Upgrading on itinerary with multiple legs - has to be all flights or none?

[Jurahn]

Just read something on the VA Facebook page that puzzled me.

The query is: "I'm trying to upgrade 6 flights to Business class for the long haul leg from Brisbane to Salt Lake City and my travel agent advises that even though the seats are available it cannot be done because there is no available business class seats from LAX to SLC???"


VA's reply is then (in part): "... when upgrading a flight, guests must upgrade to their preferred class for the entire journey contained on the reservation. Therefore, if the journey from Brisbane to Salt Lake City is contained within one booking reference number and there is no availability in Business for the LAX - SLC sector of the flight, then Virgin Australia is unable to upgrade the first leg."

Um ... really? I've read posts on AFF from people who have upgraded only some sectors of a multi-sector domestic flight (e.g. just the coast-to-coast sectors) and I'm sure there must be some who have done the same with international itinerararies? I can't find anything in the T & Cs for long-haul points upgrades that specifies ALL legs must have upgrade availability in order for an upgrade for just one or two sectors to be processed?

We are looking at buying Y+ fares PER-LAX-PER next year and then upgrading to J on all legs (if possible) with points, or at the very least the long-haul sectors - but does the VA reply above mean that if on just one sector (for example, the final SYD/MEL/BNE to PER domestic leg) has no upgrade availability, then we would be unable to upgrade any of the other flights on the itinerary? Doesn't sound quite right to me. It does appear the Facebook pax is looking at paid upgrades (by his most recent comment "just take my money and make me happy"), so maybe this is just an issue with paid upgrades and not points?

I'm very confused ....

 

[frequentflyer91]

When I travelled with two others on a flight from Townsville to Perth (Via Sydney) we successfully upgraded the second leg.

Not sure if this is only international?

 

[notzac]

I'd say the Facebook representative has the question confused - they seem to have read it as wanting to *ticket* the whole thing in J, which wasn't the question asked.

I've successfully used points to upgrade one leg of a return journey before, so it's very possible. Would suggest calling the Gold desk prior to ticketing your flights in Y+ to ensure that there is available space in J for the upgrade .. keep them on the line while you pay online and then get them to upgrade you straight away.

 

[Jurahn]

Thanks for the replies, and for the recommendation from Notzac as how to best go about upgrading. I will actually be Platinum by the time we're booking that trip , so if I can get J for the sectors to/from LAX, I wonder if I'll be able to select the hallowed "Row 5" LOL. Wonder what the best chances are of upgrade availability - I seem to recall someone mentioning the loads on the flights out of BNE are usually pretty heavy in J, so might be better going out of SYD or MEL.

 

[williamsf1]

VA does not operate LAX SLC and upgrades with points are only valid on VA operated and marketed flights

Getting 6 seats on a BNE LAX flight in business class would be very hard anyway

 

[Jstar]

I recently flew from PER to Las Vegas with stops in Sydney and LAX. I managed to upgrade the SYD to LAX portions of my flights only. However, I did try to upgrade again (from Premium Economy to Business) for the return leg where there initially was not a Business flight available. I got a strange answer from the CSR saying that I couldn't actually upgrade my flight as I had a code share (Delta) as part of my booking and they couldn't upgrade the VA portion for some reason. She said it was a something to do with the booking system and a recent change to their policy that came into effect after I initially upgraded my flights. Not sure how true it is but if it is then that's not very good at all and quite a disincentive to book with VA to the USA if you can't take a connecting flight...

 

[Jurahn]

I recently flew from PER to Las Vegas with stops in Sydney and LAX. I managed to upgrade the SYD to LAX portions of my flights only. However, I did try to upgrade again (from Premium Economy to Business) for the return leg where there initially was not a Business flight available. I got a strange answer from the CSR saying that I couldn't actually upgrade my flight as I had a code share (Delta) as part of my booking and they couldn't upgrade the VA portion for some reason. She said it was a something to do with the booking system and a recent change to their policy that came into effect after I initially upgraded my flights. Not sure how true it is but if it is then that's not very good at all and quite a disincentive to book with VA to the USA if you can't take a connecting flight...

I'll say!! Well, it looks like the Facebook rep may have been correct after all if your experience is anything to go by, if there's been a recent change to their policy for points upgrades. Mind you, if there HAS been a change, they're keeping it pretty quiet as I can't find anything about it in the T&Cs or anywhere else.

It certainly would be a HUGE disincentive for booking with VA through to domestic ports in the US if, because J isn't available on that connecting domestic flight, VA won't upgrade the long-haul sectors!!! We usually just travel VA to the US and then book the internal flights with Southwest - we looking at heading either to San Francisco or San Diego as the first stop on our next trip and I had been considering booking VA all the way through, but definitely won't be if it's going to stop us being able to upgrade the flights to/from LAX!

Maybe VFF could clarify for us?

 

[bullerdude]

I think its more just lack of understanding in the call centres... which seems to occur pretty often from my experiences.

I don't see anything in the T+C's that mention you cannot upgrade the VA sector where there is an attached US Domestic flight. There have been several occasions where I have to stand my ground with the call centre to get what I required as they made mistakes or weren't aware of certain rules etc.