Anyone fly Virgin Economy when they could afford PE

[fairytale]

Hiya All

Just wondering what your thoughts are on this guys?

As a rule we always fly Virgin PE via Virgin out of MAN each October.

Yes the designated Check in works great, especially with 4 children, the seat room works well, plus the quick dispatch of your luggage upon arrival at MCO but after that, I'm starting to question what I'm actually paying at least double the cost of economy seat for

Last October it cost us over £6k in flights whilst economy looking now is coming in at just under £3k. £3000.00 turned in to dollars is, well depending upon the exchange rate around £5k which is our spending money.

I suppose my question is, how many of you guys simply refuse to pay the price of PE or even UC when at the end of the day, as long we get there safe thats all the counts right Or who thinks if youve got it spend it and justify the extra cost that way ie you only live once.

 

[gemmybear83]

I refuse to pay PE prices - I don't think we ever will, I can't get over how they are double the prices for a slightly bigger seat, more legroom the same airline food and rubbish IFE system

I prefer to use the money towards nicer hotels, this year we are paying for an additional bag each but it is only £30 each. I think it does help we are both relatively short though, I appreciate if I was taller I would want more space!

 

[2Tiggies]

Fairytale, like you we like the same perks of PE as you do. This year, like you again, I had to question the sense in paying the extra. Also, we didn't have a brilliant PE experience last year from MAN. When I called for an upgrade price in January or so, there was only PE for the outbound and UC for the return. It would have been a whopping £2800 EXTRA for myself and my 8 year old. I told her no thanks. I paid little more than that for our entire package with Disney UK, including park tickets. I went ahead and booked a lot more than we usually squeeze into a trip as extras (surprise trip for DD) with the money I would have spent on a sensibly priced upgrade. £2800 extra I did not have. It sunk in when I realised I could upgrade from POFQ to the Poly for less.

 

[wayneg]

I refused to pay PE or Upper/Biz class for 16 years (22 trips) to Florida until last year we got the misprice Biz class for price of economy, even then I said I would never pay the price for it but when I was looking for this August Virgin economy prices were almost as much as Delta Biz so we booked Biz class again, this August was my limit, £1,170pp.
I guess its not the cost for me its the difference between the cost of services, if economy is half PE then 100% economy, if there is only £50 difference then PE.
I am pricing up for next May now, economy I can do for AA eco £464, Virgin Eco £789, Virgin PE £1,066, Delta Biz £1,600, Virgin Upper £4,274.
Without question its AA at £464, no way would I paying £1,000 more for 3 of us to fly direct or £1,800 more to fly direct PE.
As I said to Mart (burt) in a PM last week, if we knew we could only got to Florida for another 10 years then never again it would be Biz or Upper every trip but who knows whats in the future so I will spend wisely and go for the best value for now.

 

[Shazzie B]

I agree too - we could push to PE if we really wanted to, but this year for instance as we were not going to WDW until Oct we decided to have a week in Spain in June for less than the upgrade would have cost.

 

[crabbie1]

After doing it once and not getting a good service I wouldnt do again.To me money spent better elsewhere.

 

[Linda67]

Personally I just don't think that PE is worth the extra money. As DH always says 'we will all get there at the same time'

 

[aaronandterri]

We can afford to fly PE and have done so, but normally i fly economy, why, well mainly because now i have 5 kids, and normally parents to pay for, i just cant justify the extra cost.....not knowing what else that money would buy.

If I ever found someone mad enough to look after my kids for a week or two(what a GIRL CAN DREAM ),or when im acient enough to be able to travel without them I would def pay for pe or UC for just me and hubby, saying that though prices are just plain silly this last year or so, maybe by the time that is gonna happen ill be priced out anyway

 

[london75]

We always go in PE and while I question it every time we probably always will until we can afford UC.

Bear in mind it doesn't need to cost the figures quoted here. We generally only ever pay £800 for an adult seat making it much better value over economy at not much less.

The 4 of us 2 adults 2 kids went for £3000 this August which at the time was cheaper than economy yet PE wasn't full!!!

EDIT: I should say I only think going in the bump on the 747 is worth it as having the 2-2 seat config with massive aisle, dedicated crew and two private toilets for 30-40 people. I'm not sure about the new Airbus 330s next year.

 

[dixonsontour]

We've always flown cheapest possible.

All times economy except once when we upgraded at Chicago to business class as a perk of agreeing to be bumped off the flight.

This year is the first time we've paid more than £500 each.

I just couldn't spend that type of money - would rather have 2 holidays than 1 luxury.

At the end of the day it is just 18 hours of the holiday. The other perks don't mean much to me - never had any hassle with check in etc.

Each to their own.

 

[15isto2]

Flown VS Econ x2 PE X1 UCx3, Would pay for UC or Econ, dont thing PE is worth the money for difference in service from Econ to be honest

 

[2Tiggies]

Flown VS Econ x2 PE X1 UCx3, Would pay for UC or Econ, dont thing PE is worth the money for difference in service from Econ to be honest

I must admit I do see the logic in this ^^^^^

I think what makes it a dilemma to begin with for me though, is that you get very used to flying in a higher class. Although you dont notice the perks as anything special it is a shock to the system when they aren't there if you know what I mean. But somewhere amidst it all, lies a fair balance. We each just need to find where ours is for each trip (yes, it does change as our needs and wants change - just my opinion though).

 

[STOCKYJIM]

Ive always said ill only ever fly Virgin PE rather than economy just because, as a big lad, I like the extra room. But because of the prices tnext year, even with miles + money discount, ive decided to lose weight, squeeze in and then spend the extra on a 3 day disneycruise to the bahamas - all for the same cost as a PE upgrade!!!

Each to their own however

J

 

[2Tiggies]

Ive always said ill only ever fly Virgin PE rather than economy just because, as a big lad, I like the extra room. But because of the prices tnext year, even with miles + money discount, ive decided to lose weight, squeeze in and then spend the extra on a 3 day disneycruise to the bahamas - all for the same cost as a PE upgrade!!!

Each to their own however

J

Good for you! Did you know that if you get to check in nice and early you can pay a nominal fee for an extra legroom seat?

 

[wideeyes]

yeah for our next trip in January, I don't see the point. The flight will most likely be half full anyway so we will probably have more room in economy than PE. Also after doing AA economy to JFK & MAN last week, VA economy will seem like pure luxury.

 

[stevechase]

To be honest, in my opinion, I dont think we would ever pay the extra, we flew ecomony last yeat into jfk from heathrow and back from orlando to gatwick, with Virgin, for the five of us cost £2550.00, you are still in the air 9+ hours so I dont see the point (unless you are loaded of course lol). It would have cost us almost £5500 for the same flights. That extra paid for our 5 nights in NY, the transfer from NY to WDW and covered the tickets.

Its just my opinion, but I would rather spend longer there thatn spend more to be in the air.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Laurafoster]

I just dont think PE offers enough additional perks to justify the price. Foods the same, IFE is the same, i have never waited long for my luggage at MCO, we do Twilight/Online check in so all that leaves is the bigger seat?

This trip it was £260pp (roughly) more expensive for Premium Economy when we booked. Thats almost £30 an hour for a slightly bigger seat? Id rather spend my money on something im going to appreciate for more than 9 hours.

 

[2Tiggies]

I Thats almost £30 an hour for a slightly bigger seat? Id rather spend my money on something im going to appreciate for more than 9 hours.

Yes, and you still have to squeeze yourself and your butt into the same micro-sized toilets

 

[Elise79]

We can afford and do fly PE - although it was meant to be a one off! What sealed it for us was how I was looked after in PE when I flew preganant - they kept checking on me and couldn't do enough to make my flight comfortable.

We find the leg room (DH is 6'3" and has long legs) and the queit cabin makes the flight so much nicer. I keep looking at the prices and think we should go back to econ then we fly and I go for a walk round and remember why we go PE! I like my own space!

I appreciate that we are fortunate enough to be able to pay for it and not comprise on anything while there (although DVC helps with that too!)

 

[Elise79]

I just dont think PE offers enough additional perks to justify the price. Foods the same, IFE is the same, i have never waited long for my luggage at MCO, we do Twilight/Online check in so all that leaves is the bigger seat?

I just wanted to add that PE has different meals to Economy now - I know as I had one in April when we flew out to MCO. We were sitting at the back of the upstairs cabin and I didn't like the choice that was left so just asked for the tray with no hot meal and they offered to get me a economy meal and it was beef cobbler and the PE was braised beef. The economy hot meal is also slight smaller - we checked the size against DHs plate and there was definatly smaller - even DD childs meal was bigger!

The childrens meal is the same just served in the china rather than plastic of economy.