V-Flyer

I just noticed I am 10 points short of moving up from Silver to Gold status for the Virgin Flying club.

I would normally travel to Shanghai and back which would allow me to get these points, however time is a precious commodity at the moment.

Any advice on best way to achieve this:

Shortest route I can think of is London > Dubai > London on Upper Class

Any ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Shak

Well, 10 TPs is simply one UC return ... so it's a best price / best trip option. BOS is surely the shortest? That or five day returns to Edinburgh on BMI in a qualifying fare ... which may be cheaper than a D to BOS or DXB???

Makes sense, although I can only spare a weekend as such, ideally 48 hours or so, hence I was thinking Fri night flight to Dubai, and returning on the Sunday Morning flight. that then only takes up about 40 hours or so of my time.

Originally posted by slinky09
Well, 10 TPs is simply one UC return ... so it's a best price / best trip option. BOS is surely the shortest? That or five day returns to Edinburgh on BMI in a qualifying fare ... which may be cheaper than a D to BOS or DXB???

Why a D? Surely a Z or R would suffice to get the 10 TP's?

Doesn't Z (and possibly R) have advance purchase restrictions? Maybe that's why a D?

Originally posted by Pete
Doesn't Z (and possibly R) have advance purchase restrictions? Maybe that's why a D?

You are, of course, 100% correct. 42 day advance purchase required for a Z! Thought there would be some advance purchase rules but didn't imagine it would be the long before the flight date.

Ok, now I am confused.

On a BOS flight, the conditions for a Z said, 42 days advance purchase, but then just looking at DXB, it says only 21 days. Does it vary depending on destination?

To the OP, it is about 2.5k for a UC to DXB, 3k for BOS, so not cheap, but I guess it depends on how important Au is for you?

Neil

Sat 25th- Tues 28th October to Mumbai is ~£1500 for a Z fare. That extra day or so, if you can spare it, greatly reduces the cost. The only downside is needing a visa for India.

Thanks,
Sarah

Gaining Au is one thing, do you think you will retain it next year ?

Also, if you typically fly UC, are the minimal benefits of Au worth spending the money to obtain it ?

Once you've earnt it, it's 10 points less for renewals; so if Shak managed to get that this year already, then one could assume it won't be a stretch next year.

... And once you have Au, it's very difficult to say goodbye to it. [;)]

Just as a clarifier, to get the TPs, date of counting is date of flight rather than date of booking right ? as I have just booked a UC to Shanghai but in Novemeber.

Yes, the TP's are only earned once you have taken the flight, so if you need 10TP by end Oct to gain Au you will need to take another flight.