Options Options Options! - I think!

Hi everyone

This is my first post here but have been reading this site for about 3 years and now i need some help I'd opinions please.

I'm hoping to go on my honeymoon in October to Florida. I have 75000 flying club miles do called the helpline to see what my options are. I have been told I can have a one way upgrade from economy to upper class and return upgrade to premium for all of the miles plus c£2100. Or I could have the return for c£1800 but staying in economy for that leg. This I have been told is on a combi fare. What I am asking is, is it worth paying the extra for both classes or shall I just get two return economy's for c£1200. I also have a companion reward but understand that they are not really worth it apart from premium economy.

There is availability in everything I want, I just wanted to explore my options and get some expert advice from everyone on here!

Thanks very much in advance.

Ben

Just to add. I will be flying out to Miami and back from Orlando!

Hi Ben and welcome to V-Flyer

It really comes down to how much you want to pay. You have all the choices - which ironically makes chosing the "right" one harder. I would definitely come back PE as it is much easier to sleep there than in EC.

Since it is your honeymoon, it would be lovely to make the start very special: LHR Clubhouse, then Upper Class to MIA. On the other hand you may have already blown a fortune on the wedding and saving several hundred pounds to spend in Florida might be a good idea.

Have a great time whatever you decide and I hope the wedding all goes according to plan.

Cheers

Martin

I think you get better value from the UC service going out, but this is a matter of personal preference.

Coming back you probably just want to sleep, so the UC service is not so useful as when you are going out wide eyed and bushy tailed.

Another vote for UC out, the LHR CH would be a fantastic way to start your honeymoon!

If you can go PE home, then that would be great! Especially if you get seats in the bubble flying home from Orlando.

It's all about your budget or what you are willing to pay.

I have recently used the combination reward for 2 adults and booked LHR-LAX (paid economy) SFO-LHR (upper reward). As much as I liked to try the LHR Clubhouse, I think I went for Upper on the return leg as you get extra luggage allowance and on purposely flying back from SFO so I can at least get a Clubhouse experience (not quite LHR though). But will also try LHR revivals.

Went to Orlando last year in PE both ways and it was a brilliant experience too.

Thank you for the replies so far. I think I will definitely go out on upper and book return in economy- for now. This will only use 50000 miles so would it be possible in a few months time to change the return to PE if I choose, and when I have some more miles. In sure I would have to change the base fare as well. I have called the flying club many times but hear something different every time!

Thank you once again.

Ben

Be careful about 'leaving it until later' for the return journey. PE and UC rewards from Orlando can be like hen's teeth, so common wisdom is to grab them whilst you can.

Here is what I would do:

buy an economy L class ticket ronud trip. It then takes 10k miles to upgrade each person one cabin , one way. So you can use 10k to go from Y to PE and another 10k to go PE to UC (so 20k each way gets you from Y to UC).
You need 80k to do both of you (probably best to do both unless you want the honeymoon to end sooner than you expected).
You can buy an extra 5k miles for GBP150 (plus you have to pay taxes on the UC seats).
Check out the UC prices and compare - you are getting a great deal.

Or if the PE price is decent use your miles to bump to Upper.

If you can, fly LHR-MIA as the LHR Clubhouse is amazing. Unfortunately, they don't have a Clubhouse in MIA or MCO so your mainly going for the Bed and PJ's!

Or if the PE price is decent use your miles to bump to Upper.
!

don't forget you can only do that with S or W .

Thank you everyone once again.

I'm going to go for the Economy to Upper upgrade on the way out and Economy to Premium on the way back. Hopefully I'll have a refurbed LGW aircraft for then! And i will definitly do a trip report when I get back.

I will probably be asking more questions before then so BEWARE!!

Thanks for all your help oo)

Ben

Hi again.

I just thought I'd let everyone know that I booked Upper out, and Premium economy on the way back for £2107 plus 75000 miles. I think I got a good deal on this. Any thoughts? Typically, I received two premium upgrades yesterday but I don't think they would have made any difference. Would they be worth saving for a sale maybe?

I chose saets 12a and k in the nose. Would these be good seats for the two of us and also do they have windows?? My return flight says that I cant choose seats, could this be because of the refits or would most seats be taken already as its a return from Orlando during half term?

Sorry about all the questions.

Thanks again

Ben

I chose saets 12a and k in the nose. Would these be good seats for the two of us and also do they have windows??

My return flight says that I cant choose seats, could this be because of the refits or would most seats be taken already as its a return from Orlando during half term?

Yes 12A/K are good seats. Can't comment on the windows but there are no overhead lockers so don't try to pull the ceiling down!

Yes - more than likely due to refits

[honey lamb]

I chose saets 12a and k in the nose. Would these be good seats for the two of us and also do they have windows?? My return flight says that I cant choose seats, could this be because of the refits or would most seats be taken already as its a return from Orlando during half term?

Sorry about all the questions.

Thanks again

Ben

12A/K are excellent seats for a couple and yes, they do have windows but because you are in the very pointy end, you do have to twist around a fair bit to look out of the window. Granted you do in all the UC seats but you have to twist just a tad more.

The reason you can't choose seat for the return is because you are travelling in PE in October which is when the refits are still on (but if all goes to plan should be coming near to an end) No-one can so the trick is to do OLCI as soon as it opens 24 hours before the scheduled departure time. (A quick tip: check a couple of hours before OLCI opens. At that stage VS will have decided which aircraft is to be used and may release the seat map)

Finally, as Tonty says, there are no overhead bins over rows 12 and 14 so don't start looking for one. Put your hand luggage in the first bin that looks reasonably empty and if someone from, say, row 15 objects to your using "their" bin, it isn't exclusively theirs but it's not worth starting WW3 over and the cabin crew will store it for you