Havana Upper Class

Hello all I have been an avid reader of your forum for a couple of years so I thought I had better put my hand in my wallet and actually subscribe. As a first time poster be very gentle with me as I am a very sensitive person.[:w]

I recently booked a holiday to Cuba through Virgin Holidays and paid to upgrade to PE. I then realised my mistake after having travelled UC to Miami last year. I do not wish to slum it so I phone VH and ask to upgrade to UC sorry we have no seats is the reply. Phone VA. So I then phone VA and ask to upgrade to UC sorry is the answer you will have to do that through VH. Bearing in mind I wanted to give them my dosh seems a little ludicrous. The term p*****g in the wind comes to mind. My question is two fold how many UC seats are actually allocated to VH on this flight if any, and secondly would I simply be able to upgrade at LGW if seats are still available? I realise that the LGW747 has only 14 UC berths so probably not a viable option. I was also going to ask if I could use miles to upgrade but as all booked through VH I will not even go there!

Regards
Bryan

I suggest to check with expertflyer to see how many seats are left for your particular flights.

[url][/url]http://www.expertflyer.com/

Your Membership with v-flyer will you a few limited searches.

Rgds,

HG

Interesting question. Myself and a few others have been wondering how many seats on each a/c ex LGW are allocated to VH. Originally I thought that it may be a first come fist severd issue, so if the seats are there VH can have them. But I don't think this is so, due to revenue making issues (ie: How much of your price goes to VS) etc.

I would imagine that VS operate it like say Sunsail used to with FCA before they became part of the First Choice group. So VH block x amount of seats, when those are gone they can request further from VS depending on availability. Certainly with Sunsail they used to have a problem because they blocked say 10 out of 20 PE seats but couldnt fill them so gave free upgrades. That is one way they could do it, although Im not 100% sure.

Willd, thanks for your reply. I have come to the conclusion that not even VS UC customer services know how seats are allocated! Wonder if VS might give me a free upgrade!!!

Regards
Bryan

[preiffer]

Willd's explanation is correct. VH have a certain allocation - then have to go back if they need to request more. If VS feel they can sell the remaining seats on their own, VH customers are out of luck.

[mcmbenjamin]

Originally posted by preiffer
Willd's explanation is correct. VH have a certain allocation - then have to go back if they need to request more. If VS feel they can sell the remaining seats on their own, VH customers are out of luck.

For sake of example; let VS price equal X and VH price equal .8X

If VS feels that they're able to sell tickets at X and VH has exhausted its allocation at .8X; why does VH not sell the seat at X?

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin

For sake of example; let VS price equal X and VH price equal .8X

If VS feels that they're able to sell tickets at X and VH has exhausted its allocation at .8X; why does VH not sell the seat at X?

BEcause the VH price is fixed in the brochure. So if they say it costs £5000 they must sell it at £5000.

When they sell their allocation they cant then go and say the VS seats as this would cause an increase. It would be bad customer relations and could be challenged legally.

Can you imagine ringing up having financed your holiday and being told its an extra £2000? Granted some maybe able to afford it but others wont.

Also its in VH interest to ensure that its holidays are competitive. If all of a sudden they are whacking customers at booking time with an extra £2000 because they are selling the VS seats, customers will soon stop using VH.

[Scrooge]

Which brings out into the open a debate we have been having, how much of an effect does VH have on the VS yields on the leisure routes ?

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin

For sake of example; let VS price equal X and VH price equal .8X

If VS feels that they're able to sell tickets at X and VH has exhausted its allocation at .8X; why does VH not sell the seat at X?

You might find this interesting...

GJ

Originally posted by Scrooge
Which brings out into the open a debate we have been having, how much of an effect does VH have on the VS yields on the leisure routes ?

Exactly. Something that we don't know. I wonder how much of the a/c is sold by VH. One would imagine on a route such as GND/TAB the majority of the a/c is VH.

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin

For sake of example; let VS price equal X and VH price equal .8X

If VS feels that they're able to sell tickets at X and VH has exhausted its allocation at .8X; why does VH not sell the seat at X?

You might find this interesting...

GJ

Woo Hoo it seems I might have sparked off a debate even if some do find the subject matter a trifle boring![oo]

Regards
Bryan

[Darren Wheeler]

I'd be surprised if it was more that 4 seats. Other operators like Kuoni get a shout too plus all those who book independent trips.