Upgrade advice LAX – LHR 21st December 2007

Can I please have your advice (before 9:30 tonight if possible).

Having purchased S class tickets for our Christmas trip (VS23 out, VS8 back), I have already upgraded the outbound flight to UC.

I have been keeping an eye of the inbound. This morning, upgrade availability existed and I have reserved these seats. However these are for the later flight VS24 and require a £50pp change fee. We will also have a 5 hour wait at LAX due to an inflexible internal flight.

With this in mind, I have until 10pm to secure these seats, would your advice be:

** take the seats, pay the £100 and wait 5 hours at LAX or

** keep looking until upgrade seats on my flight become available.

I have been looking on the Continental website which provides a clear availability seat map for certain Virgin flights. UC on my flight has more availability than the later flight, are upgrade seats likely to become available.

I am inspired by James' TR of last week where he secured an upgrade minutes before boarding.

Thanks

Jeremy

Personally ..... I would take those seats and spend the 5 hours in the Air NZ lounge...... 5 hours will turn into 3 by the time you make your way from the other flight etc and then board the VS.

If you let them go and dont get the others you will kick yourself !

Mark

To be honest both flights look wide open in UC at the moment:

VS008 - J7 D7 Z6 W7 S3 K0 Y4 B0 L0 M0 Q0 X0 N0
VS024 - J7 D7 Z7 W7 S1 K0 Y5 B0 L0 M0 Q0 X0 N0

And chocca in economy!

That said if VS are offering upgrades to you on the 24 it's because they know the 8 gets fuller closer to the date - I've found it easier to get Z's on the 24 before certainly.

I suppose it's down to how much of a risk taker you are? If it were me, I'd go for surety and then, perhaps closer to the date if seats on the earlier flight come free ring Flying Club and see if they'll swap you (though that may incur another change fee).

If you do have the wait, I'd head out to the flying spaceship restaurant thingy place for a couple of hours and a nice meal with a view!

hey go for the later flight, you can relax then knowing your garunteed a good nights sleep in a bed. we are offering an upgrade sale at check in this month, so you may find when you check in there wont be space on the earlier flight. i was there the other day and the space ship restaurant looks really nice at night/sunset even if it is covered in scaffolding lol

Going to book the flights. Thanks for your help.

Jeremy

Couldn't get them in the end.

Between my wife and I we have 40,121 miles, but not 20,000 each (say 26,000 and 14,000). I am sure in the past it was the total that counted not what each of us individually had.

Will keep trying

Thanks

Jeremy

[Neil]

Jeremy,

You need to have enough miles from 1 account for each sector. You cannot use an uneven split amount of miles from 2 accounts for 1 reward booking.

The only option I could see is for you to purchase some miles from the VS website to top up the account with 26k miles. You can buy a max of 19k per year, with each extra 1k costing £15.

Neil