When to ask about reward flights

Hello[oo]

I am making preliminary plans for a trip to The Keys next year, i want to fly from Heathrow to check out the clubhouse.

At what point is it best to start looking for two UCS rewards on this route, immediately 336 days before or nearer the time. Your experience in this would be very much appreciated.

Cheers[y]

[Scrooge]

As soon as you are sure of your plans grab a flight, best way I have found to do it.

Thanks but it was the timing of when to try and get the reward flights I was after, I thought it would be better to sort the rest when I was sure of the reward availability.

[honey lamb]

I'd start doing dummy bookings once the 336 days arrives and frequently thereafter if they are not immediately available. I would also ring the Premier Team to try and snag the first available reward seats

Thank you HL[:X]

Originally posted by honey lamb
I'd start doing dummy bookings once the 336 days arrives and frequently thereafter if they are not immediately available. I would also ring the Premier Team to try and snag the first available reward seats

HL is right - try it out on the VS site and if there is availability, and you know your dates, book em danno. I have found LHR-MIA difficult to secure before.

BTW if you want any tips on KW please ask, it's one of my fave places.

Mine too, have been to the keys about 10 times. Have fun planning.

Cheers for that will defo get back to you[^]

EGG - just in case you don't have any luck straight away don't give up. The last flights I did LHR-MIA (last November) were reward ones and we booked around 6 months out - there were quite a few dates available.

I know you like top quality accommodation and would also be happy to recommend some.

Jilly

Apologies in advance for


(a) a slight thread hijack
(b) being dumb

but if I'm looking to use miles to upgrade (say PE to UC) am I correct in assuming that

(i) if I access the system as if I was going to use miles to pay for an entire UC booking
(ii) the system shows availability on this basis
(iii) I would then be able to pay for an upgradeable PE fare and use the miles to upgrade even if there was no actual PE seat availablity
(iv) I would have to complete the deal over the telephone

Thanks in advance for any help. Like EGG I'm hoping to be able to empty my Miles account next year to include a UC LHR experience but for the entire brood. I've already received a great deal of help from V-Flyers on the best strategy to adopt in terms of fares etc on another thread, but just want to make sure I'm not going to to find myself disappointed by not understanding the mechanics of the system.

Paul

Originally posted by pjh
Apologies in advance for


(a) a slight thread hijack
(b) being dumb

but if I'm looking to use miles to upgrade (say PE to UC) am I correct in assuming that

(i) if I access the system as if I was going to use miles to pay for an entire UC booking
(ii) the system shows availability on this basis
(iii) I would then be able to pay for an upgradeable PE fare and use the miles to upgrade even if there was no actual PE seat availablity
(iv) I would have to complete the deal over the telephone

Thanks in advance for any help. Like EGG I'm hoping to be able to empty my Miles account next year to include a UC LHR experience but for the entire brood. I've already received a great deal of help from V-Flyers on the best strategy to adopt in terms of fares etc on another thread, but just want to make sure I'm not going to to find myself disappointed by not understanding the mechanics of the system.

Paul

If there is no availability for Premium economy revenue fares and the 'G' class miles seat was available, you could book the revenue upgrade, but only at the FULL fare, as the upgrades can only be on 'available' fares (or the fully flexible tickets)

If you book 336 days in advance like the OP was mentioning, you could do this as well, but only as a one way fare (unless you rang 336 days prior to the RETURN date and both flights were available)

I hope I made some sense out of that...

Juliet

I booked rewards to CPT at 336 days out and simply called the Premier Team to arrange it - the web site is OK but I just felt that bit more secure with the PT - and on busy routes I guess this is even more essential.

Originally posted by Juliet

If there is no availability for Premium economy revenue fares and the 'G' class miles seat was available, you could book the revenue upgrade, but only at the FULL fare, as the upgrades can only be on 'available' fares (or the fully flexible tickets)

If you book 336 days in advance like the OP was mentioning, you could do this as well, but only as a one way fare (unless you rang 336 days prior to the RETURN date and both flights were available)

I hope I made some sense out of that...

Juliet

Thanks for that - yes it makes sense and the point about the return date is a gotcha that I hadn't considered.

Paul