V-Flyer

Hi guys, I am not a regular flyer so not very clued up and getting the best deals.

I have a virgin credit card and have managed to save the following

107k miles, 2 Premium Economy Reward upgrades
and a complementary companion reward flight

I am finding it very difficult to find the best way to use the above.

I have seen in the small print that the i need certain types of fair codes to qualify, but I cant figure out how to search for flights in those fair classes. The search doesnt give you the option to select any.

My wife and I would like to fly away for a week in mid october.

Any advice on best place to go using points? I dont mind money + points, points only, full fair plus companion etc

Would really appreciate some guidance before I shop in my virgin miles for something else!

Hi Amit,

Welcome to v-flyer. I'm reasonably new here too and everyone is really helpful. Here's what I've picked up so far that might help you. Like you I'm also accumulating miles with my VS Amex, very useful it is too.

First off, make sure you read up on the different fare codes or buckets > toolbox > fare codes. Basically, if you want to upgrade from economy to PE or UC then an M fare is the first bucket that is upgradeable with miles. To upgrade PE to UC with miles the eligible buckets are S or W. S fares are cheaper.

You can't slect different fare buckets if you search from VS home page. To check availability of fares in different fare buckets follow this link http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/fr ... /index.jsp (this page is always accessible in your FC account page).

Log in to flying club in the top right corner of the page and then you can check fares in all revenue buckets in each class by selecting and the drop down boxes give you the ability to check for an M in economy for instance or an S in PE (the only thing you can't check is a Z in UC).

After deciding where you want to go, and there is an economy reward sale at present to US destinations (http://being.successfultogether.co.uk/c ... rmiles.jsp ) , you can check availability. Some destinations you might struggle to find reward seats available for mid October, especially if youre looking for UC, but it's worth checking (ISTBC).

There has to be reward seat availability in the class you're looking for so for instance if you want to use those 2 PE reward upgrades from your Amex account, you need to check there are PE reward seats available on the flight and dates. Back on the search page from the first link just select spend miles and search away for PE on your chosen destination and dates. If there are some available then you ring FC and buy an economy ticket (ask for an M fare) and to use your Amex reward upgrades which the FC agent will see on your account. Remember you'll need to pay any additional surcharges and taxes.

My understanding is that MpM fares are considered generally to be poor value. As is the companion reward because you have to buy a full fare non-discounted fare in any class.

If you want to try and bag UC rewards, then a cabin upgrade is your option. Again check availability of reward seats for your chosen destination and dates as above first. Upgrades from economy (Y) to UC start from 20,000 miles per person one way for some of the US destinations, with others 25,000 miles. So for a 100,000 if there are UC rewards available for both sectors then you can purchase M fares and save a good deal of cash (always ring FC to do this). Taxes and surcharges are always payable.

I hope this is helpful, I could probably go on, but it really depends on where you decide to go, and there are others far more experienced than I.

Best of luck, keep asking any questions, they're such a friendly bunch here, and wherever you go, have a fab time

Wow.. Thanks for all the info.. It really helps!

I will get reading.

Thanks

Hi there and welcome,

As a quick start there is a reward seat sale on to certain destinations at the moment which you can combine with your PE upgrade vouchers usually so you should be able to grab a PE seat for 25k at the moment (plus taxes)

Dominic

Also, remember that you can only use the Amex upgrade vouchers to upgrade to PE when you have "bought" an economy fare with Miles...you can't use the voucher to upgrade a fare bought with cash. |:)
If you do get an Amex PE upgrade, you cant upgrade it again to UC. I've tried...and failed!

Hope this helps.

Paul

cooperman wrote:Also, remember that you can only use the Amex upgrade vouchers to upgrade to PE when you have "bought" an economy fare with Miles...you can't use the voucher to upgrade a fare bought with cash. |:)

I'd forgotten that, lol. So that means Amit that you need to find reward seats in economy first, then check there are reward seats in PE to use your vouchers. Ignore my earlier advice about buying an economy ticket to use the vouchers. I'll have to commit that one to memory

Bretty wrote:
So that means Amit that you need to find reward seats in economy first, then check there are reward seats in PE to use your vouchers. Ignore my earlier advice about buying an economy ticket to use the vouchers. I'll have to commit that one to memory

No, there only needs to be reward availability for the PE seats not the economy seats you're using the vouchers to upgrade from ( despite what the sometimes clueless agents tell you ).
DL

DragonLady wrote:

Bretty wrote:
So that means Amit that you need to find reward seats in economy first, then check there are reward seats in PE to use your vouchers. Ignore my earlier advice about buying an economy ticket to use the vouchers. I'll have to commit that one to memory

No, there only needs to be reward availability for the PE seats not the economy seats you're using the vouchers to upgrade from ( despite what the sometimes clueless agents tell you ).
DL

Thanks DL, didn't know that either. Ta