V-Flyer

Hi

Just a quick question, as I thought I would ask here rather than make a fool of myself on the phone to virgin, as I am sure that someone will have the answer!

We are flying Premium Economy LHR-MIA 25/08 and returning on 05/09 and travelling in fare code K, as all of the travelling party are Silver Flying Club Members would it be possible for us to upgrade to UC using our miles either one way or return? And if so how many miles would this be and would there be any costs involved?

Thanks
Jack

If you are on a K fare then you will have to pay the difference between a K and an S fare (the lowest upgradeable fare in PE) before you will be able to upgrade with miles. The amount of miles from PE to UC is 20,000 per leg per person and there is also an additional charge of about £30 for the fuel surcharge (I think)

There also has to be G availability in order to be able to upgrade. You can check this be doing a dummy booking and selecting the "Spend miles" option

Being Silver FC member has no benefit over Red in doing this (infact apart from being able to use the PE checkin and a slight increase in miles earning I dont see any benefit at all ! ( but that is a personal view)) as flying Virgin Atlantic it is so easily earned unlike many other carriers such as British Air, and thus Silver has no status. You need to have Gold or a tier above that for preferential treatment.

You could argue that FC silver members would have a slightly greater chance of being selected for an op up, however, this is very rare - certainly less likely for a group vs. A couple!

PE checkin and additional Base miles definitely out weigh red!!

I'd like too see slightly increased qualification levels for AG but with better benefits and status too.

I used miles plus money to upgrade from a k to a z

There is only three of us traveling so I would think that an op upgrade would be out of the question. I know that being a silver member does not bring that much difference, I am not sure why I mentioned it in the post, it was just that we have some miles and thought that we maybe able to upgrade with them

Are you not been offered an upgrade in 'manage my booking'? You could ring VS up and ask - its not a question they havn't been asked before.

You could also ask at check-in as well.

I just did a dummy booking for your dates and was offered upgrades from PE to UC for £ 550 per leg so there is obviosly space (at the moment) in UC.

There is no option in Manage Booking, so maybe it would be the best thing for me to give them a call, I just wanted to check with fellow v flyers if they had any experiance of this and how much it cost in cash and miles. I think that it maybe to much for us if it is that price, although we did get the PE fare in the sale, so you cannot always have it the way you want it

Luke085 wrote:I'd like too see slightly increased qualification levels for AG but with better benefits and status too.

I thought they just adjusted this ?

A op up for silver FC is about as likely as a Virgin train running on time. An op up for a gold is also rare (but not impossible).

If the flight is not busy you may get offered some upgrade options in the days prior via your online booking or even at the airport (but I have seldom seen these).

To pay up from K to S will cost you several hundred quid but if for a few hundred plus some miles you jump into UC then not a bad investment.

I managed to get a miles upgrade on my return on my SFO trip in October as there was only availability on the flight home in UC. Original fare in PE was ~£800 and then it was ~£300 + 20k miles to go from a K to a G fare.

Now looking to get the outward journey in UC if I can. Would it be a case on just keep checking the website (daily?) to see if any availability turns up or wait and try to work some magic at the airport?

I'd keep trying as you never know when an opportunity might appear and if/when it does snap it up as soon as you see it.

JCBR wrote:

Luke085 wrote:I'd like too see slightly increased qualification levels for AG but with better benefits and status too.

I thought they just adjusted this ?

A op up for silver FC is about as likely as a Virgin train running on time. An op up for a gold is also rare (but not impossible).

If the flight is not busy you may get offered some upgrade options in the days prior via your online booking or even at the airport (but I have seldom seen these).

To pay up from K to S will cost you several hundred quid but if for a few hundred plus some miles you jump into UC then not a bad investment.

Yes the TP increased from 10 to 15 but this still just 1.5 UC flights!

RE: op up, i did say AG gives a "slightly higher" chance, which in theory it should - however, like I said above - very rare!

Note sure you can upgrade these days to an "S" class near the date or on the day of travel - think you have to go to a W these days.......might be wrong though.

As gingerflyer says, you're now within the advance purchase period to upgrade to a S fare, your only choice if G's are available now is to upgrade to a W fare, and that will cost a lot.

As Ryan says, it can be possible at the airport to upgrade a K to a G, however that usually happens when Y and PE are full and VS wants to create an incentive to upgrade (so they don't have to bump people). However, your flight looks quite open: J9 D9 R9 Z9 W9 S9 K9 Y9 B9 L9 M9 Q9 X9 N9 O9 so I'll guess that that is unlikely.

The chance of an opup is nill. So unfortunately, unless you wish to shell out, that option to sit in a suite looks gone.

JCBR wrote:[A op up for silver FC is about as likely as a Virgin train running on time.

So an 86.6% chance then?. That's good

I have been lucky as a silver to get marked out for a PE to UC op up, but that was when a 343 turned up instead of a 346. Daught was upgraded too and she's only red. Key was probably that we were upgraded separately (me first) and were willing to be split up. My op up was done before I even got to the airport, the Daught's was based on those who actually checked in.

In this case I do think that status was considered for the pre-check in op ups, so presumably any Golds on the flight got sorted too.

And it it the case that larger groups (3+) and couples wanting to be seated together have far less chance.

Regards
R3dV