Dubai, Companion tickets and changing rewards

Hi,

I'm looking at going to Dubai in March / April next year and have a couple of dilemma's I'd love a second opinion on....

1) Using my Companion voucher ( Virgin CC ) on this route seems worthwhile, as 1 x Z is approximately £2140 against full J of £2640 ish. This can also be amended easily enough as it's flexible. However, at only 80000 miles it's tempting to just use miles for this, but what flexibility do I get with these? I *think* I can make changes to route, date etc ( as per T&C's ) for a fee but is this really that straightforward?

2) Using Trailfinders to book the full J ticket seems preferable, as full payment not required until 6 weeks beforehand [^] but once Trailfinders make the booking will it show in VS's systems for using the Companion award?

3) There seems to be a discrepancy between the times in the 'Flight Times' on the VS website and the time that comes up when I try and book the flight ( April ). One is 14.35 departure from Dubai ( nice ) and one is 08.20 ( Ergh ). However the 'Flight Times' is referring to 2006. ( Rant mode on - why does the 'Flight Times' page seem to be out of date so often? )

I guess the answer to 3 is 'phone VS' but any advice / thoughts useful.

Thanks,

David.

[HighFlyer]

Hi David

You will need to call Flying Club to utilise your companion voucher, as AFAIK you cant use the voucher for flights purchased through other operators. (see here for Companion Voucher T&C's)

VS will also be able to give you a definitive on the flight price as it will definately be a J fare they will book to use the companion reward, plus they will be able to confirm the flight times. I know that the timings for DXB have changed slightly a few times. When i flew back from there in April it was definately a 14.50 departure, but i think this changes in June when the route has increased frequency.

As for using miles - its a great way of getting a cheap flight as you only need pay the taxes, but you'll not earn Miles & Tier Points, and you wont get the CDC service included. (your companion of course wont earn Miles & Tier Points either if you do opt for the J fare)

Changes to reward tickets are usually subject to a £25 fee (unless you are FC Au) and the same applies to cancelling the fare. You'll usually also get 25% of your miles docked from the refunded amount too (80k miles in your case turns into 60k overnight), depending on when you cancel and who you speak to, so if you require some flexibility you'll need to take that into consideration.

Fab choice on DXB though, i really liked the place!

Thanks,
Sarah

Thanks,
Sarah

It may not be as flexible but probably worth considering whether you could get 2 * S Class (PE) and then upgrade with 2 * 40k miles - might work out cheaper. Of course this would require 2 UC reward tickets to be available rather than just the 1.

Phil

Thanks Sarah & Phil for your advice.

I've just been on the phone to Trailfinders and VS and have some interesting information that I hope may be useful to others:

VS can only issue the Companion reward against a 'ticketed' booking. By ticketed, I'm presuming that means 'paid for' as opposed to a travel agents held reservation. VS are holding the G reward seat for a week for me in the meantime though whilst I get Trailfinders to ticket my booking. Annoyingly, I believe this means that I can't make use of the 'interest free' period that I thought I would have available ( £75 deposit, rest payable 2 months before )

Phil - I discounted the use of upgradeable PE tickets due to cost, the cheapest Y ticket is coming out at over £1000! I didn't bother checking W/S fares. Z was £2140, J is £2640. So a very good use of the companion ticket I feel! Plus 4 limos of course [y]

Thanks,

David.