There have been a lot of negative things on here recently about VS, so just to redress the balance a little - The tale of booking our UC trip Down Under next year. 8D
We decided we wanted to go back to Oz and NZ after our fabulous trip there in 2010. We have always wanted to go to the Australian Open Tennis which is always the last two weeks in January and we saw that the England cricket team are touring NZ starting early February 2013 - perfect!
The downside to this was that the window for our travel was limited, and therefore one of the golden rules of reward seat booking (flexibility) was out of the window.
A few weeks back, once the 336 day limit for the outbound had passed, we went online and found one G for the date we wanted LHR-HKG. We rang and booked that and, at the same time, booked 2 x Gs for HKG to SYD on first choice date without a problem.
The very next day, I checked again and the G we had booked LHR to HKG had been replaced by another. y) y) Happy days! Outbound sorted. 8D
When the 336 day window for the return passed. I booked 2 x Gs in Upper SYD - HKG on the day we wanted very easily. That just left HKG to LHR. I checked daily for about three weeks and there was nothing in any class for any day in February.
On 2nd April 2 x Gs appeared on five dates in Feb, but they weren't ideal. The gamble then is do you book or do you wait?
Changing the date on a G is fairly easy (I am told) and there is only a £25 admin fee to pay. However this, morning as if by magic 2 x Gs appeared one day away from our ideal date. Sorted! y)
There are other upsides to booking all the legs separately - Charges are lower on flights that are not Ex-UK and for some reason there is no credit card surcharge on the VS Amex for flights that are ex HKG / SYD ?|
All in all, I am very pleased with the way it has panned out. Having read some of the tales of woe on here, I was fearing months of uncertainty and frustration but it has all come together remarkably easily.
So, if you have points sitting in your account - don't despair! LHR - SYD in Upper is supposedly one of the more difficult routes to book, but this shows it is far from impossible.
Nick
We decided we wanted to go back to Oz and NZ after our fabulous trip there in 2010. We have always wanted to go to the Australian Open Tennis which is always the last two weeks in January and we saw that the England cricket team are touring NZ starting early February 2013 - perfect!
The downside to this was that the window for our travel was limited, and therefore one of the golden rules of reward seat booking (flexibility) was out of the window.
A few weeks back, once the 336 day limit for the outbound had passed, we went online and found one G for the date we wanted LHR-HKG. We rang and booked that and, at the same time, booked 2 x Gs for HKG to SYD on first choice date without a problem.
The very next day, I checked again and the G we had booked LHR to HKG had been replaced by another. y) y) Happy days! Outbound sorted. 8D
When the 336 day window for the return passed. I booked 2 x Gs in Upper SYD - HKG on the day we wanted very easily. That just left HKG to LHR. I checked daily for about three weeks and there was nothing in any class for any day in February.
On 2nd April 2 x Gs appeared on five dates in Feb, but they weren't ideal. The gamble then is do you book or do you wait?
Changing the date on a G is fairly easy (I am told) and there is only a £25 admin fee to pay. However this, morning as if by magic 2 x Gs appeared one day away from our ideal date. Sorted! y)
There are other upsides to booking all the legs separately - Charges are lower on flights that are not Ex-UK and for some reason there is no credit card surcharge on the VS Amex for flights that are ex HKG / SYD ?|
All in all, I am very pleased with the way it has panned out. Having read some of the tales of woe on here, I was fearing months of uncertainty and frustration but it has all come together remarkably easily.
So, if you have points sitting in your account - don't despair! LHR - SYD in Upper is supposedly one of the more difficult routes to book, but this shows it is far from impossible.
Nick
