V-Flyer

To those who understand this better than I (which is most V flyers!!) I am looking to book 2 flights to LA in April. It will have to be PE as the Upper Sale is far from tempting. I want to come back on VS8 it at all possible and looking at Expert Flyer the flight on the 25th is wide open in PE with 9K's available (as well as W's and S's).

However I can't book the K's on the VA website it will only allow me to book the S class for a extra £300+. If I book the VS24 then I have no problems, other than the fact it gets back too late for me.

So my question is
a) Is expert flyer correct and if I phone up I could book a K class on the VS08?
b) Are VS trying to get people to book the more unpopular VS24 first during the sale?
or
c) Am I just being daft and missing something?

As always any help would be gratefully received...

What date is your outbound? it will help to know so others can try and replicate your booking.

April 25th is Easter Monday and that could affect availability - especially with the way school holidays fall and the royal wedding at the end of that week.

Am not sure the VS24 is unpopular. A lot of people will prefer a later departure to give them more time in LA on their last day but yes the idea of a sale (and that includes retail shops) is to try and sell excess inventory and that includes less popular products.

The number of sale seats on each flight is limited and it is quite possible that the quota for VS8 on your date has been reached. The number of Ks on ExpertFlyer does not reflect this. Something similar happened to me on a couple of occasions when the days I was wanting to travel no longer became available at the sale price. Fortunately I was in a position to be able to be flexible and change my dates.

It would do you no harm to call and see if there is availability on VS 8 the days you wanted to travel. If not perhaps you should reconsider your schedule or alternatively see if a flight is available out of SFO

Edited to add: Often sale inventory is not available on the more popular routes. That's why not every route has a fare sale. To many the VS8 would seem the more attractive. When it was the 747 servicing this route that would have been a clincher for me but in fact the VS24 had less wear and tear on my body by delivering me home near bedtime

Thanks for your responses. Sorry my original post has the wrong dates, I really shouldn't post after I've been to the pub, I'm looking to fly out on the 25th April (1st day of sale but no problems outbound with K availability on both flights) and return on the 4th or 5th May.

I just hoped that as Expert flyer shows Ks available inbound that VS would have to sell them, assuming EF is correct?

Even as bad as VS's IT systems are, sadly they are still more up to date on the booking classes available the EF, which while good as a general guide is not always 100% accurate.

Just did a dummy booking and it was 'Ks' all the way for O/B on 25th April and back on 4th May.

Returning on the 5th of May is was 'Ks' if the O/B was the VS07 but 'S' on the return VS08 leg if the O/B was the VS23.

Personally I prefer the VS24 as opposed to the VS08 (as I get a full day in LA).Both flights are pretty busy because of the popularity of the route both for business and leisure travellers and there's only 3.5 hrs difference in arrival times back at LHR (lunchtime or early afternoon).I'm guessing that if the later flight is too late you have an onward connection that is not do-able on the VS24?
DL

When we went to LA in October, we came back on the VS24 planning to have longer in the city. Had awful colds though and got fed up; went to the airport early, checked in while the VS8 was still open for check-in and managed to get row 18 - yay! Spent a few hours in the AF lounge (Priority Pass).