Premium Upgrade Help with Virgin

[Pudders]

Hi all,

Been off the forums far too long due to work and planning our wedding day in Orlando!! Good to be back and starting to get excited about our trip in April [msnsmile]

We're thinking of upgrading to premium economy with Virgin (via Virgin Holidays) and at the moment they want another £1500 on top of the existing booking for 2 adults and 1 child. We really want to go for it but it is a bit steep! Are there any advantages to waiting nearer the time ie... do they bring down the price to fill the seats? Is there an option to pay at the VH desk at Gatwick when we arrive to check in?

The reason we went via VH over Virgin Atlantic is because the flights were cheaper.

Anyone know of any tips we could throw at them to get it any cheaper at all??

The reason we want to go Premium is because Pippa (my partner) is not good with crowds in small places. We have informed VH of this and they said that they have put in a request for us to be in the front two rows of Economy but not a gaurentee.

Any help appreciated guys.

[Claire]

Clayton

Not sure if this will help, as, at the end of the day, only you can make the final decision. Also, not sure of your routing as that might have some small effect on availability. I always fly out of Gatwick, so can only comment on my experience.

I know an extra £1,500 is a lot of money, but, to be honest with you, if I knew I definitely wanted PE seats I would pay for them now - especially as you have mentioned Pippa's issue with crowds. Even if you are travelling at a supposed 'quieter time', it has been my experience, that the PE seats to Orlando are very popular (especially those located upstairs) and pretty much always full. I have been on a number of flights which have been half empty, but the empty seats have always been in Economy - I have rarely seen any empty seats in PE. I think you are pretty unlikely to be able to pay for a cheaper upgrade at check-in and even less likely to get a freebie upgrade, as all the seats will have already been sold or allocated, even less likely as you will be looking for 3 seats. Only you can make the decision - two flights in slightly better comfort (bit more space, leg rest, faster food service, etc, etc) or an additional £1,500 to splurge on a shopping spree in Orlando!

CLAIRE

[Katys Grandad]

I'm sorry to hear about your partner's problems but I think you might want to get some more information about flying in the PE cabin first. In some ways she might find it even more challenging because the upstairs cabin is actually quite a small area. While it is true that there's more leg room it isn't really that much more that it creates a significant feeling of extra space.

At the price you're being asked to pay, you might not feel it's worth it.

[floridageoff]

Whilst I agree that upstairs is a smaller area, we felt much less claustrophobic when travelling in PE. The aisle is twice as wide as economy and the ceiling seems a lot higher. It is also a lot quieter! We were able to upgrade from economy to PE in one of Virgin’s sale at £200 each for the outward journey and £150 for inbound. This was probably about 3 months before our date of travel.

Our daughter upgraded on the outbound journey from Manchester at check-in for £250. She was travelling on her own and luckily there was a seat available. I’m not sure I would risk leaving it until check-in with three passengers though.

[Susan J]

Why not wait until the day, and mention you are going over to get married What date do you fly- if it is in school hols you will have no chance of free upgrade -but I think thats price is steep that you have been quoted. Wait until nearer the time, or pay and upgrade on the day if necessary.

[jillizzy]

I think you also need to bear in mind that because there is 3 of you travelling, if you book PE and want to sit upstairs, one adult would be sat either across the aisle or behind. The seat configuration is 2-2 upstairs.

Your other option is to sit downstairs in a row of 3 but personally I don't think they are a big advantage over the small economy section which they have made a note of for you.

Personally, I would be checking in on line at the earliest opportunity to try and select row 22 or 23 (some flights also have row 24), you may even be lucky and they may even allocated you the bulkhead (row 21)if the flight isn't full. If you are flying from Manchester get there 4 hours before too, if it's Gatwick try and do twilight check in too.

If you are not satisfied with the seats offered at OLCI, get to the airport as early as possible and tell them that there are notes on your booking and they may need to release those seats for you.

Jill

[Pudders]

Hi guys,

UPDATE - Well.... as a treat to Pippa (as she was panicking!!) I decided to book them today . I spoke to the helpful lady at VH and tried to get them cheaper. She managed to get £170 off which brought the total to just over £1300. Told Pippa tonight and I have one very happy bunny!![msnsmile][msnsmile]

Glad we booked today as we managed to get the link code to VA site to prebook our seats and there is only a handful left (luckily in the places we wanted!!).

Thanks for all the help and I [bad language filtered out] well hope its worth the money!!![msnwink]

Now off to the site to see what I've got for my extra £1300!!

Can anyone tell me if the Gatwick fleet have the new PE seats. I see on Virgin site that they are rolling these out from Jan 2008. In actual fact.... what are the new seats???

[jillizzy]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Pudders
Hi Again,

Can anyone tell me if the Gatwick fleet have the new PE seats. I see on Virgin site that they are rolling these out from Jan 2008. In actual fact.... what are the new seats???

Cheers again - Clayton
[/quote]

None of the Gatwick fleet have the new seats and although it is planned for 2008 there are no definite dates released. You can see the new seats on the VA website.

Jill

[MTP]

Pudders, I have to say that I think that the PE upgrade is well worth it. There has been a lot of debate pro's and con's, but even from the peace of mind benefit, I think if you can stretch to it it's worth it.

I also agree that upstairs feels roomier, principally due to the wider aisle. Plus you have your own toilets and the cabin crew upstairs are slightly more dedicated to just upstairs. We came back downstairs on the last trip, and we still didn't regret the investment.

There are two different camps in this argument - those for whom the journey is a means to and end and the cheaper the better and those for whom the journey is integral to the overall holiday experience, and value added facilities are definitely a plus. The merits between the two are too well worn to go over again, suffice to say I don't think you will regret your choice (except when you want to book again, as you will have spoiled yourself!).

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by MTP

There are two different camps in this argument - those for whom the journey is a means to and end and the cheaper the better and those for whom the journey is integral to the overall holiday experience, and value added facilities are definitely a plus. The merits between the two are too well worn to go over again, suffice to say I don't think you will regret your choice (except when you want to book again, as you will have spoiled yourself!).
[/quote]

Actually there's also a 3rd camp - those for whom the journey is an integral part of the overall experience and value added comfort and facilities but feel that these enhanced economy products don't provide either to the extent that they are worth the big difference in price.