Flights; BA or Virgin Atlantic

[Jjpenguin2]

Yay, 50 years after my first trip and 10 years after my last I am finally planning a new trip.

Looking at flights (from SA) I have a couple of options with BA and Virgin Atlantic, they are similar pricewise and timewise. Which would you recommend? I have heard of BA cancelling flights last minute. Does this also happen with VA?

Thanks!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

I would always choose VA over BA. Not saying they won’t cancel but it’s less common and the service on board has been excellent in my experience.

 

[schumigirl]

Yay, 50 years after my first trip and 10 years after my last I am finally planning a new trip.

Looking at flights (from SA) I have a couple of options with BA and Virgin Atlantic, they are similar pricewise and timewise. Which would you recommend? I have heard of BA cancelling flights last minute. Does this also happen with VA?

Thanks!

I would always choose VA over BA for several reasons and BA`s regular flight cancellations is one of them. We have never had a flight cancelled with Virgin, we have with BA, even though it was several years ago, but we often hear of it still happening.

Generally speaking I find VA superior in every way.

 

[Duck In Blue]

Any airline can cancel flights at the last minute, but BA does seem to have had more than usual later. That said I always fly BA now, my last experiences on Virgin were not good. As you will see from the comments so far it is all very subjective so I would go for the cheapest!

One thing BA does have going for it at MCO is that they use Terminal C. Flew into last month and it was so much quieter than the old terminal and is much nicer.

 

[Jjpenguin2]

Thanks everyone. Never flown VA before. I have had good experience with BA but the cancellation stories were scaring me. So with times and prices being almost the same I will probably try VA this time.

 

[Mkaiser1]

VA. In a heartbeat. We flew with BA in our trip before last and having used Virgin for the few trips before that had really become accustomed to their standards. Suffice to say that BA's standards were no where near the same.

 

[A&A]

We have been flying VA for over 25 years and apart from a hour or two delay sometimes they have never let us down.
The F/Flyer programme is also very good and we have had many reward flights with them including an U/Class return to California.

 

[cliveywolves]

Personally BA but it’s tomato/tomato IMO

 

[Kate_45]

I would choose BA after bad experiences with Virgin but they're both much of a muchness with not enough food nowadays.

 

[AussieFan8]

Sorry to derail this a bit but I'm searching flights as well and wondered if anyone has experience with Lufthansa? Or Austrian?

 

[Tiggerette]

I recently used Virgin to go for Boston to London, and I would be very happy to book with them again. I used Delta points to fly on Virgin at the premium flight class. (Not first class, I suppose closer to business class?) It was definitely worth it for a smooth experience from check in to baggage claim.

 

[jazzsmith]

Congrats on planning your trip! Both BA and Virgin Atlantic are solid choices, but it's true that flight cancellations can happen with any airline. It might be worth looking into recent reviews and customer experiences for both to see if one has a better track record lately. While foreflight customer service is more geared towards pilots and aviation enthusiasts, contacting the customer service teams of BA or Virgin Atlantic directly could give you the most current info on their reliability and any measures they're taking to minimize cancellations. Safe travels on your exciting journey!

 

[Max Headroom]

Yay, 50 years after my first trip and 10 years after my last I am finally planning a new trip.

Looking at flights (from SA) I have a couple of options with BA and Virgin Atlantic, they are similar pricewise and timewise. Which would you recommend? I have heard of BA cancelling flights last minute. Does this also happen with VA?

Thanks!

Its BA every time for me after Virgin cancelled a New York Flight 17 Hours before planned flight time and AFTER we had all booked in! Why did they let us book in if they knew it would be cancelled? For that reason alone I steer clear of Virgin and its BA every time for us!

 

[Ronaldo17]

I've used both recently to Orlando and VA would be my choice.

 

[AgentMama]

I find BA's seats less comfortable than VA.

 

[Becx N Gav]

When I used to fly annually (2005-2011) we always chose Virgin. Last summer was the first flight since 2011 and I chose BA. I really wished I hadn't when the day before we were due to leave LAX I had an e-mail saying they had cancelled my flight and instead of a direct flight my 8yo DS and I would have to fly to Seattle then to London! Due to the longer journey we would not be able to catch our trains home (pre-booked and non-refundable). So as well as travelling later in the day, two flights instead of one, much longer journey with connections etc I then had to figure out how to get home! I was not impressed and would never fly with BA again.
I appreciate cancellations can and do occur. I was not impressed with their help (none) and information given. Then when I tried to apply for compensation via their website it kept sending me in circles! I was not able to contact anyone and ended up using a third party to claim (it was successful however I then 'lost' 40% of the claim for their fees).

I do hope you have a lovely trip and don't experience anything like this