Virgin Aircraft

[allie5]

Hi everyone

I am in the process of booking our flights for this years Florida Fest and I wonder if someone can answer this.

We have flown Virgin several times from Gatwick, and each time the aircraft has been old and tatty. Hubby reckoned they were mid 70s planes. Also, I was bored one day and I absently peeled a sticker off by the toilets to reveal a label that said "This Aircraft is on charter from Korean Air" . We flew BA last year, but Im edging towards Virgin again this time, as we like Downtown Disney Check In. However, Im not prepared to travel on one of Virgins manky planes again....so, can anyone tell me what aircraft they are using for the LGW/ MCO route these days?? I have heard they scrapped the old planes, but I would prefer to hear this from someone who has travelled the route recently!!

Thanks!
Allie

 

[MickeyMcMouse]

Yeah, your ok now, all the planes out of lgw are 2 or 3years old (max). unfortunatley they don't have nintendo yet but a refit is planned 1st quarter 2005 with the new u/c suites and vport which should be fab

David

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Will V.Port be fitted throughout the plane of just in Upper Class & PE?

Regards

Rob

 

[MickeyMcMouse]

To the best of my knowledge Rob, VPort is fitted through out the whole plane.

There is also a rumour that section b of u/c, rows 10 and 11 will be replaced with more p/e seats when the refit is done - ie u/c will be in the "nose" section only.

David

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Thanks David, VPort throughtout the plane will be a big plus when Virgin can guarantee it on all LGW-MCO flights. All I need to do know is save up my FC miles so that one day I can upgrade to UC and try out the new suites. Sadly this may not be for several years yet!

I'd heard that more PE seats were going to be installed in B section on the bucket and spade routes. I'm not surprised, although I've never thought that PE offers good value for money.

Regards

Rob

 

[allie5]

Thanks for the info chaps!

Sorry to be ingnorant, but what is VPort??

Allie

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

V.Port is Virgin's newest onboard entertainment system. Each passenger gets a large choice of channels, movies, TV, games, etc and gets to decide when to start each film, can pause the film to visit the loo, eat, etc. It's a great system, but it won't be fitted onto the Gatwick planes for a little while yet.

Regards

Rob

 

[MickeyMcMouse]

Originally posted by rob@rar.org.uk
. All I need to do know is save up my FC miles so that one day I can upgrade to UC and try out the new seats.

Regards

Rob

I know the feeling ... we are saving for the new upper class suites as well

David

 

[JohnnySharp]

I always thought it was us Northerners who get the 'manky' 747-200 series aircraft from Manchester where as the newer 747-400s flew out of Gatwick.

Do you want to swap?

 

[MickeyMcMouse]

Originally posted by JohnnySharp
I always thought it was us Northerners who get the 'manky' 747-200 series aircraft from Manchester where as the newer 747-400s flew out of Gatwick.

Do you want to swap?

I am more North than you

It's great that they do fly out of Manchester, but if they want to live up to their self given title of "Britains Flag carrier" then it would be nice if they started a limited service from Scotland.

.... however, still don't want to swap

David

 

[UKDEB]

Originally posted by rob@rar.org.uk
I've never thought that PE offers good value for money

Rob,

Have you actually looked at the prices of PE lately? For the past 4 trips or so, we've paid around £550-£650 (plus tax) for our PE seats which is less than we've paid for Economy at certain times of year. You build your FC miles towards your UC upgrade much quicker, too - if we didn't keep giving away our miles to family and friends, we could have afforded our upgrade to UC a year or more ago! Sometimes we've achieved these rates through Miles Plus Money, other times by booking 'deals' via Virgin Travelstore. Even when you use M+M, you accumulate miles at the PE rate (1.5 times the miles travelled).

Just a thought.

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Originally posted by JohnnySharp
I always thought it was us Northerners who get the 'manky' 747-200 series aircraft from Manchester where as the newer 747-400s flew out of Gatwick.

Do you want to swap?

I agree, It would be nice to see another Named plane, instead of Honey Pie and Island Lady!

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Originally posted by UKDEB
Rob,

Have you actually looked at the prices of PE lately? For the past 4 trips or so, we've paid around £550-£650 (plus tax) for our PE seats which is less than we've paid for Economy at certain times of year.

Sadly Debbie, we have to travel during the school holidays when Virgin do not offer low pricess on their premium cabins. We would be looking at close to the amount you quote for Economy seats

The increased cost of PE during August seems to be £350 or more. I don't think that the extra benefits that PE offers justifies that additional cost. As a comparision, we've paid an additional £350 (on top of a cheaper economy price to start with) for TCD's Sunshine First service for our visit this August. This gives 54 inches of legroom in a cradle seat compared to Virgin's PE 38 inches in a partially reclining seat. Other benefits (dedicated check-in, off the plane first, enhanced luggage allowances, etc) are similar. For me the main benefit of upgrading is to get a decent amount of space in a seat which allows me to sleep. I suffer really badly from jetlag on the way home, and sleeping on the plane seems to help. I don't find the PE seats to be any more comfortable to sleep in than standard economy seats, so the main benefit to me of upgrading to the PE cabin is not really appreciated.

So, pound for pound (or seat inch for seat inch!), I've never thought that PE is right for me. Virgin's Upper Class or BA's Club World on the other hand do represent good value for money in my book because they offer a significantly enhanced service. Unfortunately we can't really afford to travel business class without the use of air miles, and my collection builds up very slowly!

Regards

Rob

 

[Pootle]

We flew back from MCO to LGW with Virgin last month and the plane was one of 5 Virgin has purchased from Alitalia and was less than 10 years old. The no smoking signs are in Italian and English!

 

[Red-Snapper]

As well as the PE cabin upstairs Virgin also use the 2nd section of upper class downstairs for PE (hence the comments about extending PE to section B I guess). I assume as they cant sell all the u/c seats on a flight to Orlando but can sell more PE than they have upstairs.

We got seats there on the way back - PE service but u/c seats i.e near flat bed, electronic seat adjustment and miles of legroom.

Personally I would not think it worth the extra money for Virgin u/c in the these seats, although undoubtably there was better service the other side of the curtains. - the new suite might be more like it though !!

 

[UKDEB]

Originally posted by Red-Snapper
Personally I would not think it worth the extra money for Virgin u/c in the these seats, although undoubtably there was better service the other side of the curtains. - the new suite might be more like it though !!

We've been upgraded to UC proper (in the nose with UC service) and to the B Cabin with PE service. Whilst the B Cabin is very nice for the homeward journey when all you want to do is sleep, I'd be extremely disappointed if I'd paid UC prices and ended up in this cabin, even with the UC service. Maybe that's why they tend to upgrade PE customers to the B Cabin.

 

[JohnnySharp]

It would seem that Virgin are rotating their Aircraft with some of the older ones sometimes flying out of Gatwick, maybe because of the 2 flights daily.
Honey Pie/Island Lady are the one's normally used from Manchester.

I fully agree that Virgin should look at flying out of Scotland, I am sure this would be popular.

 

[Found Nemo]

I'm sure they'd love to get flights from Scotland etc up and running, and I don't doubt they'd sell like hot cakes, but the slots between the UK and US are controlled by the respective governments so it's not really down to the airline. There are a very limited number of slots available.

If they did get a Scotland slot, they'd have to give one up elsewhere, and move an aircraft from another route. So airlines stick to the routes they know will be most profitable, ones they know will guarantee their costs will be covered.

As far as the cost of upgraded cabins go, the customers in PE and particularly Upper Class (business or 1st class on other airlines) effectively subsidise everyone else on the aircraft. If it weren't for the select number paying say £3000 on every flight, airlines would make a loss, or all the economy tickets would be a great deal more expensive. This is why the airlines compete so fiercely for the customers on business routes like NY and Miami, as these people tend to pay the highest fares for unrestricted tickets.

It's also why the economy cabins and the leisure routes are always last to be upgraded when system enhancements/cabin refurbishments are planned.

 

[simonuk]

what is that website were u can find out what films r going to be on virgin flights as i fly on sunday and was curious
cheers
simon

 

[gilld]

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/entertainment_movies.view.do
put in your route and you'll see what's showing.
Gill