Virgin business class upgrades need to be used

[Pixels]

Hi everyone,

Last year I decided to take some time off from working and as such I'll not be re-qualifying for Platinum when review comes up in late April.

As a result of not traveling much I have 4 upgrades still sitting in my account that I'd rather not see wasted and I'd really appreciate cost effective suggestions of how best to use them or even entertain ways of benefiting other users with them.

It's a shame Virgin still only allow upgrades from Flexi fares, that's one of the few things Qantas has got right with their upgrade policy.

I know from some fairly long term lurking around here there are some very clever people active on the site and I'm hoping for some tricky suggestions.

 

[Bolthead]

Hi everyone,

Last year I decided to take some time off from working and as such I'll not be re-qualifying for Platinum when review comes up in late April.

As a result of not traveling much I have 4 upgrades still sitting in my account that I'd rather not see wasted and I'd really appreciate cost effective suggestions of how best to use them or even entertain ways of benefiting other users with them.

It's a shame Virgin still only allow upgrades from Flexi fares, that's one of the few things Qantas has got right with their upgrade policy.

I know from some fairly long term lurking around here there are some very clever people active on the site and I'm hoping for some tricky suggestions.

You are not leaving yourself a lot of time as Easter will get in the way and possibly make it more difficult or at the least limit your ability to upgrade. Remember 4 upgrades are essentially 2 x Pax return tickets. In the end it depends where you want to go and how much you are willing to pay. If you have a partner then perhaps a return trip to the Gold Coast may be worthwhile. For approx. $700 you can get 2 x return flights to OOL with a value of approx $1756 J class seats. For what it's worth I tend to use the upgrades as a spur of the moment thing knowing that a lot of my travel is last minute and hence my ticket is a Flexi fare anyway and you can redeem these upgrades in the lounge if there are seats available. Also remember you are not guaranteed the upgrade so check with the call centre first for upgrade availability. Good luck...

 

[smit0847]

Do you have any travel booked or planned? Not much point buying expensive flexi fares just to use the upgrades if you have nowhere to go.

Obviously the longer the route, the better value the comp upgrade but then the longer the route, the more expensive the flexi fare is to buy in the first place. If you have any need to go to PER that would be the best use of them but you will be looking at $800 pp to buy the flexis.

 

[serfty]

Note that you can use them on flights booked for a date later than upgrade expiry.

e.g. Find flights with award Business availability in (say) September, start the booking process for Flexi's on the same flights right to the payment screen. Call Velocity Rewards and ask about upgrade availability for the flights, when they confirm this tell them you are about to complete the ticketing and will give them the reference number when done.

 

[kevrosmith]

Out of SYD, Flexis to CNS are okay pricing (~$300 each way) and reasonable flight time: 2:30 - 3:00 hours. Often plenty of availability too. Plus a nice destination for a holiday. Just make sure you don't fly the days I do and steal my upgrade opportunities Also, if you'd rather a B737 experience, rather than E190, avoid the evening departure from SYD... it's an Embraer service except limited times around peak holiday periods etc. You could check DRW or PER as well: I'm not sure of the Flexi prices on those routes though.

If you search on this site, you'll also find some info on Promo/Discount codes for VA that will reduce the price of your Flexi fare too.

 

[drewbles]

Do you have any travel booked or planned? Not much point buying expensive flexi fares just to use the upgrades if you have nowhere to go.

Obviously the longer the route, the better value the comp upgrade but then the longer the route, the more expensive the flexi fare is to buy in the first place. If you have any need to go to PER that would be the best use of them but you will be looking at $800 pp to buy the flexis.

Try closer to $1040 return per person (Flexis are now $519 each way per person plus booking fee).

 

[Bolthead]

Note that you can use them on flights booked for a date later than upgrade expiry....

That's good to know... I always have used mine before they expire...

 

[Pixels]

Thanks everyone, I know it's a case of bad management to be in this situation but I've sort of taken a holiday from flying as I did so much in the past (it took less than 3 months to qualify for Platinum). Now I find I'm starting to miss it again so I thought this might be a reason to get back into the sky.

Since I'm concentrating on destinations where there is a Hilton so I can also use a significant stash of HHonors points it's beginning to look a lot like a cheap trip to the Gold Coast is coming my way, the family will enjoy it, I've a 7 year old who really enjoys sitting up front.

I'll do a search on the site to see if there are any other discount codes going other than NQZ47 which gives you 10% off just in case that alters things a little.

I was also wondering about seeing if any of my mates were due to travel and I'd get them to buy two flexi fares instead of 1 and I'd fly along and get them upgraded but none have any significant travel scheduled in the time frame.