LGW-HAV 4/9

Hi, complete newbie to the forum and getting awards/upgrades here!

Trying to book a return flight LGW-HAV, going out 4th September and back 15th (cutting it fine, I know...). Have earned enough miles to start getting reward flights, but trying to work out what the best way of doing it is?

Want to get an upgrade if I can, especially given the long-haul and overnight return. I know that using miles to upgrade from e.g. M fare to PE and then UC is the best value way, but, er... how do I do that please?

Sorry for the really basic question! Hoping someone can help... thanks in advance!

Hi and welcome!

Step 1 is to establish whether there's reward seat availability on your chosen flights. You can easily do this by doing a dummy booking on the home page of the VS website, selecting "spend your miles" and the cabin you want to upgrade to.

If there's availability it'll take you to the booking screen - but don't go any further. That's for booking a 100% reward seat which you don't want. If there's no availability it'll either say so, or throw up a calendar showing the nearest available dates.

For your dates you've struck lucky - there is currently availability in UC on both legs - but it may not last long. So if you want them I'd call now and grab them. You can always ask for them to be put on hold for 48 hours before paying if you need time to sort anything out.

Step 2 is to call VS and book! Ask for the cheapest upgradable economy fare (normally an M but not always) and tell them you want to use miles to upgrade to UC. You'll pay the price of the M fare plus the extra taxes and fees for UC.

If you'd rather pay a bit more but spend fewer miles you can also ask for the cheapest upgradable PE fare, usually an S, and upgrade to UC from that.

Good luck!

Hi - thank you for the quick reply and for your help!

In the end it turns out I don't have quite enough for UC both ways (too much shortfall to justify buying the extra... right now), and there's no availability for PE rewards on the outbound at the moment. So decided to book an upgradable economy with UC upgrade on the return journey - figured overnight would be where I'd get the most benefit! Also gives me the option to upgrade on the outbound if reward PE does become available.

I could have done a bit better if the travel wasn't so last-minute, but I'm happy - and very much looking forward to my first UC experience. Hopefully not the last!

Update on this: some reward PE did just become available, so, er... I did. Very happy camper here!