To my complete amazement, when I called the Hawaiianmiles service center to complain about the no-notice elimination of the "old" VS redemption chart, they asked me where I wanted to go. I said USA-South Africa in coach. The agent hit a few keystrokes and told me it was 70,000 miles roundtrip. I said, "That's interesting -- let me make a reservation."

And I did. And the process was dreadful. Call after call to get the seats "confirmed" -- even though they showed as "available." And more calls to get the reservation pushed through ticketing. But I got them. Hawaiian's complete incompetence -- allowing the old chart to be booked after they replaced it -- worked to my advantage.

My recommendation: if you've got the HA miles and want to fly Virgin Atlantic, book fast. And keep calling until you get an actual ticket number.