Possible to buy upgrade from 'N' tickets?

Hi,

( Hope this is in the right forum, btw )

I have an option to buy a couple of 'N' class tickets (Mates) for LHR-JFK, and am planning to do so to travel to New York for a weekend before end of March. I would like to upgrade them to Upper Class tickets on the day if possible ( Have upgraded normal tickets before at reduced cost )

But the conditions for their issue are that PE upgrades are not available at all. Is upgrading 'N' tickets completely out?

Thanks,

David.

PS Love the site, extremely useful information.

[Pete]

If there's availability at the airport, then they might sell them to you - but I would expect a very heafty charge from 'N' (the cheapest Economy seat you can buy) to Upper Class. It would work out cheaper to throw those tickets away and buy discounted 'Z' fare Upper Class tickets now. 'Z' have advance-purchase restrictions on them (from memory, I think it's 45 days).

Your 'N' Class tickets are also heavily restricted - so they might not entertain the idea of letting you pay to upgrade them at all unless they're desperate to make some moves in the cabin (whether you want to get into PE or all the way to Upper).

Bottom line? Don't start with an 'N' class ticket. Sorry, that doesn't really help you, does it


Pix

Thanks for the info. Although they're N they're only £20 less than what I paid for 'Y' class tickets a few months back. The 'N' tickets are a special offer available to me until end of March.

Like you, I think ( and have found ) the best option is asking on the day.

Out of interest - what are the Z fares? Typically I've seen prices on the website around £3600 for J, and £1700 approx for ( I presume ) D tickets. What is a Z?

Thanks,

David.

[Pete]

Hi David,

Pricing on all types of fares changes all the time based on seasonality, popularity and the colour of Sir Richard's beard on that day (ok, I'm teasing a bit with the last option).

However, the point being that the bucket class N is the cheapest Virgin offer, so the buckets above N will be proportionally higher. I'd be surprised if you could get a Y fare on the same flight for a £20 difference (and if you could, I'd be looking very carefully at where you bought the N fare to make sure their 'special' offer wasn't just to make 'special' profits for them!).

Z fares are the Upper Class version of your N fare (or a Premium K fare); they're the cheapest bucket with the most restrictions. You can normally get them for a wildly-changing price anywhere between £1500-£2500 (Richard's beard has to be particularly white on the £2500 days). Your D may have been a Z fare, or just a very good deal on D.

Ultimately you're right in thinking the airport is the place for negotiation. At the moment VS are holding all the cards and don't need to barter. If you get to the airport and the plane is totally oversold, get yourself in front of a senior ticket agent and talk turkey.

If, on the other hand, the aircraft is wide open; have a great trip in economy! (Which, if it isn't that busy, should be fine anyway).

Pix