The good? I’m writing about flights to Italy so that’s amazing. However, this post is about the good, bad and sad with seat upgrades, so let’s get into all of it.
Travel Companion Nana
My travel companion for this trip is my lovely 80-something year old Nana. [Nana is my mom but once my son was born, she’s just always Nana now]. She’s feisty, up for a good time, loves to chat with strangers, and happens to use a walker or wheelchair for longer distances. Taking Nana’s comfort into consideration while keeping an eye on our travel budget when planning our flights to Italy, I focused on direct flights from our hometown state of Florida in economy.
Bid on Upgrades
The good? ITA Airways has direct flights to Italy from Miami to Rome daily which was a convenient choice. I also read that ITA Airways could offer opportunities to purchase seat upgrades. As we got within a few days of our flight, I received an email from the airline offering me a chance to bid on an upgrade into Business or First class. I choose the amount I was willing to pay in an auction type format, and I jumped at the chance to do this.
I was so excited to get the notification that my bid was accepted. What?! I was going to be able to surprise Nana with an elevated experience for our flight to Italy! That was the good.
Unfortunately, my excitement was short lived as my bank flagged the upgrade charge from ITA Airways as potential fraud. I approved the charge almost immediately, but the damage was done. ITA Airways moved on to the next lucky person in line in the upgrade bidding process and I lost our amazing seats. That was the bad, and the sad.
fraud holds for international charges
In my old school travel ways, I had called my bank prior to making any of these transactions to alert their fraud department that I would be traveling and international charges, specifically from Italy, should be expected. I was told in a dismissive manner by the bank representative that advising them of upcoming travel was no longer necessary to avoid fraud holds. My loss of these amazing seats on a long, international flight is the sad, and if I’m being honest, the mad part of the story too.
If you have the opportunity to bid on ITA Airways upgrades, I would highly recommend it. If my transaction had not be clobbered by the fraud flag, we would have been living large in business class seats for a fraction of the list price.
Adventure on!
Sorry to hear that about the bid. I would be mad too. Ive flown with ITA before andI liked the experience!
Thank you for the bidding tip to check out for future flights for my travels! I didn’t know that was even a thing!
It’s so unfortunate that you weren’t able to get the seat upgrades as you initially thought. So close!
Such an exciting idea to surprise Nana with an upgrade! It’s a shame thing didn’t work out, but I hope the rest of your trip to Italy was amazing. Fingers crossed for a smoother experience next time!
Thanks. Terrific stuff!