Frequent Flyer Schemes discussion

sturll

Can i just point anyone who is a Virgin Flying club member to the following site:

http://www.v-flyer.com/

Best place on the web for Virgin Atlantic.

_Andy_

David_Bicker wrote: »

Virgin N class tickets do earn 100% miles but only on some routes. Generally, bucket & spade routes sold on N class earn 50% miles but the same class out of LHR earns 100% - I know this as I travelled N from LHR recently.

Also beware of relying on using miles as an upgrade tool - I know with Virgin (and probably most airlines) you can only use miles to upgrade from, say, economy to premium economy if you bought a very expensive full fare economy ticket. If you know you are going to travel on a certain date then it will most often be cheaper to book a discounted premium economy ticket than a full fare economy ticket and upgrade with miles.

For the majority of routes an 'L' fare is upgradable, i.e. it doesn't have to be a full fare (Y) - 'L's are great value used with 30k each way for a 'G' upper class fare.

ali1972

I know it's not free, and that there were some general mentions about "buying" upgrades, but I was surprised that there was no specific mention in the article of the regular offer BA has to upgrade to business class from £59 when flying from Gatwick. I've taken advantage of this on a couple of occasions over the last year when doing European flights and indeed very nearly did it last week (but for the fact I was flying with a friend who didn't want to do it). Personally I'd do it every time I could for the lounge access and something pleasanter to eat on board than an over-refridgerated cheese sandwich...

nezbrun

ali1972 wrote: »

I know it's not free, and that there were some general mentions about "buying" upgrades, but I was surprised that there was no specific mention in the article of the regular offer BA has to upgrade to business class from £59 when flying from Gatwick. I've taken advantage of this on a couple of occasions over the last year when doing European flights and indeed very nearly did it last week (but for the fact I was flying with a friend who didn't want to do it). Personally I'd do it every time I could for the lounge access and something pleasanter to eat on board than an over-refridgerated cheese sandwich...

Yes, but that's _from_ £59 _each way_. As a rule of thumb, in my experience it's still cheaper to buy the CE ticket up front especially if you are staying over Saturday night and/or a week or so in advance. As an aside if you are BA Silver or above you can also book your seat at the time of purchasing the ticket. It's also easy to spot the on-the-day upgraders because they're often relegated to the less desirable CE seats on the right of the aircraft after the Silvers, Gold and online check ins have already taken the cream of the crop.

ali1972

nezbrun wrote: »

It's also easy to spot the on-the-day upgraders because they're often relegated to the less desirable CE seats on the right of the aircraft after the Silvers, Gold and online check ins have already taken the cream of the crop.

Every time I've done it there have only been about 4 of us in Business Class and I would say I have been on the left as often as I have been on the right - and me a mere blue card holder on-the-day upgrader, I should feel honoured! I do usually look at what business class would cost at the time of booking but it usually is a prohibitive price, making this the best option for my circumstances. I have never paid more than £59 for doing this and I think it's reasonable.

Personally I think the main benefit of upgrading on an European flight is use of the lounge. Beats standing in a interminable queue of grouchy people for Starbucks in Gatwick North Terminal on a Saturday... I don't normally bother upgrading on the way back into Gatwick.

I still think the knowledge that you can do this at Gatwick would sway some people to book Gatwick over Heathrow if they otherwise would choose either/or. It certainly sways my choice because I can decide on the day if I want to treat myself.

blindman

CazC wrote: »

Ref the BMI scheme -Yes, it is generous with the milage awarded but in my experience just about impossible to actually use the miles to buy a flight. I have tried searching muiltiple dates, to multiple locations on their website and couldn't find a single flight with air miles seats available. I gave up in the end, and the miles will just expire.
!

You need to read this post on Flyertalk. The third paragraph is where you should start. The ANA tool is your friend!

It is a bit of a black art getting award seats, but they are there. Never use the bmi IT web-site for this it is pants!

Also bmi destination miles never expire.

Tozer

THe other thing to think about is that BMI is part of Star Alliance. You can join any Star FF club and accrue points. They change from time to time. In 2002, I joined Aeroplan (Air Canada) and got to gold very quickly despite not flying Air Canada at all.

When I last looked, Lufthansa had a better (i.e. more generous tier and rewards) scheme than BMI.

johnedwards3005

My experience is exclusively with Virgin - over many years, particularly to South Africa, but I have also just returned with family from a USA holiday.
Having long ago ceased to earn miles by flying Upper Class on business (and quickly falling back from Gold to Red!), I have concentrated on maximising mileage 'earned' through putting all possible expenditure on VA's MBNA Amex Credit Card. At a fee of £135 pa, the black card offers double the mileage (quadruple on Virgin Atlantic/Holidays expenditure) - and can be justified as long as you spend enough and use the miles (otherwise take the fee-free white card)! Acceptance of Amex is MUCH better now than it used to be - generally only small local retailers and ultra-cheap web-traders refuse.
I've found that the best value can be had by redeeming the miles for the full price of Upper Class flights (with or without the limo service), whereas the 'cost' of using them for an upgrade is badly affected by the need to start with an expensive economy seat (although not always the full-price version). Every summer, there seems to be a 'sale' which offers economy (and now Premium Economy) redemptions on some routes at big discounts (50% to New York this year) - which makes much better value.
However, if you spend enough on the card, the 2 annual complimentary vouchers for upgrading economy return mileage redemptions to Premium Economy have (just!) proved very useful - especially when combined with the 'summer sale'. [You can also earn free companion tickets with the card - but again, you have to buy expensive ones first.]
As far as actually booking the reward flights you want goes, I've found that on popular routes such as Cape Town (especially for Upper Class) you need to do so just as soon as they go on offer - ie 11 months (to the day) in advance. If your travel plans aren't that far advanced, it is true that Virgin can add more seats to the reward availability nearer the time.
[If Virgin's route network doesn't fit your plans, you can use the miles in a more limited way with a group of 'partner' airlines, including BMI and Air New Zealand.]
So - without ever earning 'real miles', we manage to take much advantage of the benefits available just by concentrating our regular spending on one pair of cards - although you do need another for non-Amex situations.

LesD

Hi guys (and gals?).

There's a lot of knowledge here.

My wife and I have previously used United and accrued 30k and 60k miles. But they are likely to expire next year as we probably won't fly United before they do. We also use bmibaby and pick up a couple of Diamond Club miles every couple of months.

As they are both Star Alliance members, is there any way we can use these to keep the United account active?

Otherwise, what's the best way to protect the United miles?

blindman

LesD wrote: »

Hi guys (and gals?).

There's a lot of knowledge here.

My wife and I have previously used United and accrued 30k and 60k miles. But they are likely to expire next year as we probably won't fly United before they do. We also use bmibaby and pick up a couple of Diamond Club miles every couple of months.

As they are both Star Alliance members, is there any way we can use these to keep the United account active?

Otherwise, what's the best way to protect the United miles?

I would not think that is possible.

Possibly the (best) answer will be on the United Airlines thread at Flyertalk