Worth using miles to upgrade on this occasion?

I’m currently looking at doing an M-G to Chicago for next year, with a revenue EC or PE return. The reason for this is to burn few miles, but for Mr W and I to experience the CH, whilst leaving us enough for another upgrade at some point.

I think I know the answer to this, but it would be useful to hear what you think.

I have 99k in FC miles, and have Ag status with VS. The booking will be for 2 people, but using miles from my account.

The outbound M to G comes out to be £650 + 20k mile. However, on VS website a cash UC fare (Z class) could be had for the outbound for £837, leaving a cash saving of a mere £187 each. Now I would put a value on FC miles of about 1p each, so 20,000 miles would be £200, compared to a £187 saving I think it’s quite a poor use of miles.

My gut feeling is that 1) the cash saving is small because I’m looking so far ahead, and 2) maybe this route isn’t the most efficient in terms of doing a miles upgrade, compared to, say, a west coast route.

The trouble is, on VS website when I click on the Z fare on the outbound, the inbound options automatically eliminates the flight on VS metal, leaving me only DL options. Also the EC and PE fares are all greyed out saying that they are not available (yet they were before I clicked on the £837). Is this normal or is this a website glitch? I have previously been able to book different classes going out and back on a different route.

Another option is to get M – G for us on both ways (using 80k miles in total), as the return sector UC appears more expensive. This would give us a better £ per mile saving I suspect, but I’m not sure if a 8-hour flight can warrant this, especially without a CH at ORD, and simply doing this for better value per mile (and better comfort) may not be the right attitude...

I’ll stop rambling now, and any thoughts are very welcome!

... so I called FC again for some certainty.

It appears that the website has a glitch, and doing exactly the same trip (UC out and EC back for example) would cost £914 more, making it 4.57 pence per mile used

I couldn't resist but get a return sector M-G quote, too, and the total cost would only be £124 more than M-G out and X back, using another 40k of my miles, though...

Since I believe the main goal is to have enough miles to upgrade again at some point, it's worth taking into account the miles that you will earn from flying + the Ag bonus + you can purchase Miles Booster.

Thank you Syrome. Yes, in fact I may have a spreadsheet working it all out... but the saving I quoted below was comparing to a cash booking, which would obtain the same miles as if I did a M booking, I think.

Decisions, decisions. Since I think return Gs are like gold dust (perhaps less so on this route), I'm feeling inclined to snap up a M-G return and be done with it Thanks to the advice on v-flyer I've got those Gs held for us when we make a decision and get the time off work, etc.

Sounds like the M to G option for both sectors is a good choice if I've read your data correctly, then you can get miles and TPs for your M fare. You can always miles boost later, you can miles boost Gs, up to 6 months after your flight.

Thank you guys! I'm pleased to report that I have now booked M to G on both ways, going out on a Friday and coming back on a Saturday (feeling very lucky to bag return Gs especially on a Saturday! they weren't shown as available online but when I checked with the super helpful agent on the phone he said 2 had just been released as we spoke ).

So a round trip UC to Chicago in June next year including weekend flights have cost us £1107 and 40k miles each, and I'm earning 12k miles and 6TPs from it as well as 4k miles by using the black credit card. This, compared with almost £800 for return in Y, is excellent value in my opinion. Yes, I'm now left with less than 20k in my FC miles, but they are there to be used and I'm sure they will soon clock up again

Thank you guys! I'm pleased to report that I have now booked M to G on both ways, going out on a Friday and coming back on a Saturday (feeling very lucky to bag return Gs especially on a Saturday! they weren't shown as available online but when I checked with the super helpful agent on the phone he said 2 had just been released as we spoke ).

So a round trip UC to Chicago in June next year including weekend flights have cost us £1107 and 40k miles each, and I'm earning 12k miles and 6TPs from it as well as 4k miles by using the black credit card. This, compared with almost £800 for return in Y, is excellent value in my opinion. Yes, I'm now left with less than 20k in my FC miles, but they are there to be used and I'm sure they will soon clock up again

Mathematics at it's best. Result.

Thank you marshy 11 now I understand why a few v-flyers say that their holiday starts from booking the flights, oh the excitement! Only 11 months to go now :p

Thank you marshy 11 now I understand why a few v-flyers say that their holiday starts from booking the flights, oh the excitement! Only 11 months to go now :p

Great result, well done

Now happy planning...

I too have managed to book a couple of G's to Chicago for next June. (Off to Nashville and Memphis). I had been saving my miles for another two G flights to Sydney but of course that route ended
I note your comment regarding no clubhouse at ORD. However, the website shows a shared lounge with Air France in terminal 5. I don't know how accurate that is, but if anyone has visited this lounge, I would appreciate some info.
Last time I flew with Virgin was UC LHR to HKG (stopover) then onto SYD, back in 2010. I wonder if things have changed much since then

I think the availability is pretty healthy for this route - with it being 11 months ahead, there appeared to be at least 2 Gs every day on the way out, and 4 for some of the days. On the way back, there appeared to be 2 Gs on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday every week, I think. However, several searches on ita showed that the "summer fares" kick in from 20 June, for about 2 months, where a return in the same EC fare bucket cost £280 more. I'm going just before then, and assume it's the same with you, classybird. Great deals.

Yes I think we would be able to use the AF lounge, and based on what I've read, it isn't anywhere near as good as a full-blown CH. But I'm planning on taking advantage of the Revivals Lounge after landing, to "top-up" my lounge experience

Now if anyone has any suggestions for a week in Chicago (and nearby places - considering renting a car for a couple of days) , I would be very interested in hearing/ reading them . Thanks!

I do think that the shared lounges are not up to Virgin's standards despite what they say

"Unfortunately we don't have a clubhouse in every location. Don't worry though, we've teamed up with our friends at the airport or another airline to provide you with a clubhouse which is as good as our own." - I don't think so

At least the Revivals Lounge will be something to look forward to when we get back

With regard to what to do in Chicago, we were there back in 2006, only had a few days, stayed at the Hardrock Hotel. The open top tour bus was great, got to see all the best bits of Chicago, also did the river cruise, ate at Mortons steak house, yummy! We hired a car and drove to Wisconsin for the rest of our holiday. Enjoy your trip!

Thank you again classybird, very helpful.

One thing I just thought of is that it's going to be the UCDS on the A330 (I think the route is currently served by A343s - due to retire in the next few months), so that will be an experience... I'll try my best to keep an open mind.