V-Flyer

My girlfriend and I are planning a small Vegas wedding in 2026 (far off I know) and I’d like to use my points to fly upper class if possible.

We will fly from UK, ideally Manchester but wouldn’t object to a London airport if necessary.

Planning the wedding for May 2026. What’s the best way to get a reward flight?

I have 753k points but haven’t flown for a few years.

Thanks in advance

Flights come out 331 days in advance. Normally flights are loaded around 5am UK time. As soon as the LHR-LAS or MAN-LAS flight is released , call up and book. Or you can reserve it for 72 hours… if you book it as a one way , when the return flight is released you can add that into the existing booking. Have to be quick as they don’t generally release more than 2 UC (which is always guaranteed) reward seat per flight.

Thanks. So using the reward seat checker I can see up to Feb 17th next year and most days in Feb are showing 2 or more UC reward seats.

So basically I get on, book 2x one way UC seats and then a week later change them into returns?

If I don’t get UC can I just book PE and keep on checking for additional UC seats and then upgrade them?

Yep, you’ve got it

Welcome to V:Flyer

Do check both the reward checker and the actual online booking system as sometimes the reward checker isn't always accurate.

I've looked at the reward checker first before and seen no availability, however, on trying a booking, reward flights were actually available. That was a MAN>ATL Upper reward flight.

Is there a reason advice is to call up and book? Is booking online not recommended?

TheBigBad888 wrote:Is there a reason advice is to call up and book? Is booking online not recommended?

I only book on the phone when I am flying on partner airlines on reward seats as it can be very glitchy. But no problem booking VS operated flights with points online.

I never use the reward seat checker. I have found it too unreliable.

What I do is search on the website for the reward seats and then amend the URL from “flexible-dates” to “flexible-calendar”. That way you see monthly view of available flight dates!

Thanks.

One last question, are reward tickets fully refundable able to be changed (date, destination etc)?

Yes fully changeable and refundable, except for a £30 admin fee. I just can't remember if the admin fee is per booking or per person.

matt.hibb wrote:Yes fully changeable and refundable, except for a £30 admin fee. I just can't remember if the admin fee is per booking or per person.

Correct £30 per person fee to change/cancel. Unless you are flying club gold and the fee is waived.

I have changed multiple times and the fee has been waived for both passengers even though I am the only gold member on the booking. But the last change I did I was charged the £30 fee for the other passenger!

Worth considering as it's a wedding, consideirng one or both ways via LAX (LA is only a 4-5 hour journey and car hire is still reasonable). May help with availabiliy on the "busy" LAS flight.

Equally there are some nicer places to stop between Las vegas and LA, notably Palm Springs, we stopped for a night or two on our way home on our own honeymoon. Theres some very special hotels there suited for post-Vegas relaxation on our experince.

(Our experience is it's considerably easier to get redemptions to LA too).

how do you get on if you are using a CC companion voucher and the return is not available when you book outbound

with BA you can add it on, is it same with VA?