Booked a Virgin Atlantic award via Continental - how to select seats?

I got a pretty sweet 1-way business class itinerary... PRG-FRA-LHR-LAX. The last leg is in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. Sweet!

How do i select seats for this leg? I don't see a Virgin record locator anywhere (for me to reference if I call Virgin directly), and if I try to select a seat, it shows me an economy seat map with no available seats. I've confirmed that this leg is in business, as it says so in the receipt / record locator. Thanks!

call virgin with your ticket number. They can probably find your reservation by name and travel date and flight number. Has a ticket been issued?

Yup - the ticket has been issued. It took the full 3 hours after booking it before I got the confirmation that it was issued.

Just call Virgin, with the tix number they'll be able to give you a seat and also their locator code so that you can use it later for check in or changing seats again.

did you try the locator you do have on checkmytrip.com? not sure if ua is part of that system, but try the locator you do have and see if anything comes up (like the virgin locator)

I just did this a couple weeks ago. Just call VS. They have a dedicated option on their phone lines if you are flying in Upper Class. Tell them the flight number and date, and they will find it by your last name. Ask them for their reservation number. CO was not able to give me one when I called, but calling VS was easy and quick. They will also assign you a seat over the phone if you like.

CO's "superior" systems at work.

Hopefully they'll be able to move towards instant ticketing someday.

In my recent experience, even with your Virgin six letter booking code (which CO can give you) you won't be able to access your booking on the VS website.

So, as others have mentioned, called the lovely lasses and laddies at Virgin. You might want to have seatguru or seatexpert open in front of you on the web.

Thanks for the input, guys! I'll give Virgin Atlantic a call after work today!

At one point, VS seat maps and assignments were available on CO.com for CO-issued tickets. I haven't flown VS on a CO ticket in a while so I can't comment as to whether this is still the case.

Whatever.
I still don't understand what it is the great benefit of instant ticketing, unless you are buying a ticket and flying withinn a few hours of buying it.

There's an element of finality to the ticket being issued. When it's ticketed, it's bought, it's a done deal, if you want to make a non-refundable hotel res, or other non-refundable activity booking, you're safe. No chance the ticket won't get issued and you have to shuffle things. If you're holding partner space with a ticket, no need to work (e.g., SQ kicks out reservations after a few hours with no ticket number).

Similarly if you're booking multiple trips, or tickets for multiple people, you have to reconcile all the receipts after the fact. Imagine booking 10 or 20 itineraries and having to go back to each one to make sure it was actually issued, and one or two didn't get caught up in the Houston Ticket-o-matic. Or if you want to print and file the receipts for expense reimbursement, you don't get a receipt immediately so you have to go back.

It adds up to extra effort, especially if they're under different accounts/names/etc.

All of this goes back to who CO is good at catering to -- leisure travellers. If I were booking a single flight, once a year, yes, co.com is easy, and no, I don't need an immediate receipt for my flight to see granny. If I'm coordinating a meeting or event, booking a handful of people, coordinating with friends or family, etc., then CO's systems can be a nuisance.

Just got off the phone w/ the Virgin Atlantic agent. He needed my CO OnePass number, my name, and all of the passenger information - he was able to pull up the itinerary and assign seats without a problem. Actually, I feel much better after getting off the phone with him...

When the seat selection on CO showed me a completely full economy cabin, I got a little nervous that some glitch stuck me in the wrong cabin on that flight!

It seems pretty standard view when you book upper class with VS.
BTW, how do you think it compares to UA or LH F?

should be better than UA, but not as good as LH F. Just IMHO based on my experiences over the last few years. Though I have not tried UA's new F for tatl's.

Thanks. Interesting, that for business class price you can get similar to F value. (At least, I hope so )

The food sucks. The AVOD is OK, depending on which aircraft/config you get. The lounges are sexy and fun but that part of the trip is much shorter than the actual flying time. And, again depending on the aircraft config, flying with someone else can result in very difficult arrangements to actually see or talk with them.

With the new BF seats and AVOD I actually think CO is a better product now on pretty much everything but the lounge and the bar on board.

Thanks! I like that you cannot see other people Are seats OK?

The seats are pretty good but, like the AVOD, they're a generation older.

VS really needs a refresh of their product IMO.