurea inside to a Fantastica balcony?  I can see why they left the experience out of most equations, that way it only creates problems for the customer to try to accurately figure out what the upgrade is actually worth without the experience benefits.

[jdvmd]

10 hours ago, Até said:

Ah, I'm not totally familiar with all the S1?, S2, S3... category numbers some websites use with MSC ships, or that they even used that number system since Seaside has so many different suite types.  I couldn't remember that they called 10221 an S2 since it's a Fantastica Suite, to me I thought they were an S1 but I'm not sure if Seaside even has that designation, I guess that would be too confusing as it might be thought of as an Bella suite.  So... for some reason I was thinking you had one of the deck nine Aurea suites, or if really lucky an aft facing condo suite, not remembering they are considered an S3.  Thus MyChoice dining or other Aurea benefits do not come into play.

 

Anyway, I agree about your attempt to remove the bid since there's not much of a difference cabin space wise, probably 20-25 extra square feet in the angled corner.  I'm hesitant to additionally mention ... but rather than you find out once on the ship I feel obliged to go ahead and let you know the divider on that balcony is not as shown on the deck plans.  The divider between the whirlpool suite actually comes out at a 45 degree angle to the side of the ship rather than the 90 degree angle as shown.  This gives the whirlpool suite extra space while making the Fantastica suite's balcony considerably smaller than shown. 

 

I could rattle on here about other factoids, but I think by now most people on this forum know so far I'm not a bidding system fan.   I do want to thank you for openly providing and discussing this information with me/us about your bidding experience.

Yes, I was aware of the whirlpool being on one side and thus diminishing my balcony space. Should have been quicker and not bid but it is what it is. We will enjoy ourselves I'm sure. We are content with the Bella experience and did not expect anything else. Kind of funny though that they never acted upon $125 or $150 a person and those bids were in place for a few weeks.

[mtlchris]

Does anyone know if you get the upgrade email if you booked with non-usa (french in this case) MSC ? Is there anyone to talk to in port or once onboard (we are YC inside, looking to either split to 2 cabins or upgrade to outside) if no email is received ?

[ziggyuk]

@mtlchris I am also interested to know who gets a bid and when the emails go out if anyone has experience on this new system.

I'm booked direct with MSC, from UK and 58 days out.

I know with NCL's bidding system I would have had my email 90 days out and they also use Plusgrade.

[Beamafar]

Ziggy ... I think it's only those in the US that MSC is offering the bidding process to.

[joeyjeremiah]

I don’t have a strategy but I was emailed offers this morning for 2 of my cabins for my December 27th Divina cruise. 

 

My fantastica balcony cabin I was offered:

$185 pp suite with panoramic windows

$1090 pp YC deluxe suite

$1750 pp YC executive and family suite

 

For my fantastica inside cabin I was offered:

$125 pp ocean view

$545 pp balcony

$905 pp suite with panoramic windows

 

 

[Até]

19 minutes ago, joeyjeremiah said:

My fantastica balcony cabin I was offered: $185 pp suite with panoramic windows

That offer is an absolute downgrade.  MSC/Plusgrade don't seem to take into account you get none of the suite perks other than possibly MyChoice dining, which even that has not been verified yet.  The only cabins that should get that offer are inside and ocean view cabins.

 

Interesting that the inside was not offered any YC bids, perhaps MSC is making it more similar to NCL where you can only do maximum of a two category upgrade.

 

If you don't mind saying, how much total would you be into a YC Deluxe at that minimum bid and how much were/are they selling for outright?

[ziggyuk]

5 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Ziggy ... I think it's only those in the US that MSC is offering the bidding process to.

 

Thanks Bea, I guess they must be trialling it for now, maybe international later.

[Até]

34 minutes ago, joeyjeremiah said:

For my fantastica inside cabin I was offered: $905 pp suite with panoramic windows

That offer is equally outrageous, $1810 minimum to go from an inside to an ocean view with large windows.  MSC thinks too highly of those cabins and it shows because they are rarely booked outright.

[joeyjeremiah]

I also have a Bella inside cabin booked for that cruise and it was for the same upgrade offers as the fantastica inside. 

 

As as for the total for a YC deluxe I will have to look later when I’m on my computer instead of my phone. But since we have 3 cabins booked I never really considered YC since we want to spend time on the ship with the others we are travelling with. If it was just myself and DH it would be a different story. 

[Até]

12 minutes ago, joeyjeremiah said:

I also have a Bella inside cabin booked for that cruise and it was for the same upgrade offers as the fantastica inside.

As I mentioned in another thread it was pretty much determined on the NCL boards that the purchase price paid for the initial cabin type has nothing to do with the offered or accepted bid amounts.  MSC has that initial cabin money in the bank so any future income from bids from the same basic category is pretty much only based on who is willing to pay the most.  So if you've booked Fantastica you're going to be at a disadvantage against someone who initially paid less by booking the same category as Bella.

 

What can affect your possibility of winning a bid is whether there are others bidding for your cabin type.  So if you're booked in that panoramic suite and no one is bidding on your cabin then the likelihood of winning your upgrade bid is diminished.  A day or two before sailing Plusgrade will work out all the possibilities and figure out which final arrangement maximizes profit.  Bids that are accepted before this final awarding time were deemed to be so profitable they couldn't be overlooked and needed to be accepted before the bidder realizes their error and the bid possibly being retracted.

 

What is going to be very difficult to determine is whether MSC is taking the promo, purchased or included drink plans and other similar things into account.  On a YC bid does someone who booked under the "All In" promo get a minimum bid different than someone who booked under "Escape To Sea"?  What if someone has already upgraded to Premium drinks?  What if they already purchased a thermal spa pass?  By the time the bids are awarded will there be time or the possibility to cancel those purchases?  I seriously doubt there's any way for Plusgrade to account for all the possibilities and make the final award fairly.  This gives a distinct bidding advantage to those that book the cheapest experience at the cheapest no frills rate and make no additional purchases.

[Karkies25]

Currently booked for Fantastica (B2) balcony on Belissima in December.

 

In September, was offered $550 pp (minimum bid) to upgrade to Yacht Club Deluxe Suite.

 

So I bid $555 pp ( $5 over, just to not put us at the bottom against other minimum bidders) LOL

 

No response yet if we will or will not get upgrade.

 

No biggie if we don't get it...

 

This will be our first MSC cruise.  We are long term Princess cruisers with Platinum status. We got Gold match with MSC.

 

Stay tuned!

[rm1759]

On 10/20/2019 at 2:30 PM, Karkies25 said:

Currently booked for Fantastica (B2) balcony on Belissima in December.

 

In September, was offered $550 pp (minimum bid) to upgrade to Yacht Club Deluxe Suite.

 

So I bid $555 pp ( $5 over, just to not put us at the bottom against other minimum bidders) LOL

 

No response yet if we will or will not get upgrade.

 

No biggie if we don't get it...

 

This will be our first MSC cruise.  We are long term Princess cruisers with Platinum status. We got Gold match with MSC.

 

Stay tuned!

 

so did your bid get accepted?  I am cruising meriviglia in March and received the plusgrade email. I currently have a fantastica balcony booked. The min bid was $540pp for yc deluxe suite. I put in a bid for $550. 
 

I think I rem pricing the yc balcony at about $5k. 3 people In The room) and paid 2,400 for the fantastica balcony. So that would make the cost for the yc balcony at about 3500 if I win the bid.  So seems like a good deal to me if I get it...

[Nikita4]

So there are in the US no more "free" upgrades? An upgrade is for me something without paying more. This biding system ist an upsell not an upgrade!

 

We are from Europe and we received for our TA from Martinique to Hamburg a free upgrade to a bigger royal suite.