Can I upgrade a Virgin flight booked through Qatar Airways?

[IrishPete]

So Qatar have a good economy class fare from Sydney to Dublin, via Adelaide in both directions.

The flight between Sydney and Adelaide is Virgin of course.

What's the prospect of upgrading those legs to business class using Velocity points, to start and end the trip in comfort?

 

[IrishPete]

So Qatar have a good economy class fare from Sydney to Dublin, via Adelaide in both directions.

The flight between Sydney and Adelaide is Virgin of course.

What's the prospect of upgrading those legs to business class using Velocity points, to start and end the trip in comfort?

Virgin sell the same flights for a little more. If I booked them that way, could I upgrade the domestic legs using points?

I've looked into booking from Adelaide, with a view to buying business class tickets to and from Adelaide with points, but it's a lot more expensive.

 

[odysseus]

Virgin sell the same flights for a little more. If I booked them that way, could I upgrade the domestic legs using points?

I've looked into booking from Adelaide, with a view to buying business class tickets to and from Adelaide with points, but it's a lot more expensive.

As with most airlines, you can only upgrade flights with the airline selling and operating the flight. i.e. if you buy the Qatar ticket, you cannot upgrade the Virgin flight.

If you buy the Virgin ticket, you normally can bid, or use points, but haven't tried with a combination ticket with another airline e.g. Qatar.

Note that points upgrades can only be made if there is still reward availability for that sector left. If there aren't any rewards left, you can only join the waitlist, and will only likely find out if they're not sold up to the last minute. So you can check in advance whether there is any rewards left for the single sector flight before buying, unless you're happy to risk it.

 

[IrishPete]

As with most airlines, you can only upgrade flights with the airline selling and operating the flight. i.e. if you buy the Qatar ticket, you cannot upgrade the Virgin flight.

If you buy the Virgin ticket, you normally can bid, or use points, but haven't tried with a combination ticket with another airline e.g. Qatar.

Note that points upgrades can only be made if there is still reward availability for that sector left. If there aren't any rewards left, you can only join the waitlist, and will only likely find out if they're not sold up to the last minute. So you can check in advance whether there is any rewards left for the single sector flight before buying, unless you're happy to risk it.

Thanks. I thought upgrading a Virgin domestic economy flight would just be a case of using points to pay for it...