V-Flyer

We, my wife and I, are travelling UC LHR to BOS and returning PE BOS to LHR on the 22nd and 27th Dec respectively, the flights were booked with miles and money.
Question, is there a way to either: upgrade the return leg from PE to UC before we leave on the outward leg, or, upgrade at BOS immediately before we fly home. We both have over 10000 points each remaining but I'm not even sure if the return flight, which is ' k' class, is upgradable! Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

the-toolbox/fare-codes,so in theory you cannot upgrade a K class ticket although we have on at least 4 occassions phone Virgin and see what they have to say

I have upgraded a 'K' at the airport using cash and miles but it was a proper cash K not a miles plus money K but it seems there are different rules at the airport so you may get lucky.

No harm in asking though but I thi k you will need some more miles as I think a one way PE to UC upgrade is 20k miles (but am happy to be corrected on that)

Whether there is space and if you will be allowed to upgrade I don't know, but the upgrade one way from PE to UC is only 10,000 each so you should be ok on miles, I had to double check as 20,000 was the figure in my mind also but that is the EC to UC amount!

Ah right. When I did it (this was nov 2008) it was 20k miles per leg PE to UC so as it has gone down that's one good thing VS had done!

jodash wrote:http://v-flyer.com/the-toolbox/fare-codes,so in theory you cannot upgrade a K class ticket although we have on at least 4 occassions phone Virgin and see what they have to say

Interesting to know.

Did you have to upgrade your K to a flexible fare first?

Were you still able to earn Miles and TP's on the K fare?

Thanks

Yep from PE to UC is 10,000 each way for east coast US. However that is from a 'W' or 'S' class and there has to be availability in UC 'G' fare.

K classes can be upgraded with company accounts, with personal ones it is near on always upgrade with cash to a S or W I am afraid.

Now the interesting part... MPM fares.... per their T&Cs:

4.3.2 Miles Plus Money changes and upgrades
(a) Tickets are non refundable. However changes may be possible at applicable charges. Changes can be made subject to availability in the same class for a charge of GBP50 per ticket per change for changes to flights originating in the UK, US$75 for changes to flights originating in the US or local currency equivalent of US$75 for changes to flights originating in any other region. Should you change your itinerary or dates of travel, this may affect the fare to be paid. You will be required to pay any difference in fare, taxes, fees and surcharges, in addition to the change fee. However, where the change results in a lower fare no refund will be given.

(b) Change fees are waived for upgrade to a higher revenue fare or higher Miles Plus Money cabin.

(c) The difference in fare will also be applied as well as the difference in mileage, e.g. 7,500 - 2,000 = 5,500 Flying Club Miles will be debited from the Flying Club member’s account for an Economy to Premium Economy upgrade.

(d) All travel is subject to Virgin Atlantic’s Conditions of Carriage.

(e) We try to ensure that the Miles Plus Money fares available to you as a Flying Club member are amongst the most competitive in the marketplace. However, it is possible that greatly reduced sale fares will not have a Miles Plus Money counterpart and whilst we endeavour to offer our members the lowest rate we cannot guarantee that this will always be the case. Please ask at time of booking for the lowest available fares.

All possible, just on an MPM fare, which can be freed up at the airport if there is availability in the cabin. There is a caveat that is not listed here and that is that "All MPM fares in UC must be booked 21 days in advance of travel.." May need to give FC a call to see if this will be waived in your case.

Hull wrote:Were you still able to earn Miles and TP's on the K fare?

Never on a MPM fare... however, if you get a FC agent that does not know what they are doing you may get lucky if you call VS after taking the flight. ii)

Hull wrote:Were you still able to earn Miles and TP's on the K fare?

joeyc wrote:Never on a MPM fare... however, if you get a FC agent that does not know what they are doing you may get lucky if you call VS after taking the flight. ii)

Sorry, I'm on a full cash not MPM K fare next weekend and was wondering if I managed snag a milage upgrade to UC would I still earn miles and TP's.

Thanks

Hull wrote:

Hull wrote:Were you still able to earn Miles and TP's on the K fare?

Never on a MPM fare... however, if you get a FC agent that does not know what they are doing you may get lucky if you call VS after taking the flight. ii)

Sorry, I'm on a full cash not MPM K fare next weekend and was wondering if I managed snag a milage upgrade to UC would I still earn miles and TP's.

Thanks[/quote]

You would still earn the PE Miles and TP's - just not the UC ones

Yes you would earn miles and TP on the paid element of your fare but you need to phone VS to get those added as the IT can't cope with it automatically.

This is what happend to me when I upgraded k to UC but that was before I knew about the different buckets and rules. I simply asked at the LHR ticket desk (not check/in) and agent tapped away and then relieved me of cash and miles and I was away!

^^ Wow some misquoting being done in a couple of posts above, easy fix guys..

Hull edit at the beginning of your post with: [quote="joeyc"]
duggy83 - might be easier to wait for Hull to correct and then quote it all again and add your comments below.

If you are in cash K then you will need to pay the way to a W or S in order to upgrade to UC... when that is done you will earn PE W or S Miles and TPs. As tonty says, VS IT is a tad slow and will need a phone call to get the miles and TPs added to your account after your flight. Apologies, thought you were talking about MPM as well. 8D

Hull wrote:

jodash wrote:http://v-flyer.com/the-toolbox/fare-codes,so in theory you cannot upgrade a K class ticket although we have on at least 4 occassions phone Virgin and see what they have to say

Interesting to know.

Did you have to upgrade your K to a flexible fare first?

Were you still able to earn Miles and TP's on the K fare?

Thanks

no straight from a K to a Z, miles and TP'S I seem to remember were based on original K ticket

joeyc wrote:^^ Wow some misquoting being done in a couple of posts above, easy fix guys..

Hull edit at the beginning of your post with:

joeyc wrote:
duggy83 - might be easier to wait for Hull to correct and then quote it all again and add your comments below.

If you are in cash K then you will need to pay the way to a W or S in order to upgrade to UC... when that is done you will earn PE W or S Miles and TPs. As tonty says, VS IT is a tad slow and will need a phone call to get the miles and TPs added to your account after your flight. Apologies, thought you were talking about MPM as well. 8D

Apologies, I think I have edited it right now.

I will ask at JFK next weekend to see if there is any availability on the day and see if they will upgrade K-G.

Thanks again.

Hull wrote:I will ask at JFK next weekend to see if there is any availability on the day and see if they will upgrade K-G.

Thanks again.

I would expect to be asked for around $320 + 10k miles to upgrade a K to a G at JFK. I did this in November and was told it was a fixed cost of 240+the extra fuel surcharge. You do sometimes hear of people getting lucky and not having to pay a fare difference...
good luck.

at240 wrote:

Hull wrote:I will ask at JFK next weekend to see if there is any availability on the day and see if they will upgrade K-G.

Thanks again.

I would expect to be asked for around $320 + 10k miles to upgrade a K to a G at JFK. I did this in November and was told it was a fixed cost of 240+the extra fuel surcharge. You do sometimes hear of people getting lucky and not having to pay a fare difference...
good luck.

Thanks $320 pp sounds a fair price as both the wife and I are going to work from the Airport.
Fingers crossed.