I tried searching but couldn't find any mention...went to upgrade from Coach to First today LAX-BOS within the 24 hour window before the flight, and discovered the charge is $270, not $250 as it used to be. MCS is $110 vs. $100 formerly. Does anyone know if this price increase was announced? If not, thought others might want to be aware...

Interesting. I don't think a press release was released. However, all the upgrade prices in the FAQ section have been adjusted.

That's interesting. Last night I upgraded from Coach to Main Cabin Select for $100 on VX 114 LAX-IAD. I guess that price ended on 2/28 and is now $10 higher as of 3/1.

Second price increase on shorthauls in a fairly short time: F went from 50 to 60 to 70, MCS from 25 to 30 to 35. Midhauls went up this time as well.

Guess VX is quite serious about making a profit. The F seems to be pretty well full when I fly SEA-LAX and SEA-SFO.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr..... It was an exceptional value at $50, decent at $60, but $70 approaches that psychological barrier for me. But hey, if VX is filling premium seats at higher prices, more power to them. OTOH, all the various fees they keep increasing could also be an ominous sign given their steadily dwindling cash on hand each quarter.

Yeah, well, their cash on hand is sure to go way up this quarter, with the new infusion.

Dang it Haven't experienced the price increase myself yet. It's a pity as I had switched most of my SFO-SNA-SFO trips to Virgin in 2009 BECAUSE of their $50 upgrades. At $70 it's not great value anymore. Sounds like for 2010 I'm going to switch back to UA for my short trips and take my chances with UA's upcoming unlimited domestic upgrades on 1K status

I can tell you that the 5:55pm flight SEA-SFO today filled up in F at T-24 hours, and there were a lot of empty seats before that. So the increase from $50-$70 over the past few months seems to have been a good idea.

Interesting to know! Sounds like travelers are catching on the T-24 checkin upgrades. SFO-SEA is a longer flight so I could justify $70 out of my pocket for a comfy seat if I were to book Virgin. To me SFO-SNA does not deserve $70. Personally I usually book UA for my trips to PDX and SEA for the e-500 upgrades that clear 90% of the time without the need to check in at T-24.

But isn't UA SFO-SEA all commuter service now? I would assume SFO-PDX too?

SFO-SEA is usually mainline save for one or two flights a day. SFO-PDX is also mostly mainline. (Equipment on both routes can fluctuate based on day and season.) At least UA's (well, Skywest's) CRJ-700s have Economy Plus and First. Having said that, I'd definitely take VX Main Cabin over CRJ Economy Plus, and possibly even over First, all things being equal.

But as lainys pointed out, things aren't all equal when UA 1Ks can often rely on free upgrades (or pre-boarding, Economy Plus, and drink chits for when upgrades don't clear). OTOH, as we know, sustained loyalty to VX would yield no perks whatsoever. I'm afraid I'll be keeping the lion's share of my business with UA (mostly mainline) until VX evolves its upgrade program beyond just increasing the price of cash upgrades every few months.

Could someone explain this paid upgrade policy to me?

If I book one way main cabin fll-lax , what would an upgrade to first cost me?

Around $300 ? when and how long prior to the flight could I do this?
It's subject to availability,so theres a risk of no seat in first?
Theres a Whopping $850 difference between economy and first on that route for the date I want.

Are you given a price for main cabin select aswell?

Thanks

Please check out the faq at the top of this forum (which I just updated).

Essentially, yes it is around $300, 6 hours in advance, subject to availability (so you'd better be awake and quick on the mouse). And yes, there is a price for MCS (also in the FAQ).