Best options for LHR-NYC flight on fixed dates 24-31 August?

Hi all

First time poster who's been reading the boards with much interest, congrats on a fab forum - I can see myself becoming addicted in no time!

Was about to book a flight but then thought I'd ask the expert community as to what my best option would be.

The wife and I are travelling to NY to watch the US Open this autumn. We are bringing our baby girl who will be just under 1 year old on the flight out, so planning not to get a separate seat.

We have to travel on fixed dates - out 24 Aug and back on 31 Aug. The outbound is relatively flexible (would prefer an evening flight but open to options) but the return flight must leave on 31st and return to UK the same day, which limits us to the 1st 2 VS flights of the day I believe.

I've just started collecting FC miles on a VA Amex card which will give me 35k miles bonus, once I pay for these flights. Hoping to rack up a load more with some decent spending on the horizon.

So my questions are:

- I assume I need to look for an M bucket (or higher) seat to be able to upgrade to either PE or UC.

- How can I select an M bucket economy seat on the VA website? Is it just a case of booking and praying, or can I view the entire range of buckets available when booking? Currently I can only see the fare code when I select a return flight and go to 'fare breakdown'.

- If I'm lucky to get an M bucket seat (or one that allows me to upgrade), how do I book my upgrade? Do I do it online, call, or at the airport before I fly?

- I noticed that there was a return flight in PE that was an S bucket. Would I be more likely to get upgraded to UC if I booked in PE vs trying to get an upgrade via an Economy M bucket?

- Does having our baby with us cause any issues with this upgrading concept?

Sorry for the newbie questions but hoping I'm on the right lines. If there is a better way of looking at this scenario then I'd be grateful for your advice!

Cheers

benobi

Hi and welcome to V-flyer.

Have you thought about flying out on the VS3 the early flight out gives you a better chance of little or no wait at JFK immigration.
As to booking an upgradable fare code with the web site in its current state it may be better to give flying club a call as they can book you in to an upgradable fare code and complete the upgrade (subject to availability) whilst you are on the phone. Or call them back when you have enough miles the call centre are usually quite good at finding these fares.

For your return the flights that fly back in daylight landing on the same day, there is one from JFK (VS26 I think) and one from EWR (the 18?)
Flights with a 4 digit number will be operated by delta air lines under the new code share agreement which may be something to watch out for.

Hi benobi

Like you I'm quite new to this site but I've sorted a few of these things in the last couple of months:

You do need an M or higher to upgrade from economy, at the moment the website is broken so the only way to books these is on the phone to FC customer services. They are also the people who will do your upgrade for you if one becomes available. If the flights you want have UC reward seats available (G class) you can do the whole process in one go - pay for the Ms and immediately upgrade to G with miles. You can use the website to check for G class UC tickets by doing a dummy booking using the "spend miles" option, this will show if they are free on your flights. If they are, nab them quickly as they likely won't be there long!

I don't think you're any more likely to upgrade using miles from S than you are from M, just costs fewer miles.

I'll have to leave the q about the baby I'm afraid.

HTH

- I assume I need to look for an M bucket (or higher) seat to be able to upgrade to either PE or UC.

Yup, to upgrade using miles from an economy ticket you need an M fare or higher.

- How can I select an M bucket economy seat on the VA website? Is it just a case of booking and praying, or can I view the entire range of buckets available when booking? Currently I can only see the fare code when I select a return flight and go to 'fare breakdown'.

I don't think you can currently, there used to be a way to check M fares online but I don't think it's been working recently. Best option is to phone the call centre and get a quote for an M fare; they will be able to sell you this over the phone (assuming there's availability).

Just to be clear though -- purchasing an M economy ticket is not enough on it's own to get you an upgrade to PE or UC. In order to spend miles to upgrade your M ticket there will need to be what's referred to as reward availability in the class you're trying to move into (PE or UC). You can check that yourself online, by doing a "dummy booking" for reward flights in that class (i.e. enter your dates, select e.g. Upper class, and choose "spend your miles". If you can't find the flights you're after then you won't be able to use miles to upgrade an economy ticket on those flights.

Best thing to do is to phone flying club -- they will be able to check upgrade availability for you, and potentially sell you the M economy ticket and miles upgrade all in one go. Good luck! y)

- If I'm lucky to get an M bucket seat (or one that allows me to upgrade), how do I book my upgrade? Do I do it online, call, or at the airport before I fly?

Per the above, you can check upgrade availability online by trying a dummy booking but no way to actually upgrade an existing booking yourself online using miles I don't think. Best option is to call Flying Club who are normally very helpful.

I can't stress enough though -- don't bank on reward flights being available on your chosen flights, and if they are (and availability does change) then call up quickly to avoid disappointment.

- I noticed that there was a return flight in PE that was an S bucket. Would I be more likely to get upgraded to UC if I booked in PE vs trying to get an upgrade via an Economy M bucket?

If you're referring to using miles to upgrade then no. If there's reward availability in UC then you can upgrade to it using miles from either an M economy or S pe ticket. If there's no availability you can't upgrade from either. Obviously the upgrade PE -> UC costs less miles than EC -> UC so this may be a consideration for you. (If you're referring to a chance of an operational i.e. free at the airport upgrade then the PE ticket may give you the higher chance, but note that the chances full stop are incredibly tiny, VS will not routinely do this).

To check with dummy bookings try to get UC ticket One Way with miles only. If you put in return ticket and one way has seats but the other doesn't it wont show.

Thank Gumshoe for this he posted yesterday on another thread.

It definitely works because I have been trying on my full trip with nothing. Then I tried one way and there are seats on the way out. Not for my date yet but it's creeping up there.

Dick D

On the baby question, I don't think it will make a difference, but given that you'll have to do an upgrade via the phone in any case, they'll let you know at that point.

Thanks for your thoughts so far everyone, that's really helpful. Called VA and they said that there are no upgrade seats coming back, even though M bucket is available. I might just pay for PE on the flight back anyway to give my missus some comfort with the extra space given she needs to head to work the next day.

I wonder if more Upgrade seats are released closer the time? Can anyone help me check the availability using 'load check'? Or is it a case of if VA are saying there are no upgrade seats available now, that's it from now until the flight?

I wonder if more Upgrade seats are released closer the time? Can anyone help me check the availability using 'load check'? Or is it a case of if VA are saying there are no upgrade seats available now, that's it from now until the flight?

You can check loads yourself for free at http://www.flightstats.co.uk/FlightAvai ... ability.do.

Upgrade availability does change over time, so you might get lucky, particularly as you get closer to the flight. Even at the airport on the day it may be possible (assuming the UC cabin is not already full, of course).

At US airports, if there are still unsold seats in UC on the day they are normally more than happy to sell you an upgrade at check in, either for cash or miles.

It's a gamble of course, as your flight may sell out, but if no Gs come up it's worth bearing in mind.