V-Flyer

Hi All,

Still at the planning stage. If I book 11 months to the day prior to my flight (thinking now MIA instead of MCO) do I have a good chance of getting my 2x UC seats? I'd hate to have saved all my miles to be told that I haven't a mission!

I probably have a window of about 3 days over which I could fly out.

Thanks, hoping someone can put my mind at ease!

Steven

There was good availability to MIA in April this year, I only booked a few months ahead and got exact dates.

Hi,

What time of year are you looking to travel? That could have a big impact, especially if it is over a major holiday period like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving etc

Also, reward seats aren't necessarily released straight away nowadays. It is of course worth checking as soon as the flights go on sale, but don't be disheartened if non show up. Virgin seem to just randomly release them now, so it could be a couple of weeks after the flight going on sale, or even a couple of months, just keep checking daily.

Of course, there is no certainty you will be able to get two, or even one seat, especially during the busier times like i have suggested above, but the fact you can be flexible will help massively.

Good luck
Neil

From my experience you are giving yourself half a chance. I personally have grabbed a couple of these a few times.
Normal rules apply. Be as flexible as you can. Not sure where your destination is but if's it somewhere like Vegas, look at flying in to LA and driving or fly in to SFO and take a couple of days driving down to Vegas etc,etc, etc.

Also don't be afraid to do a few dummy bookings on the book flights tool on the VS web page, if you see a date you like GRAB IT. It will be gone tomorrow!!!
Good luck!!

Whilst not impossible (I have managed 2 Gs to MCO at Christmas) you do have be very flexible

Time of year, day of the week and avoiding school holidays at all costs all play a part

buns

I think it will be September 2013 - hopefully into Miami.

I guess I could try for Orlando, but I would like to try the experience of the heathrow clubhouse.

What do you mean dummy bookings?

sjcraythorne wrote:Hi All,

Still at the planning stage. If I book 11 months to the day prior to my flight (thinking now MIA instead of MCO) do I have a good chance of getting my 2x UC seats? I'd hate to have saved all my miles to be told that I haven't a mission!

I probably have a window of about 3 days over which I could fly out.

Thanks, hoping someone can put my mind at ease!

Steven

I did exactly this and had no problem getting G flights to MIA.
In fact I am in the middle of my trip. TR when I get back.

sjcraythorne wrote:I think it will be September 2013 - hopefully into Miami.

I guess I could try for Orlando, but I would like to try the experience of the heathrow clubhouse.

What do you mean dummy bookings?

Go on to the VS website, log in via your Flying Club No:
Go to Book Flights > Select Spend Miles and select dates and airports to your hearts content.
If there are no seats on your selected dates it will normally show you the month you wish to arrive and depart with dates that are available.
As other posters have said, day of week, time of year all play a part as well as the revenue of the flight. I think we have all seen them become available on the day or in the days before departure. Again there is never any guarantees

hhhmmmmmm MIA= nightmare immigration...is it worth it for the clubhouse ???

flabound wrote:hhhmmmmmm MIA= nightmare immigration...is it worth it for the clubhouse ???

Took me 10 minutes to get through in June. Never had the problems others report about Miami.

Hamster wrote:

flabound wrote:hhhmmmmmm MIA= nightmare immigration...is it worth it for the clubhouse ???

Took me 10 minutes to get through in June. Never had the problems others report about Miami.

Ditto - especially if flying UC.

sjcraythorne

The short answer is yes, you do have a good chance. Just be sure to search often and book as soon as something appears. If that means booking an economy or PE 'other' leg whilst you wait for UC reward seats to appear, do that and then change that leg if/when the Gs pop up. Perserverance is the key, but really it should not be impossible, given the route, period, flexibility, and advance planning.

Good luck!

Hi SJ

This can be done as others have said, but its not necessarily easy to do in one hit. Earlier in the year I took my wife to Sydney UC return on miles - so that was 8 flights in UC, which was nigh on impossible in one booking. You can read the whole thread here. We were very flexible on dates and flew midweek which is generally easier.

If you can get 2 or 3 sectors in UC and the others in PE or E you can then upgrade with more miles as G seats become available (and they do). If you are FC Gold there is no charge to change a miles booking, if not you pay £25 each time.

When you search, as LovingGold says above, do so for a single ticket on a sector (one way booking) at a time. That gives the clearest view at any point in time. And when you do see what you want, call the hotline straight away (day or night) and book it. I know from bitter experience, they don't last long.

Good luck and have a great time.

Cheers

Martin

flabound wrote:hhhmmmmmm MIA= nightmare immigration...is it worth it for the clubhouse ???

However you can be lucky.
We arrived on the 05 last Friday. They opened a small immigration area near where we got off the plane. We were through in under five minutes.
Apparently this is an overflow for when the main area gets too packed, so it could have been really bad.
We chose Miami so we could fly from Heathrow for the ch..
I would not however fly to Mia again. We were extremely lucky. But getting on the road from the car rental place is the worst I have ever experienced. Very bad signing.

Spill wrote:

flabound wrote:hhhmmmmmm MIA= nightmare immigration...is it worth it for the clubhouse ???

However you can be lucky.
We arrived on the 05 last Friday. They opened a small immigration area near where we got off the plane. We were through in under five minutes.
Apparently this is an overflow for when the main area gets too packed, so it could have been really bad.

Same when we flew there in June.