Virgin Atlantic prices, September 2011

[Elise79]

We are looking for PE flights for next September out 28th September and back on 7th October.

I have already got the 1st 7 nights of DVC booked and set up a fare alert with Kayak - BAs prices are already out biut prefer VA. Had a bad experience with BA about 12 years ago and haven't given them a second chance as they lack benefits in PE as well.

For those of you looking to go from Scotland have you checked Aer Lingus? They had some good prices and you clear immigration in Dublin before arrival at MCO.

When I checked for May Business Class on the transatlantic leg was coming in at £1100 per person (domestic is all one class) - would have looked seriously for September but they only fly Tues, Thurs & Sats which doesn't work for us this time.

 

[Laurafoster]

Thats realllllllllly good compared to what people who went last september had to pay.It was worse than august(well nearly). I would book if I had the dosh at that price. Have you booked your flights jeanette?

Its a little more than what i paid in Sept this year - we had M+M flights that were £420pp.

So im happy with £440pp for next year

Mind you price they were quoting me for my 18month old to have a seat was £420?!

 

[Netty]

dread to think how much the new taxes coming soon will be and how much it will bump up the flight prices
think we should have a sept/oct dis meet seeing as theres a few of us out there at the same time!

 

[Elise79]

Its a little more than what i paid in Sept this year - we had M+M flights that were £420pp.

So im happy with £440pp for next year

Mind you price they were quoting me for my 18month old to have a seat was £420?!

That sounds about right - children still have to pay the full taxes and surcharges they get a little bit of the actual 'fare'

I have booking seats for DD since see was 15 months - to us it was money very well spent!

 

[disney_princess_85]

just checke va again
they have released a couple of m+m dates
coming back on the 27th sept £440 miles and money
so going by that the couple of weeks after that date should be around the same price

Phew! Sounds good, thanks for the info.

 

[disney_princess_85]

When you have set your dates let me know if you want help searching.

Hi Wayne, I could do with your help if you don't mind.

Our preliminary dates are September 10-28 2011. I've looked at VA and a M+M economy fare is £440. We wouldn't mind trying PE if we can get a good price but I can't look at M+M prices because we only have 6500 miles. Could you please have a look for me? We'd purchase an extra 1000 miles (£30) if the price is good.

 

[2Tiggies]

Mind you price they were quoting me for my 18month old to have a seat was £420?!

Don't you pay for a child seat for your 18 month old? That sounds normal. Kids pay roughly 75% of the fare, but full taxes. Still, I know what you mean - considering the little once could fly on your lap for a nominal fee. But a toddler on a lap for 9 hours? It doesn't work for most.

I hope you all get your good deals.

 

[wayneg]

Hi Wayne, I could do with your help if you don't mind.

Our preliminary dates are September 10-28 2011. I've looked at VA and a M+M economy fare is £440. We wouldn't mind trying PE if we can get a good price but I can't look at M+M prices because we only have 6500 miles. Could you please have a look for me? We'd purchase an extra 1000 miles (£30) if the price is good.

You should be able to get a quote, it will give you a price but say you have not enough miles.
Just checked £870.39 & 7,500 miles per adult instead of £1,016.39, an £146pp saving
Personally don't think its worth double economy.

Other option is like we are doing in August, economy out, PE return £733.39 or £625.39 & 4,750 miles per adult

 

[disney_princess_85]

You should be able to get a quote, it will give you a price but say you have not enough miles.
Just checked £870.39 & 7,500 miles per adult instead of £1,016.39, an £146pp saving
Personally don't think its worth double economy.

Other option is like we are doing in August, economy out, PE return £733.39 or £625.39 & 4,750 miles per adult

Ah ok, I'm sure last time I tried to look it wouldn't let me proceed!

£146pp is a reasonable saving but it would be cheaper to upgrade at the airport if there were seats available (and if the price is still £200 each way)- upgrading both ways would be an extra £400 on top of the £440 fare, so £840 in total. Obviously nothing is guaranteed doing it this way though.

Anyway, I don't think we'll be able to do it with M+M as I thought it was 7000 miles for two fares, not 7500 EACH! Might just stick to exit row/extra leg room seats.

Thanks for looking.

 

[2Tiggies]

Ah ok, I'm sure last time I tried to look it wouldn't let me proceed!

£146pp is a reasonable saving but it would be cheaper to upgrade at the airport if there were seats available (and if the price is still £200 each way)- upgrading both ways would be an extra £400 on top of the £440 fare, so £840 in total. Obviously nothing is guaranteed doing it this way though.

Anyway, I don't think we'll be able to do it with M+M as I thought it was 7000 miles for two fares, not 7500 EACH! Might just stick to exit row/extra leg room seats.

Thanks for looking.

Lauren, I can't use exit rows anymore because Tové is too young to be allowed to sit there, but if you want extra legroom, rather see if you can get them not at the exit row. At the very least, ask to be shown where the seats are first. We flew economy this year and the lines for the toilets were long, to say the least. Of course there is nowhere to stand and wait so everyone congregates in the extra legroom purchased by the passengers sitting there. I felt so sorry for them, considering they had paid to sit there wth people standing around, watching them eat, bumping them, etc. Just something I noticed both ways and maybe worth keeping in mind. I will add that there was not an empty seat on the flights both ways from Glasgow. A full flight is not quite as common when there are more than a handful of departures per year though so maybe Manchester departures will be less of an issue(?)

 

[2Tiggies]

Apologies if this has been posted already, but this is on the Expedia website:

Beat the tax increase!
On Monday UK Airline Passenger Duty will rise for all classes of travel. So hurry... book a flight by the 31st October and beat the increase!

I don't like that!

 

[disney_princess_85]

Lauren, I can't use exit rows anymore because Tové is too young to be allowed to sit there, but if you want extra legroom, rather see if you can get them not at the exit row. At the very least, ask to be shown where the seats are first. We flew economy this year and the lines for the toilets were long, to say the least. Of course there is nowhere to stand and wait so everyone congregates in the extra legroom purchased by the passengers sitting there. I felt so sorry for them, considering they had paid to sit there wth people standing around, watching them eat, bumping them, etc. Just something I noticed both ways and maybe worth keeping in mind. I will add that there was not an empty seat on the flights both ways from Glasgow. A full flight is not quite as common when there are more than a handful of departures per year though so maybe Manchester departures will be less of an issue(?)

We have bought both exit row and extra leg room in the past and I have to say we prefer extra leg room. I don't like how everyone congregates around the exit rows, plus it's rather annoying how the seats don't recline! We'll be going for extra leg room next time.

Our flight from Manchester in August was pretty much full I think. We got to the airport 10 minutes after check-in opened and there were no exit row or extra leg room seats left by the time we got to the front! Andrew is 6'2" so he wasn't happy. We were going to upgrade to PE but even those seats had sold out! Luckily we had been placed right at the back of the plane in a two-seat row so it wasn't too traumatic.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Apologies if this has been posted already, but this is on the Expedia website:



I don't like that!

Oh dear! I've just had a look and the flights we want have gone up to £600 (from £440).

ETA: M+M seats have disappeared again. Actually, the whole site seems to be in disarray. Sigh!

 

[2Tiggies]

Oh dear! I've just had a look and the flights we want have gone up to £600 (from £440).

ETA: M+M seats have disappeared again. Actually, the whole site seems to be in disarray. Sigh!

Yes, I saw the M&M seats were gone - tried all different airports. TBH Continental is coming up the same price as VA (well CO is about £70 more for the 2 of us) and I may as well do CO, since with VA we still have to fly to an airport in England. We shall see. I am still quoting on dates a week early with only the day of the week for departure/return coinciding so it really is a shot in the dark at the moment. I think once the return flight gets into October the price might go up a bit, but again, no way to tell.

I am putting off telling my boss about the trip I really need to do this before the flights are released or I will kick myself.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Yes, I saw the M&M seats were gone - tried all different airports. TBH Continental is coming up the same price as VA (well CO is about £70 more for the 2 of us) and I may as well do CO, since with VA we still have to fly to an airport in England. We shall see. I am still quoting on dates a week early with only the day of the week for departure/return coinciding so it really is a shot in the dark at the moment. I think once the return flight gets into October the price might go up a bit, but again, no way to tell.

I am putting off telling my boss about the trip I really need to do this before the flights are released or I will kick myself.

Out of interest, I checked our dates from Gatwick and the flights were still £440 (M+M). Hmm. I wonder if the Manchester ones will come down again? If not, I may have to follow suit and book with another airline.

Is your boss usually ok about holidays? I'm quite lucky that mine is. We're currently waiting to find out if Andrew's request has been honoured!

 

[2Tiggies]

Out of interest, I checked our dates from Gatwick and the flights were still £440 (M+M). Hmm. I wonder if the Manchester ones will come down again? If not, I may have to follow suit and book with another airline.

Is your boss usually ok about holidays? I'm quite lucky that mine is. We're currently waiting to find out if Andrew's request has been honoured!

Oh, maybe the M&M are back on the Gatwick route since I looked. VA site seems to have had a few hassles today.

My boss is GREAT about holidays The issue was someone else who actually took exception to my last dates

EDIT: Going in to discuss it now. Will let you know.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Oh, maybe the M&M are back on the Gatwick route since I looked. VA site seems to have had a few hassles today.

Yeah, the site has been all over the place today.

My boss is GREAT about holidays The issue was someone else who actually took exception to my last dates

EDIT: Going in to discuss it now. Will let you know.

Good luck!

 

[2Tiggies]

Yeah, the site has been all over the place today.
Good luck!

All sorted. No problem at all. She was thrilled that we are able to go again and said it's more than enough notice as none of them book so far out anyway.

I am super happy now and at least I can go for a good air fare if one comes up, without worrying about losing it through cancelling or being told my dates are unsuitable to be away. Come on Continental, do I really have to wait for Friday?!

Does anyone know if you buy flights online directly from the airline's website (i.e. have to make full payment at the time of purchase) whether you can pay with 2 different cards? The credit card I would rather use may not have enough credit if the flights are more than £1100 or so. I could use a different c/card but would prefer to use the first one. Otherwise I will just put the cash into the card to allow it to go through. Shows how prices have gone up - I've never even thought about this before.

 

[disney_princess_85]

All sorted. No problem at all. She was thrilled that we are able to go again and said it's more than enough notice as none of them book so far out anyway.

I get exactly the same thing! Glad you've got it sorted.

Does anyone know if you buy flights online directly from the airline's website (i.e. have to make full payment at the time of purchase) whether you can pay with 2 different cards?

In my experience, no. Andrew and I split the cost of our holidays so we'd love to be able to do this, rather than putting it all on one person's card. Maybe you could do it over the phone?

 

[2Tiggies]

In my experience, no. Andrew and I split the cost of our holidays so we'd love to be able to do this, rather than putting it all on one person's card. Maybe you could do it over the phone?

Could phone. I didn't think of that. I will just use the other card if necessary. Didn't think of that when I used my preferred card this weekend and also put the accommodation deposit on it. The bank won't let me make an additional payment as I just paid it on Thursday. Never mind, I will just let the price of the flights determine what card I use.