V-Flyer

Hi all

We have used miles to book PE returns to DXB in June, OH has enough miles to upgrade one leg to UC, but I do not.
Also travelling with our 9 year old, on my booking.
I am contemplating spending £525 to purchase 40k miles so that I can upgrade myself and our son to UC for outbound.
I am not aware of any quick way to earn miles (already have black Amex and existing account with virgin wines ).

In your experience would this be a good 'price' ie. £250 each for a 1 way upgrade per pax from PE to UC? Is there a chance of a paid for upgrade option that would be a better price than this either though FC or at the airport ?
All dependent on availability of Gs of course.

Not so bothered about return as it is daytime. We will have lounge access as OH is still FC Gold - he will lose this status at the end of June though

Thanks
L2H

If you have a reward flight unfortunately you won't be able to upgrade these with cash.

A reward flight can only be upgraded using more miles.

I think that is why the OP said they were going to buy more miles

Is it a good price? Well it depends on how much £525 is worth to you. That would pay for some great meals and days out in Dubai.

Personally, for a flight barely lasting 6 hours, I wouldn't bother - PE is perfectly fine and the recent sharp increase in miles needed to upgrade to UC means it's no longer the bargain it was.

By the way, you say you'll have Clubhouse access by virtue of your partner's Gold status - one of you will but technically the other won't so you'd either have to pay for your son or charm the receptionist into bending the rules and letting him in for free.

Thanks, will have a think. The OH is keen to upgrade on outbound so we can sleep, he has gotten used to travelling for work in UC.
Not sure £525 will go that far in Dubai £$£$£ , expensive place.

Aware that FC Gold only allows 2 pax into the CH, we paid £15 for our son I think, last time we made use of it.

Can you boost a recent flight? It's a penny a mile. http://www.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/fly ... miles.html

Do you have any Tesco clubcard points to convert?

What about taking out an Amex card?

Do you need to rent a car? Avis have an offer on.

Hotels - Kaligo have an additional 50% offer on.

Before you spend any money on buying miles you should check that there are 3 'G's available and what the cost in addition to the miles is (I'm thinking of the VS surcharges)

You could ask the agent to put your two upgrades on hold whilst you buy the additional miles there and then ( they hit your FC account instantly) - so have the 'buy miles' webpage open and credit card handy - as they process your OHs (I assume from they way you described the bookings that they booked using their miles on a separate booking otherwise it gets complicated)

Good point tonty - it'll actually cost quite a bit more than the £525 for the extra miles as the taxes & fees for reward seats in UC are higher than PE.

The total price for the three of you will probably be closer to £1000 if not more.

gumshoe wrote:Good point tonty - it'll actually cost quite a bit more than the £525 for the extra miles as the taxes & fees for reward seats in UC are higher than PE.

The total price for the three of you will probably be closer to £1000 if not more.

there certainly won't be more APD (a proper tax) to pay as the UC rate is the same as the PE rate.

The VS surcharges - definitely not taxes even though VS might call them that - are a different matter though ...

Thanks everyone, all valid points (excuse the pun !)
Have been VS addict for many years - have the black Amex , Tesco club card, and even considering transferring over some HHonours points but they're not worth much .
PE is still an excellent product, so might just save the money and use it towards an upgrade at the hotel - once we have decided which one , that's another dilemma!