From the wonderful V-Flyer web site:-
V
Virgin Holidays Economy This fare class is used by Virgin Holidays for passengers travelling in Economy. Flying Club Miles and Tier Points will be earned on this fare. 100% of mileage flown earned (125% for Flying Club Silver and 150% for Flying Club Gold members). Very restricted on changes and these would need to be referred to the agent, Virgin Holidays.
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Q: Upgrading With Miles
How do I upgrade my ticket with miles, and which ticket types can be upgraded?
A:
To upgrade your ticket with Flying Club miles, you first of all need to ensure that you've bought (or are buying) a qualifying full adult fare - beware of tickets bought through travel agents in different classes!
*NB: Upgrades are not valid on flights booked through Virgin Holidays. Upgraded tickets will earn Miles & Tier Points as per the class originally booked (e.g. book Economy & upgrade to UC with miles = Miles & Tier Points earned for the original Economy fare). UC Upgrade Tickets do not include the CDC service.*
Qualifying economy adult fare classes are as follows, depending on the country of your originating airport:
UK: Y, B, L (* only Y& B if going to Tokyo)
Japan: Y, B, L (* Y, B, L & M if going to London)
Caribbean: Y, B, L
US: Y, B
Hong Kong: Y, B, L
China, South Africa, Nigeria, India: Y, B, L, M
Qualifying PE adult fare classes are as follows:
Any full Premium Economy fare booked in W or S class. Excludes K class APEX and Excursion type, seat sale or any other special/promotional type Premium Economy fare.
Miles required to upgrade (these are round trip requirements - for one way upgrades, simply halve the number required):
Econ. to PE: 20,000
PE to UC: 40,000
Econ to UC: 60,000
To upgrade your flight, simply call your local Flying Club number before departure (it's often easier to complete the whole process at the time of booking).
Please remember that upgrade reward flights are always subject to availability and that you will only earn miles according to the original class of travel that you booked.
On a side note, if youre taking an Upper Class reward flight or have used your miles to upgrade to Upper Class, then you can use 10,000 miles (for each leg) to book a chauffeur driven car. Call your local Flying Club number to discuss your options.
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Q: Paying for Upgrades
Can I pay for an upgrade, and if so, how much will it cost?
A:
The best way to ensure you've got a comfy seat is to pay for it. However, the same seat can have many different price tags, and understanding this can save you thousands on the cost of your flight.
If you absolutely need a flexible ticket with all the trimmings, a full-fare Upper Class return ticket will set you back around £4500 depending on the route and time of travel. Flexible Upper Class fares start at this price and can either be a D or a J class fare - D being a little less flexible than J, and J being the all-singing, all-dancing flexible fare. These also include the CDC (Chauffeur Driven Car) transfer. However, if you're happy to make your own arrangements getting to and from the airport, a Z class Upper Class fare can be as low as £1300 for exactly the same flight without the CDC. Because of the deep discount, this ticket type does have restrictions on changes and/or cancellation, and it also requires advance purchase - normally 45 days prior to the flight.
If you're not too worried about Virgin miles or tier points, another potentially cheaper route to Upper is a Continental ticket. Continental Airlines operate a code share on certain Virgin flights, meaning you can buy a seat from them on a CO ticket, but be sitting in an Upper Class seat on a Virgin operated plane. Discounted business-class tickets from Continental can be had for as little as £1600 (and in some cases, even lower prices have been reported). The drawback of this is no Virgin Flying Club earning, and no access to the Revivals Lounge, as Continental have alternative arrangements.
But, If you're studying this guide, the chances are you don't have an Upper Class ticket, right? Well, if you're prepared to pay extra, you can upgrade your seat at the airport - although this is not necessarily a way of saving money as the cost of the original ticket plus the cost of upgrading both ways will normally be a little more expensive than routing out the cheapest Z fare in the first place. However, there are some benefits to shelling out at the airport - such as the ability to only pay for a one way upgrade (so you can get some sleep flying through the night east bound), or if your PE seat was all your company wanted to stump up for but you want to pamper yourself with your own cash.
If you're holding a Premium Economy ticket, and you want to upgrade it to an Upper Class seat, you can do this at the airport on a single leg depending on the original ticket type & price if there is availability in the Upper Class cabin on the day of travel. Even from the deep-discounted PE tickets (K-fare), a one-way upgrade is pegged at £599. W or S-fare PE ticket upgrade prices may vary. A typical K-fare is around £650, so the price of upgrading both ways plus the original fare would come out at around £1850. Keep you eye out for off-peak K-fares, as these can sometimes be as low as £450, and if you only want to upgrade in one direction that can give you a very cheap route to Upper Class.
As of 2003, it has been suggested you can also buy an upgrade on-board. Economy to Upper Class costs £1500 and Premium to Upper is £750. This really isn't a good deal, since it's clearly cheaper to do it at the airport and you're going to miss out on the benefits of Upper Class check-in and the Clubhouse. This option is also only available if the crew decide there's enough catering onboard. But really, you'll only be considering this option if you've had one or two many complimentaries from the drinks trolley.
