V-Flyer

Im taking my wife for a suprise trip to NY for her 30th birthday In Nov 2015. It's a long ways off I know, but I have to save as I want to fly us UC (She's always wanted to travel UC).
As well as saving, Ive been collecting air miles and will have around 30,000 by the end of next month. By the end of 2015 im hoping to have a whole lot more.
I guess my biggest question is the best way to use the airmiles?
Should I buy premium economy then upgrade with airmiles or pay using miles plus money?,
This is my first time posting so hope it's in the right area..
Please, any advice surrounding the whole trip would be greatfuly received, thanks folks

Welcome to V Flyer.

My hubby and I went to NY for the first time in November just gone, we had a fabulous time.

Have a look here at my trip report for the outward flight. forum/index.php?f=6&t=283734&rb_v=viewtopic

We went on G's which is a ticket all paid for by miles (80k each), in Upper Class and the taxes cost about £1k for the two of us. In my opinion it isn't the best use of miles but I wanted to use some up.

The most efficient method (sales aside) is to book (an upgradeable bucket) and upgrade with miles. I would personally not fly in Y (economy) so would only ever upgrade from a PE ticket. I'm not as knowledgeable as others on which buckets are upgradable, so I will leave that for someone else to explain. But there's plenty of time for you to max out your earning points potential between now and the end of the year (which is when you will start to see next years flights appear) depending on when you are planning to go exactly.

If you want to collect miles, then use things like your Tesco club card points to auto tip into you Flying Club (FC) account. Subscribe to this forum and Head For Points (which send out a few points earning emails every morning) and check in for sales/offers on both here and the Virgin website.

I used the Trip Advisor NYC forum for further help on NYC itself. We stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square, which was close enough to the action without being 'neonned-out' at night! We are Hilton Gold and managed a free upgrade and freebie breakfast every morning. A little scant through Flytertalk forum and we did find several discount codes. We paid a little over £500 (4 nights) for their top floor, biggest room. The view was amazing. But wherever you stay, research it, find out if you can earn an upgrade and always always contact the hotel in advance to explain it's a special anniversary. Our stay was a wedding anniversary and it did mean little extras/freebies in the hotel when we arrived…

We flew in on the Monday before Black Friday (into JFK on the Monday and home from EWR on the Friday) It was short, exciting, tiring but long enough. We managed to do all the sites, loads of shopping and it was fairly quiet and inexpensive before the big Thanks Giving weekend - actual Thanks Giving was our last night there and it did allow us to see a bit of the parade and join in the party!

Have a wonderful time and have fun organising it. Just a word of warning though, you might just get so excited you have to let her know! A surprise is great fun, but so is the anticipation of the holiday too.

Vucvirgin wrote:I guess my biggest question is the best way to use the air miles?

Always a question that will generate debate.... for me the main value of miles comes with cabin upgrades. (usually from Economy to UC) In this manner you earn miles and TPs too.

Do you think you will be able to squirrel away 80,000 miles total? If so, I would recommend buying an M fare (Economy class, lowest upgradeable fare bucket) and then upgrade into UC for the round trip.

Have you decided on whether you will be flying into and out of JFK or EWR?

joeyc wrote:

Vucvirgin wrote:I guess my biggest question is the best way to use the air miles?

Always a question that will generate debate.... for me the main value of miles comes with cabin upgrades. (usually from Economy to UC) In this manner you earn miles and TPs too.

Do you think you will be able to squirrel away 80,000 miles total? If so, I would recommend buying an M fare (Economy class, lowest upgradeable fare bucket) and then upgrade into UC for the round trip.

Have you decided on whether you will be flying into and out of JFK or EWR?

What Joey Said! y)

As joey says ,if you are able to get 80,000 miles then M fares are the way forward ,don't worry your in the right area and there are plenty of people on here who can offer sound advice , I came to this forum a total novice and have picked up a lot of useful knowledge particularly about NYC that fast became my favourite city in the world so feel free to ask away

Wow, thanks for the speedy replies marshy11 and joeyc I really appreciate it.
Marshy,
Sounds like ive picked the right detination from what you reported, and like youve advised ive been checking on trip advisor websites etc, its part of the excitement for me, i'll be checking your trip report after this reply.
I didnt realise about the points earning emails from this forum so i'll get that sorted and Im earning airmiles using virgin atlantic c.cards.
I guess only time will tell how long I can keep it all a suprise for

To answer your questions joeyc,
80,000 points seemed to be the mark I was heading for (obviously more if possible) from what I have already read about upgrades.
I didnt realise I could upgrade straight from economy, I thought it had to be PE, so that should help with the cost y)
And on the thought of what airport (JFK or EWR) I always that it would be just down to the cost again. As I was hoping to get the VA chauffer driven option in with the cost?!
Do you know if they use a swanky (excuse the phrase ii) ) car? As this could add to the suprise of the trip?
And do you have a personal preference of airports from experience?
Again thanks so much for the great replies..

Vucvirgin wrote:. As I was hoping to get the VA chauffer driven option in with the cost?!
Do you know if they use a swanky (excuse the phrase ii) ) car? As this could add to the suprise of the trip?

If cost conscious then the VS car option is unlikely to come into play, as it comes only with the (far) more expensive flexible fare options. Better value would be had by looking to a local limo service and then prearranging the use of Drive Through Check In (DTCI).

Thanks Blacky1,
I am very much a novice regarding these matters and was just muddling through online content until I came here and in just a couple of hours thanks to the folks here have a lot better idea.
Any advice on NYC would be great. Id like to do the tourist attractions etc and I know my wife would love the shopping areas, so id be grateful for any advise on the best area to stay and hotels!?
80,000 points has become my target now.

Thanks for the heads up pjh,
DTCI would be preferential if the cost of the VA equivalent is that much more.
Im looking for as big of a wow factor as possible without spending more than I have too.

Vucvirgin wrote:Thanks Blacky1,
I am very much a novice regarding these matters and was just muddling through online content until I came here and in just a couple of hours thanks to the folks here have a lot better idea.
Any advice on NYC would be great. Id like to do the tourist attractions etc and I know my wife would love the shopping areas, so id be grateful for any advise on the best area to stay and hotels!?
80,000 points has become my target now.

No probs ,I'm on here most days as are lots of others so advice is never far away y)

Good luck on the 80k target, it is very achievable considering you already have Virgin CC.

Use "shops away" for any online purchases, blitz every point earner to the max....you'll get there in no time.

If you really really want the DTCI you may find it more cost effective using your own transport/hire than booking a more expensive bucket.....Bretty has just booked as a surprise and I think it was a reasonable amount....check out his posts.

Edit found it forum/index.php?f=4&t=285280&p=870893&hilit=Bretty%20DTCI&rb_v=viewtopic#p870893

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum- ... _York.html. That is the Trip Advisor Forum, for NYC rather than just the Trip Advisor webby.

We managed to do lots of NY shopping, including the high-end shops on 5th, the cheaper designer brand shops in NYC and out of town outlets.

We flew out to JFK and back from EWR, meant we missed the clubhouse at JFK but EWR was so quiet and the CH was fine, but I wanted a day flight back and EWR fitted the bill.

Lots of good advice given on here so far, and Joeyc is like a Jedi master at working out how best to spend miles .

As marshy has said about DTCI, I've just booked. I'm flying to Tokyo soon on UC cabin upgrades so the CDC etc isn't included. Another keen poster, gfonk gave me the heads up and I called FC and booked directly with them using the service they normally use. I'm staying on airport at T5 which seems ridiculous to think I've booked a CDC but the wow factor for my OH is going to be worth it. It cost me just under £62, at least it will when they take the payment.

Use the VS credit cards as much as you can over the next few months, and as has been suggested, the shops away portal. If you shop online as much as me that's going to be a good earner for you! Especially any little trips anywhere that involve a hotel stay - there are travel agents such as hotels.com, expedia, lastminute.com all of which will earn you good miles, and they take 6-8 weeks to go through. Most major retailers are connected, and I wish amazon was 'cos I'd be a miles millionaire by now! Accruing miles has become a habit and a bit of an obsession that drives my OH mad, but he doesn't mind the perks!

Best of luck and keep asking questions, everybody here is super friendly and helpful.

Cheers,

Thanks for the links marshy i'll take a gander in a bit.
By the way, great report on your new york UC flight. I didnt realise your time in the airport lounge offered so much, it sounds like an experience in itself. Were all the treatments etc complimentary or were they a result of extra cost?

Thanks so much Bretty,
We have the same thought that the CDC would be the cherry on the cake when it comes to the wow factor. Do you know what car you have booked?
And could you explain what FC is? I imagine I might be laughing at myself for asking later, but I just cant think.
Points collecting through amazon would be life changing for me also haha
Thanks for all the advise

Vucvirgin wrote:And could you explain what FC is?

It stands for Flying Club, the Virgin Atlantic miles gathering and rewards scheme.

Thanks honey lamb,
I was right, I am laughing at myself haha

Vucvirgin wrote:Thanks so much Bretty,
We have the same thought that the CDC would be the cherry on the cake when it comes to the wow factor. Do you know what car you have booked?
And could you explain what FC is? I imagine I might be laughing at myself for asking later, but I just cant think.
Points collecting through amazon would be life changing for me also haha
Thanks for all the advise

I see HL has answered one question, as for the car my confirmation says executive car, but I believe they are Mercedes e class or similar.
This is also something to arrange in the few weeks before your trip so plenty of time.

Vucvirgin wrote:Thanks for the links marshy i'll take a gander in a bit.
By the way, great report on your new york UC flight. I didnt realise your time in the airport lounge offered so much, it sounds like an experience in itself. Were all the treatments etc complimentary or were they a result of extra cost?

You each get one complimentary treatment but can pay for others.

The list is here (sorry about the link but if you copy and paste it should work, it defaults back to their homepage otherwise).

www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/travel-information/airport-guides/london-heathrow/clubhouse.html

Click the spa tab and you can see the treatments, costs and which qualify as complimentary.

Anybody been in NY for Manhattanhenge ? Its 28/29/30th this May and must be an amazing site, sadly I will be back home from NY by then but would be interested to know how good it actually is.

Vucvirgin wrote:I didnt realise I could upgrade straight from economy, I thought it had to be PE, so that should help with the cost y)

Apologies I didn't twig you were coming from the BA (dark) side of the force, with only one class upgrade permitted ):

Vucvirgin wrote:Do you know if they use a swanky (excuse the phrase ii) ) car? As this could add to the suprise of the trip?

Well I have had a mixture of Mercedes of late - last one was a very swanky S class I have a feeling that is given my location and easy route, as others have ended up in a volvo

The company that VS uses for their CDCs (car service) is Tristar... They offer a pretty solid service, although some of their customer service operators sound like they could do with an extra shot of espresso in the mornings at times.

The car service is ordinarily only provided to their most expensive fare classes - J, D and I. Or in exchange for some more miles if travelling on a G (UC reward fare bucket) fare (one of the worst uses of miles in my view) - VS can book a cash Tristar transfer for you when you call to book your flights, and if you manage to get into UC then they can book you into the DTCI (Drive thru check in) too.

Vucvirgin wrote:And do you have a personal preference of airports from experience?

Ooooo a tricky one to answer. Personally I would try to book JFK - LHR on the return as the lounge at JFK is awesome in a word. On the outbound it really does depend on where you are staying and the time of day that you are looking to travel.... let me know when you have those details a bit clearer in your mind and will be able to recommend from there.

Bretty wrote:Lots of good advice given on here so far, and Joeyc is like a Jedi master at working out how best to spend miles .

I bow in humble account 8D

Welcome.

One cautionary note that should be throw in here is that if you are looking to go the route of upgrading, rather than buying UC outright, then your ability to do so will depend on there being UC reward availability, which is NOT the same thing as just being UC seats available for sale. Others on these boards have reported a general decline in reward seats to the US (although between JFK and EWR there are a fair few flights to choose from), so if you have fixed dates in mind for your trip, you may need to adopt a more flexibile position, or possilby just check 10 times daily in case seats open up (another common obsession around here!).

It's still a long way off for you I know, and when the flights are released in December this year (happens 11 months in advance) there may be no issue, but worth bearing in mind. Good luck!

RC

ratechaser wrote:Welcome.

One cautionary note that should be throw in here is that if you are looking to go the route of upgrading, rather than buying UC outright, then your ability to do so will depend on there being UC reward availability, which is NOT the same thing as just being UC seats available for sale. Others on these boards have reported a general decline in reward seats to the US (although between JFK and EWR there are a fair few flights to choose from), so if you have fixed dates in mind for your trip, you may need to adopt a more flexibile position, or possilby just check 10 times daily in case seats open up (another common obsession around here!).

It's still a long way off for you I know, and when the flights are released in December this year (happens 11 months in advance) there may be no issue, but worth bearing in mind. Good luck!

RC

How do you check?
I understand you try and book a miles only UC flight on the day you want. If there are rewards then you ring.
I'm flying to MCO in Feb, back in March so I've bought my economy tickets and already upgraded on miles to PE.
No UC reward seats available yet.
When I put my dates in it just comes back with nothing available. Would it tell me it there were reward seats available just on the outbound? Or is there some way of checking each leg on it's own?
Dick D

Lots of good avice above, I know it's a long way off but don't forget to mention it's her bday once you are on the flight. I did this for my husbands 40th bday when we flew to ORD and they put out a bday announcement, he was so embarassed hee hee

dickydotcom wrote:Would it tell me it there were reward seats available just on the outbound? Or is there some way of checking each leg on it's own?
Dick D

If either leg doesn't have reward availability, it'll just say nothing available even if the other leg does.

You can get round that by checking each leg separately and specifying "one way" instead of "return".

gumshoe wrote:

dickydotcom wrote:Would it tell me it there were reward seats available just on the outbound? Or is there some way of checking each leg on it's own?
Dick D

If either leg doesn't have reward availability, it'll just say nothing available even if the other leg does.

You can get round that by checking each leg separately and specifying "one way" instead of "return".

Many thanks.
Dick D