Has something changed or... (Virgin Hols& Flying Club)

We were in our local Virgin Holidays store getting a quote for a trip to Florida (Gulf Coast) next year when my partner askes 'can you make sure we are in the right booking class to upgrade with miles'... ('Tut tut' I'm thinking, of course we can't do that with VH...)
But then much to my surprise the agent responds with 'yes of course sir, that would be M-class and the price will be £xxxx!!!
What!!?
Now, as far as I was aware, nobody on the history of time has ever been able to get a miles upgrade on a Virgin holiday, right?
So what's going on here... was the guy just talking rubbish or has there been a change?!

AFAIK (never booked with VH) they have always been able to sell an upgradeable fare bucket? Just that as its not the cheapest, it isn't offered as standard.

Oh! Well learnt something new there anyway
Thanks

[Darren Wheeler]

It's a case of asking. Too often customers don't ask but assume that every ticket can be upgraded.

Tried this lasy year for my son and was told this can not be done thru Virgin Holidays

Virgin Holidays have always been able to do it, but when booking a full qualified ticket such as a M class ticket, you have to pay for the whole ticket there and then. Where as the VH ticket you just pay the deposit.

And, be aware, booking an (eg) M class fare does not guarantee that a points upgrade will be available for your date/time/flight. That's a separate thing altogether. So it's wise to ensure this availability AND actually book the G upgrade, all at the same time, before paying the (eg) M rate.

Thanks Harpers, it's ok I'm pretty familiar with the usual miles redemption process just didn't realise it could be done with VH bookings

I was told they could do this too however the price of the total holiday went up a lot and there is still no guarantee that you will get the upgrade.

However, great they will do this..!

I was told they could do this too however the price of the total holiday went up a lot and there is still no guarantee that you will get the upgrade.

However, great they will do this..!

Erm, maybe I'm just on another of my VH 'downers', but not sure it's that great that they are just able to do what the majority of decent TAs (that I've used) are also able to do, while being significantly more expensive for every holiday I've ever done a comparison on.

I was playing around with Cancun options for next easter, and, sure enough, I was able to shave about 20% off what they were quoting, just with a quick look at bestattravel. And they're not even one of my preferred caribbean TAs, but have a decent website for instant quotes where you can pick the airline and class easily.

A decent TA should be able to package you up flights in the fare bucket you want (if available) provided you're prepared to take the hit on the flight cost up front. So unless VH will let you book Ms with only a low deposit, there's not a lot to see here I think...

Or am I missing something and need to eat my words :-)

Personally and I am a few years out of date here, my dealings with VH have been very positive, I even booked my wedding thru them in DisneyWorld and they were outstanding in arranging it all, was a perfect day and for what we got, no one could do it cheaper and we tried independent TA and larger ones.
Even with the plain holidays, granted, only to Vegas and Orlando, if one of my group had found it cheaper and it was identical, they have matched the cost. What I cannot comment on is other locations as I have never used them.
One little thing that did used to get under my skin was the discounts. I had Virgin Media, was a FC AU, Virgin Credit Cards etc, etc, etc and still only got the 10%. I was always sure I deserved more

Whilst we are talking about VH how long is it after you return that miles are supposed to get added to your FC account?

Can't remember for definite but it has certainly always been less than a couple of weeks for me

Whilst we are talking about VH how long is it after you return that miles are supposed to get added to your FC account?

I was told within 45 days of your return date when I asked the question a month or two back.

Thanks, guess a call to the FC is in order then!

Or am I missing something and need to eat my words :-)

We use VH a *lot* - as in minimum of one holiday a year with them. If you know what you are doing, they can easily be far cheaper than other travel agents - they can equally be more expensive as per any high street.

The price match is the key item - price an identical itinerary via another agent - and they will match it if cheaper.

On our honeymoon in particular, 2 years ago, VH worked out well over £1500 cheaper than the nearest high street quote - that was a 3 week driving tour, involving some very high end hotels in Vegas, Palm Springs, San Fran and others. It did take 2 weeks of dealing with a single guy via email and phone to get the price mind, and in end we got 3 days extra for a 50 quid reduction in cost when he spotted a "free extra 2 day promotion available to VH at the hotel" combined with cheaper weekday flights.

On Florida in Feb this year, booked somewhat last minute - VH worked out £500 cheaper than the VS flight price alone for flight, hotel and car.

We now price everything VH or VS with both.

Hmm... So if you book a package with VH you get miles. If however you book just accommodation with them there is a set list of hotels you will get miles on. If however you book the same accommodation via the VS website which is VH you get miles

Not impressed but not surprised

Or am I missing something and need to eat my words :-)

We use VH a *lot* - as in minimum of one holiday a year with them. If you know what you are doing, they can easily be far cheaper than other travel agents - they can equally be more expensive as per any high street.

The price match is the key item - price an identical itinerary via another agent - and they will match it if cheaper.

On our honeymoon in particular, 2 years ago, VH worked out well over £1500 cheaper than the nearest high street quote - that was a 3 week driving tour, involving some very high end hotels in Vegas, Palm Springs, San Fran and others. It did take 2 weeks of dealing with a single guy via email and phone to get the price mind, and in end we got 3 days extra for a 50 quid reduction in cost when he spotted a "free extra 2 day promotion available to VH at the hotel" combined with cheaper weekday flights.

On Florida in Feb this year, booked somewhat last minute - VH worked out £500 cheaper than the VS flight price alone for flight, hotel and car.

We now price everything VH or VS with both.

I've tried the price match twice with them, first time they refused to accept it was a genuine quote because of the price difference (it was, and I went with it in the end). The second time the quote was rejected because I'd got it emailed about 11pm the night before and when I called VH at 9am the next day they said it wasn't valid as iit had to be same day. Clearly 11 hours was far too stale. So have given up now, even though I'm the first to agree that the miles would be a nice bonus.

Anyway, I'm happy to accept that YMMV as I'm not a fan of places like LAS and MCO, but it's been about 10 years now and I've not had a quote from them that compares favorably. On the rare occasions it's been close and I've called to get my AU discount, I've been told that the online price is already better than what my 10% discount would get me. Maybe I'll strike lucky in future...

Anyway, I'm happy to accept that YMMV as I'm not a fan of places like LAS and MCO, but it's been about 10 years now and I've not had a quote from them that compares favorably. On the rare occasions it's been close and I've called to get my AU discount, I've been told that the online price is already better than what my 10% discount would get me. Maybe I'll strike lucky in future...

Sometimes you'll get better, sometimes you won't. I priced up our St Lucia trip for this summer with several on line TAs, and VH came out about even, so with miles.....