Charged to upgrade?

I've tonight attempted to upgrade reward flights from PE to UC to be told there is a £35 charge? Has anyone else ever had this?

Not all fares are upgradeable, it's a particular pain in PE as the VS website isn't as forthcoming as to what is upgradable or not.

In Y, it's now easy: anything apart from Economy Light can be upgraded.

So for a "low" PE fare you will have to change it to an upgradeable one first...

Hi, firstly I assume you actually mean upgrade from Economy to PE.

I have done this many many times over the years. You will pay the tax difference between the two classes which could amount to £35 but I have never heard of charging to simply upgrade. I’d ring them back tomorrow and clarify what was said,

Early this year I upgraded our inbound seats from Economy to PE. Small increase in the taxes but I was able to claim back my seat reservation money which actually made the upgrade very favourable.

Sorry meant to say from PE to UC... the guy i was talking to was adamant.... I simply gave up in the end and ended the call then called back and spoke to someone who had a bit more idea.

Isn't it just the amendment fee they charge if you make any change (date, flight, class etc) to a reward booking? When I booked our flights to Seattle in May, they advised me that my revenue booking would be subject to a £150 fee and my wife's companion reward booking would be subject to a £35 fee should we need to make any amendments.

Back in 2006 I had a MAN-MCO return booked in PE. I decided to make the jump to Upper Class & phoned VS to do the change. Initially they wanted to charge me a fee (think it was £50 back then) for this, but I pointed out I was not changing either of the flights / dates, merely changing the cabin I wanted to sit in.

They waived the fee and moved me from a K to a Z fare upon payment of the relevant amount. ISTR the booking in MMB changed instantly to an Upper Class one, but the new e-ticket & credit card charge took at least a week to happen.

I should probably have not made that call as I've only ever travelled in Upper Class on VS since! Waiving that £50 fee has been a good little earner for them in the long term!

By contrast, I have reward bookings again for a MAN-MCO return in June. We're returning on the VS76, but noticed that G's had become available after booking on the later VS74. Called VS to try and change and it was set in stone £35 per person to change flights, even on the same day. We've stuck with the VS76, as an extra hour in the theme parks is not worth £70 - that will buy a meal / a few drinks.