On Wednesday night (actually 3:00 AM on Thursday morning) I decided to fly back to ISP from the Bay Area for the weekend. I was able to find a fare of $404 leaving SFO at 10:00PM on Thursday and returning on Monday, which I reserved on aa.com. I called the ExP desk and requested an upgrade based on a VIP2. The flights were upgraded and showed up at aa.com. I was told to surrender my VIP2 at the gate when I checkin.
Last night, I went to the gate at SFO, had my id in my right hand and held the VIP2 in the left. The agent gave me my upgraded boarding pass and said I am all set. I looked at her with an "you must be kidding" smile.
This was a trying moment. I knew she was supposed to collect it and possibly made a mistake in not collecting it. I could have walked away with it; But I did not feel like cheating AA, they have been too nice to me.
I told her that she may need my certificate. The agent was totally lost. But she was nice enough to go and talk to her superviser who came back after a couple of minutes and confirmed that the certificate was indeed needed. They printed some sort of coupon and attached it to my VIP2. I did request the agent to annotate my record to show that the certificate has been collected.
Did I do the right thing? Or not collecting upgrades, even if it is a VIP2 is a perk I should learn to live with. Would the agent be written up for not collecting the cert? (Hello RDURES1...).
Would I be contacted later to surrender my VIP2? Would the agent at the return leg know that my VIP2 was still to be collected? And, perhaps most important, what would most FTers do in my situation??
A VIP2 is worth about $6000 if you use it to upgrade from discount economy to unrestricted business class on an ocean crossing flight. The equivalent upgrade stickers for crossing the continent are worth at most a few hundred dollars... Vip2.co.uk - AboutUs Wiki Page::
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A couple of reasons why I used my VIP2.
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VIP2 Plans-at-a-Glance::
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTMLPays NH/Facility benefit for up to 50 days per policy year for any reason Same as Value Spouses’/Partners’ benefits do not have to be identical.
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a. I qualified for ExPlat this year so (as I have been told) I will be getting two sets of VIP2s, one with the initial kit and one with the kit I receive this spring. So 7 VIP2s still left http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif I am not sure I would be able to use all of them in the situations described in previous posts.
b. The trip was made in a rush, and under some stress. I did not enquire about the upgrade inventory 18 hours before the flight, but my upgrade account was empty. I would have to purchase 12 upgrade stickers or use 30,000 miles just to upgrade. Perhaps I could have used 40K miles to get an award seat but I am still in the phase where I like to hoard miles http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif. I did not want to spend anything extra to upgrade. Almost all my travel is on my own dime http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif
"Big Brother VIP 2" Episode dated 10 October 2003 (2003)::
Himself. Vica Andrade Herself. Yolanda Andrade Runner up this title with other users on IMDb message board for "Big Brother VIP 2" (2003)
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Viva.Pinata-RELOADED Torrent Download::
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c. I do not plan to have much International travel. The international destination I am really interested in are not served by AA so the VIP2s would not be useful for my travel plans. My wife being a resident physician, we do not really have the luxury of spontaneous trips to Europe; her holidays are planned during June of each year for the session ahead. I would have enough for own personal needs. Perhaps I could swap my VIP2s for UA systemwides, but have not seen that happen too often.
d. Bay Area to Boston is about 2700 miles which is in the same ballpark as the typical milage from the East Coast to Europe (3-4K). I was flying a red-eye and wanted the guaranteed comfort. The 767-200 had the international configuration with nice blue seats with four controls and a lot of recline.
In summary: Though it was not the best in terms of potential dollar value, with my flight patterns, my use of the VIP2 provided me with the comfort and value I was looking for http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.
I agree. One is foolish to expect others to deal with him/her with integrity if he, himself, does not deal with others with integrity.
In my book, you did the right thing.
Not to get philosophical, but just because you are able to do something, doesn't always mean that it is right to do it. I believe in karma. What goes around, comes around. Only you can decide whether your moral code would dictate that you give it up. Me? I would have. The other day, I was in Starbucks getting my coffee and a book of gift certificates. As the guy handed them to me, they seemed heavy, and in fact, there were two books stuck together. He would have never known, but my moral code told me not to keep them.
Just my two cents.
my questions was why use a vip2 instead of segment upgrades? was biz class totally full on the redeye to boston? bos-isp are biz express, so no need to upgrade. as an exec plat, you definitely be at the top of the list. why waste big value for something that should have decent availability using e-upgrades?
Using a VIP2 in your situation sounds reasonable to me! The one thing that is great about VIP2's is that if there is a seat available in the next cabin of service then you get it, revenue or otherwise - no worries about whether upgrade inventory is available. The one thing to watch out for though is that VIP2's do not automatically turn your ticket into an unrestricted one (unless it was unrestricted to begin with). Any changes you wish to make require that there be inventory available on the new flight that matches your orignal fare basis with the exception of full Y or J fares I believe. Dollar value for the quality of service in the next cabin is subjective but the dollar value of the ticket and the flexibility it offers you does not change (a lesson learnt the hard way by me when trying to get to/out of MSY using a VIP2 upgraded ticket. That weekend there was'nt a seat to be had unless I wanted to pay full Y and invoke my EXP privilege of a guaranteed seat).
[This message has been edited by mgm (edited 12-15-2000).]
Same thing happened to me on a recent upgraded LAX-LHR trip. I still have the certificate http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
I figure it's a Christmas Gift from AA http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
[This message has been edited by SNA_Flyer (edited 12-17-2000).]
There probably would not have been any repercussions for not turning it in..they are getting ready to start tracking them, but haven't yet. However, I also am a believer in the what comes around goes around theory and I think the important thing here is that YOU would have known. You did the right, honorable thing and for that I applaud you. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif
It looks like my upgrade the other night may have been comped due to a computer semi-glitch. Should I call AA and demand that they take the 6 e-upgrades out of my account anyway?
(6 upgrades seems like overkill for a flight that lasted under 4 1/2 hours, but that's an entirely separate issue. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif)
 Nobody understands...any help please?
 50 points for someone willing to do this!!!!!!!!!!?
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VIP2: Should I have given it up?