Will it be impossible to use our miles? answer=no!

Hi everyone,
We have decided that due to the increase in miles redemption, our rainy day has come and we are going to use up our saved miles for a trip to orlando UC next January (booking in Feb to avoid using 100k miles each). However knowing that Virgin UC only has 14 seats on this route i'm presuming that our chances of getting 2 seats completly paid for with miles are very low? Am i wrong? what are our options?
Thanks
Gem

[HighFlyer]

Hi Nemmie

Availibiilty of reward seats on a flight is controlled by revenue management at VS, so its really up to them to say whether there will be availibility. However, if there are seats available then two seats should not be a problem (try asking for four and you may have more of an issue) Many, many of us here have had no issue in getting reward seats for flights so i certainly wouldnt say that your chances are low.

You may need to be slightly flexible with your travel dates, but if you call FC they will be able to take a look for you and let you know.

Alternatively, you could always try flying on different dates, or even into a different airport (MIA for instance) to grab the G's. MCO luckily has more than one flight a day which should increase your chances.

Of course, the only cloud on the horizon is that with the change in redemption rates, more people will be looking to redeem, so if you know you want to do it, i would call them soon.

Best of luck, let us know how you get on!

Thanks,
Sarah

Thanks Sarah,
We want to fly on the 11th of Jan 07 and back on the 18th so am i right in saying i have to wait until the 18th of Feb to book?
Thanks
Gem

[HighFlyer]

We want to fly on the 11th of Jan 07 and back on the 18th so am i right in saying i have to wait until the 18th of Feb to book?

You cant book more than (IIRC) 336 days in advance, I havent booked a reward that far in advance before, but yes im presuming itÕs the same. If you call FC they will tell you which day the seats go on sale (if your as bad with calculating dates as I am) Ð so you can mark it in your calendar and count the days.

Have a good one

Thanks,
Sarah

Great idea, i'm calling them now. LOL
Thanks
Gem

I can book on the 16th of Feb. However the lady at Virgin was dubious about me getting 2 seats on the release day of the seats she said they normally release seats like that nearer the time?
Thanks
Gem

Hi Nemmie,

If you are booking G, you can book the outbound and return separately so you can book 336 days ahead of 11th Jan (which according to Excel is 9th Feb) and then wait a few days for the return.

Also, I know from experience that 11th Jan outbound will be at about half capacity (which is a good sign), but the return will more than likely be chocker!

BTW, I think an agent told me recently that most MCO flights start off having 2 G released. Dunno if this is accurate or not, maybe VS ops or similar can shed more light (and maybe not as it may be commercially sensitive)

Good luck,

Paul

My experience...

It was last July, and I was looking to book in March 2006 to fly LGW to MCO. This was past the 336 day deadline so the seats were released, but until then, I did not have the miles. Note also that my dates (like yours) are not in the school holidays.

I called FC to check on availability for my set dates. No luck to get 4 G classes (upper class rewards) on the same flight, but the FC guy told me he could get me 4 uppers on a particular day, but we had to fly in two pairs. There was no luck on the return flights from MCO, so we chose to return via JFK, again flying "Noah" style, because we could not get four reward seats on the same flight.

Having checked availability, I booked on line (saving 2k miles) for exactly the flights I needed. I live in hope that on the day we fly, there will be availability such that we can fly as a four (of course Mrs csparker would go for a 3+1 - guess who would be the 1!), but the premier team have advised to ask at check (I may try a week before we go in case revenue release the seats).

So my advice is...
- Fly outside school hols
- Phone the FC helpline
- Be flexible with your dates if you can
- If you can't do MCO both ways, consider a routing via BOS, JFK or IAD. JFK is probably your best bet due to the number of flights per day.

Good luck...

Hi all,

Miles reward seats, particularly in Upper Class, on the MCO flights are not always released at all. Now that the cabins have been upgraded to the UCS, if they feel they can SELL those seats, they will not release any 'G' seats, although they normally release a couple more 'U' seats in Premium Economy. These rewards seats are always restriced and capacity controlled, so if you have no luck on the dates and flights, if you are flexible, you may be able to find something, or try booking in Premium and if there is space available on the day, the airport should be able to take the remainder of the miles and upgrade you if they can.

The best advice I can offer is book early, be flexible, be willing to possibly travel in a lower cabin or split your group up across flights, if you want to travel using your miles, particularly at busy times!

The only way to guarantee seats on a particular day, I'm afraid, is to buy them.

Hope that helps.

Juliet

[RichardMannion]

Originally posted by Juliet
Hi all,

Miles reward seats, particularly in Upper Class, on the MCO flights are not always released at all. Now that the cabins have been upgraded to the UCS, if they feel they can SELL those seats, they will not release any 'G' seats, although they normally release a couple more 'U' seats in Premium Economy. These rewards seats are always restriced and capacity controlled, so if you have no luck on the dates and flights, if you are flexible, you may be able to find something, or try booking in Premium and if there is space available on the day, the airport should be able to take the remainder of the miles and upgrade you if they can.

The best advice I can offer is book early, be flexible, be willing to possibly travel in a lower cabin or split your group up across flights, if you want to travel using your miles, particularly at busy times!

The only way to guarantee seats on a particular day, I'm afraid, is to buy them.

Hope that helps.

Juliet

Gone are the B Zone Upgrade days, where practically anyone travelling in PE with Ag or above was going to get to a least sit in a J seat.

Z fares to MCO are very reasonable in the grand scheme of things.

Thanks,
Richard

Thanks for all your advice everyone. I am a little worried about booking the outbound earlier than the inbound in case we would not be able to get the return flight at all. That would be bad. Seeing as we are only going for a week we cannot be flexible with the airport we are flying in and out of however are dates could be altered slighty no problem. I think i'll hang it out until the 16th and see what i can get. If the worst comes to the worst we'll have to pay for them and like someone else posted the Z fares are more than reasonable. I just wanted to use some miles before the redempton increase. Thanks again all.

Don't forget that you can cancel a G class flight but you do lose 25% of your mileage (any maybe some cash but I can't remember). I believe you can also change them for another date when G is available.

I wouldn't hang around or I may nick the seats myself . It is the right time for me to be going to MCO! [:w][:w]

Paul

Well i am totally 100% confused. I can get 2 G class seats on the outbound no problem at all, i have the choice of 7th,8th,9th,10th,11th of January but on the return i cannot get seats for love nor money. Whats confusing me is everyone i talk to at Upper Class ressie's gives me a different answer. I got told today that they would release the G class seats this morning and to call back every 15 minutes and continuously check on line. So i do this and keep getting told no G yet call back in 15 mins. Then i speak to someone 5 minutes ago who says that there will be no release of G class until 1 week before departure??????????? Ummmm well why the hell have i been phoning since 0800 this morning on the advise of another member of your team? Can anyway suggest what i should do? Thanks, sorry about the rant. [:I]

Well persistance pays off [:p]I got 2 G class seats today in Jan for 8 nights. I must say the feeling of paying £250 for 2 x Upper Class return flights to MCO is awesome. Thanks for all your help everyone

[HighFlyer]

Nice one Nemmie! Glad to hear you got them in the end!

Have a fab trip!!

[Decker]

Well played Nemmie! Glad to hear it.

Thanks Highflyer and Decker, i'm well chuffed!
I've just realised as well how lucky we've been. would you believe we are flying out on a Saturday and home on a Sunday (land Monday morning) Strange that they would release G class seats for the weekend instead of in the week. I was trying for either the 17th 18th or 19th on the return but according to Upper Class they haven't released any for those dates.