Booking Complimentary Fare Upgrades for Platinum Velocity members

[muppet]

I'm on DJ347 in a couple of weeks, using 2 complimentary upgrades. In EF I can see the below availability:

View attachment 5782

Business fare buckets listed as being available are J6 / I7 / D7 / C7, so some of those numbers actually exceed the number of J seats available (as I have 2 out of the 8 seats booked, so theoretically there should only be 6 seats max left, as J indicates). I'm not convinced that DJ use these as Business fare buckets though (Even though that's what EF say they are) - there are some other flights I've looked where J availability is 0, but C/D/I still have 4-7 seats available. Additionally, when I look for Fares on DJ, on a random selection of dates, only two fares for J ever show up, and none for I, D or C, even though those fare buckets are available on the flight. Just wondering if any of these buckets are potentially used for the Award seats and/or complimentary upgrades? Or maybe I'm reading into it too much...

View attachment 5781

Interestingly, it also shows P7 (First) in the availability - assuming this might be for codeshares with airlines that have F (Delta, Etihad, Singapore etc)?

Business rewards have booked into H.
C D I book into Economy from my experience and others on other threads.

 

[medhead]

I'm on DJ347 in a couple of weeks, using 2 complimentary upgrades. In EF I can see the below availability:

View attachment 5782

Business fare buckets listed as being available are J6 / I7 / D7 / C7, so some of those numbers actually exceed the number of J seats available (as I have 2 out of the 8 seats booked, so theoretically there should only be 6 seats max left, as J indicates). I'm not convinced that DJ use these as Business fare buckets though (Even though that's what EF say they are) - there are some other flights I've looked where J availability is 0, but C/D/I still have 4-7 seats available. Additionally, when I look for Fares on DJ, on a random selection of dates, only two fares for J ever show up, and none for I, D or C, even though those fare buckets are available on the flight. Just wondering if any of these buckets are potentially used for the Award seats and/or complimentary upgrades? Or maybe I'm reading into it too much...

View attachment 5781

Interestingly, it also shows P7 (First) in the availability - assuming this might be for codeshares with airlines that have F (Delta, Etihad, Singapore etc)?

Looking at the second screen shot, and the column headed "Cabin" I would suggest that J is business. Looking at the first screen shot I would say W is the award bucket, and I believe this has been mentioned. I highly doubt that P has anything to do with first class, only because I have had numerous F fare classes on Saver fares.

 

[pshepvic]

Looking at the second screen shot, and the column headed "Cabin" I would suggest that J is business. Looking at the first screen shot I would say W is the award bucket, and I believe this has been mentioned. I highly doubt that P has anything to do with first class, only because I have had numerous F fare classes on Saver fares.

Ah yes, I remember that I've had F fares in Saver before as well.

I think EF must assume that the codes mean the same on all airlines, which they don't. They must work off the "standard" that F/P is First, J/C/D/I is Business etc, or something like that, rather than track all the individual codes for every airline. They only track Upgrade classes for about 30 or so I think, which DJ is not one of.

I think I recall someone mentioning W class before as well, but couldn't find the original post. If W is the upgrade class, and I think you might be right that it is, it looks like at this point in time they have all J seats on all flights available as upgrades.

I've checked quite a few different random dates, and every single time the W allocation is exactly the same as J on every flight, except on connecting flights (which could be explained based on needing to use 2 upgrades as each flight is considered a segment).

Here's an example of a random date, random flights (just looking at J & W classes):



If indeed all seats are currently available for upgrades, then it's a good thing, however I guess it now gives Virgin the flexibility to reduce the number of upgrades available on particular flights, if they prove to have a high-demand for paid J seats.

 

[pshepvic]

Business rewards have booked into H.
C D I book into Economy from my experience and others on other threads.

That would explain why no fares show for C/D/I, yet there is still availability on flights. I've also found that H invariably shows as a lower number of available seats than J, and whenever J is 0, H is also 0. That supports the statement that Business Awards book into H.

Summary therefore is:

W = Business Upgrade Seat, (currently) equal to the total number of available seats in J on all flights
H = Business Award Seat, less than the total number of available seats in J
C / D / I = Economy Award Seat

 

[LiamR]

Interestingly, it also shows P7 (First) in the availability - assuming this might be for codeshares with airlines that have F (Delta, Etihad, Singapore etc)?

Isn't F just a regular Economy fare class on Virgin? I get boarding passes on Saver Fares all the time with "Fare F" written in small letters under my BP.

 

[ozmille]

Isn't F just a regular Economy fare class on Virgin? I get boarding passes on Saver Fares all the time with "Fare F" written in small letters under my BP.

from what I remember F are the web only fares

 

[pshepvic]

Isn't F just a regular Economy fare class on Virgin? I get boarding passes on Saver Fares all the time with "Fare F" written in small letters under my BP.

Yep eventually remembered that a couple of posts back after some prompting!


Sent from my iPhone using AustFreqFly app

 

[medhead]

I think I recall someone mentioning W class before as well, but couldn't find the original post. If W is the upgrade class, and I think you might be right that it is, it looks like at this point in time they have all J seats on all flights available as upgrades.

I was also probably going off your example where you had 2 seats and it was J6 and W6

 

[notzac]

For clarity, here are the revenue fare classes that apply to DJ:

"Tactical" Saver (VA website only, generally sale or happy hour fares): F
Saver: R, X, U, A, T, S
Flexi: Y, N, B, M
Premium Economy (when sold): W
Business (when sold): J

Award and upgrade fares I have no idea about.

 

[Bolthead]

I also got a very quick response for SYD - ADL upgrade. Booked original flight on the 23rd Jan, requested upgrade and got it on the 30th Jan for a flight leaving on the 18th Feb. I can't complain about that.

 

[muppet]

Sadly, I can confirm that WOAG flexi fares are ineligible for the complimentary platinum upgrade. This is a bit of a bummer as much of my personal travel is quite short yet I regularly go west/north for work.

I forgot to ask, but I presume this is the same for points upgrades on gov fares?

m

 

[serfty]

...

Summary therefore is:

W = Business Upgrade Seat, (currently) equal to the total number of available seats in J on all flights
H = Business Award Seat, less than the total number of available seats in J
C / D / I = Economy Award Seat

Ok, so can any confirm that W is indeed the booking class are we looking for now.

A flight I am interested in is showing J6 W6 O4 H0. Since H is C&P or award Business that option is not available.

 

[pshepvic]

Ok, so can any confirm that W is indeed the booking class are we looking for now.

A flight I am interested in is showing J6 W6 O4 H0. Since H is C&P or award Business that option is not available.

I did a couple of upgrades over the last two of weeks, and it appears W is not the award or upgrade class, so my post above is completely wrong! I upgraded once using Points, and again using an Upgrade Credit, and in both cases the boarding pass indicated the fare booked was Q ... unfortunately Q does not show up on expert flyer, so it may not be possible to find out availability that way!

I think that W is actually Premium Economy, and it always shows the same as J due to the overlap between Business and PE during refit. I don't know if W fares are actually available anymore for sale though, seeing everything is J now.

I also think this now indicates that the availability for upgrades on credits is exactly the same as for points - so that means the greater the distance, then it would be better to use the Platinum Upgrades rather than points, and vice versa for shorter flights.

It does pose another question though ... what is H class?

EDIT: Having a blond moment ... H class is still an Award seat (visible in EF), whereas Q is upgrade via points or upgrade credit (not visible in EF).

 

[mickeyc747]

It does pose another question though ... what is H class?

EDIT: Having a blond moment ... H class is still an Award seat (visible in EF), whereas Q is upgrade via points or upgrade credit (not visible in EF).[/QUOTE]
Dont forget if you are using comp upgrades there only needs to be a premium seat available, there does not need to be a J reward seat available like when you are using points to upgrade.

 

[pshepvic]

Dont forget if you are using comp upgrades there only needs to be a premium seat available, there does not need to be a J reward seat available like when you are using points to upgrade.

That was the policy originally, but it has changed. There is a post somewhere above that shows the new T&C's which indicate there must be an available upgrade seat, not just any J seat.

 

[pshepvic]

Here is the post (#61) with the change to T&Cs:

Well it seems they have, and below is the result (my bolding). T&Cs now different from those quoted in the OP and pretty clear on this (and it is not the outcome most or all of us would have liked):

Complimentary Fare Upgrades

13.14 In each Total Benefit Period, Platinum Members are entitled to redeem a Complimentary Fare Upgrade from a Flexi Fare to a Premium Economy Class or Business Class fare on four Virgin Australia domestic Sectors (Complimentary Fare Upgrade).

13.15 Complimentary Fare Upgrades can be redeemed by calling the Velocity Frequent Flyer Membership Contact Centre, either at the time of booking or to upgrade an existing booking. Complimentary Fare Upgrade requests may be made anytime up to 24 hours prior to the departure of the nominated flight.

13.16 Complimentary Fare Upgrades will expire if not redeemed (by making a booking in accordance with clause 13.15) before your next Review Date. The travel dates for Complimentary Fare Upgrade flights are not required to be within the current Total Benefit Period.

13.17 Platinum Members may choose to redeem a Complimentary Fare Upgrades for a guest who is travelling with them.

13.18 Complimentary Fare Upgrades are subject to the availability of seats assigned for upgrades by Virgin Australia. Some flights may have no upgrades available.

13.19 Platinum Members will earn Status Credits and Points for Complimentary Fare Upgrade flights based on the original fare class booked.

I take it from previous posts that W is the applicable fare bucket to upgrade to business?

This would align with the Upgrades on Points or using Credits being both in Q class, and therefore the same availability.

 

[mickeyc747]

That was the policy originally, but it has changed. There is a post somewhere above that shows the new T&C's which indicate there must be an available upgrade seat, not just any J seat.

Thanks for that I used mine under the old rules and would still argue that as the website at Platinum Membership | Velocity Frequent Flyer

Still says subject to a Premium Seat available.

I agree the terms and conditions have changed just reading them but most people would look at the link above.

Thanks for the update

 

[pshepvic]

Interestingly it also says for Points Upgrades that is is subject to the availability of a "Premium Reward Seat" which is not technically correct either, as Reward seat inventory is a different fare bucket to Upgrade Awards. Unless those two fare buckets overlap (ie. the same availability exists for either H or Q seats - that would be an issue though for peak reward times as it would significantly reduce the upgrade options).

The other day in the lounge I did also hear mention that ODUs on Points or Upgrade Credits may be available from the lounge in the next few months.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

The other day in the lounge I did also hear mention that ODUs on Points or Upgrade Credits may be available from the lounge in the next few months.

I like that idea.

 

[serfty]

So I guess it's a case of ringing and asking before booking?
Posted on a wing & a prayer