V-Flyer

Hi all,

Just been doing some digging on UC availability on VS7 on the 17th of this month and see that there looks like good availability (J/7 C/7 D/7 I/7 Z/3) in the cabin. I'm wondering whether how many of these available seats might get converted to G in between now and the flight (if any!?)? I'm in PE on a reward seat and would like to try and upgrade should something become available. It seems that there is a lot of empty seats on that flight if FlightStats is correct!?

Thanks!

Oli

Not sure what you mean by 'conversion'

If VS release a G it won't affect the rest of the allocations. If they can sell a seat for cash then they will.

tontybear wrote:Not sure what you mean by 'conversion'

If VS release a G it won't affect the rest of the allocations. If they can sell a seat for cash then they will.

Ah - I was under the impression that if seats didn't sell, they would change some of them to Gs? I might have misunderstood the meaning!

The dark art of revenue management, yet again.

Logic would say that if a UC seat is going to go empty, Rev Management may as well release it as a G, so that at least VS will get their exorbitant fuel surcharge; and some miles would be used. n(

Unfortunately, experience says that life isn't that simple. IF G's were guaranteed, then presumably fewer people would buy the expensive last minute UC tickets.

It must be a difficult balancing act - all that we suggest is to keep checking. G's can be released at any time, but nothing is set in stone.

Nick

I'm not sure where you get "lots of empty seat" from ( there are 7 currently available for sale) ? As tonty has said if revenue think they'll sell a seat for cash thy will. The VS 7 can be a busy flight but check daily ( or even more frequently) and you may be lucky . If all else fails then enquire when you get to LHR on departure day.
Good luck .
DL

Thanks for all your responses. DragonLady - I think I got a little confused about how fare buckets work - I thought that the number dictates the number of available seats - then realised that would be way too many in UC - my mistake! I have been checking rewardseats.com regularly but realise a Saturday flight would be busy - so I shall keep my fingers crossed and see what happens!

Thanks again!

Oli

olisones wrote:I think I got a little confused about how fare buckets work - I thought that the number dictates the number of available seats - then realised that would be way too many in UC - my mistake! I have been checking rewardseats.com regularly but realise a Saturday flight would be busy - so I shall keep my fingers crossed and see what happens!

Don't worry, it's an easy mistake to make.

In fact I think your chances are not terrible. Saturday can be a quiet day, if you are lucky. Also, a flight to LA relatively soon showing Z3 now is certainly not as busy as it might be -- you might just get lucky. Bear in mind that somewhere between 7-10 days before the flight there is often a bit of a shakedown and from this point onwards more reward inventory can sometimes pop up. Keep checking! And then at the airport, keep asking!

My two cents.... always worth a pop. G fares are released at random before the flight date, with 7 seats available in the cabin I would say keep checking. 8D

If nothing is released then I would say head to the airport early and def try your luck at the check-in desk. From experience if there is still availability a quick phone call to the department of mysteries and usually they can create a G for you, just make sure they get the right number of miles... last time I tried, the chap I spoke to was asking me how many he should be taking from my account.. clearly an off day ii)

Good luck y)

joeyc wrote:My two cents.... always worth a pop. G fares are released at random before the flight date, with 7 seats available in the cabin I would say keep checking. 8D

If nothing is released then I would say head to the airport early and def try your luck at the check-in desk. From experience if there is still availability a quick phone call to the department of mysteries and usually they can create a G for you, just make sure they get the right number of miles... last time I tried, the chap I spoke to was asking me how many he should be taking from my account.. clearly an off day ii)

Good luck y)

Thanks! I'm looking a couple of times a day (you've got to be dedicated!!).

I'm travelling on a reward flight in PE so am I right in thinking I need 12,500 to upgrade from PE to UC?

olisones wrote:

joeyc wrote:My two cents.... always worth a pop. G fares are released at random before the flight date, with 7 seats available in the cabin I would say keep checking. 8D

If nothing is released then I would say head to the airport early and def try your luck at the check-in desk. From experience if there is still availability a quick phone call to the department of mysteries and usually they can create a G for you, just make sure they get the right number of miles... last time I tried, the chap I spoke to was asking me how many he should be taking from my account.. clearly an off day ii)

Good luck y)

Thanks! I'm looking a couple of times a day (you've got to be dedicated!!).

I'm travelling on a reward flight in PE so am I right in thinking I need 12,500 to upgrade from PE to UC?

Yes

olisones wrote:I'm travelling on a reward flight in PE so am I right in thinking I need 12,500 to upgrade from PE to UC?

Yep y)

What D L said

Plus you'll need to pay the difference in fuel surcharges between PE and UC!

Thanks everyone!

Interestly, just looked at FlightStats again this morning and its now showing:

J/9 C/9 D/9 I/9 Z/5

Some cancellations maybe?!