Best way to Book for next year.

A question for you all if I May?

Next June i'm going on my honeymoon, planning on Flying into San Francisco driving across the states and flying out of New york just over a month later, I'd like to book an M Class fare and upgrade to upper with miles, providing i can find some G's which should be simple enough for New York but perhaps a little harder for San Fran.

My question is this? When flights for the outbound are released, presuming that reward seats are available, how would i go about booking them? I cant book the M fare round trip as the return date wont be available yet, and I wouldn't want to wait the month before booking the outbound leg incase the G's (Presuming some were available) were snapped up.

We Don't have enough miles for an outright reward redemption in upper both ways, so just booking 2 one ways with miles is not possible?

Can anyone suggest a good way of doing this, or I am stuck and will have to wait until both legs are available at 335 day point and risk losing possible G availability on the outbound flight?

any ideas would be welcomed, thanks in advance

Congratulations.

I think you will be stuck having to wait until your return flight is available.

You could book one way fares when they become available but that would require you to buy full fat Y fares (so expensive).

[Neil]

Hi, as Tonty has said, you pretty much have no other option but to wait until the return flights are released.

Obviously there is the risk, that some G's could be released and taken before you get the chance to book, but it isn't quite as simple as reward seats being released as soon as the flights are. In recent times it seems they release reward seats very randomly over a number of months from the flights going on sale, and you could find that non are even released before you are able to book your M return.

For example, we are currently booked on a flight to LAX and back from SFO in Aug/Sept, our LA flight we are only in PE currently, and over the last few weeks G's have been released for various dates in August, when up until about 4 weeks ago there haven't been any at all. There is now 1 G for our date, and it is very likely over the next week or 2 they will release another, so we are just playing the waiting game knowing the loads are still very light.

Also, you do have options, you could do what we are doing and fly in to LA (2 daily flights) and get an internal flight up to SFO (we have paid £55 for our flight LA to SFO) if there are G's on flights to LA and not SFO.

Can I add a question of a similar ilk on this? We're planning for a trip to Tokyo next May, dates are fixed as we're doing a custom organised tour and we've just finalised. We're just accruing miles for use potentially on upgrading flights or MpM (have the Virgin AmEx card) plus have a revenue UC flight in a couple of weeks to boost, plus Miles More Friends bonus to boost.

My question(s) is where do you guys find out what fare codes are available? Where for instance would I find out that an S or W was available in PE or an M in EC? How do you then monitor that a G in UC is available? Would be useful to know this so I can plan my strategy.

Many thanks,
Bretty

[Neil]

Hi, just firstly, have you booked or are booking your flights yourselves, and not part of a package or tour? Only flights booked by you direct with VS can be upgraded with miles.

If so, then this page on the VS site will allow you to search for M or S fares, these are the lowest Y and PE fares that are upgradable. With regards to finding our if there are G reward seats, all you can do is a dummy miles booking on the VS site, this will then show if there is any seats available on your dates and you can then call VS to do the upgrade.

Hi, as Tonty has said, you pretty much have no other option but to wait until the return flights are released.

Obviously there is the risk, that some G's could be released and taken before you get the chance to book, but it isn't quite as simple as reward seats being released as soon as the flights are. In recent times it seems they release reward seats very randomly over a number of months from the flights going on sale, and you could find that non are even released before you are able to book your M return.

For example, we are currently booked on a flight to LAX and back from SFO in Aug/Sept, our LA flight we are only in PE currently, and over the last few weeks G's have been released for various dates in August, when up until about 4 weeks ago there haven't been any at all. There is now 1 G for our date, and it is very likely over the next week or 2 they will release another, so we are just playing the waiting game knowing the loads are still very light.

Also, you do have options, you could do what we are doing and fly in to LA (2 daily flights) and get an internal flight up to SFO (we have paid £55 for our flight LA to SFO) if there are G's on flights to LA and not SFO.

Thanks Tonty & Neil, I appreciate that there is no way of telling if and when g's will be released, just wondered if there was any round it should I spot g's on our outbound dates before the Rtn is available, Lax is def an option id have no trouble starting trip from there.

Can anyone throw any light on the change fee for an M fare, as it could be an option to book Rtn then change it at later date. I changed an L last year for £100 pp, if the M is similar then I may consider going down that route if a G becomes available


To answer other question flight stats or expert flyer allow you to check what classes are available, but to check for reward seats you'll need to go through the spend miles function in the VS site or ring the flying club.

Thanks Neil, that was very helpful, and I would be booking flight directly with VS not as part of package. I can better deal that way, and the tour operator I'm using doesn't routinely offer flights as part of package.

Many thanks

Thanks also Trevski. I don't fly often enough to warrant a subscription on Expert Flyer, but thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks also Trevski. I don't fly often enough to warrant a subscription on Expert Flyer, but thanks for the suggestion.

Flightstats.com is a free option

Hi
So are you saying its possible that even at T-330 there may not be any Gs available but randomly become available ?

Hi
So are you saying its possible that even at T-330 there may not be any Gs available but randomly become available ?

Yes Gs are released "randomly". So can be released anytime. It's all down to how many seats they think they will sell.

Hi
So are you saying its possible that even at T-330 there may not be any Gs available but randomly become available ?

Yes Gs are released "randomly". So can be released anytime. It's all down to how many seats they think they will sell.

Thanks. Aah if I had known before
We are flying to NRT in December and I wanted to book (back April) Gs return but only Gs were available for out return flight 2nd week of jan 14. I got nervous so went ahead and booked W outward and G inward.
Anyway there is always next time
But to be honest in a wierd way I'm proud I saved up enough to do the return in UC
If that makes sense

Thanks. Aah if I had known before
We are flying to NRT in December and I wanted to book (back April) Gs return but only Gs were available for out return flight 2nd week of jan 14. I got nervous so went ahead and booked W outward and G inward.
Anyway there is always next time
But to be honest in a wierd way I'm proud I saved up enough to do the return in UC
If that makes sense

But as you have a W fare in PE there is nothing to stop you looking for a G on your outbound. Just because there were none when you booked (or indeed now) dosen't preclude any becoming available later - you just need to do regular dummy miles bookings and book it (i.e. phone FC) as soon as you find one.

Thanks. Aah if I had known before
We are flying to NRT in December and I wanted to book (back April) Gs return but only Gs were available for out return flight 2nd week of jan 14. I got nervous so went ahead and booked W outward and G inward.
Anyway there is always next time
But to be honest in a wierd way I'm proud I saved up enough to do the return in UC
If that makes sense

But as you have a W fare in PE there is nothing to stop you looking for a G on your outbound. Just because there were none when you booked (or indeed now) dosen't preclude any becoming available later - you just need to do regular dummy miles bookings and book it (i.e. phone FC) as soon as you find one.

Maybe I'm mistaken. I must have a Z? As I paid for UC on the outbound.
Either way I'm happy to be flying UC both ways.

Tontybear thanks for your reply and the info.
I was mistaken I checked MMB and I have a Z outbound
Maybe in this case if no Gs were available I should have stuck with a W on the outbound and proceeded as you said?
This would perhaps have given me the chance to get a G + miles. I guess you would also run the risk of not getting one at all tho.

[Neil]

Tontybear thanks for your reply and the info.
I was mistaken I checked MMB and I have a Z outbound
Maybe in this case if no Gs were available I should have stuck with a W on the outbound and proceeded as you said?
This would perhaps have given me the chance to get a G + miles. I guess you would also run the risk of not getting one at all tho.

In all honesty, a fully flexible W PE fare could work out with very little different in price to a heavily discounted Z UC fare by the time you have added the extra taxes and some miles to it.

Thanks Neil
I reckon I need to study the fare codes a bit more and get a plan ready for next time incase I can't get Gs both ways.

Flightstats.com is a free option

Thanks, I'll check that out

Flightstats.com is a free option

Thanks, I'll check that out

Me too
Thanks

Quick update for anyone interested, I decided that if I could see G's for my outbound date then I would book a return M class flight for the correct outbound date but a random return date (until the correct date becomes available at 335 days before) it will cost £100 per person to change the M fare but it took away the risk of loosing the Outbound G's whilst waiting a month for the rtn flight to become available,

So I Booked our M fares this afternoon and snagged 2G's into San Fran for next June, then when rtn date is available I will change the rtn m economy fare date and upgrade to a G fare which I don't envisage having a problem finding since we are returning from New York to LHR after our cross country trip.

I realise this has cost me circa £200 more than it could have but I'm just really pleased to have got the 2 G's into SFO

[buns]

Quick update for anyone interested, I decided that if I could see G's for my outbound date then I would book a return M class flight for the correct outbound date but a random return date (until the correct date becomes available at 335 days before) it will cost £100 per person to change the M fare but it took away the risk of loosing the Outbound G's whilst waiting a month for the rtn flight to become available,

So I Booked our M fares this afternoon and snagged 2G's into San Fran for next June, then when rtn date is available I will change the rtn m economy fare date and upgrade to a G fare which I don't envisage having a problem finding since we are returning from New York to LHR after our cross country trip.

I realise this has cost me circa £200 more than it could have but I'm just really pleased to have got the 2 G's into SFO

Well done and Good Luck !!

buns

Yep as buns says trev well done and as you say there shouldn't be too much probs with the return

Tontybear thanks for your reply and the info.
I was mistaken I checked MMB and I have a Z outbound
Maybe in this case if no Gs were available I should have stuck with a W on the outbound and proceeded as you said?
This would perhaps have given me the chance to get a G + miles. I guess you would also run the risk of not getting one at all tho.

In all honesty, a fully flexible W PE fare could work out with very little different in price to a heavily discounted Z UC fare by the time you have added the extra taxes and some miles to it.

I've been doing some research and set up a comparison table for my next flight LHR-NRT next May as we haven't booked yet and am looking obvs. for best price and if possible to use some miles. As Neil has suggested there is little difference between a W PE fare and a Z UC fare. There are currently no S PE fares available so if I want to use miles and try and bag G's (and I'm looking for 2 returns) then I'm going to have to buy W's. the difference in price between a W and a Z is £221 per person plus £83 taxes per person for return tickets. Considering it will cost me 25,000 miles pp to upgrade to a G (should I be lucky enough to find 2) plus the taxes, this for me is a no brainer. I'm going to book Z's and use the trip to accrue more miles and then maybe for my next VS flight I'll have enough to upgrade an M EC or even try and buy seats outright with miles as I'll have the VS Amex card miles too.

Still it's a good game to play

Still it's a good game to play

Fully agree with this Bretty y) y)

As for your conundrum, how much will it cost to buy the miles you are missing to upgrade ECO to UC? Then factoring in 'M' fare tickets (if any available) extra taxes/surcharges... will that total be cheaper than the W fare/Z fare combo you have been working on?

A fun game indeed

Still it's a good game to play

Fully agree with this Bretty y) y)

As for your conundrum, how much will it cost to buy the miles you are missing to upgrade ECO to UC? Then factoring in 'M' fare tickets (if any available) extra taxes/surcharges... will that total be cheaper than the W fare/Z fare combo you have been working on?

A fun game indeed

Mmmm... Yes, will have to see about that. And of course I can boost base miles flown on my most recent flight for 2 of us for a good price and buy double base miles. That's 18,000 miles each for about £95 which would give a very nice boost for a third of the cost of buying the equivalent miles outright. And can I assume that if G's don't show up or I miss them that I can upgrade an M fare with cold hard cash?

Ooh the game gets better and better...