Upcoming Vegas trip, booked with Expedia - Upgrade possible?

Hi All,

I sort of know the answer to this one already (as told by Expedia call centre staff), but am hoping that someone may have a creative suggestion:

I have booked a trip from Dublin, Ireland to Las Vegas via Gatwick and I wanted to upgrade to Premium Economy. Before I booked with Expedia, I emailed and then rang them to see if this was possible; the advice I was given was to go ahead and book the package and then contact the call centre and they would work something out.
However, when I did this, I was told that as I was flying Aer Lingus from Dublin to Gatwick, I could not upgrade as Aer Lingus don't have an equivalent class to Virgin's PE, and all legs have to be the same class.

In fairness, the guy I spoke to did try every work-around, but had no success. He even offered to cancel and refund the flight portion of the trip and suggested that I book the flights separately - however, this wouldn't work either as when he checked, he ran into the same class compatibility problems. The only way it would work would be if I only booked the Virgin flight as part of my package and then book directly with Aer Lingus for the flight to Gatwick.
This would be awkward as I would have no interlining of bags and no cover if the Aer Lingus flight was delayed, so I chose the safe option and just stuck with what I had booked.

I know there may be the possibility at check-in on the morning of arrival at Gatwick to purchase an upgrade, but that is based on a slim hope that PE is not fully booked on VS43... which I suspect is unlikely.

So, any ideas on a workaround?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Hi, it's absolutely possible to book Dublin to Las Vegas on a through ticket but with mixed classes. I was looking at this a few months ago when researching ex-EU fares to USA. I've pasted below an example of what SkyScanner offers when you ask for DUB-LAS in Premium Economy. Of course the first leg has to be in EC as no PE is offered. It would be the same if your preference was Upper Class, ie. EC on first leg and UC on the transatlantic sector.

Outbound Flight
DUBLIN, IRELAND [DUB]
Terminal 2
Thu 19 Mar 2015 at 06:50
LONDON Gatwick [LGW]
Terminal S
Thu 19 Mar 2015 at 08:25

EI 230 Cabin:
Duration:
Aircraft:
Meals: Economy
1 hour 35 mins
Airbus A320
Food and beverages for purchase
Connection of 2 hours 55 mins in LONDON Gatwick [LGW]
LONDON Gatwick [LGW]
Terminal S
Thu 19 Mar 2015 at 11:20
LAS VEGAS [LAS]
Terminal 3
Thu 19 Mar 2015 at 15:05

VS 43 Cabin:
Duration:
Aircraft:
Meals: Premium
10 hours 45 mins
Boeing 747-400
Lunch

Thanks

Thanks for that info, I have just checked on skyscanner.ie but I could not select PE as an option; however, when I change to the UK site, I can. Skyscanner then diverted me to edreams.co.uk which gave me the option to book PE on the Virgin legs.

Unfortunately, my cancellation window with Expedia has closed (I only had up until 1159hrs last night).

If there are any PE seats available when I get to check-in, what can I expect to pay, is there a set price?
I remember opting for extra legroom seats on one occasion and I think it was a standard price.

Hi, were you hoping to upgrade using miles or cash?
I have booked mixed class in the past when premium was not available on one segment. It wasn't through expedia though. If they're giving you the option of cancelling and refunding the flight portion can you not just do that and rebook yourself with someone else?
You could try calling Virgin Atlantic to do this, I have booked Amsterdam to San Fran with them over the phone before even though this route isn't offered online. You could put the seats on hold before cancelling the Expedia ones to be on the safe side. If you wanted to upgrade with miles make sure your flight is m class.

Thanks.

Would be paying cash - don't have many miles/points.

Will give Expedia a call and see if cancelling the flight portion is still available to me.

Good Luck. You could always go with the Expedia suggestion and just book the Virgin portion of the trip with them and add on the Air Lingus flight yourself, you could travel to Gatwick the night before and stay in a hotel if you were worried about missed connections . You can usually pick up an airport hotel very cheaply, I've got the Ibis booked for my holiday for £39. Just double check if changing this way changes the price, as as far as Expedia are concerned you would now be starting your journey in London so will be subject to departure tax.

So I again looked at the option of cancelling the flight part of my booking with Expedia, but am told that this is not now possible - only had that option on day 1.

So, here's my plan:

I have already chosen what I consider to be some of the better EC seats for outbound and inbound VS flights, via the "manage booking" option on the Virgin website. I had to pay a fee of $40USD per person per flight, but I don't mind, as I have previously sat in the seats I have chosen, and they are pretty decent legroom-wise and are for two only.
I didn't actually go for "extra legroom" seats, as they are three across, and my experience with these is not great (people congregating in front of you for a chat whilst stretching their legs and what feels like a narrower seat due tray table being in the armrest).
Plus, if things work out on the day(s) and PE is not full, I want to upgrade for cash and I imagine I won't get a refund on the seat selection fee I have already paid.

Can anyone advise what I should expect to pay if there are PE seats available on the day?
I do remember a sign in the Gatwick transfer check-in area a few years back saying they were available to purchase for £200stg on the day. Is this still the going rate?

I didn't actually go for "extra legroom" seats, as they are three across, and my experience with these is not great (people congregating in front of you for a chat whilst stretching their legs and what feels like a narrower seat due tray table being in the armrest).

Don't confuse extra legroom seats with exit row seats, they are different.

Exit row seats are indeed narrower and do tend to get people congregating in front of them. But extra legroom seats are normal width in normal rows, just with 3" extra seat pitch which does make a difference.

You could also look into Seat Plus, if available, which lets you buy an empty seat next to you for a nominal fee - perfect for couples in a row of 3.