V-Flyer

OK, I am sure the above joke has been made before, and I apologize for it already.

I am brand new to this Virgin Atlantic thing, and have just, after much research and rumination, booked my travel. I do have a couple of questions that I am hoping the experts may be able to help me with:

Background: I purchased full-fare, supposedly fully-flexible premium economy tickets and upgraded them to UC using 80,000 miles (dang, the transfer from Amex MR to Flying club was fast!)

Question 1: How come my e-ticket confirmation says "NONREF/NONRERTE $50USD CHANGE FEE?" I thought the tix were fully flexible?

Question 2: How come the confirmation also says "NO FF MILES/TIER POINTS?" I understand that by upgrading with miles I naturally won't get the UC-level miles/points, but why wouldn't I get the miles/points for the booking class I purchased?

Question 3: Does the e-ticket confirmation I received, and the fact that I can retrieve the reservation on the website mean that the flights were indeed ticketed, confirmed in UC, and quite good to go? I am just a tad concerned because I have not seen the fare purchase hit my Amex card yet.

If I sound a little nervous, it's only because this was quite a bit of money and because it took nearly 2 hours to find flights and days with the requisite inventory - in fact, we lost a seat mid-booking and had to start all over again.

My travel experience has been exclusively on domestic (US) carriers, so researching and booking on VS has been a somewhat intimidating process thusfar.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you may be able to offer, and happy holidays.

Best,
Lewis

Hello Lewis and welcome to V-Flyer

1. Probably this is because you are travelling on a 'G' reward fare for your Upper Class flight. Any upgraded fares from any Premium or Economy 'paid-for' fare with miles are always booked in G (which is the reward fare code for Upper Class). The non-refund bit applys to your G fare and not your originally booked full flexable fare. All rewards bookings are subject to change or cancel fees.

2. Point 1 also answers this question. As you are now travelling on a G Upper fare, the VS system see this as a reward booking and doesn't reconise that your have upgraded from a revenue fare with miles. You will still earn your original Premium Economy miles + TP's (though they might not be automatically added to your account once you have travelled. A call to Flying Club will sort this after you have travelled.

3. If you have received your e-ticket and you should see the code 'OK' under the 'Status' heading on your e-ticket, this means your flight is indeed fully booked and confirmed. VS wont issue any ticket until payment has been processed.

Enjoy your flights

Regards

Thank you so much for your speedy response and thank you for your welcome to this community. I am still digging around and looking for how to become a "paid" member as the advice I've seen here even just by lurking has already proven to be invaluable.

Not to put too fine a point on my first question, but just to clarify: yes, the CSR did explain that the mileage upgrade portion of the trip would require a change fee. But if we should have an emergency change of plans, or a business issue should come up, for instance, do I still have the benefit of the fully flexible premium economy fare in terms of full refund/re-scheduling? Or did the upgrade to G cause the entire ticket (that is, both the money I paid for the PE seats and the miles to upgrade) to become inflexible?

I hope that made sense...

Thanks again,
Lewis

Actually, I have a somewhat different view with respect to Q2. I recent flew MIA-LHR (VS6) - well, it was booked BOS-LHR (VS12), but I made a change. My (paper) ticket was printed with the same endorsement, despite having a P/Economy ticket in S class. I called FC and was told that the printed statement was an error, that full FC mileage would be earnt and that the ticket was changeable etc. I asked for that to me recorded in the booking. I'd encourage you to do the same thing - because if for any reason you don't get the miles added to your account later, it's good to have a record of your inquiry. [8D]

Originally posted by lewisr
Thank you so much for your speedy response and thank you for your welcome to this community. I am still digging around and looking for how to become a "paid" member ...

Lewis,

Did someone ask how to become a paid member?. When your payment is recorded you will receive a membership kit with your unique membership number.

Happy to have you aboard VFlyer.

Chuck

Hi Lewis -- When are you flying?

Lewis, now that seems sorted welcome to V-Flyer - I trust you'll find lots of information relevant to your flight esp. about UC from other posts and TRs (trip reports). Where are you flying from?

Hi everyone!

I'm flying in late May out of IAD (we tried out so many days that I can't recall the one we finally found - it's in the office). And already I can't wait!!

Best,
Lewis