Recently booked MAN to SLC via ATL in Y for a work trip (we have an economy only policy 
). At the time of booking, there was a G available for MAN - ATL and a P available for ATL - MAN, so I upgraded both for whatever miles and £118 in taxes. That all seems fine.
Roll forward a week and my expert flyer reward seat alert tells me a G is now available for ATL - MAN as well. I call in, VS confirm it's available, tell me its whatever in miles to go from W to J but then demand another £221.70 in taxes. This seemed really high to me, so I got the agent to check it again and got the same answer. I rejected the upgrade, called back later in the day and got a different agent who quoted the same price. At this point I took it just to secure the G and be safe in the knowledge of some sleep on the way home. I questioned both agents on whether the £221.70 had taken into account that I had already paid £118 and they said it did.
I do this flight 4 times a year on average and my upgrade success rate is high and it usually costs me roughly £200 - £250 in taxes etc to upgrade both MAN - ATL flights from Y to J. This time I've paid roughly £340. If I do a dummy reward booking in Y and then in J for MAN - ATL return and compare the taxes, the difference is £264, which is much closer to what I would expect. Anyone got any thoughts on this?
On a side note, the whole process seemed much more difficult for the VS agent this time (and this applied to both agents/calls). They put me on hold multiple times trying to figure out the taxes and how to re-issue the ticket given my final destination wasn't ATL and I had a connecting DL flight. Both times the agent had to call me back after they had spoken to a supervisor and another department(s). Oh and another thing, when they re-issued the ticket after the return upgrade, they managed to put me on a later DL flight out of SLC than I had originally booked leaving me with only an hour rather than 2 in ATL. I know it's doable (I've done it), but I called and had it changed back. I'd rather have a bit more time, especially in the winter months.
). At the time of booking, there was a G available for MAN - ATL and a P available for ATL - MAN, so I upgraded both for whatever miles and £118 in taxes. That all seems fine.Roll forward a week and my expert flyer reward seat alert tells me a G is now available for ATL - MAN as well. I call in, VS confirm it's available, tell me its whatever in miles to go from W to J but then demand another £221.70 in taxes. This seemed really high to me, so I got the agent to check it again and got the same answer. I rejected the upgrade, called back later in the day and got a different agent who quoted the same price. At this point I took it just to secure the G and be safe in the knowledge of some sleep on the way home. I questioned both agents on whether the £221.70 had taken into account that I had already paid £118 and they said it did.
I do this flight 4 times a year on average and my upgrade success rate is high and it usually costs me roughly £200 - £250 in taxes etc to upgrade both MAN - ATL flights from Y to J. This time I've paid roughly £340. If I do a dummy reward booking in Y and then in J for MAN - ATL return and compare the taxes, the difference is £264, which is much closer to what I would expect. Anyone got any thoughts on this?
On a side note, the whole process seemed much more difficult for the VS agent this time (and this applied to both agents/calls). They put me on hold multiple times trying to figure out the taxes and how to re-issue the ticket given my final destination wasn't ATL and I had a connecting DL flight. Both times the agent had to call me back after they had spoken to a supervisor and another department(s). Oh and another thing, when they re-issued the ticket after the return upgrade, they managed to put me on a later DL flight out of SLC than I had originally booked leaving me with only an hour rather than 2 in ATL. I know it's doable (I've done it), but I called and had it changed back. I'd rather have a bit more time, especially in the winter months.
