PE to UC Miles Upgrade

Hi all. New to the forum so please be gentle with me [:I]

Just booked another hol for Xmas 09 to Antigua and whilst we paid for J coming back, it was just too steep for outbound so have only booked PE for outbound. We fly 16th Dec LGW-ANU and I know there are no reward seats currently in UC and also know that there are 7 seats empty currently and that this is also a very popular time of year but I can but hope!

What I wanted to know is if there is an easier way of checking for reward availability over the next few months other than just remembering to go online and check every now and again? Or is there a particular time before which it is common knowledge (although obviously not to me) that none would be available e.g. do VS perhaps not release any further reward availability until at least 1 month prior to flight and then only if X number seats unsold?

Thanks all and I'll try not to bombard you all at once with the many questions I have! [oo]

There are too many variables to answer whether none would be available. You might have a pretty open UC (though that's not a concept which applies to the LGW UC class) on a flight that is otherwise full if not oversold, in which case they won't release any Gs since they will have to do upgrades or pay people to get off anyway, so you'll go J only if you are willing to pay big money (since it likely means someone else gets booted off the flight). Or you might have a flight with four seats in J on an otherwise open flight, and they might release one or two of the J seats for rewards a couple of days before the flight.

If there are J seats open and all else fails, this might mean upgrade at the airport with miles if you get there early enough.

I suspect the only easier way that checking online is having your equerry do it for you [:)]

You could check on load sites that show reward categories, but I doubt this is significantly easier. There is no notification feature implemented yet, though it would be cool to have one: 'I'm interested in upgrading for this flight, send email when available' ... not yet that I know of.

As MarkedMan has said, the variables are enormous.Presumeably the PE fare is booked as a W or S (as opposed to a cheaper K class fare)? If not (and all works out well for you i.e. there is G reward availability )you may be asked to stump up the cash difference between the fares before an upgrade will be processed(technically only W,S, or U fares can be upgraded to a G).
Good luck - the reality is that anything can happen on the day (or even before).Bombard away [:)]
DL

[Neil]

quote:Originally posted by shelly67
Hi all. New to the forum so please be gentle with me [:I]

Just booked another hol for Xmas 09 to Antigua and whilst we paid for J coming back, it was just too steep for outbound so have only booked PE for outbound.



A bit late I know, but did you consider booking a D fare code for the inbound instead of a full J? Both get the CDC but a D fare can be quite considerably cheaper, which might have meant you could have afforded a Z/R/D for the outbound also.

As for your question re upgrading, I would make sure you check as often as possible, especially close to the actual flight for G fares, as they can still become available.

quote:Originally posted by Neil
quote:Originally posted by shelly67
Hi all. New to the forum so please be gentle with me [:I]

Just booked another hol for Xmas 09 to Antigua and whilst we paid for J coming back, it was just too steep for outbound so have only booked PE for outbound.



A bit late I know, but did you consider booking a D fare code for the inbound instead of a full J? Both get the CDC but a D fare can be quite considerably cheaper, which might have meant you could have afforded a Z/R/D for the outbound also.



Neil,I might be wrong but I assumed the use of J was generic for UC- pricewise both the Z and J on the flight out are pretty expensive [:0].

[Scrooge]

quote:Originally posted by DragonLady
quote:Originally posted by Neil
quote:Originally posted by shelly67
Hi all. New to the forum so please be gentle with me [:I]

Just booked another hol for Xmas 09 to Antigua and whilst we paid for J coming back, it was just too steep for outbound so have only booked PE for outbound.



A bit late I know, but did you consider booking a D fare code for the inbound instead of a full J? Both get the CDC but a D fare can be quite considerably cheaper, which might have meant you could have afforded a Z/R/D for the outbound also.



Neil,I might be wrong but I assumed the use of J was generic for UC- pricewise both the Z and J on the flight out are pretty expensive [:0].


[V] Bad DL, you know better than that....

When it comes to this place, the use of the phrase J means just that, a J ticket otherwise it's UC Shelly being new and asking us to be nice get's a get out of jail free card, you, well next time you head this way you will need to bring spring roll's, a suitable punishment I think we can all agree [:p]

As DL hinted at earlier, we need to know what fare code you booked in for the PE flight, if it's S or a W then you will need to pay extra to get it up to one of those codes to even be able to think about upgrading with miles.

Here is the thing though, there is no point in spending the money to get to the right fare code if there are no G's open, so, first find out what fare code your PE fare is, then check with VS every couple of days to see if they release a couple of G's, if they do you will need to do some quick math to figure out if the cost is worth it, also ask how much it would be to upgrade your ticket to a Z, the cheapest UC fare.

[honey lamb]

quote:Originally posted by Scrooge


As DL hinted at earlier, we need to know what fare code you booked in for the PE flight, if it's S or a W then you will need to pay extra to get it up to one of those codes to even be able to think about upgrading with miles.



Don't you mean an S or a K?

[Scrooge]

quote:Originally posted by honey lamb
quote:Originally posted by Scrooge


As DL hinted at earlier, we need to know what fare code you booked in for the PE flight, if it's S or a W then you will need to pay extra to get it up to one of those codes to even be able to think about upgrading with miles.



Don't you mean an S or a K?


I know what I meant, I just didn't type it [:D]

So yes, if it's a K or S then you will have to pay to make it a W

Thank you, for that HL, your punishment is to bring me Spring rolls as well [y]

Oh dear - sorry, yes we are booked into S in PE outbound - the cheapest available in UC was almost 1600 each extra on top of PE (S class) fare so decided that was not worth it in the hope that would be offered better price to upgrade later or may be able to snag a miles upgrade.

And yes, I used J in meaning UC fare - we are actually booked into D on return and not bothered which UC fare we upgrade to (chauffeur driven car very nice but not essential although we are using on way home) as long as it's a little more reasonable than 1500+ each bearing in mind how much we have already paid for PE on that leg.

Thanks all for the help though - was hoping there was some great website or tool that we could subscribe to which would track for G availability to save my equerry having to do this daily for me!! [:D]

quote:Originally posted by Scrooge
quote:Originally posted by honey lamb
quote:Originally posted by Scrooge


As DL hinted at earlier, we need to know what fare code you booked in for the PE flight, if it's S or a W then you will need to pay extra to get it up to one of those codes to even be able to think about upgrading with miles.



Don't you mean an S or a K?


I know what I meant, I just didn't type it [:D]

So yes, if it's a K or S then you will have to pay to make it a W

Thank you, for that HL, your punishment is to bring me Spring rolls as well [y]


Uncle Scrooge, an S fare is upgradeable [:)].Just for the record I did offer to bring proper spring rolls this year (but couldn't guarantee their freshness after 5 days in LA first.....[}:)][}:)]). And see, Shelley did mean UC, not neccessarily J. We're not all totally geeky (she'll learn to be one quickly enough [:D]).

PS Am now really confused (or is it the bottle of Fleurie have just finished) but I thought that S class PE fares were upgradeable with miles if G available and only K were not - at least that's what it appears to say under fare code explanations on this site or I am reading it wrong? [?]

Thanks DL - sorry your reply came in whilst typing mine - am glad it's not just the Fleurie then...... and look forward to being welcomed into the Geek's club! [oo]

quote:Originally posted by shelly67
PS Am now really confused (or is it the bottle of Fleurie have just finished) but I thought that S class PE fares were upgradeable with miles if G available and only K were not - at least that's what it appears to say under fare code explanations on this site or I am reading it wrong? [?]


No you're right - S is upgradeable.Uncle Scrooge is having a 'senior moment '
DL

Yes, my MiL says she has those but calls them her CRAFT moments - 'can't remember a f*** thing' [^]

[Scrooge]

No, Uncle Scrooge was having a melatonin moment [:D] I really do know better than to post once I have taken those things, but it doesn't stop me [B)]

So now that I am fresh and awake, I look at the thread and go [:w]

So your both on an S code, well just keep calling them, G's can open up at any time, their really is very little of a pattern to predict it, I have also seen no G's open up and a flight leave with 10+ open seats in UC (LHR aircraft) yield mismanagement is truly one of the dark arts.