Finally we've converted our Virgin airmiles to flights

[bargainqueen]

VS have now matched BA and also have fares from £377, no surprise there then.

Ouch, looks like we booked too soon - never mind.

When I booked I was told that they get very busy as soon as the fares are released on the popular dates (xmas etc)

SusanJ Are your dates fixed or are you flexible - I gave them a range of dates but each time I was offered mid week dates. Normally they wouldn't have worked but as my husband is no longer working that isn't a problem. Also we fly from Gatwick.
You have to be quick and if they have some dates you think might suit, get them to reserve them. We didn't and when I called back they were gone. They give you 48 hours to complete the reservation. We booked 3 tickets so it is possible and I wouldn't have thought beginning of July was that popular, depends of course when your flying back.
Ring the 0800 number for Gold reservations, we're red card holders but as you're booking upper class tickets they will be dealing with the reservation.

Zena

[jillizzy]

I have never been able to get flights with miles- I have over 300k. I go beginning of July usually- from Manchester- is it because I go PE or UC then? and there are 3 of us I should add!

It will be more difficult to get UC from Manchester as many of the flights are on the airbus with no UC seating, although it's always been difficult from there and from LGW. You do have to be VERY flexible with dates.

However, PE from Manchester should be pretty easy - I've checked and there is plenty of availability at the moment. Personally I'd be booking PE and make sure it's the 747 rather than the Airbus and if any UC seats come up between booking and flying you can just use the extra miles to upgrade (plus taxes of course).

Jill

[wrpac00]

Putting aside your somewhat unnecessary and unfortunate tone for a moment, I think that a more thorough reading of Robert's post will indicate to you that he said, "hardly" an upgrade not that it "isn't" an upgrade and was clearly comparing it with upgrades to Business class on other airlines.

As you point out, using miles can save money but my own experience has been that the real savings come from using them in First & Business rather than from what is a comparatively insignificant upgrade from Economy to PE. It's called Premium Economy because that's what it is, an Economy product (albeit a step up from the basic level). I haven't come across any frequent flyers who see it as anything else and all would agree that the difference between PE & UC is many times greater than that between Economy and PE.

I understand why you might want to upgrade/redeem to PE as you do if you don't fly often enough to have the miles and frequent flyer elite status to fly First & Business and can readily see why people would do that but, as Zena has originally posted, that's undoubtedly not where the real bargains are to be had. You've obviously done your homework and discovered the benefits of collecting miles and I'm pleased that you've saved a "small" fortune over the 7 years you've been doing this but I suspect that you could have turned that into a bigger fortune taking a different approach (assuming you have the miles).

In my view, Robert is right - compared to the benefits of an upgrade to Business/First or UC on Virgin, an upgrade to PE is hardly an upgrade at all.

Are you sure you are not Robert under another login, LOL.

The differences between Economy and Premium Economy are significant as are the differences between PE and UC. IMO the money you pay to upgrade to PE is far better value for money than that of upgrading from PE to UC.

Any step up in service is an UPGRADE which cannot be denied whatever way you want to try and confuse things. To say it's hardly an upgrade is utter rubbish I am afraid.

[Katys Grandad]

Are you sure you are not Robert under another login, LOL.

The differences between Economy and Premium Economy are significant as are the differences between PE and UC. IMO the money you pay to upgrade to PE is far better value for money than that of upgrading from PE to UC.

Any step up in service is an UPGRADE which cannot be denied whatever way you want to try and confuse things. To say it's hardly an upgrade is utter rubbish I am afraid.

Where I would agree with you is that the price difference between Economy and PE is much less than that between PE & UC and to some it might represent better value for money but we are talking about using miles here. It seems pretty clear to me that 60k miles to go from Economy to UC is much better use of them than 30k from Economy to PE (providing you have the miles of course) especially when you're paying the same additional Departure tax on the fare for both.

The same applies on most airlines. BA require 25k miles each way for a transatlantic upgrade to the next class of service. That makes those miles worth about £400 when used to upgrade from World Traveller to World Traveller Plus whereas the same miles used to go from WT+ to Club values them at more like £2,000.

Better still to use an airline that doesn't have a premium economy product so an upgrade from Economy puts you straight into Business Class. On American for example, you can upgrade some full fare Economy tickets costing around £850 to what would otherwise be a £2,500 Business Class ticket for just 15k miles each way. I estimate that just 1 of those saves as much money as 4 upgrades to Premium Economy on Virgin for the same number of miles and the comparative difference between products is huge (which is precisely Robert's point).

Your preferred method certainly saves money but the really significant savings are to be had using your hard earned miles in the most efficient way possible and it's very clear to me and to anyone who knows this field well what that is.

(if you really want to work the system to your advantage, First Class international awards used wisely can literally save tens of thousands of Pounds but I'll save that for another day)

[Robert5988]

I usually fly with AA.

In addition to the points in the post above, you can also upgrade from the cheapest economy ticket to business class with miles plus co-pay which sometimes(not always) is cheaper than a flexible full fare economy.


On Business class you get, use of First Class lounge of any of the One world airlines(BA, AA Cathy etc) - lie flat beds long enough for me and I am 6'5" - duvets - champagne and unlimited drinks - really excellent food - personal entertainment equipment. etc

There are enough posts on here alone from people who have been very disappointed with PE or WT+ saying it hardly [msnwink]offers much over economy.

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Just a polite note to keep the discussion nice here please. Let's all try and show respect for all forum members, no matter how much we may disagree with them [msnsmile].

[mexico]

Well said!! I was just thinking the same thing! While I really enjoy the debate and often find them very informative, sometimes I think some would benefit from a trip to the naughty corner!!! Lol!!! Relax ! It's a holiday forum! It's meant to be fun!!!
Pauline

[wrpac00]

I usually fly with AA.

In addition to the points in the post above, you can also upgrade from the cheapest economy ticket to business class with miles plus co-pay which sometimes(not always) is cheaper than a flexible full fare economy.


On Business class you get, use of First Class lounge of any of the One world airlines(BA, AA Cathy etc) - lie flat beds long enough for me and I am 6'5" - duvets - champagne and unlimited drinks - really excellent food - personal entertainment equipment. etc

There are enough posts on here alone from people who have been very disappointed with PE or WT+ saying it hardly [msnwink]offers much over economy.

There are also a lot more posts on here about how many people like PE but as usual Robert you choose to ignore them.

You choose what you like and I will stick with what I like. IMO PE offers, for the price, far better value than UC. Just to bear in mind that with VA PE & UC share some of the same facilities.

[wrpac00]

Where I would agree with you is that the price difference between Economy and PE is much less than that between PE & UC and to some it might represent better value for money but we are talking about using miles here. It seems pretty clear to me that 60k miles to go from Economy to UC is much better use of them than 30k from Economy to PE (providing you have the miles of course) especially when you're paying the same additional Departure tax on the fare for both.

The same applies on most airlines. BA require 25k miles each way for a transatlantic upgrade to the next class of service. That makes those miles worth about £400 when used to upgrade from World Traveller to World Traveller Plus whereas the same miles used to go from WT+ to Club values them at more like £2,000.

Better still to use an airline that doesn't have a premium economy product so an upgrade from Economy puts you straight into Business Class. On American for example, you can upgrade some full fare Economy tickets costing around £850 to what would otherwise be a £2,500 Business Class ticket for just 15k miles each way. I estimate that just 1 of those saves as much money as 4 upgrades to Premium Economy on Virgin for the same number of miles and the comparative difference between products is huge (which is precisely Robert's point).

Your preferred method certainly saves money but the really significant savings are to be had using your hard earned miles in the most efficient way possible and it's very clear to me and to anyone who knows this field well what that is.

(if you really want to work the system to your advantage, First Class international awards used wisely can literally save tens of thousands of Pounds but I'll save that for another day)

Firstly I don't know where you get your figures from but they don't tally with the VA website.

Secondly I like flying direct LGW-MCO which you cannot do if you fly a US airline so part of your journey will NOT be in UC it will be in economy.

Thirdly your estimates do not take into account the way I use my miles and what I end up paying for a PE seat.

Personally I am done on this subject, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

[lafifille]

Well said!! I was just thinking the same thing! While I really enjoy the debate and often find them very informative, sometimes I think some would benefit from a trip to the naughty corner!!! Lol!!! Relax ! It's a holiday forum! It's meant to be fun!!!
Pauline

Ditto. [msnwink]