Is it worth upgrading?

I am off to Johannesburg with Virgin on Thursday and wonder if it is worth upgrading the seats for myself and hubby to Premium Economy. He is worried about legroom and footroom as he is 6'2". I have been told conflicting things and wonder if it would be better to just try and get bulkhead seats on checkin. Any tips would be appreciated. It is our Silver Wedding, is it worth mentioning this if we try and upgrade on checkin? I was willing to pay for the Premium Economy although it is very expensive at £285 pp one way.

[Neil]

Hello and Welcome to V-Flyer[y][y].

I guess it all depends on how important leg room is to you. I am nrly 6ft and after flying PE I would not fly Economy again, because for me the extra cash is worth the extra legroom. You also get a few nice other touches with flying PE, like Priority Boarding and Baggage, Champange when you first board the a/c, all of which are not the most important things in the world ever, but are very nice, especially with it being your Silver Wedding.

The other option is to buy an Exit Row seat in Economy (£75 each) as this will give you the extra leg room but without all the other benefits of upgrading to PE.

In your situation I would Upgrade, but obviously that is a choice only you can make.

Neil:)

[Nottingham Nick]

Hello Missmuffet, and welcome to V-Flyer... come and sit down beside me.... no, sorry I get into trouble for that. [}:)]

'Is PE worth it?' is one of our popular debates, see this thread, for example. There are others if you search.

At the end of the day, it is all down to personal choice, especially now PE is getting a long overdue revamp - see this article. That won't help you for your upcoming flight, though.

You will get all sorts of different opinions as to whether it offers good value for money and it all boils down to it being your call.

I am in the camp of 'no', but that may change now that my family has sampled it, and it is getting a makeover. I am also 6'2" and I prefer to pay for exit rows, if they are available.

Welcome to V-Flyer, I hope you have great flights to SA.

Nick

Hi,

Welcome to the forum!!!

I would say it was very worth it, I am 6ft 4in, and no matter how early I check in, I can never seem to get the bulkhead seats/Emerg Exit. Not only do you get 38in seat pitch, it is a smaller cabin, hence you can get some sleep easier. It is worth asking for an upgrade at the airport.

Have a great trip.

Dominic

[Bazz]

Being 6ft 3" myself I have found bulkhead seats a bit hit and miss, not only on VS. It depends on the distance to the bulkhead but sometime this can actually give you less legroom than a standard economy seat, so be careful.

I would go for PE as you have a long flight but if you feel it is too expensive get to checkin early and try to pay for an exit row. Have a look at the seat maps and seat ratings make a note of the exit row numbers so you know what you are being offered.

Enjoy the trip!

I would go for the PE option. Partly because it guarantees you the extra leg room; hoping for exit seats at the airport is a game of chance. The other reason is that exit seats are not that great IMHO. You do not get enough room to stretch your legs out straight, you are sat with all the screaming babies and the seats are usually different in that they have solid sides rather than arm rests (Given how narrow Y seats are this can make it a tight squeeze if you have an ample bum like moi). But there is one alternative - you could take along your own exceptionally comfortable tuffet, although you may find it difficult to sneak past those ever vigilant chaps at BAA security[}:)];)

I am afraid your silver wedding status will not count for anything at the airport. If you had silver VS status, or even better gold, well that would be different.

For me it depends on the type of aircraft, with VAA this can often mean a lottery. Check to see if you are on a 340-600. I would pay the extra then, you may even get the new seats. For my trip to Cape Town in Jan I have opted for South African Airlines ecconomy class. VA mainly use their 340-300 on this route and although I have never been on one myself I have never seen any good comments I am trying to stay clear !

[Neil]

Originally posted by Alan
VA mainly use their 340-300 on this route and although I have never been on one myself I have never seen any good comments I am trying to stay clear !

Over the last 3 months the VS601 has been operated 98% by the A340-600 and this is the main a/c planned to operate this route for the future.

Rgds,
Neil

Originally posted by Attitude23

Originally posted by Alan
VA mainly use their 340-300 on this route and although I have never been on one myself I have never seen any good comments I am trying to stay clear !

Over the last 3 months the VS601 has been operated 98% by the A340-600 and this is the main a/c planned to operate this route for the future.

Rgds,
Neil

Well that's was the case when I booked in July - like I say it's always lottery. VA have very good fares at the mo £293.30 less than I paid in July. I booked with S.A because i was going to be on a 340-600 and with S.A the leg room is very good. A 747 is now being used on this route which would have meant the dreaded 31". The leg room and the extra £300 was enough to make my blood boil but I understand that these things can happen. Thought I would call Customer Services, kept calm and was offered seats upstairs. Have to say that I thought South African Airways Customer Service was very good. I think the food and service is better on S.A in ecconomy so I'm happy.

Flying to Jo'burg, PE is definitely worth it:D

VS.

Thanks for all your replies so quickly. What an amazing site! Since this time, I have tried to upgrade to PE without any luck. Apparently because I booked through an Agent, I have to send my tickets back by registered post to be amended and upgraded and sent back, all by this Thursday. You're having a laugh!! The Agent said that VA were very unhelpful and advised to wait till checkin. I wished I'd looked into it before. Still hopefully I will have some luck in upgrading on Thursday at checkin

Good luck in trying to upgrade to PE on Thursday, it is worth it considering the flying time. I have to agree though it is stupid to send the tickets back by registered post to upgrade by Thursday. One of those things I suppose.

Whichever cabin you end up in enjoy the flight and enjoy South Africa[y]

Originally posted by Alan
VA mainly use their 340-300 on this route and although I have never been on one myself I have never seen any good comments I am trying to stay clear !

Flew out to JFK last year on a 340-300 and was very pleasantly surprised. Seemed to have more legroom than a 747 and quieter to boot.

You hear many horror stories about legroom in economy and whilst not the best around, VS is not too bad. I'm 6'1" and have survived four 10 hour and two 7 hour flights in the last year. I'd always rather have the money to spend at the destination so have never paid cash for an upgrade.

Hope it all goes well for you, if you get a 346 aircraft then the v:port system will help take your mind off the legroom

Jon B

Expert Flyer is currently showing Y (econ) as full, J (Upper) as nearly full, and 18 spare seats (and K7) in PE.

You've a good chance of securing an upgrade at the airport on this basis, however with economy full others might do the same or be offered a good price. I do suggest you get there early and try if you're going for it. Sometimes the at the airport prices are better than those quoted in advance.

Enjoy your celebration whatever!

I would say if you are an infrequent flyer go for PE.
I fly frequently at my own expense, and despite being 6'5 I will gladly suffer economy because typically for the price of two PE flights I could have had three economy flights. Which is important when your wife's family lives the other side of the world.
But I would definately pay for extra legroom if I wasn't flying so often. I hope you get your upgrade at the airport.

Thanks again everyone for your replies. I am definitely going for PE. Hopefully everyone else doesnt have the same idea!

Thanks everyone for their suggestions and replies. Going for it tomorrow. Hope everyone else doesnt have the same idea!

[Neil]

Originally posted by Missmuffett
Thanks again everyone for your replies. I am definitely going for PE. Hopefully everyone else doesnt have the same idea!

Good Luck with it, hope you get your upgrade and enjoy the PE experience, and don't forget to write us a TR on your return!!

Neil:)