Virgin flying club - OW NYC to LHR in PE

Not asking for any fortune telling, just some advice and experience.

We're doing a trans-Atlantic cruise next September so need one way air from NYC to London. We flew last year on VS and enjoyed it in PE, so will go that way again.

I have determined that our PE ticket will be a changeable/refundable one (i.e. no discount). That being the case, how difficult will it be to upgrade the day of at the ticket counter to UC (if available)? Approximately what is the "going cost"?

Since there are several flights a day to the UK from NYC, which airport and time is better (with a chance to upgrade)? We plan to fly on either a Saturday or Sunday if that makes a difference (we're flexible).

Also, we're coming from CLT, so will need to coordinate times to either fly to NYC the day before or with a connection time of at least 3 hours (more if recommended). Fortunately, flights are plentiful and relatively cheap on the CLT-NYC portion, but I want to "lock in" something around the 300 day mark in a few weeks.

Thanks for any input ahead of time!

The "going cost" is going to be the actual fare difference between the two cabins.

Here's some advice for a one-way JFK-LHR: You can do Kuwait Airways, which goes JFK-LHR-Kuwait City, and only do the JFK-LHR portion in F class (yes, F and not business) for about $1300 US. We did it a few years back and the seat has about 60 inches of pitch and lies almost flat. Very comfortable for a 5 hour 30 min flight. The meal service was great, about 5 courses and included caviar. We did it on a Saturday night - the flight leaves around 9 PM.

Otherwise, try to book with Continental in their business class for the one-way. You could choose a codeshare with Virgin Atlantic. They had some recent fares JFK-LHR for about $800 US one way in upper class.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the suggestions Flyingfox. I checked out Kuwait Airways, but I'd be a bit concerned about taking them as they only fly every 3 days. Since we're meeting a cruise ship, I'd be worried sick about not getting there if there was a mechanical or problem. Also, from what I've read on their site, it looks like no alcohol which will definitely not fly with DH. He wouldn't die without it ... but he wouldn't be happy to do without.

I did look at booking J with Continental and it is less cost. I wish CO would offer PE ... but I couldn't get that option on their web site. So it looks like I'm back to dealing with VS direct. Any opinion on whether it is better to fly out of JFK or EWR? Best time of day? I know they have the one day-time flight out of EWR, but I am sure it is usually very full. We don't really mind the overnight, so I'm leaning more that direction.