Using Virgin America Elevate Gold for discounted upgrades to first class?

Hmm. So you think once you hit the window and if space is available to "upgrade" to a MCS seat gratis you would only pay for the upgrade from MCS to F instead of from MC to F. That would be a decent savings.

I flew Virgin from SFO-LAX over the holidays (with my Gold Status) and upgraded to Main Cabin Extra. i was offered an upgrade to first class for $39, but could not justify it for a 50 minute flight at 7:00 in the morning...the free snacks were nice though. You can order as much as you want from the TV's and the F/A bring it over to you...If they offered free upgrades to first i could see value in Virgin for SFO-based fliers, but i value upgrades too much and cannot afford an extra $170 for a transcon upgrade..i will stick with UA & AA

@ AdamH -- Yep, and I've confirmed this from an "official" source too (though we know they can be wrong at times). 😀

@ Mike -- Agree, for SFO-LAX I'd have a hard time justifying it. But for SEA-LAX/SFO it seems like a decent value.

Ben, I don't think it is $39 to upgrade from MCS to First on SEA-LAX/SFO. The upgrade fee is distance based so I believe it's higher than $39. Maybe $59?

@ AC -- To the best of my knowledge both routes are in the "shorthaul" category, for which the upgrade fee is $39 from Main Cabin Select to first class.

I looked into this once, and I read several places that for the high value upgrades (like Transcons) this basically becomes a 24-hour "browser refresh lottery" since they are highly coveted.

@ Ryan -- Yep, transcon upgrades seem to be quite difficult, while all other upgrades are generally easy.

I matched to Gold back in Dec via UA and had a roundtrip on VX BOS-LAX. Exactly at T24 I logged in and had been "upgraded" to MCS. The upgrade to F was $169 and there were available seats (7am flight). I've sat in MCS in the past but never F because it was cost prohibitive for a general member. Sprung for the upgrade and well worth the 6.5 hr flight (headwinds). Best domestic F product in my opinion with an actual footrest!! The return LAX-BOS was an 8am flight and also had seats avail but had been upgraded to MCS and didn't want to spend another $169. I'm based in BOS and their route network only services SFO/LAX non-stop so it's back to UA and AA for the most part also due to their "more rewarding" FF programs. Great experience especially for an early morning transcon.

Ben, I upgraded to FC from MCS on the Sea-Lax route last May for 69 bucks which I definitely think it was worth it for the 2 hr flight. I know some road warriors don't think highly of the service but the seat alone is worth the money. From LA, we continued on to Bos for 169 per on a red eye and was great to be able to recline nicely and sleep the whole flight.

I notice for the refundable west coast fares I buy, UA is usually $40 to $50 more expensive than VX. Same with transcons - UA is more expensive. I guess I'm just prepaying the upgrade fee. If I could do that on Virgin maybe I would give them a try.

Hey Lucky, thanks for the tip. Just got a confirmed long haul upgrade LAX-EWR for only $149 rather than $299 due to the automatic MCS upgrade. I had a friend on the itinerary who wasn't Gold so we needed to first separate her from the PNR. A little nerve-wracking but well worth saving the cash!

@ Mike -- Awesome, that's quite a deal!

I've been a Gold Member since the program began. I've almost always been able to get the upgrade to first class on west coast and transcon flights for business and weekend/leisure travel without much hassle although they increased the fees recently. Best in the business by far.

I did status match and am gold for now. I got mcs for a SEA SFO flight, upgrade to first was $70 but I'd you go up to the podium before the flight they are allowed to go to $50. Just ask!