Think we've decided!

[Mrs Dazzle]

Emphasis on the "think" here, but it looks like we're going for August 2005 rather than Easter for our trip to Ft Myers beach and then back to the parks for 4 days.

I've just frightened the life out of myself by going to book online for a fly-drive with Virgin hols (get 10% as a FVC member and got a £150 voucher from them for a botched trip last year), but OMG DD Katie, who will be 12 next year, is classed as an adult and the price just for a fly-drive for the three of us is over £4100 (admittedly PE, but cattle class wasn't much different all things considered).

My heart rate has slowed down sufficiently for me to type now, so come on everyone help me out with finding something cheaper. This will be the first time I've gone down the DIY route

Our of preference I want us to fly Virgin because I only need a couple of thousand more of their Frequent Flyers club airmiles and I've got round trip to the US tickets for the following year (there's method in my madness, but not at those prices).

I've just looked at the TCD site, following Simon's enthusiastic thread about their First cabins and a 14 night fly-drive with them has come in at over £3100 (we want 16 nights).

I'm getting stressy again so please somone H E L P

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I think TCD's Sunshine First is excellent value for money compared to Virgin's PE. Would TCD allow you to book 16 days? I thought they only worked in multiples of 7 days? I think you also have to pay an additional supplement if you want to book Sunshine First on a flydrive basis.

Also look at FlyBlu (hopefully they will be over their regulatory burdens by then).

Regards

Rob

 

[Miffy2003]

Expedia.co.uk do some good deals on Virgin flights, but you won't be able to book them till the 11 month window


We're going in August 2005 so all tips for cheap(er) fly drives gratefully received!

Good luck
Karen

 

[allie5]

I agree with Karen...Expedia do really good deals on Virgin flights. We saved around £500 booking with them rather than Virgin direct (and we get FV discount!) for our Christmas flights. Just be wary of the terms...sometimes the flights are totally non transferable / refundable.

Another place to try is Bon Voyage who also do reasonable Virgin deals. Its also worth keeping an eye on the BA website as they can do brilliant special offers, especially if didnt mind flying into Tampa.

Hope you get it sorted!

Allie

 

[juliebro]

We got what we think is a very good deal on flights and car hire for next Easter through Airline Network. Personally, I would suggest giving them a call rther than just using their website to find a price. They were very helpful to us - we wanted 16 days too and 2 days stopover on the return journey - for which they got us a very good hotel at an excellent price. Their phone number can be found on their website.

Another thing to bear in mind with using Expedia is that you have to pay in full when you book your flights. With Airline Network we have just paid a deposit for now.

Julie

 

[angel659]

Hi

I would try looking at BA I have found them to be much more resaonable than Virgin and also are a much better service the planes are newer and the staff are great.

I have looked at just the flight.co.uk. They have charter and scheduled prices. We have also used TV Travel Shop. I would look at Virgins website and get some prices for this August, somtimes they are cheaper the later you go it all depends really.

Good luck and let us know what you have come up with.

Michelle

 

[UKDEB]

We invariably get good deals on Virgin PE through Virgin Travelstore. What you are being quoted for online is the full fare ticket - you need the deeply discounted K class.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

God I know aren't flights getting pricey ? I just booked for October in PE - I was gonna go with the Virgin direct and do the money plus miles for PE which would have cost me £650 plus 20,000 miles then I'd have to book a car separately so I then checked on line with Virgin Holidays and got a £100 discount for some reason or another and managed to get a PE seat without using my miles for £915 including my car with upgrade.

I got the same flight in November with miles plus money for £520.00

I'd love to fly TCD but normally I'm never in FL for 7 day periods and secondly I'm just a big snob and I just cannot stand Sanford Airport - it's yucky IMHO!

BTW - It's good to see you planning again Annie I would also fly BA too, I'm wondering if the new planes have Enhanced Economy flying into MCO I know they had them on the Tampa route. Also Annie I have used Airline Network before and I can recommend.

 

[REH]

Last year I flew with Virgin atlantic and when comparing the deals available I contacted virgin travelstore who had the best flight prices! Although the price on the website was a lot more expensive. You can get them to call you back through there website contact us section. This year they price matched my flights even though it was not virgin flight(limited availablity so v.v expensive). When it came to car hire they told me that they had the best price for dollar but I managed to get a better deal from floridacarhire.com and they were unable to beat it. She even took the website address for her holiday.
Hope this helps!

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Thanks very much for all the tips everyone - I shall be certainly checking out these places. I still can't believe the prices Virgin Holidays quoted.

What was also of huge annoyance was the way Virgin promote their "teen" prices - DD Katie will be 12 next year when we travel and because we've asked for a fly-drive, this age group are classes as adults

I've always been loyal to Virgin, and preferably would fly specifically because of DD check-in for the return flight since we will begin our hols down in Ft Myers for 12 nights, then travel back up to Orlando for the last 4-5 nights - my reckoning is that the parks (hopefully ) will be quieter after the middle of August. However, I'm not prepared to pay grossly over inflated prices to use them, so there!

Thanks again, will let you know how I get on

 

[Hilary]

However, I'm not prepared to pay grossly over inflated prices to use them, so there!

LOL! Go for it!

Please let us know how you get on, as I'm sure your experiences will be very useful for others also planning trips for next summer (me included! )

 

[aden]

It seems that once again we are catching a cold from rumours circulating about our plans, and as ever, I feel the best way to deal with this is to update you via this site.

If these rumours are to be believed we are not starting now until April 2005, although here at HQ we are unaware of this plan!

However, as many visitors to this site know, we have always been unhappy about letting people down and we are keen to be understood as being very customer focussed. This kind of rumouring doesn’t help to build confidence and so to ensure that no-one else is let down, we will NOT be registering any further requests for seats and will NOT be announcing any further start dates until we are actually just weeks away from that start.

As we have a great many people signed up for some key dates we are trying to make provision for the October half term (but this still needs to be confirmed), AND we will do the key Christmas dates, but as for the other months (Nov, Jan and Feb), the economics of this period look too bleak to operate.

One forum accurately declares that to launch fully into the winter season would lose us around £3m which we prefer not to do. Such a loss would seriously jeopardise our chances of success. Alternately, by biting the bullet and waiting to start until the profitable season begins, we will greatly increase our chances of being available to passengers for years to come rather than just for weeks to come.

Aviation economics are fragile at the best of times. We have long been aware of the risk and loss that goes with the winter start but we have clung to the plan because people have banked on us. In the event, we have ended up with another bite on our backside instead, hence our new position regarding bookings and registrations.

This means that anyone planning to fly with us is advised to look for alternate routes or seats. We have always tried to make it clear to people that their registration is NOT a guaranteed booking and that is why no money has been taken. However, despite this, people have regarded the registration as a committed booking so I understand why people will be angry about this.

Nonetheless, the only way we can secure trust and confidence in people is to shut our system until we are fully ready for 'the off'. We can give little back beyond an assurance that the product we will roll out will be sufficiently unique that you will forgive us our trespasses once you do get to fly blu. Any registered customer will receive a flight discount voucher for use against future dates and this will be forwarded to you shortly.

Once again I apologise to those adversely affected by this news and can only hope you will allow us a chance once you see us actually in the air.

Aden Murcutt