Step by step instructions to upgrade?
 

I have searched this thread for instructions on upgrading to either MCS or F and have gotten conflicting or incomplete info. Some say to check in and upgrade from there, others say don't check in go change seats, etc. The only way I can find change seats is to view my itinerary and then the change seats sign shows up. But it won't let me change - it directs me to change my flight. I don't want to try that and mess up my reservation if I do something wrong.

Can someone help me with step by step instructions?

Thanks.

If you change seats at < 24 hours you can upgrade to MCS by selecting the seat, at < 6 hours you can upgrade to F by selecting the seat. Outside of 24 hours you need to change your flight and pay the fare difference.

Don't "check-in" until you're finished with upgrade attempts.
In other words, don't check-in until "this" is the seat you want.

You can upgrade into MC at 24hours, but you can't upgrade tp F until 6 hours.
This presents an issue for those with MC tickets hoping for F ...
1)... do I hold out trying to upgrade until the 6 hour window when I can try for the seat I really want
...or...
2)... do I upgrade to MCS at the 24 hour window so at least I'll get something. And try upgrading to F later.

For those choosing option #1 it's easy.
Wait until the 6 hour mark and check-in. Grab that "double upgrade" to F if it's available. Sit in MC if both F and MCS are full by now.

For those choosing option #2, it ain't so easy, but they may get the consolation prize of MCS
At the 24 hour mark, try the single upgrade MC->MCS. Don't check-in yet because this is not my final upgrade attempt.
At 6 hours, check-in. Grab the 2nd single upgrade MCS->F if it's available. If not available at least you got an MCS upgrade for your extra efforts.

Thanks
 

Thanks so much, falconred and steve64,

I followed your advice and successfully upgraded to MCS at 24 hours and then to first at 6 hours.

I've read everywhere about upgrading on VX but I have yet to find a pricing model. How much do upgrades cost?

They have a nice, new fee disclosure page on their website:

http://virginamerica.com/vx/fees

Upgrades cost depend on route and class of service.

To give an example I paid $69 to upgrade from MCS to First on DFW - SFO route.

I want to upgrade from MC to F.

Do I need to check in first to upgrade? or do I select the seats first and then check in. Never done this before.

Do I click on Check In or Change Flight first?

Thanks!

Have you read this thread yet ? It's a small one.

hey everyone,

i bought a ticket in MCS and want to try to go to F 6 hours before the flight.

so to be clear, i should click "check in", then click "change seat". i get the page that looks like an airplane with the different seats that are available.

if i click one of the available F seats, i get that popup that says "to move to first class, please process to change flight..." (since it's >6 hours before my flight)

so my strategy:

1) refresh this page with all of the airplane seats
2) click an F seat
3) if it says "to move to first class, please process to change flight..."...repeat steps 1 & 2
4) else if it lets be buy the seat, i'm in!

does that sound right? at 6 hours before the flight, i should hit step 4?

aw, i think i did this wrong. i sat here at 1:40am (7:40am flight) hitting refresh over and over again until 1:44am...but each time i tried to select that 1st class seat, it kept telling me that popup message to go change flight to re-purchase.

eventually at around 1:44, both empty seats in F were taken.

so i gave up...went to check out, and click the link that says "when all seats have been assigned, click here to go on" and then on that page, there's a box that says that 1st class upgrades are not available. i'm guessing that i should have been refreshing this page?

anyway, i don't know. maybe i'll try again next time. maybe not. this is too confusing...

I also used the refresh page function when VX's on line upgrade system worked, but my last attempts on line were useless. I've only been able to upgrade by calling in. Has anyone else been able to recently upgrade on line?

Rock72, sorry to see you get frustrated like this. Best I can tell the online upgrades have not worked since the new system was installed in November. It looks like your best bet is to call in at 24 hours (MCS) or 6 hours (F) before your flight.

It's really hard to believe that an IT system upgrade could go this badly and not be fixed over three months later.

actually, i did try to call in also but at slightly over 6 hours before the flight (1:40am) i just got a recording that said that the customer service reps will be available starting 3:30am so nobody was available.

is there another way to get through to a live person at that hour?

i tried to upgrade coming back also but that was odd. on the page where you select seats, it showed all 8 FC seats available but when i would click one, it told me to change flight. when i went to continue, it said that no seats were available to upgrade (this was slightly less than 6 hours before the flight). this was at 2pm yesterday (8pm yesterday flight out of JFK-LAX).

when i went to the page to try to buy a ticket, it said no seats available in FC so i'm guessing that 8 empty seats was just a mistake.

good news, even though i was in the main cabin coming back i was sitting by a windows.

bad news, the guy sitting next to me smelled like sour sweat + body odor. guy sitting behind him (so middle seat in row behind me) was watching tv and would laugh hysterically every 5-10 seconds. earlier in the flight, that same guy fell asleep for about an hour but snored loudly like a fat pig. at that point, i was hoping he would just wake up...so i guess i got what i wished for but the laughing was louder and more annoying than the snoring. at least i wasn't sitting next to him.

and people ask why i hate economy class...

btw, this was my first time flying virgin america and despite my last post, i liked it! i usually fly jetblue or aa to new york and i fly southwest for local flights but i think i'll go virgin for future new york trips.

my biggest grips is that their IT staff doesn't seem all that great. the website doesn't really work all the time. for example, trying to add my elevate number to my ticket was a futile task. silly me tried to do it via different ways at least 10 different times only to fail.

upgrades via website doesn't seem to work really sucks too.

long wait times on the phone...not an IT issue directly but indirectly it is...because if the website worked well, less people would call in.

anyway, i liked the ambience of the airplane, the menu system to order drinks, etc.

i flew main cabin select going to new york but all i did was work the entire flight. i didn't even realize that movies and some foods were free. i thought the whole plane had the same thing. i realized coming home in the main cabin that i had some decent perks in MCS that i should have taken advantage of. if i ever get upgrade to first, i'll be eating lots of free food and watching lots of movies...

Online upgrade system working?
 

Has anybody able to upgrade online successfully -24T and -6T lately? I have a trip coming up next month and calling to CS is not an option at 1:40 am (7:40 am flight). Any input is much appreciated.

I had a phone rep tell me yesterday that it clearly still doesn't work. I tried last week and again yesterday, just error error error, and it hit the credit card each time without ACTUALLY putting the upgrade to MCS through. I'd just call in and do it that way if you can.

That sucks! That means I actually need to stay up all night until 3:30 am to call when the call center is opened and try to see if I can upgrade. Hopefully it can be fixed soon.

I have been able to upgrade from MCS to F at -6T twice in the last week, via online check-in (but not via seat change, as used to be possible).

Can you clarify?

Meaning it was offered to you during on line check in or some other webpage?

Thanks

Yes, exactly. During online check-in at virginamerica.com it offered me the upgrade.

Upgrade from MC to MCS. Tried the 'old' method several times. Nothing worked. Decided to attempt a check-in and see if that helped. Yep.

At ONLINE check-in w/24 hours, i was offered 'upgrade to MCS' with a radio button for $129. Adjacent was a 'apply upgrade' button. Hit that button for the fee to go into your 'cart.' Pick a MCS seat.

This process appears to apply to MCS to F since there is a window that states F upgrade is available w/n 6hrs flight.

Does the change my seat button only show up 24 hours in advance when the check in window opens? Ive looked at my itinerary in my email and my elevate account and neither one of them have a "change my seat" button. Thanks

W/n 24 hours you will see the upgrade inquiry, if available, when you check in.

When upgrading a group, do you have to upgrade one passenger at a time?
 

I am new to Virgin America. I have an upcoming trip with my family of four. I want to try to upgrade to F at < 6h. My question is do I need to upgrade 1 person at a time? Because if that is true, then even if there are 4 seats available in F, they could be gone when I am still in the middle of upgrading, so I would end up with half of my family in MC, and half in F.

The last time I used Virgin America website, it was still a mess. A lot of functions don't work. But calling usually means a long hold time. For those passengers to successfully upgraded, did you do it online, or did you call?

When you upgrade your reservation on VX, everyone in the party is upgraded as well. As long as there are seats available, you're IN...

Hi all,

I am new to VX, but am looking at a trip to the US in July and have the following segments:

LAX-SFO
SFO-NYC
NYC-FLL/MIA
FLL/MIA-LAX

I want to use VX wherever I can (probably Delta or JetBlue on the east coast segment) and am looking to take advantage of upgrades. I have read through the previous posts and appreciate it's unlikely that we will get any F upgrades as our flights will be either early morning or straight after trans-Pacific flight (so the 6hr window doesn't really work).

I take it there are no instant upgrades to F but I am looking to purchase instant upgrades to MCS. Will that potentially allow upgrades from MCS to F if available, or would I be going from MC to F?

Many thanks in advance.

Yes, you can upgrade from MCS to F, if available. It is not considered MC to F. I don't believe the upgrade to F is worthwhile on LAX-SFO, since it is a short flight and will not have meal service.

OK, I'm going coast to coast with a family of 4. If I want to go from MC to MCS it shows a fee of $129/seat plus a change fee of $75. To go from MCS to F it is $169/seat, and from MC to F it is $299/seat.

My question is, does this procedure (MC to MCS @ 24h then MCS fo F @ 6h) sidestep those fees? I'm not especially equipped to drop $1K+ for this upgrade currently.

There will only be an upgrade fee, not a change fee.

Just wanted to check whether this strategy is the best for upgrading from MCS to first on my upcoming SFO-JFK VX22 leaving at 9:15am... Online check-in at 3:15am and hope it asks to upgrade to first, check the box, pay the fee and confirm upgrade. I don't have a printer with me but assume that VX can just print boarding passes for us when checking luggage. Or is it better to just call Virgin America?

By the way, ended up just buying first on LAX-SFO given it was so cheap. Got through customs relatively quickly and successfully moved to earlier flight. Really liked the Virgin America service and got 2 glasses of sparkling and cheese and crackers. The leg room is huge!! Now really hoping upgrade comes through.