I've been flying for a while now, but this is the first time I've been on a flight where they offer a business class upgrade through an auction (I googled it – turns out it's a pretty common thing).

Here's how it works: Air Serbia sends you a link where you decide how much you're willing to pay for the upgrade. Then you cross your fingers and hope there are fewer people willing to pay more than you than there are available seats.

The minimum upgrade fee for one leg isn't that different from the cost of economy round-trip: from 65k dinars (~$600) to 125k (~$1160). The return flight bids are 1.5 times higher.

Against all my expectations, it turns out that a direct flight from Belgrade to New York takes the same 10 hours it used to from Moscow. Well, alright then. Guess I'll be suffering in economy 😅