Booking reward flights
 

Hi,

I have 85k miles but will need 95k to book my 2 x economy reward flights (LGW>UVF>LGW) for May 2013. They are now available but I am not sure if I should:

a) Book 1 now and 1 later (then if availability goes i still have 1 flight booked with my miles)
b) Wait a couple of months and book both reward seats early sept
c) Buy the 10k miles I need just to be safe...

I will get the miles by sept/oct through my VA credit card but I have been saving miles for 2 years and really don't want to miss out on the limited seats available...

Not sure how soon these reward flights disappear...

Any thoughts?

Floppy.

Have you thought about other ways of getting the miles?

I got 5000 for starting a isa with virgin money. Do you use Tesco clubcard vouchers for miles? Or do your shopping via shops away.

Given that you will need to pay £££ for the VS fuel surcharge, airport fees and APD your miles won't actually get you that much value in terms of a 'free flight'

Factor in the £ you would pay out to buy the 10k miles you say you need and to me the economics of your plans may look even more shakey.

Do some dummy bookings - cash ticket and spend miles to see how much the difference in costs is.

TBH miles redemptions for Economy really is not that good a value for the miles you have to pay over.

If you are intending to redeem your miles for economy seats, you might want to consider buying the extra and booking in the next week because there is a reward seat sale on where Premium Economy seats can be redeemed for the same number of miles as an Economy seat. At least this way you get a little more for your miles, even if you do have to purchase 10,000 or so to get the 95,000!

From the dummy bookings I have always looked at. Miles and Money seats appear to be the best value for economy/premium economy especially if your not worried about status or earning extra miles.

You could also look at transferring your miles to a hotel provider like Holiday Inn. They do discounted rooms per night for 15k worth of points and some cash which I think is 1 for 1 with Virgin Miles.

As a previous posted has mentioned, you need to do some dummy bookings and see what's the best option is for you.