Virgin miles

[Pegasus928]

Hi

Just trying to get my head around the various options for using our Virgin miles and was wondering what experiences you have had.
Also am I right in thinking that you have to buy a flexible ticket if you want to upgrade using miles?

Kenny

 

[wayneg]

Hi Kenny
Correct you can't buy the cheap tickets then get an easy upgrade. You have to get the more expensive flexible tickets.
Scroll down to section 4.4.10 for a chart that lists the qualifying classes. http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/flying-club/flying-club-terms-conditions/spending-miles.html

 

[Elise79]

There used to be a place on the VA website you could search for a specific fare code - I am on my phone but I will try and find a link later.

If you want to use miles to upgrade you may be better to book on the phone to ensure there are the seats to upgrade too, as they need to have reward seats available.

 

[meldud]

I have also been looking at VA miles.

It seems to negate any cheap fare negotiating we have already managed to do.

We found flights for £700pp with VA for next August and wanted to convert our Tesco clubcard vouchers into VA miles and use the miles to upgrade.

I am not sure how it works out, but the guy on the phone said I would have to pay approx £400 pp in order to upgrade to PE and 100,000 miles. This seems like a huge amount to pay to upgrade.

Out tickets qualify for upgrades, but as we paid so little we have to pay the difference between the cost of an upgraded ticket (approx £1,100) and what we originally paid (£700).

Have I completely misunderstood? Because this seems like I will lose out on the benefit of a cheap ticket and also use 100,000 air miles.

Someone please help me to understand!

 

[Elise79]

You can only upgrade certain fare codes with miles and they are not the cheapest ones, and a £700 fare for August sounds like a cheap code

The £400 is to change your ticket to an upgradable fare.

Most times when I have looked it has been cheaper to book PE directly than upgrade with miles.

 

[meldud]

You can only upgrade certain fare codes with miles and they are not the cheapest ones, and a £700 fare for August sounds like a cheap code

The VA guy said that our fare codes were able to be upgraded (we have a U ticket and an R ticket) which he said was mid range price. We did pay a very cheap amount for our fares, but they were a guaranteed price a few months back.

So it seems that a PE ticket cannot be upgraded once you have bought at a good rate unless you go back and pay the high rate again?

 

[wayneg]

The VA guy said that our fare codes were able to be upgraded (we have a U ticket and an R ticket) which he said was mid range price. We did pay a very cheap amount for our fares, but they were a guaranteed price a few months back.

So it seems that a PE ticket cannot be upgraded once you have bought at a good rate unless you go back and pay the high rate again?

R is the 3rd highest code for economy, better than the U code.
More info here
http://v-flyer.com/the-toolbox/fare-codes?code=R
http://v-flyer.com/the-toolbox/fare-codes?code=U

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

I have also been looking at VA miles.

It seems to negate any cheap fare negotiating we have already managed to do.

We found flights for £700pp with VA for next August and wanted to convert our Tesco clubcard vouchers into VA miles and use the miles to upgrade.

I am not sure how it works out, but the guy on the phone said I would have to pay approx £400 pp in order to upgrade to PE and 100,000 miles. This seems like a huge amount to pay to upgrade.

Out tickets qualify for upgrades, but as we paid so little we have to pay the difference between the cost of an upgraded ticket (approx £1,100) and what we originally paid (£700).

Have I completely misunderstood? Because this seems like I will lose out on the benefit of a cheap ticket and also use 100,000 air miles.

Someone please help me to understand!

When and where did you get £700pp thats so cheap.According to your ticker we're going out a similar time to you, and i cant find anything under £1200pp

 

[arieliwish]

Subscribing as I'm interested in the detail of miles/money.

 

[flortlebap]

Could be worse - I just did a dummy run for two PE flights next September and VA want £4,900!!!!!

 

[Laurafoster]

Could be worse - I just did a dummy run for two PE flights next September and VA want £4,900!!!!!

Ouch!! We paid just over £800pp for PE this Sept.

 

[Trevski220]

An M class economy fare is the cheapest fare that can be upgraded using miles, in my experience you need to go to upper to really make it worthwhile, as a M class economy ticket is sometimes very close to the price of a cheaper Premium economy ticket anyway, not always the case but you really start getting value for your miles when you jump up to upper class

 

[meldud]

When and where did you get £700pp thats so cheap.According to your ticker we're going out a similar time to you, and i cant find anything under £1200pp

I was doing a late night haul through the internet and did a Kayak check as someone on here suggested. It came up with some small online travel agents who were quoting £2400 online but you had to call to book. There were 3 or 4 companies (Traveloworld and some others) that were all quoting silly money, so I called them all the next morning and picked the ones I liked the best.
This guy said he couldn't do £2400 but he could do £2800 (which is 4 adult tickets, age 12+). Flying with Virgin. It was a bit scary for a while as he couldn't even book the tickets on my behalf until they were released last week. I don't know whether they will still do cheaper prices as the flights have now been released

The company I ended up with (and so did a friend of mine) is called Travel Decorum and they are based in Southall. Very friendly and keen to do business. I get the impression they get work by word of mouth, so at the moment are really trying hard to impress me! lol .... goodness knows how long that will last!!
I ended up booking my whole package with them as he also beat Disneys price by £200 and I still get a $100 gift card. They are ATOL protected and I booked with my credit card just to be sure.

I have done DIY both times we have been over and this is definitely the cheapest flights I have managed to get.

We are going out on the 18th August 2014.

Keep looking... lots of people of here seem to think that there may be sales still to come.

 

[meldud]

Could be worse - I just did a dummy run for two PE flights next September and VA want £4,900!!!!!

I can't find anything cheaper than £1200 for the weeks we are going in August.

 

[meldud]

When and where did you get £700pp thats so cheap.According to your ticker we're going out a similar time to you, and i cant find anything under £1200pp

Looks like you will be there a couple of days before us.... I see you have a Yacht Club pic on your signature.... that is where we are staying... eeek!!

 

[ChipnDaleRule]

I was doing a late night haul through the internet and did a Kayak check as someone on here suggested. It came up with some small online travel agents who were quoting £2400 online but you had to call to book. There were 3 or 4 companies (Traveloworld and some others) that were all quoting silly money, so I called them all the next morning and picked the ones I liked the best.
This guy said he couldn't do £2400 but he could do £2800 (which is 4 adult tickets, age 12+). Flying with Virgin. It was a bit scary for a while as he couldn't even book the tickets on my behalf until they were released last week. I don't know whether they will still do cheaper prices as the flights have now been released

The company I ended up with (and so did a friend of mine) is called Travel Decorum and they are based in Southall. Very friendly and keen to do business. I get the impression they get work by word of mouth, so at the moment are really trying hard to impress me! lol .... goodness knows how long that will last!!
I ended up booking my whole package with them as he also beat Disneys price by £200 and I still get a $100 gift card. They are ATOL protected and I booked with my credit card just to be sure.

I have done DIY both times we have been over and this is definitely the cheapest flights I have managed to get.

We are going out on the 18th August 2014.

Keep looking... lots of people of here seem to think that there may be sales still to come.

Surely they would be selling these flights at a loss How can a business,and a small one do this?They are undercutting VA by nearly £2000 ,as ive just been quoted £4788 M+M for those dates

Looks like you will be there a couple of days before us.... I see you have a Yacht Club pic on your signature.... that is where we are staying... eeek!!

See you on the Lazy River

 

[meldud]

Surely they would be selling these flights at a loss How can a business,and a small one do this?They are undercutting VA by nearly £2000 ,as ive just been quoted £4788 M+M for those dates



See you on the Lazy River

It doesn't make sense does it? Although I am assuming that TA can buy tickets a darn sight cheaper than we can and therefore their profit is the only thing that is suffering... we did book our hotel, Deluxe DDP and Disney tix with them too.. as they were cheaper than Disney!!
Crazy!!

See you there!!!!

 

[Elise79]

The VA guy said that our fare codes were able to be upgraded (we have a U ticket and an R ticket) which he said was mid range price. We did pay a very cheap amount for our fares, but they were a guaranteed price a few months back.

So it seems that a PE ticket cannot be upgraded once you have bought at a good rate unless you go back and pay the high rate again?

Usually, with those fare codes I would expect any additional cash to be needed however as you have booked through a third party I am guessing that is why.

This is from VA website regarding upgrades (I think the second line applys to you):

You can upgrade when purchasing a full adult published fare in the following booking classes: W, S, Y, B, R, L, U and M.

You can also upgrade other non-published ticket types such as discounted, corporate, travel agent or tour operator fares but ONLY in the following booking classes: W, Y and B.

If you are getting the viability for 4 reward fares in PE during August make a decision quick as I would guess they won't be around long.

 

[flortlebap]

Surely they would be selling these flights at a loss How can a business,and a small one do this?They are undercutting VA by nearly £2000 ,as ive just been quoted £4788 M+M for those dates



See you on the Lazy River

VA do seem horribly inflated. We paid £1,200 each for economy but spent £200 each upgrading to PE at the airport last August and I thought that was horrifically expensive, but sucked it up as it was a last minute flight during peak season.

I'm gobsmacked that they want almost double that for Sept 2014 - I'm just hoping its a (severe) pricing error!

(Of course I suspect VA get away with their prices because the planes and service are both excellent - so much so that my DH won't go with anyone else now and wants to fly PE...)

 

[meldud]

Usually, with those fare codes I would expect any additional cash to be needed however as you have booked through a third party I am guessing that is why.

This is from VA website regarding upgrades (I think the second line applys to you):


If you are getting the viability for 4 reward fares in PE during August make a decision quick as I would guess they won't be around long.

There is nothig available at the moment anyway, although he did say to keep checking back