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#961511 by SausageRoll
09 May 2023, 14:20
Suppose I book a flight six to nine months in advance. In that case, there is typically no reward seat available in upper class, or if there is, there is only one seat available, meaning either me or my partner would remain in premium economy.

Now that VA has released a reward seat finder, I can see that there is a LOT of availability for upper class if you look no further than two-three weeks in advance.

Has this always been the case? I suspect these become available because they have failed to sell the seats as regular tickets?

Would it be recommended then, if booking six-nine months in advance, to book at least one upper-class reward seat and then just check back nearer the time and hope you can upgrade?

Here is an example of LHR to LA, 18 days left in the month of May, and 12 days have upper-class availability, which is pretty awesome.

Image
#961513 by CommanderB
09 May 2023, 16:59
Pretty much. VS are very good at opening reward seats when they know a flight won't be full.

I'd say the majority of my PE > UC upgrades have come from just waiting until a week or so before travel and then moving up. Can be done at the airport too - although sometimes staff need an explanation on how some of it works, especially at outstations.

General UC availability throughout the year is better since the guaranteed reward seat availability but some routes remain harder than others.
#961517 by CommanderB
09 May 2023, 21:25
You can always book a flexible premium ticket and cancel if seats aren't showing up. That's doable for a £150/200 extra on top of the base fare now which is cool.

And Premium reward seats are fully flexible in that regard.
#961520 by EstelleB
10 May 2023, 13:21
Just bear in mind that they may say you need separate bookings. I did this for our flights this year - booked myself into UC, adult kids into PE then upgraded them when it opened up, but they said because the kids were in a different section to begin with that they had to be on a different booking?

No idea if this is actually the case as I find it very hit and miss with FC advisors as to whether they actually know what they are doing, but this was our experience!
#961529 by SausageRoll
11 May 2023, 17:25
CommanderB wrote:You can always book a flexible premium ticket and cancel if seats aren't showing up. That's doable for a £150/200 extra on top of the base fare now which is cool.

And Premium reward seats are fully flexible in that regard.


Sorry, I don't quite follow.

Can you elaborate, please?
#961530 by CommanderB
11 May 2023, 17:39
SausageRoll wrote:
CommanderB wrote:You can always book a flexible premium ticket and cancel if seats aren't showing up. That's doable for a £150/200 extra on top of the base fare now which is cool.

And Premium reward seats are fully flexible in that regard.


Sorry, I don't quite follow.

Can you elaborate, please?


When you book revenue fares, there is an option of paying about £150-200 extra and making it a flex fare. So you'd have a Premium Flex ticket. This extra cash enables you to flat out cancel the ticket and get a full refund. It also allows for changes (but that triggers a fare difference to pay).

So, if you're comfortable not taking the flight if there's no reward seats, you can book a cash premium flex fare, wait for reward seats and if they don't open up - cancel the ticket entirely and get your money back.

That may not be suitable for you, but it is an option if you want the ability to cancel.
#961532 by SausageRoll
11 May 2023, 19:18
CommanderB wrote:
SausageRoll wrote:
CommanderB wrote:You can always book a flexible premium ticket and cancel if seats aren't showing up. That's doable for a £150/200 extra on top of the base fare now which is cool.

And Premium reward seats are fully flexible in that regard.


Sorry, I don't quite follow.

Can you elaborate, please?


When you book revenue fares, there is an option of paying about £150-200 extra and making it a flex fare. So you'd have a Premium Flex ticket. This extra cash enables you to flat out cancel the ticket and get a full refund. It also allows for changes (but that triggers a fare difference to pay).

So, if you're comfortable not taking the flight if there's no reward seats, you can book a cash premium flex fare, wait for reward seats and if they don't open up - cancel the ticket entirely and get your money back.

That may not be suitable for you, but it is an option if you want the ability to cancel.


Although I don't think that would work for me, it's great to know these things and may come in handy one day, so thanks for sharing.
#961551 by mitchja
13 May 2023, 18:08
Even if the reward seat finder says there is no availability, do check manually as once again today I booked a return reward G fare LHR>BOS in Aug online despite the reward seat checker saying no availability (in any reward class). The booking engine showed both Upper and Premium reward flights around the dates I was looking for.

Same thing happened with my other reward MAN>ATL / ATL>LHR booking fro Dec as well (just nothing back into MAN hence why I booked LHR).
#961555 by SausageRoll
13 May 2023, 21:13
mitchja wrote:Even if the reward seat finder says there is no availability, do check manually as once again today I booked a return reward G fare LHR>BOS in Aug online despite the reward seat checker saying no availability (in any reward class). The booking engine showed both Upper and Premium reward flights around the dates I was looking for.

Same thing happened with my other reward MAN>ATL / ATL>LHR booking fro Dec as well (just nothing back into MAN hence why I booked LHR).


Classic virgin website, although in fairness the reward seat finder does say its a beta. So long as seat spy keeps working!
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