BA bs Virgin

[Sweet Pea UK]

Just back from an amazing 3 weeks at SSR so obviously now planning the next trip. We've just fine 5 visits in 4 years so are missing a year and going back August 2015. I've been using next years prices as a guide to start my saving campaign

 

[flortlebap]

Are you aiming for Economy or Premium?

IMO BA PE is not a patch on Virgin PE but it's a while since I flew BA. BA works out slightly cheaper but for us, London airports don't justify the cost saving.

BA also don't have as good a record as VA with late flights and/or cancellations.

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

I think it would just be economy.

 

[iris1910]

I flew BA in September. We also selected them as they were £700 cheaper than Virgin for 2.

We flew Premium Economy and the overall service was not as good as Virgin. This was primarily due to not having a separate check in at Orlando airport and due to problems with the baggage system at the airport it took ages. This was not something BA could really been blamed for though.

However, the food was far superior and the cabin crew were exceptionally good.

The plane also seemed older than the Virgin ones which have been recently refurbished. The seat configurations are the same. The entertainment systems are basically the same. On the return flight the plane was really hot and there does not seem to be any air cooling in the cabin which was odd.

If the price was less I would definitely fly BA again, and I never thought I would ever fly with anyone other than Virgin.

 

[pampat]

We are flying BA from Gatwick to MCO in less than 2 weeks. We did the same last year, same time. The aeroplane was new, clean, and not very busy - always great when we can spread out and have a row to ourselves! Plane food is plane food in economy, but the crew are always great. Personally never had a problem with ambient temps, but we only fly home during the day nowadays, as jet lag is a killer the older you get! Husband would never have flown BA in the past but really likes them now. I couldn't complain about anything. However, one return we decided to upgrade to PE on the return let and would not recommend it. The service, food, everything was OK, but the seats have fixed armrests which cannot be moved. In economy we could put the rests back and practically lie flat, which is not possible in PE.

But to answer the question, in my opinion they are as good as anything. You pay the price to get you from A to B.

Pam

 

[BlueGiraffe]

I've flown quite a few times with both BA and Virgin (most of those to New York though). We've flown from LGW to MCO once with BA and that was 2006, and it was all good. In 2004 and 2011 we flew direct with VA (and in 2008 we flew via Vegas, to get married, and then home from MCO to LGW with VA).

I've never had a problem with BA. In fact they came to our rescue when a US Airways flight from MCO was cancelled. And they got us home in the midst of the NY blackout in 2003.

We have chosen to fly with BA this year, as DH prefers them. I don't recall ever having a delayed flight with them, and certainly nothing cancelled. VA have cancelled on us once (a flight to NY) and we were delayed going out to MCO last time.

BA happened to be cheaper this year than VA, and we also bought our tickets during a sale (2 adults and 2 children for £3,600). However, I did receive an email last week saying our flight time had changed from 11:20am to 1:40pm which was really disappointing. But I spoke to a really helpful man on the BA helpline as I was concerned they might add an earlier flight in the meantime, and we'd been bumped to the later flight. But he assured me that we are on the first flight out, regardless, and if they schedule and additional, earlier, flight that day then we will be on it.

It does mean we can't check our bags in at DTD, but we've only done that once and it really didn't make much difference, we just didn't need to be at the airport quite so early.

The only other thing that I was disappointed about was BA's 3-3-3 seating plan (as opposed to VA's 3-4-3), as it means the 4 of us won't all fit in one row. But I'm hoping it means a bit more room instead.

All in all, it's 8 hours trapped inside a flying metal tube, and I don't think the service differs much between them it's just individual preference.

 

[Cinderella]

There really isn't a lot of difference. I've only had one long-haul flight with BA where the service wasn't so great but the rest have been very good. 100,000 miles is a lot though - pity you are unable to use them.

We are just planning to take whichever comes in cheapest next year, BA or Virgin.

 

[MrRomance]

Just back from an amazing 3 weeks at SSR so obviously now planning the next trip. We've just fine 5 visits in 4 years so are missing a year and going back August 2015. I've been using next years prices as a guide to start my saving campaign