Virgin America Elevate - 24 hour upgrade questions

I logged on to my Elevate account about 2 minutes before the 24 hour upgrade window opened. I highlighted the seat I wanted for about 5 minutes and the upgrade price never showed. I also tried other Main Select seats and none of them showed the upgrade price. I refreshed the screen and the upgrade price immediately showed up and I was able to book an upgrade (but not the seat I really wanted). Has anyone else experienced the inability to book an upgrade seat within the 24 hour window?

When I got to the airport I checked the seat map again and saw an aisle seat in Main Select had opened. I called the Virgin phone number and the reservation clerk said she would change my seat from a window seat to the open aisle seat. She later called me back, said the aisle seat was no longer available and that I had to check in again. My original window seat had been freed, and it appears I had no seat assigned.

Questions:
If one upgrades, checks in and then sees later another "better" seat has opened, how do you change to that seat... does one have to call Reservations to do this?

If one upgrades but is hoping for a different seat, is it wise to wait to formally check-in until you get to the airport and verify that the preferred seat is not available?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Questions:
If one upgrades, checks in and then sees later another "better" seat has opened, how do you change to that seat... does one have to call Reservations to do this?


Yes! One of the many reasons to not check-in, as described in the FAQ


If one upgrades but is hoping for a different seat, is it wise to wait to formally check-in until you get to the airport and verify that the preferred seat is not available?

Yes! This is wise. Do not check-in until you really need to. VX does *not* oversell flights (unless there is an equipment change).