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A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 09:02
by Jodybuk
Good morning!
I have a couple of questions I was hoping someone could answer.

4 of us are flying to LAS on the 1/12 upgraded to PE using miles. At the time of booking there was no availability to upgrade to UC using miles.
I was wondering, if they haven't sold all the UC seats are they likely to consider allowing a points upgrade nearer the time? Has anyone heard of this happening & how close to departure am I best asking the question.... Weeks? Days?

With this in mind... Prior to asking how do I do a load check? Is flights stats fairly accurate?

I think that's all my questions..... For now!
Many thanks all
:D

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 09:11
by Petmadness
After absorbing huge amounts of knowledge from this site, i can say that I have seen comments that it is highly unusual, although not impossible, to get mileage upgrades on this route. Quite often the advice is to fly to LAX/SFO using miles to upgrade then VA to LAS.

As for Flightstats....I use it and it seems ok

Good luck in your mission y) y)

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 09:15
by gfonk
I agree with pet madness on that one
He beat me to it

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 09:38
by Jodybuk
Thanks both..... I'll keep you posted with my progress. To be honest , I am perfectly happy with PE ... We have provisionally selected seats in the bubble which will hopefully be confirmed at check in so if it doesn't come off I'll just save the miles & use them next year.
I am probably being very naive but my thinking is is that if they have lots of availability in UC they will be more likely to sell 4 upgrades to PE at the airport that 4UC.... As I say probably very naive!!!
Thanks again :)

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 09:41
by gfonk
I think that it is unlikely that reward seats would be offered simply because there is space in the cabin however it is always worth asking at checkin about miles upgrades or MpM etc
Nothing to lose by asking
Have read in various TRs of other v-flyers having success at checkin

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 09:45
by slinky09
EF shows:

J9 C9 D9 I9 Z9 W9 S9 K9 Y9 B9 R9 L9 U9 M9 E9 Q9 X9 N9 O9

For your flight with two seats requested in UC. I'd keep checking, although it is unlikely that four will become available, two might ...

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 09:51
by Jodybuk
Thanks, I'll try at check in. Just as a matter of interest.... Any idea what the £'s might be on a MpM upgrade?
Thanks again everyone :)

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 09:53
by gumshoe
As others have said, your chances of 4 Gs on that route are slim. The entire UC cabin only has 14 seats and it's a popular route.

However if there are still 4 unsold UC seats 24 hours before departure (and at the moment the VS43 on Dec 1st is wide open), there is a possibility - and only a possibility - that they'll be made available for miles upgrades at the airport.

You can do twilight check-in the evening before at Gatwick so you might want to consider doing that and asking there.

And, of course, check the VS website daily in case any Gs do become available. They appear at random at any time so you just have to keep checking. If it's a quiet flight, which at this stage it looks like it could be, it's not out of the question.

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 10:06
by Jodybuk
Thank you, firstly I've got to say what a fab friendly site this is... I've always been reluctant to ask anything on other forums because there's always someone ready to jump in & berate for repeating a question or asking a stupid question. Have trawled 100's of posts & have not seen 1 single response like that... It's very refreshing!
I flew the same route on the same date in 2011 & that flight was barely a quarter full (I did fly economy so can't say what capacity the other cabins had). While we were there it was very quiet too with it being the period between thanksgiving & Christmas ( quite possibly the only advantage of a December birthday!!)
We are going up to LGW the night before so I'll take my chances at that time... As I said, I'm quite happy with our PE seats & we did manage to bag miles upgrades for the return leg from JFK so I'm already feeling very lucky & grateful!!

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 10:25
by Jodybuk
One other question...... I've sussed out most of the abbreviations on this site but not sure what 'AU passengers' means... Just when I think I've cracked it I see it in another context!!!
Anyone??

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 10:27
by mitchja
Au is the chemical symbol for gold, referring to Gold Flying Club membership.

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 10:29
by Jodybuk
Doh!!! Should have paid more attention in school!!!☺️

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 10:44
by gfonk
Jodybuk wrote:Doh!!! Should have paid more attention in school!!!☺️

Lol lol
Don't worry that one also caught me out at first
Good luck with the Gs and let us know how you get on
Nothing to lose by checking online everyday and ofcourse asking at checkin

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 10:46
by gfonk
PS i Agree with you, v-flyer is really friendly

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 10:48
by Jodybuk
Will keep you posted!! 56 sleeps to go!!! Beyond excited!!!!!

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 11:37
by at240
Just to echo what gumshoe said, check on the website for reward seats every day, or even every opportunity you have -- and if one appears, phone up and grab it! (You run the risk of having your party split up, of course, but if reward seats do appear and get taken by others, then the chances of 4 coming up together later will be very small.)

Have fun!

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 11:44
by Jodybuk
Thank you for the advice.... I will definitely be doing that,
Presumably that's as simple as a standard booking enquiry & checking the miles box?

Re: A Couple of Questions.... Looking for Advice

PostPosted: 05 Oct 2013, 13:04
by gumshoe
Correct, although you have to be logged into your Flying Club account.

I would also select 1 passenger rather than 4 as the chances of 4 becoming available at once are very slim.

As of now there are some Gs available to LAS on half a dozen or so dates in December, so it's not impossible that at least one or two will crop up for your flight.

If they do, and you want them, get on the phone and take them asap. They may not last long.