V-Flyer

Just want to check with the seasoned pros that I am not missing a trick.

I'm about to book a trip to Cape Town in Feb/March next year, and intend to buy a PE seat for myself (in S) for £1792. I'll then use my free Companion ticket from the black Amex to take my wife, paying the taxes of about £520. Will need to tack on an infant fare when he pops out in a month or so as well.

So all up around £2,500 for 2 adults and a 5 month old for PE return. Seems like a reasonable deal (vs £3,500 paying all cash).

Is there any alternatives I could/should be looking at? I don't want to spend any of my miles as I'm saving them for a SYD upgrade further down the line.

Sounds like a good deal to me. The companion fare used with an S can prove to be a good saving.

Grrrr... So it turns out no 'reward seats' available for all of Feb/March to Cape Town at the moment, and I need to try again in a few weeks.

Is there anywhere I can see if reward seats are available in my own time without calling the helpline?

Yes, there are a couple of ways.

On the VS website, just do a dummy booking selecting "spend miles" instead of money. It'll tell you if there are reward seats available on the day you want, and if not it'll display a calendar showing when they are available.

Alternatively try rewardseats.com which in many ways is more user friendly although it's hopeless on a mobile device (which, to their credit, they admit upfront!).