A Good Deal?

I've got a question that I'd like to canvas some V-flyer opinions with so please feel free to comment at will!!

We've got on hold the following itinery for next April:

London - Shanghai - Beijing (Upper)
Shanghai - London (Economy)

Total cost = 1,950 + 60,000 miles (for 2 passengers, on an upgradeable economy fare)

By way of comparison, the same trip in economy (non-upgradable) = approx 1,600, in UC both ways (paid for) = 2,800 not including the internal connecting flight.

So folks, do you think it's a good deal or not a good deal?![:?]

My standard formula here is to presume miles are 15=1000 (usual purchase rate)

If you're getting a better equivalent rate of exchange in spending miles you're doing well....

Incidentally, you're going to find Economy as a Bummer after UC!

[Neil]

Well it obviously gives you a saving of cash, and if that is what you were hoping for then I guess it is a good deal. The way I would look at is, that you are paying 400 more to fly one way in UC and the internal flights included that if you just booked a straight low Y fare.

I assume the L + miles fare includes all the extra taxes for flying UC, and if that is the case, then the saving between this and a straight Z is very similar to what I was quoted by FC for a flight to LA.

It is always difficult to say if it is a good deal, as everyone has individual requirements, and also flight prices are changing all the time. A sale could come online next week with UC flights at 2000 round trip, which would then make this look not such a great day, the problem is, who knows if this will happen or not? The general consensus is, if you are happy with it, then book it, knowing you are booked on the dates/class you want, and you won't lose out if the fares goes up massively.

Neil

Cheers folks.

Neil - yes the 1,900ish does include all the taxes. What makes me think that this isn't such a bad deal is also that a) we're stuck to school holidays so sale fares are hard to get and b) the current UC sale has Shanghai at 2,148 until end of Jan, so we're still saving over the cheapest Upper fare.

Reason for the economy return is I've got around 125,000 miles and don't want to be down to 5,000 after taking so long to build them up! We'd ideally like to come back in Prem Econ but there's no availability at the moment, hence we'd book economy and hope for some pot luck!

[Neil]

Are you then booking your return economy leg in L still, and hoping you might be able to use your miles to upgrade to PE, or is the price in one of the lowest fare code, X or Q etc?

I'll check but the person I spoke to said we'd be able to add some more miles to the booking at a later date (+tax) if we were to upgrade, so I assume it's L both ways.

Not sure who you are dealing with but we can do LON - SHA - BJS on Virgin and then Air China coming back SHA - LON on Virgin.
Fare 491+tax226 giving a total of GBP 717 per person(Economy, non upgradeable). This is all on one ticket which is much safer for baggage and transfers.
For the same ticket with Virgin Upper Class both ways and Air China Economy Class is GBP 2955 per person.
For the same ticket with Virgin Upper Class both ways and Air China Business Class is GBP 2996 per person.
For the same ticket with Virgin Upper Class both ways and Air China First Class is GBP 3011 per person.

(2% credit card charge applies, UK debit card or bank transfer free of charge)

Please PM me if you want more info on these.

The other thing to be wary of is that if you book through an agent, even if it is L class then you can't upgrade it with miles. They have to use a published fare, not one of their contracts.

Ed

Thanks Ed, and thanks for the PM, but I think we'll go direct with Virgin. 2,900+ is out of our league financially unfortunately and we'd really like to experience UC.