Mixed class reward flights possible?

[Scr77]

Are mixed class reward bookings possible on VA?

I’m looking at Melbourne to Christmas Island (via Perth). Reward seats are available the whole way in economy. There are also business seats available on the Melb to Perth segment, but the website and call centre say I can’t book Melb to Perth in J and Perth to Christmas Island in Y. There isn’t a Business cabin on the Perth to Christmas Island flight (operated by virgin Aust regional airlines)

I can’t even take the chance with separate tickets, because the system shows no availability if you try and book Perth to Christmas Island only.

Anyone think of a workaround?

 

[henrus]

Mixed class awards have never been a thing so you'll have to look at other options. Good luck trying to argue... you can search AFF and you'll find many others have failed in the past.

My suggestion would be to try a different city... say Adelaide to Christmas Island and see if there is Economy space from ADL-PER then position yourself to ADL on a seperate ticket (SYD or BNE or HBA could also be options).

Also if you happen to be platinum then I'd also see if you could use the guaranteed award seat.

(I missed the original comment about Y award seats being available)

If you're willing to share the date, it might also help and allow for more suggestions.

 

[Scr77]

Thanks Henrus. I never knew this was an issue with VA. I’ve always been able to eventually find J/F to my destination. Mixed class is often an issue with QF, but in this case I’d be happy with that!

I was looking at late November, I guess it will have to be economy.

 

[henrus]

I was looking at late November, I guess it will have to be economy.

​

Ah ok... missed the fact that economy is available. You'd be best to take that but you'll be stuck in Y as it's also not possible to upgrade reward seats. At the end of the day you'll be saving quite a bit along the way (flights to XCH aren't cheap) and it's probably the easiest solution.

My only other theory and it's a crazy one... You could fly from MEL via Perth to Kalgoorlie (on one booking - Business Reward) then a new booking from there on to Christmas Island (via Perth) (Economy Reward) but that's a lot of extra flying just for a business class seat on the MEL-PER-KGI route and would probably require a night in Kalgoorlie. Final route would be something like MEL-PER-KGI-XCH-PER-MEL with two seperate bookings involved at a total cost of 114,400 points (you could skip coming back via KGI).

Same as earlier post... if economy award seats are not available and you hold platinum status then using the guaranteed reward seat would allow you to put in a points upgrade to business as it is booked in a paid fare type.

 

[Scr77]

I could book the return trip in Y and separately book Perth to Melbourne in business, but the Christmas Island flights are too unreliable to risk the connection.

Is there a reason Virgin don’t do mixed classes like Qantas?

 

[Scr77]

I've booked this all in Y. I was thinking of making a separate booking for the last segment (Perth to Melb) in J. I can do hand Luggage Only, but would mean I'd have 2 bookings on the same flight. Will VA notice this and cancel one or both?

 

[Must...Fly!]

Very likely yes one or both would be cancelled