CO awards on VS
Jun 30, 2008 | 4:49 pm
#31
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Jun 30, 2008 | 5:23 pm
#32
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They do serve some made-to-order items in the Revivals lounge. I'm a particular fan of the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with brioche. Eeeeggggcellent.
Jun 30, 2008 | 10:54 pm
#33
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Aug 10, 2008 | 6:26 pm
#34
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With all the new charges appearing (industry generally, not specifically CO) - I just wanted to check here that I won't be charged anything if I put an award rez on hold, and then let it expire. I know it sounds like a dumb question, but who would have thought that airlines would be charging for checked bags or soft drinks....
Aug 10, 2008 | 9:29 pm
#35
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When a CO codeshare exists for the flight, they will only allow you to book out of CO inventory. This is substantially less than VS inventory and is a subset of the seats that CO has bought on the flight. It's a CO reward on a CO flight number
When there is no CO codeshare, you are booking a partner reward on the partner flight number. This comes out of their inventory and I have found that this tracks pretty close to what you see on virgin-atlantic.com. Its not identical i.e. when there are limited seats <2 then VS often keeps them for their own rewards only.
We were unable to get flights on the CO codeshares last year but had to connect somewhere anyway. Since there was no CO codeshare in Chicago we had wide open availability on the VS flights from ORD-LHR.
I'm not sure if there are still any non-codeshare flights remaining. Perhaps LAS?
When there is no CO codeshare, you are booking a partner reward on the partner flight number. This comes out of their inventory and I have found that this tracks pretty close to what you see on virgin-atlantic.com. Its not identical i.e. when there are limited seats <2 then VS often keeps them for their own rewards only.
We were unable to get flights on the CO codeshares last year but had to connect somewhere anyway. Since there was no CO codeshare in Chicago we had wide open availability on the VS flights from ORD-LHR.
I'm not sure if there are still any non-codeshare flights remaining. Perhaps LAS?
As for the people that have not been able to change their seat and other details on-line on virgin-atlantic.com, remember that their on-line system cannot deal with tickets that have more than 4 segments.
Oct 5, 2008 | 10:21 am
#36
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I don't see VS flights (other than codeshares) showing up on the award search screen. Is this a way to see their availability?
Oct 5, 2008 | 10:49 am
#37
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Oct 5, 2008 | 11:50 pm
#38
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I changed a reward reservation a few months ago to London and instead of returning from LHR on the 4pm VS departure (VS1), I was only able to select the 7pm departure (VS17). When I re-booked I asked about the flight I wanted and they told me they don't see it. I am guessing because it was not a codeshare.
Last edited by jrzyshawn; Oct 5, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Oct 9, 2008 | 7:29 pm
#39
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Wait a sec, you can book any VS flight as a reward, not just the codeshare flights?
I changed a reward reservation a few months ago to London and instead of returning from LHR on the 4pm VS departure (VS1), I was only able to select the 7pm departure (VS17). When I re-booked I asked about the flight I wanted and they told me they don't see it. I am guessing because it was not a codeshare.
I changed a reward reservation a few months ago to London and instead of returning from LHR on the 4pm VS departure (VS1), I was only able to select the 7pm departure (VS17). When I re-booked I asked about the flight I wanted and they told me they don't see it. I am guessing because it was not a codeshare.
It does not need to be a codeshare. However the reward buckets that CO uses is different than what VS uses for its FF program. So whereas a Flying Club memeber maybe able to book reward seats, they may be zero inventory on the CO side. However, keep in mind that using OnePass will save you SIGNIFICANTLY the taxes and duties. I just booked and used a North America to Africa ticket...the taxes if I booked through VS on Flying Club in Upper Class were close to US$800. On CO I booked it for around $100. and 10k less miles!!!!
Oct 9, 2008 | 7:36 pm
#40
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Wait a sec, you can book any VS flight as a reward, not just the codeshare flights?
I changed a reward reservation a few months ago to London and instead of returning from LHR on the 4pm VS departure (VS1), I was only able to select the 7pm departure (VS17). When I re-booked I asked about the flight I wanted and they told me they don't see it. I am guessing because it was not a codeshare.
I changed a reward reservation a few months ago to London and instead of returning from LHR on the 4pm VS departure (VS1), I was only able to select the 7pm departure (VS17). When I re-booked I asked about the flight I wanted and they told me they don't see it. I am guessing because it was not a codeshare.
Oct 9, 2008 | 8:33 pm
#41
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That's good to know. I guess I am going to have to stick with what I have ticketed already. I did keep asking the agent about the 4 pm VS departure and she kept telling me there is no such flight, even though I knew there was. I just assumed that since that 4 pm LHR departure to EWR was no longer a codeshare, it was not going to be available for a reward. I doubt I am going to be able to talk my way into them changing my LHR-EWR flight to the 4 pm departure without that nonsense change fee. I guess I will have a few hours to enjoy in the Upper Class lounge.
Oct 9, 2008 | 8:40 pm
#42
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Indeed. You can also just ask at the lounge to see if they'll switch you. I'd ask at each step along the way (check-in, etc.). The worst they can say is no, though certainly it is officially not allowed.
Oct 9, 2008 | 8:44 pm
#43
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You can definitely book non-codeshare flights for VS reward seats. Why they didn't see that flight when you were looking could be because they were looking only for CO flights or because they were looking for the wrong fare bucket. But you can definitely book non-codeshare VS flights for reward redemption.
Oct 9, 2008 | 8:45 pm
#44
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That’s great advice sbm12, thanks. Well you can be sure that if a 747 pops up on that route, I am going to weasel my way onto it somehow. Otherwise, I think I will just enjoy the lounge.
Nov 3, 2008 | 3:37 pm
#45
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Upper Class Rewards & Pricing on VS
This has probably been flogged to death but I'm still a little confused.
1)Please confirm that it is possible to now book Upper Class Seats on VS.
2)If there are VS seats available that are not CO codeshare inventory seats, is it sometimes possible to book by phone, or is what's online what you get.
3)I was hoping to use miles to book an upperclass reward for my wife and pay for a seat for myself. There's also a possibility that it would be CO BF one way and VS upperclass the other. When I try to price these seats, I get the follow message regarding the VS seats:
! Flight CO8229 does not offer BusinessFirst or First Class between seats between London, England (LHR - Heathrow) to New York, NY (JFK).
Flight CO8229 in the London, England (LHR - Heathrow) to New York, NY (JFK) market is in economy class.
Continental flight 8229 operated by Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Either an all CO BF or an all VS upperclass RT for my date can be had for approx. $2500 but for mixed CO and VS flights (even code shares) the price soars or I get the message above. Is there a way to book a CO/BF + VS/UC RT without thousands in additional cost?
1)Please confirm that it is possible to now book Upper Class Seats on VS.
2)If there are VS seats available that are not CO codeshare inventory seats, is it sometimes possible to book by phone, or is what's online what you get.
3)I was hoping to use miles to book an upperclass reward for my wife and pay for a seat for myself. There's also a possibility that it would be CO BF one way and VS upperclass the other. When I try to price these seats, I get the follow message regarding the VS seats:
! Flight CO8229 does not offer BusinessFirst or First Class between seats between London, England (LHR - Heathrow) to New York, NY (JFK).
Flight CO8229 in the London, England (LHR - Heathrow) to New York, NY (JFK) market is in economy class.
Continental flight 8229 operated by Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Either an all CO BF or an all VS upperclass RT for my date can be had for approx. $2500 but for mixed CO and VS flights (even code shares) the price soars or I get the message above. Is there a way to book a CO/BF + VS/UC RT without thousands in additional cost?