Confusion over upgrading using air miles

Hi there,

Wondering if anyone could help me, feeling slightly confused after spending some time reading through the fare codes page on here and also the small print on the VS site..

I have been collecting air miles with virgin atlantic for some years now but never really paid much attention to them so they have just accumulated, looked into reward flights but with the amount if tax you have to pay it doesn't seem like a great use (to me anyway) of using the miles in comparison to upgrading. Saw the page about upgrading; economy to premium for 10,000 miles, or economy to upper for 20,000 miles but you have to be booked into a certain fare code. And this is what is causing me a headache!

All the dummie bookings I've done, when I look into the details say that I can't upgrade using miles, then having looked into 'flexible fares' (which do allow you to upgrade using miles), the price goes up to double or triple the cost!

Read something about having to get the fare code changed if you want to upgrade using miles but how easy or cheap is this? A purpose for my next trip would be that I hope to upgrade using miles but I wouldn't want to book a normal revenue flight then find I can't change my fare code to upgrade? Considered giving Virgin a call but was wondering if anyone here would have much knowledge towards this?

Sorry to waffle on and I hope this makes sense!

[Neil]

To upgrade from an economy fare you need to booking to the M fare code or higher. To get a price for an M fare, the easiest way is to give Virgin a call, there used to be a way to price it up on their website, but that facility isn't working currently (and who knows when it will).

The M fare is a more expensive than the cheapest fare code, but also a lot cheaper than the flexible one given on the website (that is a Y fare code and is the most expensive, but the most flexible too, hence the very high price).

You should see a significant saving upgrading to UC from economy and a nice saving upgrading to PE, and this usually offers one of the best uses and value for your miles.

Neil

Thank you very much for your reply, is it advisable to give them a call before booking it or to just book a standard revenue flight on the website then ask to change the code at a later date?

Thank you very much for your reply, is it advisable to give them a call before booking it or to just book a standard revenue flight on the website then ask to change the code at a later date?

Always call - when on a standard revenue upgradeable ticket you have the right to upgrade with miles if an upgrade is available. If you don't co-ordinate the purchase of the ticket with the upgrade itself you risk shelling out a lot of cash for a seat that you could have purchased far more cheaply.

I agree, always call VS. They are the most helpful travel sales team I have encountered. they always sound genuinely pleased to chat to you and help.

I agree, always call VS. They are the most helpful travel sales team I have encountered. they always sound genuinely pleased to chat to you and help.

Couldn't agree more , I always phone to book , so much easier even if you do have to hold sometimes

Of course if you want to cost things up without having to call VS, you can use the ITA matrix to obtain costs for M class fares or S class PE fares, both have which have disappeared from the VS search tool. If you don't know how to use the ITA matrix inbox me with dates and destination and I'll happily look it up, it's a 5 minute job. That'll give you costs of your base ticket in the right fare bucket.

Upgrade availability comes from the same "bucket" as reward availability. So, if you want to check availability, then what you can do is monitor the VS website by doing sham bookings for full reward flights in your chosen class. Keep at this, at least daily, until a suitable itinerary appears. They come and go frequently. Persistence pays.

The moment you see full reward availability that suits your dates etc., call Virgin and tell them you want to book an upgradeable fare in whichever class, and upgrade it with miles.

Expect to pay the minimum upgradeable fare in whichever class, plus additional taxes, plus the requisite miles. Overall, this tends to work out at the best value per mile. And you also get the flexibility to amend your ticket that comes with whichever fare class you paid for.

...what you can do is monitor the VS website by doing sham bookings for full reward flights...

"Sham," @Harpers? That's a bit harsh!