Upgrading a U class booking?

Hello all,

I'd to ask if anyone has experience of trying to upgrade from a D to UC using miles? Or know if this is even possible?

I've tried calling the Flying Club but gave up holding.....

Look forward to hearing from you!

Hi vsmustride,

A D fare is an UC fare code. You cannot upgrade it to anything - J is the only higher fare code which is a fully flexible UC fare..

Are you booked into PE and have the wrong fare code?

Thanks for the fast reply Rob,

Sorry, looking over the short confirmation note I have at the moment from VS I have a D outbound in UC and the return leg is U. My original post should have been is it possible to upgrade a U to UC.

Sorry for the confussion!

[preiffer]

Ah, in which case - yes, it's possible to upgrade a U to a G (Upper Class reward). I'll assume you actually paid for a D out and L/B/Y (economy, upgradable) return? If so, they'll charge you the difference in the mileage upgrade amounts.

Thanks again!

The D & U tickets have been paid for by good old fashion cash not by using miles. Though both tickets are AD tickets and not originally purchased as a L/B/Y ticket.

I'll be more patient when I call Flying Club again!

Any idea how many miles would be required to upgrade?

[preiffer]

Umm - you can't have a U ticket paid for entirely by cash - it's a reward booking class... [?]

My company took care of the booking I only have a short confirmation from VS at the moment though I doubt very much the booking has been made using miles. My miles haven't been used for this booking.

To make a reward class booking is it possible to use miles from someone other than the person traveling?

Sorry for being such a newbie!

Originally posted by vsmustride


To make a reward class booking is it possible to use miles from someone other than the person traveling?

Yes it is possible but sounds strange in your circumstance. Sounds to me like you have the wrong fare code for your return sector.

Or, does you company have a FlyingCo account which they may have used for a part Rev/Reward ticket for you?

[preiffer]

Yup - absolutely, anyone can book a reward seat for someone else.

All very strange if you ask me... [:?]

My company doesn't have a Flying Co account though it is possible other people have donated their miles to my booking. The confirmation I have from VS reads:
1 VS 900D 30MAR FR LHRNRT HK1 1300. 0900.
2 VS 901U 07APR SA NRTLHR HK1 1100. 1530.
AD50 Upper Class / AD75 Premium Economy

I'll call FC again tomorrow and let you know what i find out.

My fingers are crossed I can use my miles to upgrade to UC.

U is the fare bucket for PE reward bookings. Your confirmation definitely reads that you have a ticket booked into PE by reward. I wish people lavished miles on my travel needs....[:p]

Check VA.com or call FC, subject to availablility in G you will be able to use your miles to convert your return to an Upper reward ticket...

Good luck...[y]

[preiffer]

Hold on - AD codes are Agent Discount codes. USUALLY for Travel Agent staff travel.

Still can't see how they've been booked into U, but it means at LEAST the ticket will be extremely heavily discounted.


In which case, your chances of upgrading, I would guess, have just become somewhat slimmer...

Being the impatient sod I'am I just called FC again and spoke to FC USA. Basicaly it seems the return ticket was purchased as Economy and upgraged to PE using 30K miles (not mine). FC USA believe it is possible and their are seats available in G for 10k miles but I need to confirm this with FC UK tomorrow to confirm this. If possible it'll easily be the best 10,000miles ever spent!

The agent I spoke to didn't fill me with confidence, but i'll have my fingers crossed tonight. Again i'll let you know what happens after speaking with FC UK tomorrow.

[preiffer]

Umm - an upgrade from Economy to Premium is only 20k miles though - so the difference would be another 20k to Upper [:?]

Bare in mind the original UC ticket has been paid for and we are only upgrading the return leg, only 10k is required to upgrade to UC? This is the math FC USA used to come to the conslusion of 10K. However even if it's 20k, i'm still happy to use some of my miles.

Rob,
AD tickets are greatly discounted but i've never had this type of problem in the past. Saying that the other trips i've made on VS have all been UC without needing to upgrade using miles or complex math

[preiffer]

Nope - EACH leg is a 20k upgrade from PE to Upper.

Still something fishy going on with your ticket - A mileage upgrade from an Economy fare to U (PE reward) is 20,000 miles, not 30,000.

FC have told you some duff info, Paul is correct - A further upgrade to G will cost you 20,000 extra miles.

I'm still amazed that someone has gifted you mileage for a reward fare and not told you about it.....

They're the sort of friends/employers I wouldn't mind meeting...[:p]

Well guys here it is, this morning I call FC to be told the ticket is upgradeable though I need to talk with the premier team to make the change, the premier then tried to connect me with the UC team after holding for 15minutes I gave up and called back just after lunch time. FC again checked availability and put me through to the premier team. After 2minutes on the phone it was confirmed the ticket has been upgrade to UC for 10k miles.

I checked online 15minutes later and IÕm able to select s seat in the UC cabin.

IÕve no idea how they reached 10,000miles.

All in IÕm happy and canÕt wait to reach the Clubhouse.

Paul,

Whatever company you work for in Glasgow can i come and work for them too?[:o)][:p][}:)]

Too generous with UC travel!

Excellent news...

The assumption I can make is that whoever organised your ticket originally must have been debited 10,000 too much for your original economy to Premium upgrade.

As far as I am aware all Y-PE and PE-UC upgrades are 20,000 miles for all fare types that are upgradeable. I have never come across a 30,000 or 10,000 upgrade before...

Have you found out who gifted you the original miles yet??? Enjoy the trip BTW...

[RichardMannion]

Originally posted by vsmustride
Well guys here it is, this morning I call FC to be told the ticket is upgradeable though I need to talk with the premier team to make the change, the premier then tried to connect me with the UC team after holding for 15minutes I gave up and called back just after lunch time. FC again checked availability and put me through to the premier team. After 2minutes on the phone it was confirmed the ticket has been upgrade to UC for 10k miles.

Sorry, you've lost me. Premier are above general UC team, they can do everything and more that a std UC agent can do, so completely lost.

If the original return sector was a L/B/Y then it would have been 10k miles to upgrade one way to Premium Economy (L/B/Y>U), and then 20k to move from Premium Economy to Upper one way(U>G).

Thanks,
Richard

Motherger, Don't be fooled if it wasn't for having access to AD tickets i'd be flying economy or premium at the very best, god bless AD tickets! The only downside is I need to re check my luggage in LHR meaning a walk through the deep dark tunnels of LHR though I have the clubhouse in mind which makes the hike bareable!

Rob, I did ask this morning who gifted the miles to the booking all VS could tell me was the name of the person that made the booking (our admin department) though weren't sure who's miles were used. I know the person in admin recently made a couple of trips to Jo'burg so that's my guess. I guess we'll only be sure how many miles the upgrade will cost after the trip and my statement has been updated. 10k or 20k i'm happy with.

Richard, perhaps I heard wrong and it wasn't the premier team, is there a premium team?

Thanks to everyone for their help and feedback!

Little update, I got a call today from our admin department to ask if I had tried to upgrade the PE return flight, ofcourse I had using my miles. Well VS called our admin department on Monday to say the PE return leg can not be upgraded using miles. The strange part is the return leg is still on the VS website shows UC I can select a seat in the UC cabin.

I'll ask at check in on Friday morning - keep your fingers crossed for me!

I should have updated this long ago. I didn't ask when checking in at LHR how my return leg looked though I was still shown on VS website as UC. Well I get to check in at Narita and I'm still UC the seat I had reseverd was still mine and was handed my invite to the baby clubhouse. After a few days my miles were deducted (you were correct Rob 20,000). Not a bad way to spend 20k i'd say.

Thank you all for your help!