Upgrading travel agent booking?

[points_worrier]

Can’t get through to Virgin so wanted to check if it was worthwhile. Can I upgrade a travel agent economy booking to upper class using miles? Is it just a matter of checking there is award availability? Thanks

[PaulB]

You would need both Upper class availability (check online, in a dummy booking, if there’s availability to book in Upper with miles) _and_ for your current economy ticket to be booked into an ‘upgradeable’ fare code. Typically that means it can’t be the cheapest economy tickets. If you can find your booking class e.g. on a booking confirmation email then check it against this list: https://v-flyer.com/toolbox_fare_codes.php (M,L,R,B,Y is what you want).

[MacSyms]

Slightly related question… Do the Upgrade Vouchers also work on VS-operated flights booked via the KLM website?
I checked the following pre-requisites:
– The original booking classes are S (Premium Eco) and R (Economy) which seem eligible fares for upgrade;
– The Virgin Atlantic website shows Rewards seats availability for the targeted cabins on the the corresponding flights (Upper Class and Premium Eco respectively).
The only question is because my booking shows KL#### flight numbers (both operated by VS) and not VS#### flight numbers… Is it still possible to use the Upgrade Vouchers in this case? Thanks!

[MacSyms]

I should also mention the ticket number starts with 074 (KLM) of course…

[AL]

My experience of using vouchers and upgrading pretty much every VS flight I’ve ever been on has been that it works best when you’re on VS flight numbers on 092 ticket stock. Anything else, including DL stock, is always a hassle, and usually fails to work.