Upgrade at Airport: Virgin Atlantic
 

Don't kill me, I'm new!!

I recently booked a holiday with a travel agent to NYC in the coming summer.

As part of the booking I'd be flying with VS in Economy from LHR to JFK in the "O" fare bucket.

Unfortunately I wasn't offered any option other than Economy with the agent and was advised that I'd have to deal with Virgin for an upgrade as opposed to them.

When approaching Virgin, I was told that I'd have to arrange an upgrade on the day at the airport as opposed to online.

I just wanted to know if anyone on FT would know typically how much an upgrade would generally cost at the airport and whether this is all that likely.

I am not sure how much they would charge you at the airport. I called VA to discuss upgrades on my upcoming flight from LAX-JNB and they said that sometimes the gate agents will offer the upgrades. But I dont know what the chances of that are to be honest.

However, I did log into my booking and saw the option to upgrade to Upper Class for $3200 and I quickly acted on it knowing that this was extremely limited since most of the time they were offering the upgrade for $2742 EACH WAY (not $3200 RT that I got).

There's the option to bid for the seats too but that's based on a sliding scale and not a blank form where you can type in your desired amount to pay. The lowest I saw on the scale was at least $1200. Given that I have four 11 hour flights (LAX-LHR; LHR-JNB and return), $1200x4 = $4800 which is way more than I paid for my single upgrade when I checked my booking.

HTH

In the past I have been quoted £200 (or equivalent) for Economy -> Premium at the airport and £750 for Premium -> Upper (and presumably the sum of that for Economy -> Upper). That's for LHR-JFK
I believe that airport prices tend to be fixed rather than based on your original purchase price, though I've heard wiggle room is there.. :)

Flying VS for the first time from the US to LHR. Booked in economy and wondering if VS ever sells upgrades to premium economy from the US at check-in or at the airport? And if so, what people have paid.

Thanks in advance.

They do based on availability. If premium is full, its unlikely.

If its a west coast route, i'd expect $400-$600 for Y to W. If it is east coast, i'd expect half that.

It all varies a lot to be honest. I have had some very good offers and some very bad ones. Theres no exact science to it really - at least not outside VS revenue management. I am usually trying to do W > J but the same principle applies.

Good luck.

Paid Upgrade JFK-LHR?
 

Going to Europe next week. Flying on VS 10 on Wednesday from JFK. I booked a cheap ticket through Priceline. Will I be given the option, online, to upgrade for a fee, and if not online, when I get to JFK?
What is usually the cost for something like this?
Thank you!

You won't be able to upgrade online as VS won't have any control over the ticket. Once you can check-in online, control will pass to Virgin, so any upgrades will have to be done at the airport.

I assume you are upgrading from Economy? In the past I have been quoted £200 (or the equivalent USD amount) to go up to Premium, and £750 to go from Premium to Upper. Then again others have reported much better/worse prices so yours may vary.

It will all depend on availability on the day of course, PE and Upper are popular on the JFK routes.

:)

Two recent threads on same subject merged.

Nick

At JFK,was offered upgrade for 1200 USD, I took it.
Sitting in Clubhouse waiting for flight.

Was offered 819 gbp from premium economy to upper class today flight lhr to jnb. Was last seat available.

offered in both directions - IAD-LHR @ $237 and LHR-IAD @ $330.... .

I flew LHR-SEA and back last month. At the airport I asked about upgrades from Y to PE, and they said it would be £250 to PE, or £1000 to UC. I decided to take the PE upgrade, so the check in age t sent me off to a 🎫 desk to complete the transaction. Once I arrived there, the ticketing agent said "oh, actually I can do £750 to UC."

On the way back, at the check in desk they said it was too late to upgrade to PE as they hadn't loaded enough meals, but that I could upgrade to UC for $850.

Hello, I am flying later this week MIA-LHR in Premium Economy in a Virgin Atlantic flight. I am interested in upgrading to UC and the flight is currently J9, does anyone know what the upgrade charge is normally on this route for this upgrade?

There isn't a fixed amount AFAIK, it varies depending on the seats available. For a flight of that length, I would expect around £650 one way from Premium to Upper. Anything cheaper would be a good deal. £750 and above, I would view as a bad deal.

If VS offer cash upgrades on the day, they will almost always take miles as well, so if you have miles to burn and your Premium ticket is in bucket H, S or W then i'd opt for miles instead.

Good luck.

Thanks for the quick response. I actually used Delta miles for this ticket, and it is booked in P fare under the Delta PNR. I can't seem to locate the fare code when I look up the PNR under Virgin's website. Would I be able to use Delta miles for this upgrade?