Am I working this out correctly?

Me and the wife each have roughly 65k miles and want to upgrade to UC. I was on the Virgin site and did a search for the upgradable flights for Las vegas. Mid November 'B' fare 812 each 'L' fare 712 each

So 2 questions is there any difference to me for upgrading between B and L?

And is it just a matter of calling up and booking these flights, it seams very easy I remember hearing how it was very hard to get UC upgrades.

thanks

Chris

You have to do a search for Upper class reward seats using the spend miles option on the booking engine to see if there are any reward seats available to upgrade in to.

[Neil]

There is no difference for you booking a B or L fare,
both allow you to upgrade with miles.

To upgrade however you there will need to be G class seats available, which is the UC reward/miles fare code. You can either check this on the VS site by doing a dummy miles only booking or calling VS. You should check this before you book your tickets as G's can be hard to come by and are limited to the amount available on each flight, just because there are
UC seats available does not mean you can use miles to upgrade to them.

If there are G's available it would then be 60k miles each plus some additional taxes.

Thanks for that, I thought it was to easy there. So best looking for G fares first to see if i can find any then find the B or L fare price. Shame you can only search day at a time for the reward seats but at least it can be done. Not exactly sure where we want to go Vegas, NY or Chicago etc I just want to try out UC

thanks for the help

[Neil]

It is easiest to call VS as the agent can search dates for UC rewards quicker and easier. LAS is one of the routes where G's are hard to come by. The best value comes from using UC on the longer flights, so why not look at SFO or LAX and then you can also link in Vegas with either an internal flight or a road trip.

quote:Originally posted by gibbyni
Shame you can only search day at a time for the reward seats but at least it can be done.

It depends on availability, I think, but I often find that if you put in the first and last day of the month you want to travel in it'll come up with a matrix of available dates.

[Neil]

quote:Originally posted by mdvipond
quote:Originally posted by gibbyni
Shame you can only search day at a time for the reward seats but at least it can be done.

It depends on availability, I think, but I often find that if you put in the first and last day of the month you want to travel in it'll come up with a matrix of available dates.




That will only happen if the dates you have initially put in aren't available. If there is reward seats available on the dates you have requested it will just show you them straight away.

The matrix shows alternatives.

quote:Originally posted by gibbyni
Thanks for that, I thought it was to easy there. So best looking for G fares first to see if i can find any then find the B or L fare price. Shame you can only search day at a time for the reward seats but at least it can be done. Not exactly sure where we want to go Vegas, NY or Chicago etc I just want to try out UC

thanks for the help


Plug for a LHR flight, so you can check out the CH, and even look at where they have historically done Treatments & Haircuts...

quote:Originally posted by mdvipond
[It depends on availability, I think, but I often find that if you put in the first and last day of the month you want to travel in it'll come up with a matrix of available dates.




Thanks for that, it worked a treat. We have decided we may go to Boston, I know not the best value use of miles but its somewhere we always wanted to go to.

Whats the best number to call to book it, the normal booking line or FC Line (only Red Card)?

[Neil]

If you are booking UC you should call the UC reservation number listed in the contact us section on the VS site.

Thats me booked Boston on the 18 Nov till 23 Nov.1550 including connections from Belfast. Thanks everyone for your help well happy with that.

Next question what would the best seats be for us so that were not to far apart or what seats should i avoid. Had a look at seat guru and the seating charts here, obviously it would be an A and D. Some get good reviews then a bad one so not to sure where to to for. its a A340-300?

[Neil]

I would go for two A or K seats opposite a wall rather than an A and D, more privacy and it is easier to talk if you are one behind the other.

quote:Originally posted by Neil
I would go for two A or K seats opposite a wall rather than an A and D, more privacy and it is easier to talk if you are one behind the other.


[y] for Neil's suggestion. ISTBC but I think if it's an A340-300 then if you want the 'turn left' experience (and as a recent first time UCS traveller that does add a little something to the day) then go for seats forward of the bar..

And enjoy Boston.

Paul

Thanks for that,

Thats me in 1A,2A on the way out and 2K,3K on the way back.

Now to research hotels.

[Neil]

quote:Originally posted by gibbyni
Now to research hotels.


We stayed at the Back Bay Hotel (which was formally named Jury's) and that was excellent. Good location, a really nice modern hotel and well priced also.

Neil

Back Bay hotel is on our list to price out. Anyone ever stayed on the Lenox Hotel. Expedia looks to be bringing up a very good price compared to other websites at the min. It get number 1 for Boston on Trip Advisor