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Virgin America upgrade tips, Las Vegas-San Francisco

Virgin America Seat 1A I just took a Virgin America Las Vegas (LAS) to San Francisco (SFO) flight and got a free upgrade to first class. As you know they Virgin America just started flying this route on October 11, 2007. I had already sampled their first class seats so I chose 5C, as close to the front as possible.

The plane was surprisingly empty even though Virgin is only making 3 trips a day between Las Vegas and San Francisco. I had barely got myself adjusted in the seat when the flight attendance approached me and asked if I wanted to move up to first class. All 8 first class seats were empty and quickly filled with passengers that were already sitting closest to the front of the plane.

Want an upgrade? It turns out that the woman sitting next to me in first class had noticed that all the seats were empty and asked if she could move up. Once she did and the flight attendant was happy to oblige, she filled the rest. So, from my experience, there were three things that helped with the upgrade.

1. Flying on a near empty run – midweek morning.
2. Noticing if the first class seats are empty and asking if you can move.
3. Having a seat as close to the front as possible so you can join in if others are offered before you.

Contact: Virgin America, (877) 359-8474

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 12:50 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under Business Travel, Frequent Flier, Las Vegas, San Francisco. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

2 Comments on “Virgin America upgrade tips, Las Vegas-San Francisco”

Mila Kotlyar Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I was flu from SF to Las Vegas Dec,1 with my MOM flight Virgin 904. I saw some available first class seats and asked if my mom 83 y.o can move up to the first class. They said yes she can but she have to pay $85 upgrate. I asked twice and get the same respond.
This is regarding free upgrating on Virgin.
Also in Las Vegas I had some problem and I wanna to appriciate Robert Harris from Vergin Baggage Servise office for his help. Thank you ROBERT.
Rob in San Diego Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
I work for Virgin America in San Diego at the airport. We do not upgrade anyone for free to first class unless under some sort of extreme circumstance and only with the station manager’s approval. Even when we fly (or if other airline employees fly) for free using out flight benefits we are NEVER allowed to even pay to upgrade to first class. The reason for this is that VA’s management team doesn’t want to dilute the First Class experience. How would you feel if you paid for a First Class seat and then other passengers or even airline employees were put up there for free? I actually appreciate the fact that I NEVER get to fly in First Class because it means that Virgin America values the paying public and the money they spend to upgrade. For heaven’s sake, it’s only $50 to upgrade on day of departure on short haul flights and $275 on long haul flights. And those seats rarely go empty on the busier times and route. I believe this situation was an anomaly and perhaps this Lead Flight Attendant got permission to give some guests the First Class experience so that they would know how great the service is and perhaps desire to pay for it on a future trip. We are encouraged to think outside the box in many situations. I have to say that this is an excellent company to work for and the goal truly is to better the flying public’s flight experience.