FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - VS Amex

Nov 9, 2009 | 1:21 pm

#6

mia

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Join Date: Jun 2003

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Quote:

Originally Posted by peegeenyc

... JFK>LHR on Premium Economy.... but can't upgrade to Upper, because its a K ticket. To upgrade,... need to buy the far more expensive W or S ticket, at which point I may as well just buy a discounted UC seat anyways,.

I don't see it. Picking an arbitrary pair of dates in February...

VS
$ 729 = K fare
$1,129 = S fare (upgradeable)
$ 400 = Cost to upgrade, plus 40,000 miles roundtrip

The lowest Upper Class (Z) fare is $2,496 which is more than double the S fare, and while you would earn more Tier Points than in Premium Economy you would earn the same mileage.

Compare with American Airlines...

AA
$ 512 = O fare (lowest economy class)
$+700 = 2X350 upgrade co-payment
$1,212 = Total cost, plus 50,000 miles roundtrip

AA would cost more money and more miles for an inferior business class seat. Of course the analysis may have been different for your travel dates at the time you purchased your tickets, and VS adds a fuel surcharge that will more than wipe out the savings.

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