Changes possible to flexi international itineraries after long haul points upgrade?

[pythonisman]

Hi all. I apologise if this is covered somewhere else, but I wanted to know if anyone else had thoughts on the following:

I'll start by saying this isn't deal breaking, just something I'd like to do.

I booked a flexi economy trip SYD-LAX-LAS (VA/VX) and return LAS-LAX-MEL-SYD (VX/VA/VA) for next month. I was lucky enough to land upgrade seats to J (Z) class for each of the Aus-LAX legs. (So I'm pretty happy).

But I noticed on Virgin America's website that they had some pretty damn cheap discount F seats for the LAX-LAS legs for the dates and flights I'm on, and I could definitely use the extra few SCs in requalification for Platinum.

Does anyone know if I can change my itinerary to go to a mixed class booking, either via VA or VX? I tried calling the WP line last night and was told that to do this I'd need to upgrade the entirety of my itinerary to J class, which would cost many thousands of dollars.

I also asked if I could move (earlier in the day) the LAS-LAX flight, staying in economy, and was told that if I did so I'd forfeit my upgrade long haul legs and drop back to Y.

Has as anyone experienced the same or similar?
Could I call the VX call centre with the VX PNR and ask for changes to be made there? (Or would that stuff everything up).

Its not not critical, just something I would like to do. When I made the points upgrade booking the rep advised me that my fare rules would be the same as my flexi Y rules, including any fare differences in that bucket, but she certainly didn't tell me I could basically make no changes to my trip...

Input or experience would be appreciated!

 

[bullerdude]

Re: Changes possible to flexi international itineraries after long haul points upgrad

Does anyone know if I can change my itinerary to go to a mixed class booking, either via VA or VX? I tried calling the WP line last night and was told that to do this I'd need to upgrade the entirety of my itinerary to J class, which would cost many thousands of dollars.

The issue here is the codeshare element, VX tickets can only be booked as a codeshare to/from Australia thus meaning the cabin class will match that of the VA proportion of the ticket. So to upgrade the VX ticket to F then you have to upgrade the VA ticket to J - I highly doubt its a system limitation, it will just be apart of the VX-VA codeshare agreement.

I also asked if I could move (earlier in the day) the LAS-LAX flight, staying in economy, and was told that if I did so I'd forfeit my upgrade long haul legs and drop back to Y.

Doesn't sound correct in my view - the original fare conditions remain valid after an upgrade. If you make changes you just aren't guaranteed that an upgrade seat will be available.
In this case as you want to change the VX flight there should be no impact to the VA leg - you may have to call a few time until you get a call centre person who knows how to do it or will ask a supervisor what to do.

 

[williamsf1]

Re: Changes possible to flexi international itineraries after long haul points upgrad

You will have a number of issues

the VX sale fare you are looking at would have special restrictions either or
online sale only
or not able to be sold by VA (795 stock)
or not able to be combined with other fares.

If you really want to do this .... the only way I could think of is change your VA booking to remove the LAX LAS flights ( most likely a change fee to do so ) and buy the separate VX tickets ( and then all the associated missed connections risk/ issues)

are the SC really that important ?

 

[pythonisman]

Re: Changes possible to flexi international itineraries after long haul points upgrad

You will have a number of issues

the VX sale fare you are looking at would have special restrictions either or
online sale only
or not able to be sold by VA (795 stock)
or not able to be combined with other fares.

If you really want to do this .... the only way I could think of is change your VA booking to remove the LAX LAS flights ( most likely a change fee to do so ) and buy the separate VX tickets ( and then all the associated missed connections risk/ issues)

are the SC really that important ?

No, and neither the upgrade to VX F nor the change to an earlier flight are really important to me at all, I just thought I'd try it on and see if it was viable.
I get the reasons it can't be upgraded to F / mixed fare, and am fine with it.

I agree bullerdude that changing the economy flight LAS-LAX doesn't seem like it should impact my LAX-MEL return leg, which was mainly why I was surprised by what was indicated last night, but it may be a case of a particular agent not knowing how to do something.

When booking initially, choosing connection times at either end is pretty limited (through the VA site anyway, and I probably should have used a TA for it, but anyway), as a result my connection time in LAX is fairly short (<2hr); Doesn't look like there is either a DL or a VX lounge in LAS, and I was looking forward to a bit of time in the *A lounge at TBIT on the return, and thinking of moving to the earlier flight on the return to make LAX queues minimally frustrating and having a relaxing drink or two before boarding - but as long as I make it to my flight I'm minimally fussed. After all - I'm getting exactly what I paid for..!

I was also interested in what the story would be with baggage on the return, presumably I'd be subject to J rules outbound, but Y rules coming back? Do VX checkin counters check everything through to Sydney, or do I have to handle bags myself at LAX I wonder?

 

[williamsf1]

Re: Changes possible to flexi international itineraries after long haul points upgrad

I agree bullerdude that changing the economy flight LAS-LAX doesn't seem like it should impact my LAX-MEL return leg, which was mainly why I was surprised by what was indicated last night, but it may be a case of a particular agent not knowing how to do something.

I was also interested in what the story would be with baggage on the return, presumably I'd be subject to J rules outbound, but Y rules coming back? Do VX checkin counters check everything through to Sydney, or do I have to handle bags myself at LAX I wonder?

The reason why you would told it would affect your upgrade is you have bought a flexi ticket from SYD to LAS and not 2 separate tickets SYD LAX and LAX LAS ... you can't just simply change to a new fare on one sector( ie LAX LAS) of that fare without paying a significant fare difference for the whole journey ( SYD LAS)

 

[pythonisman]

Re: Changes possible to flexi international itineraries after long haul points upgrad

The reason why you would told it would affect your upgrade is you have bought a flexi ticket from SYD to LAS and not 2 separate tickets SYD LAX and LAX LAS ... you can't just simply change to a new fare on one sector( ie LAX LAS) of that fare without paying a significant fare difference for the whole journey ( SYD LAS)

Ok, I get it and I have no problem with that logic, perfectly reasonable. Consider the thought to change my Y -> F killed off.

Per my second question, if I'm looking to change the schedule of one of the economy (flexi Y) VX legs (no class change, time / date only), is being told that I'll lose my upgraded fares SYD-LAX, LAX-MEL also right?

 

[williamsf1]

Re: Changes possible to flexi international itineraries after long haul points upgrad

Per my second question, if I'm looking to change the schedule of one of the economy (flexi Y) VX legs (no class change, time / date only), is being told that I'll lose my upgraded fares SYD-LAX, LAX-MEL also right?

It all depends on the original fare paid. If the original fare did not allow stop overs / changes ... you will need to upgrade to a new fare ( and then reapply for the upgrade)

for example looking at a random fare rule

FOR TICKETING ON/AFTER 19DEC13
1 STOPOVER PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION AT AUD
100.00 IN SYD/BNE/MEL/LAX.