Reward seat availability experiences

Like others here I have been checking reward availability for 2 people to West Coast USA for months to travel in September.

There have been no flights to SFO and only 1 date to LAX which I was too slow to secure, however by checking everyday I managed to get 2 Upper Reward seat to LAS in September just can't get them on the way back.. Yet.

I didn't think a one way Z was possible?

I don't think you can online
I booked mine over the phone if that makes any difference.

however by checking everyday I managed to get 2 Upper Reward seat to LAS in September just can't get them on the way back.. Yet.

Good luck .As you've found getting there isn't the problem it's the return journey that's the difficult bit. I don't really know what else to do ?| . Anyone help with my earlier question about using FC miles on Delta?
DL

Good luck .As you've found getting there isn't the problem it's the return journey that's the difficult bit. I don't really know what else to do ?| . Anyone help with my earlier question about using FC miles on Delta?
DL

Don't think you can redeem on DL yet -- unless I've missed it.

As I said upthread, return UC redemption sectors from the West Coast have become incredibly scarce, so I sympathise. I think that VS's approach has changed.

G's have suddenly appeared over seven dates ex ORD in September - just not on the dates I'm looking for! That's pairs of G's incidentally as I was searching for two.

[Neil]

Back in march this year I booked LHR to NRT flying in December just over a week before Christmas and returning beginning of second week of January. I was told by the VS booking agent that there were no Gs available nor any reward seat upgrades from PE either so I took a Z for the outbound but did manage to get a G for the inbound.
From reading this and a few other threads since joining v-flyer I probably should have perhaps stuck with a PE for the outbound and just kept searching for the reward seat upgrade however I really wanted UC on the outbound to get the benefit of flatbed as the NRT flight is a red eye.

I didn't think a one way Z was possible?

It might have been a Z / M (or similar upgradable fare) combo with the inbound upgraded to a G. It isn't possible to book a one way Z, as UC is excluded from the Combi fares.

I didn't think a one way Z was possible?

It might have been a Z / M (or similar upgradable fare) combo with the inbound upgraded to a G. It isn't possible to book a one way Z, as UC is excluded from the Combi fares.

That must it.
It was kind of expensive but not as much as booking a straight Z I guess

I've been looking for several months for two West Coast ( SFO or LAX) flights for later in the year ( and I've been ultra flexible over a 3+ month period).Whilst there is some availability on the outboard leg to both destinations on some dates there is zero return availability on any dates for 2 seats for either destination.
Any ideas to a solution? I don't really want to have to fly transcon to IAD/ JFK/ EWR from the West coast.
I've not seen such a dearth of seats in a long time...... !
DL

What about YVR? Only a 2 hour internal to SFO, or you could drive/train and spend a couple of days at the start/end of your trip. Reward availability seems fairly decent too.

Yep, that's what we've done for Rtn from LAS, short hop upto 'Couver clear the head for couple of nights and was wide open for G Rtn.

I have booked a couple of Gs through to Sydney for next Februaury. The LHR-HKG leg is the tough one, so I went for the 330 days ahead method and was happy to take a midweek flight. Similarly I booked the HKG-LHR inbound at 330 days. One of the benefits of reward flights is that you can book a single leg with no penalty. If you do this it is important to be flexibile and not too nervous.

I now have 3 sectors booked, each with 2 Gs. The final unbooked one on the way back is SYD-HKG, but there are so many of them available we can pretty much choose any date we want. By illustration, there are only 7 days between now and the end of September when you can't get 2 Gs on SYD-HKG!

I did ask the CSR on the Au hotline if I could book a single leg on Air New Zealand as we may spend a couple of weeks there too. She said that ANZ reward flights have to be booked as returns. Even if you just want one way you would still have to pay the full amount of miles.

One of the benefits of reward flights is that you can book a single leg with no penalty

Just to clarify the free changes to reward bookings are an AU benefit, so not open to all I am afraid Otherwise, if you do wish to change dates, admin fees are still chargeable... £100 last time I checked but they change dependent on circumstance.

I would also suggest that you link the bookings too... it will avoid the raised eyebrows at the check-in desks and the awkward question of "You are coming back, aren't you sir?"

Nice one on getting the G's to HKG Martin, and cheers for the info on ANZ rewards, did not know they did not allow singles.... then again mileage bookings I have made in the past with VS miles on partner airlines have always been met with difficulty and restrictions ii)

[Neil]

Just to show how it pay to keep checking, this morning two G's finally became available on our date, so have now upgraded us to UC. We originally booked the flights on the 2nd November, 2 PE seats became available on the 24th December, and 2 UC seats on the 24th June!

I'm flying July 3 to JFK on rewards, but couldn't get the flight I wanted on rewards, hence the VS25, which I'm not too fussed about taking....

Just to show how it pay to keep checking, this morning two G's finally became available on our date, so have now upgraded us to UC. We originally booked the flights on the 2nd November, 2 PE seats became available on the 24th December, and 2 UC seats on the 24th June!

Nice one Neil - I guess the overall message I'm getting here as patience and invest time in checking/rechecking/doublechecking.....unfortunately, this takes a lot of time which I don't always have.

C'est la vie ...

[Neil]

Just to clarify the free changes to reward bookings are an AU benefit, so not open to all I am afraid Otherwise, if you do wish to change dates, admin fees are still chargeable... £100 last time I checked but they change dependent on circumstance.

The cost to change a full reward seat is £25
.
Obviously if you have booked/paid for an upgradable Y or PE fare and then upgraded with miles, the change fee is whatever it would be for any change on the specific fare code, for instance L is a £100 change fee.

Hi, I'm looking to use my miles for LGW to MBJ next year, how can you tell which fare classes are available from the Virgin website?

[Neil]

Hi, I'm looking to use my miles for LGW to MBJ next year, how can you tell which fare classes are available from the Virgin website?

Miles seats fare codes are P for PE and G for UC. You can't see the specific fare code, so you need to a dummy miles booking to see if there are any mileage seats available on the dates you require.

Don't forget you need to be in an upgradable fare code to use miles to upgrade, not just the lowest/cheapest. From economy you need at least an M fare code and from PE at least an S, you can search by specific fare code on this page on the VS site