dlen111

search never works for me. quick question. is there a VS award from the US to south afrcia, or only a ST award?

i am using CO miles hence the post on the CO forum.

familyflier

If memory serves me right - VS awards are only allowed on Virgin Atlantic routes. The problem is that Virgin Atlantic doesn't serve any route from the US to South Africa. So, you'd have to reward trip over to London on Virgin Atlantic and then purchase a ticket from there to South Africa on Virgin (a separate airline from Virgin Atlantic). Best option in the past has been KLM through Amsterdam to JoBurg. Good luck!

CO 1E

Are you sure that the service to JoBurg is on a separate entity? IIRC, it's operated as VS 601/602, by VS. The service to Nigeria, however, is on VS Nigeria. I could be wrong, though.

If the South Africa service is operated by regular VS, the OP should be able to redeem one N America to Africa reward to get there on VS. Finding reward availability on LHR-JXB might be a challenge, however, as that is a very popular VS route.

RoboBR

When I last used Virgin to fly to Jo'burg I had to use VS miles to get there. CO miles were not an option as the VS flights are not CO codeshares between LHR and JNB.

The flights are operated by Virgin Atlantic.

If you end up on KLM in coach be prepared for a pretty miserable experience. Flights are always packed and KLM service is weak. WBC however was pretty good but award tix are pretty hard to come by.

dlen111

there will be no coach. if its a long one, and im using miles, its up front for sure.

i am still curious though. i have heard the CO codeshare thing, but in terms of using miles, codeshare agreements and OnePass agreements are completely seperate.

even though CO does not codeshare with VS flights to JXB, i think we still may be able to use CO miles.

not sure though???

SDF_Traveler

DL is now operating ATL-JNB with one stop (I don't recall where the stop is off-hand). Flight is operating using 767-300ER equipment.

As it is a new route, perhaps you can find some BizElite seats.

SDF_Traveler

sbm12

The DL stop is in Senegal, IIRC.

I tried to use miles on the VS HKG-LHR flight and was told it wasn't eligable for CO reward seats. Doesn't mean that JoBurg won't be available, but it does seem that there are some limits.

S.

HeathrowGuy

CO fails to realize that KLM uses trip logic for award seats. KLM flights are available in D class for JNB-AMS-CDG next August, for example, but CO agents are limited to pulling up the flights one-by-one, meaning that they'll never see availability (because JNB-AMS shows D0).

razortim

CO does partner with VS and has a reward with them to South Africa (JNB or CPT). Ask for their series 10 reward.

capitalflow

I can speak to this on some authority. Last November, I called CO to redeem miles to get me and my spouse to CPT. I specifically wanted VS. Well, I made the reservation -- using 360K miles - and they flew us to IAHCDG, CDGHRW on AF and then VS down to CPT. Coming back we did CPTHRW, an overnight in London (on our dime) and then the next day LGWIAH. We were in BizFirst, First and/or the "Upper Class" cabins all around. However, let me tell you, the CO rep when redeemng the miles made a mistake and for a while, we were in coach on VS. I had to make a very specific and targeted application towards the booking error. CO made good, but let me tell ya, VS was SOOOO disappointing. Take the other guy's advice and go with KLM.

CO 1E

You've got to be kidding. You must have been on one of the old VS aircraft with the J2000 seats in Upper Class rather than the Upper Class Suites. I don't see how anyone could prefer KL's old J barcaloungers (or even their new tilt-a-beds) to the VS Upper Class Suites. This also must have been before the new VS Clubhouse in LHR opened.

HeathrowGuy

Great as they are otherwise, CO agents are generally dingbats when it comes to booking awards on airlines other than CO and NW.

1. You can redeem for any Virgin Atlantic flight systemwide, and Virgin Atlantic flies to JNB.

2. CO's agents continue to fail to realize that KLM's Trip Logic system means that you CANNOT pull up KLM inventory accurately on a point-to-point basis.

capitalflow

The VS clubhouse was okay but because AF was so delayed getting us to HRW, we didn't really have a chance to enjoy it. You are right -- we were on the older plane for VS. But my spouse signed up for one of the spa in air treatments and the crew in charge of it "ran out of time" and gave her a voucher for a priority on the return. Guess what? The return little manicure never happened because we had turburlence (and I know that's not VS fault) for so long that when things settled down, she still didn;t get it. I dunno -- yeah, you're probably right about the seats themselves and I do not fly VS often (obviously), I was just saying the overall experience was less than expected given the hype on the brand itself.

Happy travels, CO 1E.

Mile-Hor

Next June/July, 2 tix, all in Business:

6/24 IAD-AMS KL
6/25 AMS-CPT KL
*openjaw*
7/6 JNB-CDG AF
7/7 CDG-AMS AF
*stopover*
7/9 AMS-IAD KL

All at the 120,000 level, on almost the exact dates (at least in the exact range, since I'm flexible) I was looking for!!!

No one but a FlyerTalker can really understand my glee, though they now understand my crazy flying patterns!

dlen111

that's awesome. im working on the identicle trip for early march 08. Im having some date issues, so may have to get a little tricky as im not willing to pay for KL easypass. i am also trying to work in VS segments.

congrats, have a great trip.