Virgin premium economy

[disneydopey]

We are going to book a Virgin Package in the next couple of weeks but really fancy upgrading to Premium Economy. Can you do this later after you have booked and do they ever have any special offers for this. For two adults and two kids ( although they are only 13 and 15 they count as adults) it works out too expensive right now!:flower3:

[Frances999]

My standard advice would be to do it now, as you might regret it later for a number of reasons. For example, the economy tickets you purchase might not be upgradable (this is likely if you select the lowest fare), PE may be full on your dates (the longer you leave it...) and/or you may have to pay "change of booking"/admin charges which would be avoided if you had purchased PE in the first place.

From past reports I believe it is very unlikely that the price to upgrade at a later stage will be less than the price now - it is most likely to be more. The only exception to this has been the abundance of special upgrade deals people were getting a few weeks ago, but I am not sure if this is still available or will be repeated in the near future.

[Netty]

yes do it now. I had megga problems this week as i had a low fare ticket bought on one of their special offers a few months ago.
This week i wanted to upgrade the inbound flight to PE but had a battle to do so, i phoned virgin a few times and was quoted £500 for each passenger to upgrade on top of the £400 i had already paid for the original ticket.
anyway, after alot of phone calls and OBi's advice, I managed to upgrade for £161 each, but this involved having to change to a later flight in the day and having to go PE both ways.
So yes -if I were you as frances99 says "Do it now"

[richard_andmel]

Have to agree with the advice so far. Always book the ticket you want, because it's less likely you will easily get a cheap upgrade than not.

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

It also depends on when you are going, as PE can fill up sometimes a lot quicker than Economy and UC.
So if you are going in school holidays or at another peak time, the upgrades may not be available.

This is why there are rumours that eventually the pE cabin will be extended to cover the demand, rather like the Heathrow 747's

[Frances999]

This is why there are rumours that eventually the pE cabin will be extended to cover the demand, rather like the Heathrow 747's
I thought the Heathrow 747s had fewer PE seats than the Gatwick 747s? All of the flights we have been on from SFO to Heathrow have had only half of the upper deck fitted with PE, and the other half fitted with UC. I kind of wish the Gatwick 747s would be re-modelled similarly, as I prefer UC on the upper deck.

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I thought the Heathrow 747s had fewer PE seats than the Gatwick 747s? All of the flights we have been on from SFO to Heathrow have had only half of the upper deck fitted with PE, and the other half fitted with UC. I kind of wish the Gatwick 747s would be re-modelled similarly, as I prefer UC on the upper deck.

Sorry, I did not make myself clear on that :goodvibes
The Heathrow 747's are being reconfigured soon. Its now on the Virgin web site as configuration 4, where the whole of the upper deck is UC, plus two sections of downstairs
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/ourfleet/index.jsp?type=12

the runours are that more PE seats will be fitted downstairs on the Gatwick ones, but until they satrt next year no-one really knoews.

[Claire L]

Oh no :( Love PE upstairs the half UC/PE split was nice :)

Claire ;)

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Oh no :( Love PE upstairs the half UC/PE split was nice :)

Claire ;)

there is a lot of people unhappy about the loss of the upstairs PE on the Heathrow aircraft. Hopefully the PE will stay up there on the Gatwick ones

[Frances999]

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/allaboutus/ourfleet/index.jsp?type=12
Wow! Are there any economy seats left???!!!!

I am a little annoyed about the lack of a PE upper deck too - I like the 50:50 UC/PE split. I am also slightly concerned about how quiet the PE cabin will be when it is as large as configuration 4 shows it. This isn't so much an issue for us, as on the night flights we fly UC, but I am worried about the service too. I hope they increase the number of PE cabin crew in-line with the new seats.

Virgin America have just launched over here and their new planes look awesome! First class is so cheap too, under $500 -- and they only have 8 first class seats per flight. When we return back from England after our October trip we are flying VA to New York, spending a couple of days there, and then using Virgin America from New York to SFO. Can't wait to try out the new planes and the massage seats and mood lighting!