Upgrade NIghtmare!!!!!

Sorry I have to vent this a little bit.

My g/f and I are getting married in the grand canyon on 20th September so are travelling to LAS in Economy on 17th. My parents are also coming but where we booked with Virgin direct to get miles, my folks booked with Expedia as they go a good hotel/flight discount.

Anyway, the other day my mom won £5k on Richard and Judy (yey) and as a surprise she said we were all going to upgrade to round trip PE as we could never afford this normally!! WICKED! My g/f and I rang VS last night and got upgraded to PE no problem, but my folks is a different story.

I rang Expedia last night to upgrade for them as VS won't do it as its a travel agents booking. Expedia couldn't upgrade at the time due to VS being closed but quoted us £800 total them.

We rang this morning to upgrade and they said £990 each! After some arguing they said they'd call back to confirm. Basically they never did and after 3 seperate calls its gone from £800 total to £900 each, then £1200 each, to finally £2700 each!!!!!!! [:0]

I just tried again but after being on hold for 40 mins got told they couldn't give an exact price till tomorrow [:(!]

Has anyone else had this sort of agro before? I tell ya, money doesn't bring happiness!

[RichardMannion]

That sounds like Expedia - I've called them before to check the fare basis of a flight and man were they mystified at such a question.

Virgin can't help directly as it is indeed an agency booking. You need to speak to Expedia again and check what fare class you are in and availability in the desired class, you may have to pay a change fee per passenger though. If you do call VS to find the lowest PE fare for your travel dates and then ask fro the fare basis, then call Expedia and ask them to move you to that fare basis, they will need to call VS themselves to do the liasion as an agency - though it will go through to the Premier team.

Alternatively, you could try on the day for an airport upgrade using cash. For LAS I seem to recall it being £399 each way for a Economy to Premium Upgrade.

Thanks,
Richard

Yep, defo had problems with Expedia before. My advice (which is too late for you now) is NEVER use them. I always try to book direct with the airline or hotel to avoid this type of problem.

Paul

Andy, it's possible on Expedia to check your fare class on-line. From the itinerary simply scroll down until you see the Airline rules and regulations section then click on rules and restrictions. For example >>

Fare Basis Code: KKXAP

LONSFO-VS 23AUG06 *RULE DISPLAY* TARIFF 0001 RULE 2521
* ADD APPLICABLE TAX * FED INSP FEES *
-FARE BASIS GBP NUC PTC FT GI
KKXAP R 1082.00 2013.80 ADT EX AT
KKXAP R 1085.00 2019.38 ADT EX AT
KKXAP/CH25 R 811.00 1510.35 CNN EX AT
KKXAP/IN90 R 108.00 201.38 INF EX AT
KKXAP/CH25 R 811.00 1510.35 INS EX AT
KKXAP R 1082.00 2013.80 UNN EX AT
KKXAP/CD10 R 973.00 1812.42 SRC EX AT
KKXAP/CD10 R 973.00 1812.42 SRC EX AT
BOOKING CODE K

Originally posted by AndyR
Has anyone else had this sort of agro before? I tell ya, money doesn't bring happiness!

Andy

Sorry to hear of your difficulties but respect for getting married in the Grand Canyon [^] Whatever happens with flights that will be something to remember (has a clear edge on Woking Registry Office).

Paul

[ChuckC]

Andy,
I too have several Expedia "horror stories" in my rucksack. They are simply awful if you have to change anything in your itinerary.

That said, what about asking them what the new fares would be if you canceled and rebooked the itineraries in PE? Just a thought.

Chuck-

Originally posted by ChuckC
Andy,
I too have several Expedia "horror stories" in my rucksack. They are simply awful if you have to change anything in your itinerary.

That said, what about asking them what the new fares would be if you canceled and rebooked the itineraries in PE? Just a thought.

Chuck-

I tried this last night and got told can't cancel, no way. I tried saying fine, the price your quoting me for an upgrade works out mor expensive than if I just booked another premium flight with yourselfs and didn't show for my other flight. How stupid is that. [:(]

Going to call them in a mo.

With some of those prices it sounds as if they must have been getting confused with upper class. Alternatively I suppose it could have been looking at fully flexible PE tickets.

I think in reality the issue probably is that the fare basis that expedia have the booking under is non-refundable and non cancellable and therefore to provide the upgrade they would effectively have to buy new tickets and cancel the existing ones with full penalty- as this would be a seperate booking it would not qualify for the flight/hotel combination discount and hence would seems like an even steeper increase.

I imagine that when dealing with VS directly they can overule fare code restrictions on a case by case basis but they would not do this for a corporate like expedia, and hence expedia need to obtain the full upgrade costs back from the customer.

As for asking expedia about fare codes. I have had the same issue calling BMI directly - the person I spoke to didn't seem to know what a fare code was!!!

Best of luck though. When we flew back from Vegas in July they were offering loads of upgrades to PE on the day - I noticed this as there was a family with far too much baggage checking in to Y and they obviously pointed out that once they had paid the excess baggage the upgrade cost was only slightly more. I'd say there were at least 8 people in the upstairs PE cabin that had upgraded on the day - so fingers crossed with that!

[RichardMannion]

Don't forget you can get the taxes and fees back from Virgin if you cancel, even if the fare element is non-refundable.

Thanks,
Richard

Its gotten silly now and I've had to stop calling as I'm gonna get sacked at this rate

Rang expedia earlier and told I need to speak to a manager so got put on hold. 35 mins later it cuts off.

Ring back, told I'd been cut of and she said "SO!". I couldn't beleive it so said just put me thru so she put me on hold. 27 mins later I hung up.

Rang back and had a moan. They said the manager was on lunch so would call me back at 14:30.

Rang up at 15:00 to say no call and it just went straight on hold!!!! I put it on speakerphone and carried on working but after 30mins I gave up.

So racked of. My folks are guttted with this, 1st time they ever get some money to do this and they can't upgrade!! VS upgraded mine fine and said there are 5 seats left but the chance of getting these at the airport is slim. I want to cancel my upgrade but can't.

Anyone know if I can let my folks take my PE seat on the outbound flight??

BURN EXPEDIA BURN!!!!!!

Originally posted by AndyR
So racked of. My folks are guttted with this, 1st time they ever get some money to do this and they can't upgrade!! VS upgraded mine fine and said there are 5 seats left but the chance of getting these at the airport is slim. I want to cancel my upgrade but can't.

Anyone know if I can let my folks take my PE seat on the outbound flight??

Don't know of any practical impediment to just giving your parents your boarding cards once you're post the final boarding check and heading down the walkway. You're probably not supposed to (is there a manifest check that relates people to seats?) but no one is going to be any the wiser. It'll be less hassle than attempting a change at check in.

Paul

[mcmbenjamin]

I have booked some great deals with Expedia. Recently a flight on UA had a schedule change and was called quickly and asked if was fine then picked new seats. When I book with UA directly and there is a schedule change there is no call. Pisser when they move the flight time up....

jetBlue calls. Bunch of my NYC-IAD flights got changed but got one call and agent took care of it. See jetBlue uses OpenSky which is an easy booking system. FlightSpeed rocks too!

Must admit I've had some good results using Expedia, although have to say I've never had reason to alter the original booking. Booked 1st class flights on DL LAS-BOS last Jan for travel this Oct for £211 pp, the cost on delta.com is now double that

Andy - it may be worth you keeping an eye on how booking for your flight are going (expertflyer.com) and possibly upgrading on the day at the airport. I am not a member of expertflyer at the moment so cannot look at how full the flight is in PE. But some other kind sole may do it for you.

I know this is still second best of course.

Originally posted by sailor99
Andy - it may be worth you keeping an eye on how booking for your flight are going (expertflyer.com) and possibly upgrading on the day at the airport. I am not a member of expertflyer at the moment so cannot look at how full the flight is in PE. But some other kind sole may do it for you.

I know this is still second best of course.

Andy - Try and get to twilight check-in at LGW, this is the earliest point that you can pay for an 'airport upgrade'. Expertflyer is currently showing the following availability -

VS 43 0 LGW
09/17/06 10:45AM LAS
09/17/06 01:30PM 744 LS J2 D1 Z0 W5 S1 K1 Y7 B7 L7 M7 Q7 X7 N7


W, S and K being PE. Unfortunately there is not a huge number of seats left. If you want, we can keep an eye on the availability over the next 12 days to keep you updated..... Just let us know.

Good luck and yes BURN EXPEDIA!!!!!! [:p]

I didn't think they had the ability to take payment at twilight check in - I have a feeling LROM pointed this out in a recent thread, but I can't find the thread though.

Originally posted by sailor99
I didn't think they had the ability to take payment at twilight check in - I have a feeling LROM pointed this out in a recent thread, but I can't find the thread though.

I paid for an exit row last Septemeber and was offered a PE upgrade for £250-£300ish at the same time. They may have changed their policy since then??? I did have to wait 30 mins for somebody to come back off their break to open the ticket desk though.

If the ticket desk if closed, you may struggle with just check-in staff about???[:?]

Originally posted by tallprawn
If the ticket desk if closed, you may struggle with just check-in staff about???[:?]

I think what that may have been what I was thinking of. I anot sure what time it closes.

[Neil]

Jeremy, I think this is the thread you were looking for, which backs up what you were saying.

Twilight closes at 9pm
Neil:)

That's the one. It does seem to be contradicted by tallprawn's experience.

[Neil]

It is strange, no personal experience so can't comment, obviously LROM is hot on these issue's but tallprawn has first hand experience, oh who to believe, lol, seriously though, maybe just a change in policy??

Originally posted by sailor99
That's the one. It does seem to be contradicted by tallprawn's experience.

I have used Twilight just once and the ticket desk was staffed until 21.00 when check-in closed - Albeit by only one member of staff so it does temporarly shut for that persons break. This may have changed since I used it in Sept 05. Maybe Richard or somebody else can claify if this has changed recently.

Staff were advertising that you could upgrade and buy exit rows which is as per a normal check-in.... they certainly took my money so it was more than possible...[y]

Just to add, I checked in at approx 17.00-17.30. I travelled with 2 friends who turned up later at around 20.30-20.45. They were also able to buy exit seats in the same row on the other side of the a/c......hmmmmmmmm [:?]

OK. SORTED!!! [^] [^] [^]

After spending almost an 1hr 20mins on the phone and several manager we have got it sorted, got the price back to the region that VS quoted and booked it. The VA site now shows my folk in PE as well so finally its sorted.

Thanks for all your advice guys/gals. Thanks also for the numbers of seats left available, all helps. We were tempted to try and upgrade at the airport but always that uncertainty of not having them. I tried this from Barbados in 03 and they didn't have any PE left but cattle class was basically empty so we spread out [}:)]

YEY! My first time in anything but economy. At least I dont have to use the outside toilet this time, hopefully anyway

[Neil]

Excellent news Andy[y][y] Shame about the way you had go about getting it sorted but at least you can look forward to your first PE flight, just imagine sipping your glass of champers as you wait for take off[8D], it will all be worth it.

Only thing is now, as I was told before my first PE flight, you won't want to go back in Y again, and its true, so expensive holidays for you now[:0]

Neil:)