V-Flyer

We make an annual work pilgrimage to Comic Con in San Diego, and this year managed to get two PE returns from LHR to LAX, making use of my VS AMEX vouchers (and we both got op-ups to UC on the outbound, so all in all it was a fantastic result). Sadly for next year the availability to LAX seems to be incredibly scant, so I decided to get a bit creative. We live much closer to MAN and I realised there was some pretty decent award availability on our dates from MAN to LAS. So, we're heading out in Y (for now...) and returning on Gs! Apparently the cabin on the way out is wide open, so the FC staff member booking the flights for me said to keep an eye out as they were sure redemptions would be made available at some point. We're not too bothered as the inbound trip was the most important as we wanted beds for the overnight flight, but I'll still be checking frequently for any signs of PE or UC rewards making themselves available. We went for full reward redemptions this time--usually I favour M class upgrades, but we have so many miles that we're sitting on and I live in fear of devaluation, so it seemed like a great opportunity to burn through some. Taxes and fees for both of us currently stand at less than £650, which we're more than happy with for peak July flights.

I'm quite excited because the MAN>LAS flights have slightly limited days (only departing Sunday and Thursday), which means we have to spend a couple of nights in Vegas prior to a road trip down to the convention We haven't been back to Vegas since we got married there over 12 years ago, so we're really looking forward to it.

That's brilliant!

Score! Well done, and best of luck finding more availability

Congratulations! Hope yogurt some upgrades too.

Did you have Elvis at your wedding? Id love to see that! Looks great fun

As the others have said, result!

Maximus wrote:Congratulations! Hope yogurt some upgrades too.

Is that a technical term?

pjh wrote:As the others have said, result!

Maximus wrote:Congratulations! Hope yogurt some upgrades too.

Is that a technical term?

Darn that pesky predictive text on my mobile

I think there is a Tuesday VS085 now as well.
I've got reward vouchers too and looking to swoop..............

After the usual 1 hour checks over about 3 months we managed to get 2 return LGW- LAS Gs for March 16. Very happy indeed.

Although not showing in the web site, a call to Flying Club nabs us our PE reward flights for next September, using the Amex Econ/PE upgrade voucher.

Well done on trying a new approach !

I will keep my fingers crossed for those upgrades.

Maximus wrote:Did you have Elvis at your wedding? Id love to see that! Looks great fun

Sadly not, we were young and poor and Elvis was quite expensive! We've said that if we decide to renew our vows we'll go all out and definitely have Elvis.

Thanks so much, all. Am now keeping my eyes peeled for some upgrades... if PE becomes available first I'll just make use of our AMEX vouchers as it's a day time flight, but if UC comes up we'll go for that instead

On Saturday PE rewards popped up on our outbound dates, so I made use of one of our AMEX vouchers and just paid the extra in taxes. Now we're flying out in PE and back in UC--perfect There's a lot of great availability from Manchester on various routes and dates, so definitely worth a look for anyone who lives a bit further north.

I noticed this weekend that availability for two UC seats had become available. So, I had my PE voucher refunded, and now the entire trip is in UC! At present it's a 747 on the outbound trip, and as we've never flown in Upper on a 747 we're quite excited. Sadly 6A and K were already taken, so we're in 9A and 10A.

Doncha luvvit when that happens ! I think 6A/K are much overrated anyway (dons tin hat!).

Silver Fox wrote:Doncha luvvit when that happens ! I think 6A/K are much overrated anyway (dons tin hat!).

Just got to light the torch and sharpen the tines on my pitchfork, and I'll be heading your way...

I don't like 6A and K. I think your choice is perfect and you will absolutely love the 747. Well done on bagging those!

Haha! Thanks very much, glad to know missing 6A/K isn't a problem ;) Now I just hope that the aircraft remains the same.

spacedog wrote:I noticed this weekend that availability for two UC seats had become available. So, I had my PE voucher refunded, and now the entire trip is in UC! At present it's a 747 on the outbound trip, and as we've never flown in Upper on a 747 we're quite excited. Sadly 6A and K were already taken, so we're in 9A and 10A.

Firstly many congrats on seeking out the UC tickets.

I absolutely 100% agree with SilverFox & Marshy regarding the seats 6 A and K.

A few weeks ago we with flew to Orlando on the 747. Empty seat map on booking but I choose seats 8A and 8K. We could see each other throughout the flight and was able to communicate, certainly in gestures and lip-reading etc.

Personally when travelling as a couple, I think these are the best. I actually went and sat in 6A before the passenger arrived to see why these are recommended here on v-flyer. One word = claustophobic Yeap personal choice but I would hate to get these seats.

Enjoy your trip

in the interests of balance ( Ha Ha) I have to say we loved our front end seats in UC on the 747. if we didn't look back we felt we were in our own private jet !!

but more importantly safe flights and on time is what we all want !!

my daughter is currently (Apr 27 at 20.00 hrs ) almost 4 hrs late leaving LHR to JFK on VS 009 and she is only away for 4 nights. ! so frustrating !

I once sat in 12K (the 6k equivalent in the LHR 747s) as a single traveller. I had been asked in the CH to change to enable a family of young children to sit together and the only other seat was next to the toilet. To be honest, I didn't find it too bad perhaps because I am not very tall and so didn't feel the passenger in 6A was in my personal space.

I also sat in 12K with my sister in 12A and my nephew in 14K. It worked well as the three of us were able to dine together but overall I preferred to sit somewhere in mid-cabin.