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Hi,
I am looking to book LHR-CPT for March. I am still a beginner in the points game so need a little bit of advice for my VA redemption.
I know it’s usually not recommended to redeem long haul flights for economy to get the most value from your points but cash prices are going for circa £900. For reward flights, it’s 25K + £300. My question is, isn’t that considered great value for your points? It’s also way better than BA redemptions. Even though, I would like to redeem for premium or upper class but there is no availability for the inbound flight.
Also, I am on the way to earn the voucher from the VA credit card, would it be possible to use it after booking my flight if there is availability? And can you use half your voucher on one leg in that case? I can book premium for outbound, upgrade it to upper class with the voucher and the return leg would be economy?
Any insights from someone who has flown this route would be appreciated.
I’ve did this flight twice years ago with Virgi n points and agree, it’s a great use! When people say don’t redeem for economy mainly talking about Europe or USA where flights are cheaper and/or about BA which isn’t quite such a good deal. But this is absolutely a sweet spot (SA flights in general are as they’re relatively expensive in all cabins)
“Great value” depends on your view. If we take a cash price of £900 and suggest that you’re redeeming at approximately 1p per point, then you’re effectively saving £350 over the cash price. That’s an incentive, in my eyes.
Re: voucher. Yes, you can use it after booking to upgrade, subject to P or G availability. To get to G from Economy, you need to not be in Economy Light and must have P availability first – you can’t skip straight to G. You will pay taxes on both Y to P then P to G. You can use half a voucher. The remainder stays on file for use by the original expiry date.
Does anyone know why it appears that there is availability on upper class one way for a specific date but if I search for round trip the same leg doesn’t show availability for upper class? Is there any impact if I book each leg separately instead of round trip?
Does anyone know why it appears that there is availability on upper class one way for a specific date but if I search for round trip the same leg doesn’t show availability for upper class? Is there any impact if I book each leg separately instead of round trip?
They are likely selling it as a married segment, which is essentially a gamble on their part that they can sell that Upper seat as a return to someone and would prefer that business to your one-way business. Quite common to do so. OMAAT has a write-up: https://onemileatatime.com/guides/airline-married-segment/.
No particular problem in booking two one-way flights.
My question is, isn’t that considered great value for your points?
If, and only if, you would have paid the £ 900 then yes, it’s a good return on your points — over 2p each. If it makes an otherwise impossible trip affordable, even better.
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