Virgin Amex PE upgrades

Firstly has anyone used these successfully yet?

Next question is I believe I have 2 of these on my account, I can see them credited and I have spent more than enough on my card.

So the question is can I uses these 2 return upgrades as 4 single upgrades?

The reason is to be able to get into premium for the night flights.

Thanks

I called VS about this on Friday, and I was told I could only use them when I make a booking with miles, so I imagine you need to redeem miles for an Economy return and then you'll be upgraded to Premium.

Hmmm, I called and added one to a booking for a friend who travel led this weekend but have not yet heard if it worked.

Upgrade worked fine so I hope I now have 3 single upgrades left.

Am I really the only person here to have used one of these?

must admit I'd forgotten they even existed until I saw this post.
Do they apppear on the FC statement (like the companion ones) or are they just there, in the system waiting to be discovered?

On the same subject what specifically is a 'qualifying Economy redemption flight' - I'm assuming it's a T class economy using the standard mileage chart and not reduced rates?

cheers

Andrew

I says on my statement :-

VAA Credit Card Econ>Premium Reward Upgrade

Qualifying fares appear to be Y,B,L from the UK and Y,B from the USA.

Is there a time limit for using these ?

Mark

Originally posted by manymiles
I says on my statement :-

VAA Credit Card Econ>Premium Reward Upgrade

Qualifying fares appear to be Y,B,L from the UK and Y,B from the USA.

Hi - is this on the FC statement or the VA Amex?

[HighFlyer]

The VS AmEx PE upgrade vouchers are indeed T->U upgrades, meaning that you can use these vouchers to upgrade an Economy reward flight. You need to use 40k miles to purchase a reward flight in Y and use the voucher to upgrade that booking to Premium Economy. These vouchers do not upgrade paid for flights.

Premium Economy reward upgrades are valid for 12 months from the date of issue.

Thanks,
Sarah

They can be used for paid flights or reward bookings.

Originally posted by manymiles
I says on my statement :-

VAA Credit Card Econ>Premium Reward Upgrade

Qualifying fares appear to be Y,B,L from the UK and Y,B from the USA.

What statement ? Flying Club or MBNA Credit Card statement ?

Originally posted by manymiles
They can be used for paid flights or reward bookings.

I'm a little confused here - I thought these upgrades were only applicable to flights paid for with miles. The T&Cs seem fairly clear about this. Do you think you just got lucky, or have I misunderstood something? If they can be used for flights paid for with cash, presumably it's only certain fare codes?

Thanks

Ben

[Nottingham Nick]

Originally posted by benamure
I'm a little confused here - I thought these upgrades were only applicable to flights paid for with miles.

You and me both. [:D] I thought exactly the same as you, but manymiles is quite specific, so I don't know any more.

If anyone else manages to use the Amex upgrade vouchers to upgrade a paid flight, please post details here. [y]

Nick

Having just read the T&Cs I can see why this appears confusing. The credit card info does not appear to mention using the upgrades on paid tickets, however the overall Flying club section does :-

4.3 Upgrades and Companion Rewards

4.3.8 Qualifying fare levels for Economy to Premium Economy upgrades and Economy Companion tickets on Virgin Atlantic flights.

I've got two listed on my account and was going to use them in November for T-U upgrades - I thought each was for a single leg, is this the case or is each one for a return.

I am just about to call through to VA to try and use them (although on reward flights) and would like to to be clear as it affects which flights I actually book.

Jilly

I was trying to find out the same, the way it appears to read is that they are return upgrades.

I hve just rung through to say I'm not happy is an understatement.

I had to the push the staff member to get any information but at every point I feel I was being given the wrong info.

First of all I was told that I couldn't have the Amex upgrade with reward seats - only paid tickets. I pushed that and then she said that I could but only because it was a special offer. She did confirm that both upgrades listed were returns. I was going to upgrade 2 of the 4 economy rewards and let the passengers swap for the return. That eventually was OK.

I then wanted to book an 'S' class PE fare for myself and a free companion ticket for my husband - I was then told that only 'W' tickets could be used for a companion ticket.

She wouldn't budge on the above - I asked her to check with a supervisor and she said she already had done. Has this changed or was I wrong.

I'm fuming right now!

Jilly

Another update and I think I've got the answers to your query Nick.

If you want to use your Amex upgrades from EC to PE you can either use them for paid or reward tickets.

For paid tickets you have to book into Y, B or L and then use the voucher.

For reward bookings you have to book into T and a U be available.

Each voucher listed is a return - you can use it as a single if the return is not available (or vice-versa) but you then forfeit the other part of the voucher and cannot use it separately.

I spoke to a gentleman who was much more helpful when I called back and I expressed my views on the first call (I also had her name).

Jilly

That's pretty interesting Jilly, thanks.

Something I'm unsure about though - when I ask for flexible economy tickets online as opposed to the lowest price tickets, I always get quoted for Y tickets, which is fair enough. If I ask for 'lowest', I never get quoted for B or L. If you phone up reservations and ask for a cheaper qualifying fare (i.e. B or L) can you save money over a Y fare this way?

Thanks,

Ben

[Decker]

From the rules Jilly

4.3.9 Qualifying fare levels for Premium Economy to Upper Class upgrades and Premium Economy Companion tickets on Virgin Atlantic flights:
Any full Premium Economy fare booked in W or S class.

So you were right

Originally posted by benamure
That's pretty interesting Jilly, thanks.

Something I'm unsure about though - when I ask for flexible economy tickets online as opposed to the lowest price tickets, I always get quoted for Y tickets, which is fair enough. If I ask for 'lowest', I never get quoted for B or L. If you phone up reservations and ask for a cheaper qualifying fare (i.e. B or L) can you save money over a Y fare this way?

Thanks,

Ben

The on line system is pretty limited when looking for tickets which are not either fully flexible or the lowest fare - a B or an L will be cheaper than a Y so it's best to phone to check availability.

Jilly

[RichardMannion]

Sounds like a mess to me!

THe upgrade vouchers issued for reaching the threshold spend on the MBNA VS products are only for use with a reward booking. So you book a T class reward (Economy reward class), and you can then use your voucher to have it moved to a U class free of charge (as long as there is avaialbility in U class).

They cannot be used in conjunction with paid tickets, even if it is in one of the normally qualifying revenue classes (Y, B or L - or B or L). The staff you spoke to must have got it confused with a normal mileage upgrade, these vouchers are treated dfifferently.

The new update is that the member must be one of the passengers travelling.

The vouchers are for return trips, but they cannot be split into 2 one-way entities. So in that regard they must be used against one return PNR. If there is no availability on one of the sectors, then that sector upgrade is forfieted.

They can only be used for Economy to Premium (T >U) and nothing else.

Thanks,
Richard

Richard TBH after the phone calls I've had today I don't trust anyone (other than you of course)- but I've had two separate people on the Premier Team give me the information that you can buy a Y, B or L ticket and use the upgrade vouchers. I'm using them in conjunction with rewards anyway so I'm quite happy now.

I have both their names (one is only a Christian name)if you want them. After the first phone call I was ready to explode (and believe me it takes a lot for me to get angry), but I did have to count to 10 and take a deep breath.

Jilly

Can someone remind me at what point I would receive the Econ-PE upgrade voucher and at what point does the Credit Card Companion Flight Qualification kick in.... I've got the white card.

I'm sure that I had a Econ-PE upgrade listed on my Flying club statement, but I've just checked and it is no longer there, but I'm now showing a companion flight voucher.

[HighFlyer]

Originally posted by Tim
Can someone remind me at what point I would receive the Econ-PE upgrade voucher and at what point does the Credit Card Companion Flight Qualification kick in.... I've got the white card.

The Y -> PE upgrade vouchers are (allegedly) issued after your anniversary date. If you had the old Mastercard it will be this anniversary date, not the date you switched to the AmEx card. Companion vouchers should be credted as soon as you reach the spend threshold (£15k for the White AmEx).

Thanks,
Sarah