Advice on UC virgin flight to NY for wifes 30th

Apologies everybody, I haven't had chance to logon for a bit.
Thanks for the reply joeyc,
Nice to know another perk that betters BA ref: upgrades, though I have had no dealings with them before. I chose VA over BA after I initially sent an email to both companies asking for advice on the best ways to plan for this trip.
BA sent a bog standard almost system generated reply, implying they just wanted to fob me off. Where as the VA reply was very much more personal and had a feel that they would value my custome. And after the advice i have gained from this forum its just cemented my decision.

And again another question, you said 'and if you manage to get into UC then they can book you into the DTCI (Drive thru check in) too.'
Does this mean that upgraded tickets are hard to come by? Im thinking that I would need to try and book tickets as soon as they become available? Is it a tricky procedure?

And again another question, you said 'and if you manage to get into UC then they can book you into the DTCI (Drive thru check in) too.'
Does this mean that upgraded tickets are hard to come by? Im thinking that I would need to try and book tickets as soon as they become available? Is it a tricky procedure?

I'm afraid just having enough miles for an upgrade isn't enough. There also has to be reward seat availability on your chosen flight - and that tends to be very limited, particularly on popular routes like Florida, the Caribbean and west coast USA. Just because seats are available to buy with cash doesn't mean they're available to buy with miles.

If there are no reward seats available when you first look, don't give up - they can and do pop up at random at any time and can even sometimes be had at the airport on the day of the flight. But it's never guaranteed - if VS thinks it can sell enough cash fares, it won't release reward seats.

Apologies everybody, I haven't had chance to logon for a bit.
Thanks for the reply joeyc,
Nice to know another perk that betters BA ref: upgrades, though I have had no dealings with them before. I chose VA over BA after I initially sent an email to both companies asking for advice on the best ways to plan for this trip.
BA sent a bog standard almost system generated reply, implying they just wanted to fob me off. Where as the VA reply was very much more personal and had a feel that they would value my custome. And after the advice i have gained from this forum its just cemented my decision.

And again another question, you said 'and if you manage to get into UC then they can book you into the DTCI (Drive thru check in) too.'
Does this mean that upgraded tickets are hard to come by? Im thinking that I would need to try and book tickets as soon as they become available? Is it a tricky procedure?

No problems, glad we can be of assistance.

Yep that BA single cabin bump is a bit of an annoying policy but given the size of their route network and subsequent alliances I can understand as to why it was put in place. Can't have everyone buying into economy and using mileage stashes to fly First now, can we?

Pretty much what gumshoe says.... the reward seats are only released in limited numbers. That being said, I fly into and out of NYC a fair amount (love that town) and am ordinarily able to find a reward seat or two in UC when needed.

VS usually run 6 flights into NYC so there are a fair amount of reward seats to choose from, just be a bit flexible with dates and which flight to take and you should be fine.

The procedure is simple(ish) and involves putting a call through to VS when you are ready to book. Unfortunately there is no way to do a mileage upgrade online at the moment n( - you can't even search for the specific flexible fares any more n( n( n( n(