I just got off the phone with VX for the second time tonight. The first time I called, I checked the VX website to confirm that the price was still the same. It was actually a bit lower, so great! Only-- not. I called and the VX CS agent I got said the fare wasn't there, that F was completely sold out. What? It still showed available on my computer, and first had been empty. She said to refresh and the fare would probably go away-- it didn't. She said she was sorry, that she couldn't do anything as F was full. She said that perhaps others had put the seats on hold for 24 hours, but eight people within five minutes?

I did ask about the change fee, and she said as I wasn't changing the flight, only the class, that I wouldn't be charged. Great! Only--

When I got off the phone I checked the flights again and first class showed available, but was now $800 higher than the previous price I'd pulled up. That pushed it up to $1000+ more than the MCS I already had. Curious, I played around some more, and almost every time, I got a different price varying by hundreds of dollars in both MCS and first. MC price stayed the same.

I returned to the computer after a bit, and the original price I'd seen this evening was again posted. I quickly called VX and the CS agent said she saw the same fare and that first was completely empty. She would be happy to upgrade me, but would need to charge a change fee. I explained I had been told earlier this evening I wouldn't be. She excused herself briefly, came back and said that she wouldn't charge me the fee. So, I ended up paying less than $200 more for first than my original MCS seat.

While the agent was on her computer, I mentioned what had happened with the prices, and she said the computers had been crazy all day. All the agents must have been horribly frustrated. I commiserated and thanked her for her help. All's well and I'm happy.