Purchased E-PE upgrades & exit row seats

Hi
I am travelling my first VS flight SFO-LHR in Feburary. Last flights I have been on have been United, so I'm used to their seating plans in their 777s. Couple of questions regarding VS seating -

1)Firstly, if I pay for an exit row seat in economy, does the door stick out much on either side? I've had a problem in 777s, just wondering if this was an issue assuming the flight is a 747-400.

2)Assuming I check-in around 2.5 hours before the flight, would you say my chances of obtaining an exit-row seat would be good?

3)I understand that if you pay to upgrade a leg/two legs to PE prior to departure, there is a fixed fee. If I wait until the day of departure, would this be less? If so, how much would you anticpate a one-leg upgrade being? And would this be represent better value than the £50 exit-row fee?

Cheers
Andy

Limited legroom at Exit rows seats 38A and K, plus 49A and K on the 747-400,other exit seats BC and HK are no problem (remember that if sat by the Toilets, people stand in the space in front of your feet waiting to use the bathrooms).
On the Airbus A340 emergency exit shutes are low enough for you to stretch your legs out onto and sleep very well (more room than Pre-econ) I have slept very well on these when travelling to/frpm Narita japan.
Iam trasvelling to LAX on the 23rd and have booked 3 seats for myself in economy,more room than pre-econ and I can lay flat across the seats.Plus I get 40,000+ miles!

Hope this is of some help.

[Pete]

seat1aupper,

Buying 3 seats in economy for yourself? I am standing up and applauding!

What do you do if it's a busy flight and someone decides they like the look of one of your empty seats rather than the one they've been assigned?

Pix

Hi,

I thought you only got FC miles for 1 person/seat ( ie yourself) ie even if you bought 2 seats for yourself you would only get 1 set of FC miles? Or am I incorrect?

Regards

TBS

VS FC Gold

[Bazz]

Hi AndyK welcome,

As seat1aupper says rows 38 and 49 seats A and K have the problem of limited legroom due to the slide. As far as I know, VS do not charge the GBP50 for these seats but they do for the 2 adjacent seats on each side of the aircraft, viz, B,C and H,J.

As for time to check-in for best chance of exit seats, I would suggest at least three hours before, obviously if you are tall it helps but smile and be polite you should have a good chance.

My understanding from other posts is that there is not a fixed price for upgrades paid for at check-in, there are price guidelines but actual prices can very depending on all sorts of things. I am sure some of the other members can shed more light on this particular aspect? Whether it would be worth it to upgrade in preference to "buying" an economy exit seat, well only you can decide. The food/drink is the same in both classes, yes you do get a glass of welcoming champers in PE which is nice but hardly justifies the extra expense. You get wider seats with more legroom (but if you get an exit row the legroom issue goes away). The biggest benefit is not on the flight itself but at check-in, where you have a dedicated PE check-in line, much shorter than the coach line.

Bazz
Still Flying

[mitchja]

I've only ever paid to upgrade from PE to Upper and this has varied anything from £400 to £2000 (which I didn't pay!!! by the way) - usually around the £550 mark though.

The earlier you check-in the lower the up-grade price will be. This applies to any upgrade but if the flight is full your chances will be slim. The £2000 one was a VS45 JFK flight 45mins before departure all thanks to BA delaying my connecting flight.

I also know people who have blagged upgrades to Premium without paying anything.


Silver Flying Club member since 2000

[Bazz]

Not surprised you didn't cough-up the two grand, esp when you can get a "Z" ticket for well under that! That was EXPENSIVE! [:0]

Bazz
Still Flying

Mitch ja...You also ask for these standby upgrades at check-in?

Before posting here (and seeing Bazzs' reply to ask at check in) I had emailed Virgin. They said to ask at ticketing but I've a feeling if I do that I might be in for a standard price upgrade and I already know I cannot afford that.