V-Flyer

so I have 1/2 million airmiles using virgin LHR to NRT, this is now stopping which is a crying shame, anyway can I use ANA and do any sort of upgrade using miles as its a codseshare flight. any help appreciated.

VS & ANA

You'd be able to use them for a straight redemption IF you can get one but not to upgrade a cash ticket.

And good luck getting a redemption!

Have spent a couple of hours on the phone with VS tonight trying to get an ANA flight for a friends wedding in Tokyo in July next year. Nothing available up to 10 days before! They were very nice about it, but...

thorntonpaul wrote:so I have 1/2 million airmiles using virgin LHR to NRT, this is now stopping which is a crying shame, anyway can I use ANA and do any sort of upgrade using miles as its a codseshare flight. any help appreciated.

wow that puts into perspective the 40k i have potentially lost. unless i go to usa but unlikely as not really a big fan of it.
but anyway perhaps the more flexible you can be the,more chance to get a redemption.
"ganbatte ne" good luck.

The bit on VS' website about partner redemptions is borderline fictitious when compared to real- world experiences.

gfonk wrote:

thorntonpaul wrote:so I have 1/2 million airmiles using virgin LHR to NRT, this is now stopping which is a crying shame, anyway can I use ANA and do any sort of upgrade using miles as its a codseshare flight. any help appreciated.

wow that puts into perspective the 40k i have potentially lost. unless i go to usa but unlikely as not really a big fan of it.
but anyway perhaps the more flexible you can be the,more chance to get a redemption.
"ganbatte ne" good luck.

I have 2.2 million. I lived in Japan for 8 years and always flew virgin, also having 3 children at boarding school in the UK that flew back and forth at least 6 times a year. between all of us we have close to 4 million. My plan was after retirement to use the miles to visit our friends in Tokyo on a regular basis, and also see other parts of the world. Well what mug i have been. Lesson learnt the hard way, when you get the miles, use them ASAP because you never know whats around the corner

wow! OMG!! OUCH!!!
that IS bad indeed.
My annoyance is that I DID want to use the miles that were on my wifes FC account and when I put the flight on hold the agent informed me know probs I can use her miles (booking a flight for both of us) as long as I had her FC account number (which I did).
24 hours later (after confirming the details with work etc and having got an extension of a couple of hours while I got my AMEX account twinned with my FC account) when I called to do the miles booking the agent (a different agent this time) then said that I cannot use my wifes miles unless she is with me to give her authority)Even though in the past I had managed to use her miles.. grrrr fair enough but I couldnt contact her as she cant use her phone at work. I thought "no probs will just be sure to use hers for our next flight" and went ahead and transferred 40k extra from my amex card.
which now I cannot use. I feel cheated somehow.
but after reading what enjoyinit said - I really probably should take stock but still sucking sour grapes lol

Stockpiling millions of miles or points - be they for airlines, hotels, supermarkets or whatever - is a risky strategy.

You don't own them, they have no cash value and the company reserves the right to devalue them, close your account or even abolish the entire scheme with no right of redress.

Saving them for some kind of retirement fund is, frankly, madness.

gumshoe wrote:Saving them for some kind of retirement fund is, frankly, madness.

I have to admit that up to a year or so back that's exactly what I was doing. Having gone through (a) using another carrier and enjoying the experience and (b) various changes to the scheme I have arrived at the conclusion that, if not madness, it is foolish to not start to burn them.

And then start planning a RTW retirement jaunt in J using cash...

so actually i should think my glass is half full?
i wont make the same mistake again. thats for sure lol

I am stockpiling amex MR's for now (as usable on multiple programs) and using air miles as quick as I can in general terms - within 2 years of gain usually. Aim is to redeem at least one J class pair of returns per annum until work stops flying me about as often...

Hate to think how many miles I lost before realizing it was trivial to post activity to retain them on the various programs (actually I know - about 200k continental onepass, 60k aa).

gumshoe wrote:Stockpiling millions of miles or points - be they for airlines, hotels, supermarkets or whatever - is a risky strategy.

You don't own them, they have no cash value and the company reserves the right to devalue them, close your account or even abolish the entire scheme with no right of redress.

Saving them for some kind of retirement fund is, frankly, madness.

I totally agree. With hindsight i would certainly do things differently. The points/reward schemes are only following the lead of the world central bankers.... devalue your currency, encourage spending.... the only trouble is there is no where to spend flying clubs miles!! Ho hum

That said, a week in Necker Island is 1.2 million miles...

ryosan wrote:That said, a week in Necker Island is 1.2 million miles...

Yup good call but probably the worst use of miles in the system. 1.2 mill mile = 12 UC LHR NRT returns. In theory, thats 24k. So 7 days at 3k+ a night..... im not convinced

Ha, I was originally joking as I always have a good chuckle at that price on the rewards page. However, I then looked at the Necker Island site and saw that the actual money price is $27000 for a week! So maybe that's not actually a bad option

Although, having said that, I also love the idea of making 12 UC NRT returns between now and Feb just for the sake of it

As for me, well it looks like my last flight with VS will be on the 20th January back home to NRT, the week before the shut the route. I might have a little teary moment in the Clubhouse

I have to say, this whole thing has really disappointed me. After about 12 or so years, VS really had become some sort of fixture in my life and was a very big part of every holiday back to the UK.

It is interesting to see that most of the upset for customers after these changes have been made relate to the loss of the NRT flights. Far less angst about the other cuts (admittedly two of them being seasonal).

Just an update for those waiting on ticket re-booking- I have not received my e-tickets yet. I called VS FC yesterday evening to chase this. Bottom line is they may take a week to be sent as there are, unsurprisingly, lots of re-bookings to be processed.

Stockpiling miles is always a risk. The airline industry is a volatile one and as recent events have shown, they can bowl a googly at any time. My strategy is to save for a reward and cash it in asap.

I am sitting on enough miles with BA for a couple of First redemptions and they are burning a hole in my (imaginary) pocket! Having to wait until flights are released (December/ January) makes me uneasy. Losing them, for whatever reason, would seriously hack me off!

Of course finding availability is another issue entirely

I was always of the impression that VS was one of the safer ones to stockpile miles on because even if you didn't use them on flights, there's other stuff within the Virgin Group that you can redeem fairly easily (might not be the best value but if you're sitting on a whole load that's soon gonna be useless, you might as well use them on SOMETHING right?)

Certainly, whilst premium cabin airfare rewards are likely to be the best vfm, better to use them on something than nothing.

I still look on miles as a freebie so any rewards are a "free gift" to me. Others look on miles as a currency which has cost them something to "buy" so for those individuals losing miles must be even more painful and frustrating.