Syd to Lax freedom fares

[Harthagan]

Im looking at buying 2 syd to lax return freedom fare flights for august. Price would be around $2250 for each return flight. The plan would be to try for an upgrade to J for 45000 points per flight each.

Im wondering what the chances would be of getting the points upgrades.

The other alternative is springing for Y+ saver fares which would be $3000 return each. The upside is that if we dont get the upgrade at least we have the Y+ seats. The downside is that if we do get the J upgrades then it means we paid an extra $1500 in total (as opposed to the freedom fare route)

Or then again could just buy getaway fares for about $950 return each and then make a bid through UpgradeMe. Usually the min bid is $490 for Y+ or $1590 for J. If not successful we can just pay the extra for economy X. This would definitely be the cheapest route however no idea what our chances of success would be.

I know theres no way of knowing in advance the chances of success. But my priorities would be in this order:

1. Cheapest method possible (assuming equivalent chance of success)
2. Flexibility of fares
3. Earning of SC

The part im unsure of is the order of upgrades. Do points uogrades only get approved if an award saver seat opens up? Do they take priority over UpgradeMe bids?

Or am i just over thinking all of this lol

 

[jch]

I would pay the extra as for Y+ as an insurance policy. I'd hate to pay that much for a regular Y seat. Might have to be ready to flip a coin as getting one rather than two seats upgraded might be probable. Not sure if it's an all is nothing approach with two seats on the same booking though. Would be interested in hearing other members thoughts on the wait listing aspect.

 

[Bibendum]

What status do you hold with VA Harthagan...?

Points upgrades will always be allocated to Platinum and Gold members before the general public.

The LAX route is a popular one for business travel so these cabins can quite often be full a full fare paying customers.. leaving little chance left for those with status to snag an upgrade..

Im looking at buying 2 syd to lax return freedom fare flights for august. Price would be around $2250 for each return flight. The plan would be to try for an upgrade to J for 45000 points per flight each.

Im wondering what the chances would be of getting the points upgrades.

The other alternative is springing for Y+ saver fares which would be $3000 return each. The upside is that if we dont get the upgrade at least we have the Y+ seats. The downside is that if we do get the J upgrades then it means we paid an extra $1500 in total (as opposed to the freedom fare route)

Or then again could just buy getaway fares for about $950 return each and then make a bid through UpgradeMe. Usually the min bid is $490 for Y+ or $1590 for J. If not successful we can just pay the extra for economy X. This would definitely be the cheapest route however no idea what our chances of success would be.

I know theres no way of knowing in advance the chances of success. But my priorities would be in this order:

1. Cheapest method possible (assuming equivalent chance of success)
2. Flexibility of fares
3. Earning of SC

The part im unsure of is the order of upgrades. Do points uogrades only get approved if an award saver seat opens up? Do they take priority over UpgradeMe bids?

Or am i just over thinking all of this lol

 

[Denali]

I was also going to ask if you were SG or WP with VA.

I found it easier to get J reward seats via Brisbane so try that route as well.

 

[Harthagan]

Oh yeah should have mentioned that. Currently SG but will reach WP about 2 months before this trip.

 

[ozjuice]

My tactic is Premium economy (Waitlist J) so atleast you have something comfortable to fall back on as i rate the VA Premium quite highly. The fact is you probably won't know about an upgrade to J until a few days before the flight. Reward seats often get released a week or so before if there are any available.
Also leaving it late to pay for economy X may mean you miss out on that.

 

[clipped_wings]

Tuesday 27/8/2019 has a plethora of J reward availability to LAX via BNE or MEL. At least 2 seats in each flight.

Previous weeks have sporadic availability.

 

[Harthagan]

Tuesday 27/8/2019 has a plethora of J reward availability to LAX via BNE or MEL. At least 2 seats in each flight.

Previous weeks have sporadic availability.View attachment 156866

That is also an option. Its rare to be able to book them so far in advance, normally they only open up about a week before the flight.

The only problem is then having to purchase the 1 way fares coming back which are usually a bit more costly than if booking return flights. Sadly i dont have enough points for 2 return J seats, even if they were available.

 

[PhilandJosh]

You can only upgrade on points long haul with virgin if you are SG or WP although you can purchase them outright with pts regardless of tier. If there are already seats on one leg why not book flex economy and upgrade immediately one way then cross your fingers for the way back. If your dates were slightly flexible for the return you could then change days with economy flex if a return seat came up before you started travel? You could then put requests for business or PE upgrades (not sure if you can do these at the same time for same flight but you’d think that would be possible). and keep watching

 

[clipped_wings]

If you want to pay Y+ return trips, then upgrade immediately for outbound. You can then waitlist for the return trip.

It's hit and miss with waitlist IMHO. Comments re: full cabins for Premium and Business are generally true. We scored at T-24 last year SYD-LAX, but missed out LAX-SYD. But we'd paid Premium Saver fares and Mr Clipped was only SG, so we were way down the list of priority.

Premium is a nice soft fall in cabin experience. But you tend to sit there, watching the Business Class passengers with their demonic smiles and wondering which cad trumped you. (Personal experience).

 

[CPMaverick]

I am 5 of 5 for 45k mileage upgrades on MEL/SYD-LAX and return. I am WP.

2 of 5 times I was waitlisted and found award space available online about 7-10 days out. I called and got upgraded.

3 of 5 times I was waitlisted and never saw any upgrade space. I was able to upgrade at the airport. Twice at MEL intl check-in service desk and once at the SYD international transfer desk.

I've never seen the benefit of the waitlist, but it is possible that if I hadn't seen the award space open and called in, it would have processed in time.

Note that domestic airport staff cannot do anything about international upgrades, so if you are connecting domestically before your LAX flight, forget asking about your upgrade. Wait until the international terminal (check-in or lounge agent).