An Extraordinary SkyMiles Value - VS PE to Upper Class
 

Booking tickets back home for the holidays, flying LHR-ATL-PDX and then PDX-LAX-LHR. I wanted business class on the return as adjusting to the time change going East is much harder for me. I didn't want to do a full mileage booking for this one as I need MQMs.

I noticed that the difference between Main Cabin and VS PE on the return was minimal, I ended up getting C+ on PDX-LAX and PE G on LAX-LHR for £66 more than Main Cabin.

I then remembered that SkyMiles upgrades were recently announced for VS operated flights, but they didn't publish how many miles are needed.

When I called I was astonished that I could upgrade to Upper Class LAX-LHR from my PE G fare, only £66 more than a Main Cabin V fare, for only 20,000 SkyMiles with no cash co-pay :D

Would have been 30,000 from YBM and 60,000 from other Econ fare classes. 20,000 for PAG, which can often be much cheaper than YBM fares.

SkyMiles has had some awful devaluations recently, but this really is a sweet spot at the moment.

That’s actually quite a reasonable mileage redemption - much nicer than some of the crazy amounts DL is asking for

How much cheaper was it than the direct LHR-PDX?

LHR-PDX direct is summertime seasonal, not available for this time of the year.

I was looking at connection options through ATL, JFK, MSP, LAX, and SEA. All similar prices. Wasn't willing to take LAX or SEA in Economy as those are operated by VS 787s and even with a 28" waist I refuse to fly 10 hours in a 17" seat :td:

Did you book on the VS flight number or the DL flight number? And does it matter, in terms of getting a SkyMiles upgrade?

I booked online at Delta.com and it booked as DL4385 but then once the phone agent processed the upgrade it changed to VS8.

So you can definitely book on Delta ticket stock and DL marketed (flight number) and get the upgrade. I also know that you can book on Delta ticket stock and DL marketed and upgrade with VS miles, but it sucks since they nuked their rates. I think it was 38,700 Flying Club miles :td: Not sure about other combinations.

Cool. I found a pretty good rate for Virgin PE for a trip in the Spring. Just might have to try this!

Just remember that you have to call to find upgrade space.

For some reason even when ExpertFlyer said Upper Class upgrade space was available Delta didn't always see it.

Also remember that now when booking through Delta you can book mixed cabin iteneries online. That's how I got such a good deal on the PE leg. It would have been £300 to upgrade the outbound, which I didn't really care about anyway, while the return was only £66. Worth playing with a bit.

Enjoy your trip!

There’s an earlier thread about this:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...pgrade-vs.html

I'm surprised I missed it, sorry for the duplicate.

Mods, please merge if appropriate.

A similar deal of 20K SkyMiles to upgrade from PE to Business is possible for TATL flights on AF.

Be sure to check your SkyMiles earnings after your flight, especially if your new VS flight number has retained the G fare, which is not a VS fare. When I had problems with mileage credit for the VS flight I found the best way to correct it was through an email via the Comment/Complaints option on delta.com. Phone calls were not effective.

Thanks for the advice.

I recall the AF upgrade deal, but their PE fares seem to be considerably more expensive than VS ones. There's also the misfortune of having to fly on AF in the first place :p

Do you know how "possible" it is? I flew AF PE a couple times in the past fifteen months because I found the cash price to be reasonable compared to J. Wish I had known about this. Great use of miles.

On most routes, much more difficult -- AF is pretty stingy with releasing partner J space. There's a couple random oddballs that seem to be easier -- YYZ/IAH-CDG and JFK-ORY come to mind -- but on the whole finding VS business class upgrade/award space is way easier than finding AF space.

When I did it this past August on a MSP-CDG-MAN-BOS-MSP ticket I booked Premium Economy on AF on the outbound and VS on the return. I then called AF to request the upgrade. The phone line was clearly operated by Delta since the phone agent was able to handle the whole process and had access to my SkyMiles account. It was very quick and easy. Immediately after my call the upgraded itinerary was sent to my email and showed on delta.com, with the new seat assignment, which I had selected over the phone. The 20K SM were also immediately deducted from my account.

When I called VS to upgrade the MAN-BOS segment it was more challenging. First I called VS, where the agent said she couldn’t do it because she had no access to my SM account. So I called DL, where the agent said that VS only designated certain flights to have mileage upgrades and my flight didn’t have them. I was skeptical about that, suspecting that the agent just didn’t know how to do it and didn’t want to try. Sometime later I tried again (actually calling US Delta line from England on Skype voice service) with more success. This time I was able to get a mileage upgrade but it took much longer than the AF process, with the DL agent having to call VS and go back and forth on the phone between me and VS.