Upgrades on the day of travel

Hello-
Regarding the nuances of getting an upgrade to UC from PE:

I am currently booked in an H fare PE seat, and there are no upgrades to UC available at the moment. I was told by the agent that sometimes seats are available on the day of travel, and that I should ask at the airport.

My questions:
(1) If an upgrade becomes available, do they collect the fare difference to an upgradable fare (H->S in this case) at the same time they collect the miles and fees for the upgrade? Or, do I already have to be booked in S before the day of flight?

(2) Is there any advantage to getting to the airport early? Is there a magic time before flight when they start accepting upgrade requests?

Many thanks!

1. No you don't need to be in S (or W) before the flight. They will calculate the charges and tell you the miles needed.

2. I don't think so. To a degree it depends on how busy the flight already is and the destination and who else wants to upgrade!

Be aware though that just because there might be space available (even lots of it) in a cabin does not automatically mean that VS will offer upgrades.

all else being equal, if there're only one or two free seats in UC, early arrival at the airport improves your chance of getting one before they're gone

do a load check the day before, if there're seats free then an early arrival is worthwhile, especially if you're flying out of LHR or LGW where you can enjoy the clubhouse

i've not tried it with an H, but on other non-upgradable tickets from travel agents the prices i've been quoted are often the same as simply buying a new ticket outright

OK, thanks to both. Will hope for the best on the day... (and get there a little early)

all else being equal, if there're only one or two free seats in UC, early arrival at the airport improves your chance of getting one before they're gone

Only if they want to shift them, and that is more often down to the need to deal with overbooking in PE / Economy rather than any desire to fill the UC cabin.

Who decides whether to offer them at the airport then? is it down to staff at check in?

[Darren Wheeler]

Who decides whether to offer them at the airport then? is it down to staff at check in?

Suitability for upgrade is usually decided long before check-in, but may only be applied at the gate. Hence the joy of the magical beep when your boarding card is scanned (well, most of the time...).

Who decides whether to offer them at the airport then? is it down to staff at check in?

Suitability for upgrade is usually decided long before check-in, but may only be applied at the gate. Hence the joy of the magical beep when your boarding card is scanned (well, most of the time...).

I think cat was asking about releasing seats for miles and cash not 'free' op-ups

It's worth noting that if you paid for the fare in cash, they are probably going to quote you a cash upgrade price to the cheapest available UC fare. I believe they /could/ also upgrade you to a W or S fare and sell you a G with miles, but that's subject to availability and if you're not seeing it now you most likely won't see it the day of. But you never know.

I've found the best option is to book upgradeable fares from the start, when you can get them lower with advanced purchase restrictions. Then it's a waiting game for the Gs to show up. At least with M economy tickets, which sometimes are only $20-50 above O or U, you get 3 TPs...

[Neil]

One thing to bear in mind with airport upgrades, if you are in H and want to upgrade with miles subject to their being availability, you would have to upgrade your H to a W first. It has to be a W because S, the other bucket that can be upgraded has advance selling rules, which would mean you can't upgrade to it on the day. This could make the H to W element very expensive and something to have in mind.

One thing to bear in mind with airport upgrades, if you are in H and want to upgrade with miles subject to their being availability, you would have to upgrade your H to a W first. It has to be a W because S, the other bucket that can be upgraded has advance selling rules, which would mean you can't upgrade to it on the day. This could make the H to W element very expensive and something to have in mind.

Thank for you validating what I said, minus the S fare. Forgot about its advanced purchase. I tried this once K to W on the day of and they said sure...for £1000+

Interesting one this - I am sure that we all have thought about this at one point or another...

Whilst I do agree with most of the posts here - I have been told that the staff at the gate may not request you change to an upgradable ticket first. If they are overbooked in PE and you have the miles to get into UC they can just do this. I was told this by a former staff member...

if they are overbooked in PE and you have the miles to get into UC they can just do this...

So the key is not how much availability in UC, it's how little in PE...

I really hesitate to contradict those with more experience on V flyer than me, but for certain I've upgraded an H to S by paying on the day, then S to G with miles etc. Maybe the LHR - HKG route (my usual) is more flexible?

if they are overbooked in PE and you have the miles to get into UC they can just do this...

So the key is not how much availability in UC, it's how little in PE...

When they overbook PE then they are more receptive to bending the rules so that they can fill the plane. They have the operational ability at the airport/gate to do what they need to make the money.

The key point of all this advice is if you don't ask you won't get but don't expect anything except to pay!

I really hesitate to contradict those with more experience on V flyer than me, but for certain I've upgraded an H to S by paying on the day, then S to G with miles etc. Maybe the LHR - HKG route (my usual) is more flexible?

I upgraded 3 H fares to G's at newark a couple of years back for the princely sum of $245 and 30,000 miles , a supervisor dealt with it and couldn't have been more helpful .
I guess the only way they could have done it was to take the H to an S first

[Neil]

As has been touched on a couple of times in this thread and it;s actually a old saying on here, "on the day, anything is possible".

The fare rules are quite clear, and you shouldn't be allowed to move to an S fare on the day, but rules are there to be broken, especially if it benefits VS or the agent doesn't fully understand them. It is always worth asking the question at the airport, because you just never can know with any certainty what the answer will be.

I think that's the key - if it benefits VS (or makes the job significantly easier!) the staff on the day will do what they need to do. I guess there are a series of variables here - and unless you hit a few then nothing will happen.

However, I would always use this option as a last resort. If the OP has booked direct with VS then a call to FC the day before would be a better option.

IMO - I think the days of Airport Upgrades are coming to an end...

I upgraded 3 H fares to G's at newark a couple of years back for the princely sum of $245 and 30,000 miles , a supervisor dealt with it and couldn't have been more helpful .
I guess the only way they could have done it was to take the H to an S first

A veritable bargain. My experiences in this area are scarred by the cost of GBP 1250 each plus miles to upgrade on the way out to ORD (to an empty UC cabin) and USD 900 on the return. I' m sure it was the PE inflexibility rather than a NSFU pricing

I would agree with this - having been offered a flat rate at £1,000 from PE to UC regardless of coding, miles or anything... Perhaps a poor member of the VS ground team?


Dan

It's so variable - my last H to S to G was £44.50! I just checked the receipt in case my memory was faulty.

IMO - I think the days of Airport Upgrades are coming to an end...

Interesting statement there Daniel.
What makes you think that??
I sit on the side of the fence that says VS will do what they have to do to fill as many seats as they can.
Had countless times where an "IT" bucket has been allowed to upgrade with miles but when the time was right for VS. I have also been allowed, twice, to upgrade from PE to UC using VH purchased tickets. Again, over booking in PE by VS made my miles look like a good option for them.

[Neil]

IMO - I think the days of Airport Upgrades are coming to an end...

I can't see any logical reason why that will be the case.

Yes, I think airlines will continue to push people to upgrade before the day, as it allows better planning and money sooner for them.

However, if it suits the airlines to have people paying to move on the day, when they might have had to move people anyway, then they aren't going to stop offering that option.

I upgraded 3 H fares to G's at newark a couple of years back for the princely sum of $245 and 30,000 miles , a supervisor dealt with it and couldn't have been more helpful .
I guess the only way they could have done it was to take the H to an S first

A veritable bargain. My experiences in this area are scarred by the cost of GBP 1250 each plus miles to upgrade on the way out to ORD (to an empty UC cabin) and USD 900 on the return. I' m sure it was the PE inflexibility rather than a NSFU pricing

When she told me how much it would cost I initially thought that was per ticket and I was more than happy with that so when she said that $245 was the total for all 3 I was shocked

IMO - I think the days of Airport Upgrades are coming to an end...

I can't see any logical reason why that will be the case.

Yes, I think airlines will continue to push people to upgrade before the day, as it allows better planning and money sooner for them.

However, if it suits the airlines to have people paying to move on the day, when they might have had to move people anyway, then they aren't going to stop offering that option.

I see your point, however my theory for what its worth is...

Allowing PAX to upgrade on the day may be seen as 'brand damaging' to the UC brand for VS. Most UC customers will book this class outright first time - then there will be people like me who cannot afford this who will look for a 'deal' on the day.

This, could bode the question - why book UC, why not book PE and chance it (if you are that way inclined)... Personally I find PE a fantastic class to travel in, I would never look to book UC unless on the day there was a deal - but for people sitting on the fence (economically speaking) with a similar view the idea of a bargain could push them to take this route.

If on the day they need to move people - it would be better for VS to move flyers who use the service more often as a comp hoping they change their spending patterns going forward. Much better than a once a year person who will take the £40 upgrade and use the miles the gained through Tesco shopping for 3 years who wont fly again for some time...

I would guess I am wrong, but that's my theory...