Virgin or BA

[lgp1]

Thanks everyone I think i'll fly Virgin again.

 

[sandshal]

Ah!!!!!!!!!!! So Mr Kenobi lives next door to Mr Branson does he !!!!!!! It's all falling into place now !!!!!!!!! Dark Side my foot !!!!!!! Obi, if you're watching please tell Mr B - myself (and about 300 others !!!!!!! at Brooke Marine) built his record breaking powerboat - so favour for a favour - when you're next weeding your borders ask him if my family can have 4 seats together on our 9 hour flight home instead of 3 one side of the plane and 1 the other !!!!

PS - I am guessing you were joking with the next door neighbour bit !!!!

 

[Hilary]

ask him if my family can have 4 seats together on our 9 hour flight home instead of 3 one side of the plane and 1 the other !!!!

That's one of my reasons for giving my vote to BA - I get soooooo cross with Virgin when they confirm your pre-requested seats but then don't deliver them Also, I find the BA seats (economy) slightly more comfortable than Virgin's.

That being said, I would be quite happy to fly with Virgin, BA or Britannia (the three airlines we've used previously for Orlando trips) so, for me, the choice is always down to the best combination of convenience and price - and that has meant we've often ended up with Britannia from our regional airport

PS - I am guessing you were joking with the next door neighbour bit !!!!

Actually, I don't think it was a joke .....

 

[Laurafoster]

That's one of my reasons for giving my vote to BA - I get soooooo cross with Virgin when they confirm your pre-requested seats but then don't deliver them Also, I find the BA seats (economy) slightly more comfortable than Virgin's.



I dont think that problem is specific to Virgin - we have had that problem with BA twice before and our friends also had this problem. They were a party of 3 so easy enought to seat together you would think....but BA sat 2 near the front of the plane and 1 near the back of the plane?!

My vote definately goes to virgin for 1 reason - their customer service. For the last 3 summers they have had endless problems and did not deal with them or the affected customers in a very good way. Some people ended up with a 5hours+delay on the flight to orlando and no hot food on the plane this year! Not ideal!

 

[Hilary]

I dont think that problem is specific to Virgin - we have had that problem with BA twice before and our friends also had this problem. They were a party of 3 so easy enought to seat together you would think....but BA sat 2 near the front of the plane and 1 near the back of the plane?!

But did BA offer seats together as a pre-request and then allocate different ones, or were they allocated at check-in?

I'm certainly not saying BA (or any airline) is perfect, but I don't like being given the option to pre-request certain seats with Virgin, have them confirmed as requested, but then find they've been changed by the time we check-in. I have witnessed 'it's-the-squeaky-wheel-that-gets-the-grease' in action at Virgin check-in, with the couple in front of us making a fuss until the checkin staff agreed to give them someone else's pre-requested seats.

As I said before, I base my choice on many factors when booking flights but, in my experience, I haven't found Virgin to be mcuh better / worse than anyone else.

 

[sandshal]

Hilary,

What a breath of fresh air to hear somebody actually question Virgin's service - personally if I could turn the clock back I would have booked with BA - unfortunately cancelling your flight, rebooking you onto an earlier flight where you are unable to pre-book 4 seats together 8 months in advance, is seen by Virgin as a "minor change" I for one will use them this time as I cannot change without losing our deposit, however, unless we receive better service than we have received so far - next time I shall try sunshine upper class for the same money or BA's Economy.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have always flown Virgin and been happy with them, however, I do not feel the quality of service and attention to detail is as good as it used to be.

Would try BA but they do not fly direct from Manchester , which I have never understood why.

I just do not feel BA are fully geared up for Florida in general and VA are still our choice. You only have to see the Virgin brouchure to see how committed they are to Florida, the range of holidays/fly-drives/vacation homes/2 centre holidays is vast - I am not even sure BA have a dedicated brochure?

 

[sandshal]

Yes Johnnysharp2 I agree totally, twilight check in and DD check in are very handy and Virgin are very geared for Orlando but are they worth another £600 over TCD? - I guess its not really fair to compare until Ive tried all options. I just feel IMHO Virgin havn't really earned their extra money so far this time.

I'd be interested to hear comments from anybody whos tried all three.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Yes Johnnysharp2 I agree totally, twilight check in and DD check in are very handy and Virgin are very geared for Orlando but are they worth another £600 over TCD? - I guess its not really fair to compare until Ive tried all options. I just feel IMHO Virgin havn't really earned their extra money so far this time.

I'd be interested to hear comments from anybody whos tried all three.

They are possibly not worth the extra no..it just that our son is Autistic and VA have always been pretty good with us over the years, it's just a safe bet for us especially as they fly direct to MCO.

£899 for a fly-drive next August, what we are paying, is very high though, so if people prefer TCD then I can understand why.

 

[Frances999]

...... is seen by Virgin as a "minor change"

I believe that Virgin's terms and conditions are in-line with the entire commercial airline industry. I expect other carriers would have viewed this scenario in exactly the same way.

PS - The fact that you cannot pre-request your seats together in no way implies you will not be able to sit together. As long as you arrive early at check-in (or do online check-in), then there is an extremely high probability there will be seats available (which are all together). Only a small % are allocated for pre-requests. Personally, I view what Virgin has done as a minor change - all they have done is changed you to an earlier flight (presumably on the same day?).

 

[Laurafoster]

But did BA offer seats together as a pre-request and then allocate different ones, or were they allocated at check-in?
QUOTE]

Yes they had pre requested them and had it confirmed etc - the main problem was that they were travelling with their disabled daughter!! and they were still changed! Although to be fair im sure my friend didnt mind too much as it meant he got to sit on his own in peace and quiet while his wife sat with a 5yr old kid all excited about disney lol.

In my opinion i dont think there is much difference between Virgin and BA - ive had excellent experiences with both and bad experiences with both. The reason i always go with virgin is because ive always got a cheaper deal with them but if BA offered a cheaper one i wouldnt hesitate in going with them.

The only thing that puts me off slightly is the problems BA have had the last 3 summers.

 

[Hilary]

The only thing that puts me off slightly is the problems BA have had the last 3 summers.

I wouldn't argue with that! We flew out with BA (to Vancouver, not to Orlando) the day after their strike action in 2003 - the uncertainty definitely took the shine off our holiday anticipation that year (although we encountered no problems at all, as it happened) and made me slightly more concerned about booking with them since then.

I still think it's worth weighing up all the airlines available to find the 'best fit' for your trip

 

[Miffy2003]

I wouldn't argue with that! We flew out with BA (to Vancouver, not to Orlando) the day after their strike action in 2003 - the uncertainty definitely took the shine off our holiday anticipation that year (although we encountered no problems at all, as it happened) and made me slightly more concerned about booking with them since then.

I still think it's worth weighing up all the airlines available to find the 'best fit' for your trip

We were in Gatwick the night before when the Heathrow strike was in full swing - we had read (here actually) froom someone whose hubby worked in BA that Gatwick were definitely going out on strike too, the next day.

DH & I did not sleep at all that night with the worry - though no strike action did in fact impact us at all, the thought that it might was a concern to say the least (we live quite a way from Gatwick, did not have the car with us and it would have been challenging / expensive to get home and then back to Gatwick when the flights were sorted a few days later - not to mention missing some holiday).

I have to say, I am not sure it would deter me from booking again though.

 

[Strommie]

I used to work for BA so still automatically look at their flights first however we have flown on Virgin as well as we prefer their direct Manchester service, and the DTD check in. In the future, I think we would look at the direct Virgin service first, but I still enjoy travelling with BA.