I've lived in the US for 5 years now, and have used VS to travel to and from NYC/London the 4 or 5 times a year I head back. During that time, I can't recall a single instance when I've wanted to upgrade my seat at the airport using some of the many miles I have in my account, and not been able to (if seats are available).
However, I flew back to the UK for Christmas which I booked in PE. At EWR I asked if there were spare UC seats, which there were, and so asked if I could use some of my 200k miles to upgrade. Apparently my ticket wasn't upgradeable, so I would have to pay the balance of the fare to make my PE ticket fully flexible, and then use 20k miles to upgrade. Oh. How much would that be then, asked I. After a bit of tapping away on the computer and a calculator, they came back with the princely sum of $1700. That was just for one way. I paid $1400 for the PE ticket, and at time of booking it asked me if I wanted to upgrade to UC for $400 each way. I explained that, to no avail.
I said thanks but no thanks, and went on my not so merry way to the clubhouse. The return flight was last night, and unfortunately I came down with flu last Friday, and have felt dreadful since. At LHR, I asked again if I could upgrade so I could lie down, get some rest, and not be sat right next to someone while I was coughing and sneezing. Again, I got the same story, and I'd have to pay 1100 pounds PLUS 20k miles!
Is this normal now?? Should I/we abandon all hope of upgrading at the airport using our miles unless we spent almost double the discount ticket price on a fully flexible ticket?? If this is the case, is BA the same, because as much as I love Virgin, this is ridiculous and would send me over to the enemy!
However, I flew back to the UK for Christmas which I booked in PE. At EWR I asked if there were spare UC seats, which there were, and so asked if I could use some of my 200k miles to upgrade. Apparently my ticket wasn't upgradeable, so I would have to pay the balance of the fare to make my PE ticket fully flexible, and then use 20k miles to upgrade. Oh. How much would that be then, asked I. After a bit of tapping away on the computer and a calculator, they came back with the princely sum of $1700. That was just for one way. I paid $1400 for the PE ticket, and at time of booking it asked me if I wanted to upgrade to UC for $400 each way. I explained that, to no avail.
I said thanks but no thanks, and went on my not so merry way to the clubhouse. The return flight was last night, and unfortunately I came down with flu last Friday, and have felt dreadful since. At LHR, I asked again if I could upgrade so I could lie down, get some rest, and not be sat right next to someone while I was coughing and sneezing. Again, I got the same story, and I'd have to pay 1100 pounds PLUS 20k miles!
Is this normal now?? Should I/we abandon all hope of upgrading at the airport using our miles unless we spent almost double the discount ticket price on a fully flexible ticket?? If this is the case, is BA the same, because as much as I love Virgin, this is ridiculous and would send me over to the enemy!
