Strange Upgrade

Hi Guys,

This is my first post here, so please excuse me if im asking silly things already discussed!

I am flying to LA in October on VS07 and back on VS08, i got a pretty good price for the economy tickets on a X fare code. I am pretty interested in upgrading to PE so have been logging in most days to see the price difference/offerings etc. The price has been pretty static recently set at £783 per person to upgrade. I thought i would check out what the current fare for PE is if i were to book brand new, and it's only £1007 per person! So i thought i would give the guys at Virgin a ring and ask them what an upgrade would cost. They came back with £517, which is the difference between what i paid and what the PE fare is now.

My question i suppose is why the online manage booking is giving a higher fee per person? And whether or not i should hang on to see if that goes down, or wait to see if the price at the airport is better. I think availability for the flight is pretty good at the mo and i fly in 25 days.

Thanks in advance!
Ben

[Nottingham Nick]

Welcome to V-Flyer.

Upgrade prices are by no means an exact science, and are often discussed on here.

If you look at this thread, there is a post by Fergus, who is the eBusiness Manager at Virgin. he explains some of their problems. Whether they are applicable in your case, I am not sure.

My experiences of prices for on the day upgrades at LHR, are that they are very expensive, but the only thing to do is ask on the day and see what is offered.

Please let us know if you get a bargain (or not).

Nick

Mind you, I think a one way upgrade from Y to PE on the long flight to the West coast for 250 quid is not a bad deal!

My question i suppose is why the online manage booking is giving a higher fee per person? And whether or not i should hang on to see if that goes down, or wait to see if the price at the airport is better. I think availability for the flight is pretty good at the mo and i fly in 25 days.

Thanks in advance!
Ben

The simple answer is that if you like the price being offered NOW and think it is good value then book it NOW.

The offer may not be available tomorrow or if it is it could be a different price (and that could be higher)

There are also no guarentees of upgrades being available at the airport. Just because there is space in the cabin does not automatically mean VS will offer upgades.

They are very unlikely to give upgrades for cash away cheaply at the airport just because they have a bunch of seats. This is not going to be a case of "lots of empty space, so we might as well give it away". Plenty of posts discussing why it can't work this way.

As slinky said, 250 each way for going PE is not a bad price this late in the game, and PE is well worth it IMO if you're going 11 hours. If you got that offer at the airport for an 11 hour flight, you'd jump on it. Sounds like basically they are just rebooking you in K. Logic suggests you can't possibly get it any cheaper, or no one would ever buy a K fare, they'd just buy a cheap econ fare and upgrade