Jimmie Jones

Hi all first time poster
Flying from LHR to LAX AT 0920 on Sept 5th

I purchased an economy light ticket and pre booked exit row seat in advance but i'm toying with the idea of upgrading to UC
I used the 'manage my booking' option to go on the bid to upgrade section but it says currently unavailable for this flight.
Is this because upgrades aren't available for economy light customers or because UC is sold out?
Also would upgrading on the day at the airport be an option paying cash and if so what would it likely cost one way to LAX?
Thanks
JJ

CommanderB

I do not fly Economy Light at all, so may well be wrong here, but I was under the impression that it was not upgradable. Although that's probably only with miles, as confirmed by this document.

Traditionally, on the day cash upgrades are an entirely different story. Upgrading with cash from non-upgradable PE is allowed, so I would assume that it is also the case with Economy Light.

I suspect manage booking isn't showing it for one of the following reasons:

• Fare basis does not allow it
• No seats available in Upper
• VS not willing to allow upgrades on that flight for revenue management reasons (tied in with previous reason and could change, so keep checking)

If you want to know what price it is today, which likely involves a re-ticket, then feel free to contact VS. However, that will likely be expensive. If you take the airport option and there is an upgrade available (which there is no guarantee of) then I would expect a cost of around £1200 from Economy to Upper, one way on that route - if not more.

Jimmie Jones

Thanks Commander B
I suspected it may be because of the ticket I hold that bid to upgrade isn't an option.
I guess I will likely have to ask on the day and hope for a good deal
Thanks for the extra info
Cheers
JJ

ijgordon

Does VS even allow 2-class upgrades? (Whether for miles, bidding in advance, or day-of-departure). Or would an economy ticket limit one to upgrading to Premium Economy at the most?

CommanderB

Welcome

AFAIK they do allow two class. I have done Economy Delight and had offers in the App and Manage Booking to do bids as well as straight upgrades. This only happens when booking direct though.

Jimmie Jones

I have booked directly through VA website but not allowing me to bid to upgrade. Just states bid to upgrade not currently available please keep checking at Manage your booking or ask at the airport on the day.

craigthemif

You can upgrade Y to J using miles. It costs a lot of miles / taxes / surcharges and I'd have to dig out the allowed fare classes in Economy. But it can be done...

Jimmie Jones

Hi Craig
Thanks for the info but I would be upgrading paying cash as I have no miles
JJ

catlike

VS allows multiple class upgrades with miles

Theirin

If miles turns out to be the only option you can always look at the cost of buying miles to use for upgrades, but it's unlikely to be a fantastic deal.

CommanderB

I'm pretty certain that Economy Light cannot be upgraded. Classic and Delight can be though. In fact Delight to Premium is a brilliant choice because you benefit from the same 50 TP's as low premium tickets, but get more miles (150% VS 100%).

craigthemif

You may well be right.

It does become exhausting to constantly double-check because so many airlines use the same fare bucket codes for "light", "HBO", "basic" etc. that they do for classic fares.

CommanderB

I agree. It's somewhat of a nightmare and unless you know way too much information, the agents can pull the wool over your eyes as well. The document I linked to in post 2 has become a go to for dealing with anything Economy related on VS. Needless to say, when you start getting technical with a Gold line agent, they're somewhat surprised that people know how this all works better than they do.

rsqrott

This is something that baffles me. Why would I pay a higher fare to fly Premium Economy when I get the same number of tier points and more miles when flying Economy Delight? (and before someone asks why I would pay a higher fare for Economy Delight when it's still just Economy I'll refer you back to the miles and tier points )

Theirin

Premium is actually a bigger end better seat. Wider, more leg room, more recline, better food and service and a smaller cabin. Economy Delight is just a better positioned seat in Economy.