Using Virgin Miles Question

[skindogg]

Quick Question. I go to Orlando about a couple of times per year. Always Virgin Atlantic, always Economy. Only joined Flying Club to be able to get free seat selection 72 hours before departure and only buy cheap tickets so have no privileges at all but now have 50000 miles accumulated which should be enough for an economy flight there and back.

I've been looking on Virgin website to look to book a flight with my miles but every flight I try it is available for cash but not for miles. Is there any easy way to see available flights for miles or is it a matter of just keep trying? Anyone know the best way to see availability for miles flights?

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Hi. Do the normal search criteria. Which airport out and to where etc. Then tick the box that shows Miles flights. That automatically widens the search from 'exact dates' to '5 week search'
If nothing comes up there aren't any return flights.
You can try for 1 way Miles flights but of course you can no longer add on a cash flight as they stopped these Combi fares a while ago.
The problem is a straightforward 1 way cash ticket is normally more than a return!

Kepp searching and be flexible with dates is the key.

[Guest]

Tom is correct, flexibility is key. Can I suggest being even more flexible than Tom suggested?

Whilst there are reward tickets to MCO there are many many times more to New York, so you could be mega flexible and use the points for a city break instead... just a suggestion

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by Guest

Tom is correct, flexibility is key. Can I suggest being even more flexible than Tom suggested?

Whilst there are reward tickets to MCO there are many many times more to New York, so you could be mega flexible and use the points for a city break instead... just a suggestion

See more...

Good speech. Or be even more flexible and do an indirect and get a cheapie down to Orlando. Slightly higher risk than a through ticket if you are delayed though.

[Dinglebert]

There is the thought that its far better to use the miles to upgrade rather than attempting free economy flight. Certainly with BA the "free" flight to Miami for only £14 cheaper than the paying cash due to the different ticket its on and all the taxes and charges.

[Bozza]

Each to their own, but we never use miles for Economy seats, we use them for PE and Upper whether we buy those seats outright with miles or buy economy and upgrade.

A copy and paste of something I wrote on a similar thread yesterday:

- Be prepared to be flexible on dates - if you can move forward or back a day or two you may find availability.
- Be prepared to be flexible on location - flying into and/or out of Miami might help out. Don't worry about car rental - one way from Miami to Orlando or vice versa is easy and costs no more.
- Be prepared to mix and match miles and cash. There may be, say, 3 seats available for miles when you want 4. Pay for 3 with miles and the 4th with cash.
- Phone up! If you are always searching for 4 seats, you may not notice that there are 3 seats available, and you can pay for the other with cash as above. Let the Flying Club agents see what they can find for you.

Virgin Miles are one of our favouritest things. We haven't flown Economy for years, only travel in school Summer holidays and always use miles for some or all of our flight cost.

[Robsie71]

What does it cost in miles to upgrade from EC to PE? Do you have to be part of a specific seat code?

For school holidays do you book as soon as flights released?

[Bozza]

Originally Posted by Robsie71

For school holidays do you book as soon as flights released?

See more...

Last year I booked 4 * PE returns LGW -> MCO using miles on the 24th July to fly on the 2nd - 24th August.

I had a quick look the other day and there seemed to be pretty good availability for July into August this year to do the same, although we don't - we might go West Coast this year - we've not decided yet.