Virgin Voyages’ Level Upgrade bidding program is one of the most powerful — and most misunderstood — tools available to Sailors looking to move into a better cabin without paying full price. You place a bid on a higher cabin category, and if Virgin accepts your offer, you get the upgrade at a fraction of the retail difference. Simple concept. But the details around timing, payment, cancellations, and strategy trip up even experienced Sailors. For a broader look at all the ways you can upgrade your cabin — including manual changes, repricing, and MNVV strategies — check out our complete Virgin Voyages cabin upgrade guide.
This guide breaks down exactly how the Virgin Voyages upgrade bid process works, when invitations open, how to structure a winning offer, and the policy fine print that could save — or cost — you money.
Level Upgrade is Virgin Voyages’ cabin upgrade auction program, powered by a third-party platform called Plusgrade. Here’s the step-by-step process:
You can have multiple open bids for different cabin categories simultaneously. Only one amount for the entire reservation will be charged — Virgin selects one upgrade and charges you for that single offer.
If two or more Sailors are on a single booking, one person submits the bid for the entire cabin. You can’t upgrade individuals separately within the same reservation.
Virgin Voyages doesn’t publish a fixed opening date. Their official FAQ states bidding is available “from 45 days before your voyage” up to 48 hours before sailing, but also notes it’s available for “specific sailings at various timeframes.” In practice, community reports describe invitations appearing well before the 45-day mark on some sailings — sometimes as early as several months out.
The variability depends on cabin inventory, sailing demand, and the specific ship. Shorter, high-demand Caribbean sailings during peak season may open bidding earlier than a repositioning voyage with plenty of open cabins.
Pro Tip: Start checking the Level Upgrade page around 70 days before your voyage. Email invitations may not always arrive for every eligible Sailor, so manual checking is often the most reliable approach. Bookmark the page and check every few days.
Every cabin category is eligible for Level Upgrade bids — except the Massive Suite. You can bid from an Insider cabin into a Sea Terrace, from a Sea Terrace into a RockStar Suite, or from a standard RockStar into a Mega RockStar.
Which specific categories appear depends entirely on what’s available on your sailing. A fully booked ship with only a few suites remaining will show different options than a sailing with wide-open inventory.
Two important caveats:
This is where strategy matters. The bidding interface shows a slider with a minimum and maximum range. Many Sailors assume bidding the minimum gives them a legitimate shot. It usually doesn’t.
The minimum exists because Virgin needs a floor. But multiple Sailors are bidding on the same limited inventory, and Virgin has every incentive to accept higher offers. Bidding the minimum is essentially saying “I’ll take whatever’s left after everyone else.” On popular sailings, that means your bid quietly expires without being accepted.
Since the bid amount is per cabin (total), a useful way to evaluate whether your offer is worth it is to break it down per person, per night:
| Scenario | Total Bid | Per Person/Night (2 Sailors, 5 Nights) |
|---|---|---|
| Insider → Sea Terrace | $200 | $20 |
| Sea Terrace → RockStar Suite | $800 | $80 |
| RockStar → Mega RockStar | $1,500 | $150 |
Compare that per-person, per-night number to the retail price difference if you’d simply booked the higher category outright. If your bid lands at 30–50% of that retail gap, you’re in strong territory.
Pro Tip: Bidding 15–25% above the minimum tends to hit the sweet spot — enough to signal serious intent without overpaying. On less popular sailings or longer voyages with more inventory, you can often stay closer to the minimum. On peak Caribbean holiday sailings, go higher. Check cabin availability for your sailing before bidding — if a category is nearly sold out, competition will be stiffer.
When you submit a bid, Virgin places a $1 authorization hold on your credit or debit card to verify it’s valid. That hold is removed once the outcome is determined.
If your bid is accepted, the full amount is charged immediately. The charge may appear on your statement under “Plusgrade” — not Virgin Voyages. This is normal. The Level Upgrade terms specifically state the charge may not be challenged solely because the descriptor doesn’t say “Virgin Voyages.”
Key payment details:
The email address you use when submitting your bid is locked in and cannot be changed after submission. Use an email you actively monitor — that’s where your acceptance or rejection notification will arrive.
Booking Tip: Some Sailors report seeing a pending authorization larger than $1 that later disappears while the bid status returns to “pending.” This appears to be a temporary hold rather than a charge. Monitor your card activity close to sailing, and contact Virgin at 954-488-2955 (US) if anything looks off.
Yes — but only within a specific window. You can modify or cancel your offer up to 72 hours before your sailing date, as long as the bid hasn’t already been accepted and your card hasn’t been charged.
Once an offer is accepted, the upgrade amount is final and non-refundable. No credits, no exchanges, no exceptions — unless Virgin cancels the voyage entirely and can’t accommodate the upgraded category on a rescheduled sailing.
Virgin can accept your bid at any point during the bidding window. Community reports surface regularly of bids being accepted much earlier than the 48-hour notification target — sometimes 3–4 days out, sometimes as early as 15 days before sailing. If you place a “just to see what happens” bid with money you’re not prepared to spend, you may find it charged before you have time to cancel.
Pro Tip: Never bid an amount you aren’t fully prepared to pay right now. The 72-hour cancellation window is a safety net, not a guarantee. Early acceptances happen, and once the charge processes, there’s no reversing it.
Your VoyageFair Choice perks and policies carry over to the upgraded cabin. Booked under Base? You keep your Base perks in the new cabin. Booked under Essential? Same thing.
The exception: if you bid from a standard cabin category into a RockStar or Mega RockStar Suite, your booking shifts to follow the policies and perks of that suite tier instead. This is a benefit — RockStar and Mega RockStar perks are significantly more generous, including priority access, dedicated spaces, and in the case of Mega, a daily bar tab.
One clarification that trips up Sailors: the upgrade does not come with additional promotions. You keep whatever promotions were already on your booking, but you won’t receive new ones that would have applied had you originally booked the higher category.
This catches more Sailors than almost any other Level Upgrade detail. Virgin’s add-on purchase and cancellation deadlines — including the Bar Tab (up to 24 hours before sailing), celebration packages, and spa treatments — vary, but are often 48 hours before sailing. Level Upgrade responses also arrive around that same 48-hour mark.
The conflict is obvious. If you’re waiting to find out whether your bid into RockStar was accepted before deciding whether to purchase a Bar Tab, you could be cutting it close to the Bar Tab purchase cutoff. If you buy a Bar Tab and then get upgraded into Mega RockStar — which includes its own daily bar tab — you may end up with an unnecessary purchase and a tight cancellation timeline.
Pro Tip: If you’re bidding into Mega RockStar, hold off on buying a Bar Tab until your bid outcome is confirmed. For all other upgrade bids, purchase your add-ons based on your current cabin — the 48-hour cancellation policy for many add-ons gives you a narrow but usable window to adjust if your upgrade comes through.
Yes. Lock It In bookings are eligible for Level Upgrade bids, even though they can’t make manual cabin changes after booking. This makes Level Upgrade often the only path to a better cabin for Sailors on Lock It In or Base fares.
Community reports are mixed on timing — some Lock It In Sailors see “not eligible” on the portal initially, then receive an email invite later. Others can bid before their cabin is assigned, while some can’t until after assignment. If you’re showing as ineligible, check back periodically. Try disabling ad blockers, using incognito mode, or switching to a desktop browser — the Plusgrade redirect can be blocked by browser extensions.
The Level Upgrade portal runs through Plusgrade’s third-party site, and technical hiccups are common. The most frequent fix: disable pop-up blockers and ad blockers before visiting the upgrade page. The redirect from Virgin’s site to the Plusgrade bidding interface can be blocked by browser extensions, making it appear you’re not eligible when you actually are.
If you’re having trouble on mobile, switch to a desktop browser — Chrome tends to work most reliably. Incognito or private browsing mode resolves most remaining issues.
Sailors also report occasional bid cancellations with “changes in reservation” messaging, even when no manual changes were made. This appears to be triggered by internal system updates like cabin assignment or reservation processing. The fix is straightforward: simply re-submit your bid.
No. You keep the promotions already on your booking, but the upgrade doesn’t add new promotions that would have applied had you originally booked the higher category. Your Sailor Loot and any existing credits remain separate from the Level Upgrade transaction.
Virgin states most responses arrive approximately 48 hours before sailing. Bids can technically be accepted at any point during the bidding window — including well before that 48-hour mark. Monitor both your email and credit card activity as your sailing approaches.
No. Virgin assigns a cabin within the upgraded category based on availability. You cannot request a specific deck, location, or cabin number.
A Virgin Voyages upgrade bid is a genuinely smart way to get a better cabin at a fraction of the retail price — but only if you approach it with the right strategy. Bid an amount you’re comfortable paying today, don’t treat the minimum as a real offer, and plan your add-ons around the 48-hour notification timeline. Your Serious Sailors™ First Mate can help you evaluate whether bidding makes sense for your specific sailing and walk you through the math. Reach out to get started — it’s all part of booking made easy with Serious Sailors.
