Spending the miles

Hi this is my first post in the forum so please go easy on me...!
I have 20k miles currently and looking to book a UC fare to MCO next April...just wanted some opinions on whether its worth trying to use miles in some way or just buying a fare in the current sale and saving up miles. Thanks in advance

Welcome

I'm afraid that 20k miles + UC do not really go together.

The only option I can see would be a miles + money fare where you need 15k miles plus cash but availability of these is limited and as the UC cabin on yhe LGW-MCO route is only 14 capacity then availability is even more restricted

'April' also suggests (though correct me if I'm wrong) 'Easter' which is a popular time to travel and M+M tickets even more limited unless you can be flexible on yout dates.

Personally I'd grab a UC sale fare whilst you can - if there are any left that is

S or W fare in PE plus 20k miles gets you into UC one way.

[Neil]

S or W fare in PE plus 20k miles gets you into UC one way.

Yes, but trying to find any G reward availability on the MCO flights is becoming an almost impossbile task, apart from the quietest periods, and even then it's still not easy.

Hi and welcome to first post...
20k isn't worth much if you want UC, trying get to MCO in April you'll struggle, if your wanting to go I'd buy seat and amass the extra miles from that flight to give you a more useable balance for future opportunities..
It's the reward seats to MCO you'll struggle to find in UC, especially in April

NH

Thanks for the responses. If i was to book my seat in the reward sale in econonmy (buying the difference in mileage so 6000 more mile approx) would it then work out cheaper to upgrade using cash to UC? thanks

No, reward seats booked using miles can only be upgraded with more miles - you can't use cash to upgrade in advance of the flight.

can i buy seats with miles and money and then upgrade with more miles? or does it have to be with more miles and more money?

also if I get a free amex upgrade, is that to use on miles only flights?
I'm sure I just ask the same rehashed questions, eventually it might go in!!!!!!

Hi,

I'm afraid the VS Amex voucher has to be used with a reward flight, using miles only. Check out the current reward reward flight sale though as they are running some good offers.

[mitchja]

can i buy seats with miles and money and then upgrade with more miles? or does it have to be with more miles and more money?

No sorry, M&M fares cannot be upgraded at all, either with miles, cash or a combination of both.

[Neil]

can i buy seats with miles and money and then upgrade with more miles? or does it have to be with more miles and more money?

No sorry, M&M fares cannot be upgraded at all, either with miles, cash or a combination of both.

I think they can, with either cash or another miles+money combo

From the VS t&c's

b) Change fees are waived for upgrade to a higher revenue fare or higher Miles Plus Money cabin.

c) The difference in fare will also be applied as well as the difference in mileage, e.g. 7,500 - 2,000 = 5,500 Flying Club miles will be debited from the Flying Club member’s account for an Economy to Premium Economy upgrade.

On this and another thread people have been told that UC reward availability to MCO in April is extremely hard to find... but... is it? A little bit of research shows the following (correct as of one minute ago ) :

16 dates outbound have an UC reward seat available
10 dates outbound have 2 UC reward seats available
2 dates outbound have 3 UC reward seats available
1 date outbound has 4 UC reward seats available

There are loads of W and Y reward seats up for grabs too.

That doesn't seem too bad to me.

On this and another thread people have been told that UC reward availability to MCO in April is extremely hard to find... but... is it? A little bit of research shows the following (correct as of one minute ago ) :

16 dates outbound have an UC reward seat available
10 dates outbound have 2 UC reward seats available
2 dates outbound have 3 UC reward seats available
1 date outbound has 4 UC reward seats available

There are loads of W and Y reward seats up for grabs too.

That doesn't seem too bad to me.

But what about the inbound? Most people will be looking for returns rather than singles and it seams those are harder to get.

and it seams

Totally OT and apologies as such.
Dearest Tonty this has been driving me mad v( .
Seem or seems, not seam or seams
DL

and it seams

Totally OT and apologies as such.
Dearest Tonty this has been driving me mad v( .
Seem or seems, not seam or seams
DL

Totally agree, this kind of thing effects me a lot, perhaps we should include lessons to help posters improve there grammar. |:)

and it seams

Totally OT and apologies as such.
Dearest Tonty this has been driving me mad v( .
Seem or seems, not seam or seams
DL

OW!

That's my wrist well and truly slapped!

Totally agree to, McMaddog. Some of the sail fairs are quite hard to locate on there special offers page. Off course you could always call the hotline

Suggest we all reed "Eats shoots and leaves - the V-flyer edition".

BTW DL - surely its "seems" in this context, unless Tonty is talking about the stitching holding his beary stuffing in

Totally agree, this kind of thing effects me a lot, perhaps we should include lessons to help posters improve there grammar. |:)

TSK !

Even I know it should be 'affects' not 'effects' and 'their' not 'there' !

|:) |:)

[Neil]

On this and another thread people have been told that UC reward availability to MCO in April is extremely hard to find... but... is it? A little bit of research shows the following (correct as of one minute ago ) :

16 dates outbound have an UC reward seat available
10 dates outbound have 2 UC reward seats available
2 dates outbound have 3 UC reward seats available
1 date outbound has 4 UC reward seats available

There are loads of W and Y reward seats up for grabs too.

That doesn't seem too bad to me.

As Tonty has already said, what about the inbound. I also looked out of interest last week at this, and you are correct there is good G reward availability to MCO, but I couldn't find a flight with two returns until June (this was ex MAN).

The lack of reward availability on return sectors seems to be an issue in PE as well.

I tried to book at the end of November and availability outbound was easy. However, there was no inbound reward seats in PE from 26th November until 5th December.

Also, availability only appeared to be on the A333 rather than the 744 so hopefully the PE seats have "softened" by then and the forward toilets will be available ! :w

I suppose it being Thanksgiving won't help but we had this last year in early November as well - which is supposed to be a quiet period.

Just one point - I have just recently upgraded an economy MPM leg to PE using additional MPM - essentially, the differnece between the two.

Neil and tonty -- yes, fair point, you are right that return availability is much worse. (And I only looked ex-LGW, not ex-MAN.)

I was thinking of the OP really -- 20k miles would only ever be any use one-way. A bird in the hand, and all that.

Would it be possible to do the following.

1. Book a pair of miles awards in Econ MAN-LAS for March - there is availability

2. I am expecting 2 PE upgrades from my VS Amex card in Dec/Jan, so once I have them, can I simply upgrade to PE (subject to availability) or do I need to use the vouchers at the time of booking ?

[Neil]

Yes you can do that. You will have to pay the extra taxes/charges when you do the upgrade. There would of course need to be P class reward seats available.