Upgrading on the day

Evening all,

Just had an interesting chat this morning as I dropped the missus off at check-in for her trip to LAX with the check-in agent. We'd asked what the upgrade situation was and although there were no operational upgrades on offer, she did talk for a bit about their pay on the day policies. Common sense stuff really - if economy is overbooked but they have plently of PE left, they will actively discount the upgrade price for that leg, apparently even walking the check-in queue offering the price out to interested parties if things are really tight. Alas, PE was almost full with a non-fully booked Economy cabin so today's price was 250 quid.

Anyway, I was wondering what upgrade deals people have managed to swing on the day of their flight? Exactly how cheap have they managed to get a bigger seat for? LAX in particular, since I'll be flying out there pretty soon too!

[mitchja]

Hi Randalf

I've only ever payed to upgrade east-bound east coast PE flights. NYC and BOS.

NYC was a PE K fare - I paid equivalent of £595 to an UC Z fare.
BOS was a PE H fare - again it was £595 but only to an UC G fare so only PE miles/tier points that time.

Never done it on west coast flights though.

I once paid to upgrade from economy to PE LHR to EWR VS001 and it cost £256.

Return flight VS002 similar upgrade was $1200 approx £640.

So similar to the figures you have.

Keith

Interesting - seems like 250 quid is their "standard" price. Wonder if it ever gets offered at a lower rate?

I also asked that if I upgraded to PE with miles, could that ticket then be upgraded to UC on the day for the "on-the-day" rate she quoted of 600 quid, but she didn't know if such a fare class would qualify. Any ideas on that one, anyone?

[HighFlyer]

How do you guys go about enquiring for operational upgrades in a polite way?

Randalf mentioned asking 'what the upgrade situation was' How exactly do you ask?

I have never asked as i thought that the check-in staff would think me rude and not upgrade me (i was under the impression that they didnt upgrade those who asked) But it seems that many of you enquire, do you have any tips?

I am not too bothered if i dont get upgraded as i am pretty happy in PE, but obviously i wouldnt refuse the chance!

I gather being a FC member helps? And i always travel without Kids and with partner who dresses smartly so i think that we would be ideal upgrade passengers?

Highflyer,

I think when people say they asked about an upgrade they have offered cash or miles, something along the lines of "Hi, could you tell me how much an upgrade from PE to UC would be on this flight?"

Sometimes that can trigger an Op Upgrade. But if you're expecting it to, it won't [:X].

Check out http://www.virginflyer.com/upgrades.asp for all you ever wanted to know about VS upgrades

VSlf

[RichardMannion]

Back in the old days, when I first started flying VS (99) - I remember paying £199/$300 on a number of occasions to go from Y to W for MCO, BOS and JFK. West Coast was £399 (and for some strange reason ORD too!!).

For Y to J - I was quoted £599 and £799.

In more recent years I've seen Y to W for as low as £150 - I remember VS had a 3 month promo at one point on upgrading at the airport as they wanted more people to try W - might have the leaflet somehwehere in my huge archive......

Good rough guide would be to look at what VH charges for the upgrades:
USA - http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/usa/fli ... ades.shtml
Florida - http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/florida ... mium.shtml (Mmm PE looks reasonable for MI in late Nov, especially when you take the 10% off....)
Caribbean - http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/caribbe ... mium.shtml

Thanks,
Richard