Virgin v TCD - sell one to me!

[dee slack]

Sorry to bring this up again, but we're looking to book very soon for Dec 2007 and DH wants to go TCD (who we used for a last minute cheapie years and years ago) and I want Virgin (who we've used for various different hols over the years so are Frequent Virgins) - so if I could ask you for your top 3 points for / against each company we've agreed to make a final choice of who to go with.
Brief outline of what we want: flights from Manchester, 2 nights Royal Pacific Universal, 13 nights AKL, plus car, ALSO we are planning a vow renewal at Disney's wedding pavilion so that's why my choice is Virgin as they can deal with all aspects. DH says that we can get much better plane seats with TCD but I don't know if I'd feel confident with them. Pleeeease help!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I like Virgin they are more expensive but if you are a regular you will get up to 10% off, the flights i feel are better going into Orlando International closer ot the parks.
I find the staff, plane and service very good indeed, generally had one virgin holiday each year ofr the past 5/6 years.

I have tailor made a lot of trips with them very helpful, but I do now book the WDW and Disney cruise bits with Dreams and take a flydrive or book the universal stay at the start with Virgin.

Dreams book all your ADR's and help with disney dinner plan etc.

Whilst i havent travelled with TCD I have flown with their sister company excell airways and we had delays both ways, the orst a massive four hours. They have fewer planes than Virgin so if something goes wrong or there is a hurriciane they cannot react as well.

TCD seem to have less choice, I have asked for quotes before but they seemed to only book out about a 12 month period in advance, Virgin Holidays up to 16 months before.

I am staying at Royal pacifc again this summer its a great hotel and a Virgin flagship hotel with its own service centre in it.

 

[kkymmy]

...who we've used for various different hols over the years so are Frequent Virgins

sorry, i know it's immature but that made me giggle

 

[dee slack]

sorry, i know it's immature but that made me giggle

yeh, a contradiction in terms really isn't it?!!!!
Dee

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Bet Richard Branson knew all thoose jokes in the past!!!

 

[UKDEB]

I haven't flown with TCD, but to answer your question as posed:

3 reasons we fly with Virgin
* Value for money. We are Silver Flying Club members and I am convinced that Virgin's loyalty programme is rare in offering real benefits. We consistently pay no more for PE than many others pay for Economy;
* Familiarity. Other than a few minor grumbles, Virgin has always served us well;
* Reliability. We rarely take-off on time, but we almost always land on time (which is all that really matters. In fact, the less time in the air, the better for me).

3 reasons we won't choose TCD
* Too many stories of plane switches. The lure of their Sunshine First cabin often causes me to consider them, but I would be furious if I ended up on an inferior plane. If it happens for genuine operational reasons, fair enough, but it seems to be routine with TCD.
* Too many stories of delayed flights. Delays are almost invevitable and I try to remain philopsophical, but the charter airlines definitely seem to have a worse record than the schedule airlines.
* Inflexibility. TCD seem to rely on selling packages and, if you want to DIY (which we do), they make things difficult. Also, although they fly daily, you can only book for multiples of 7 days - no good for us, whatsoever.

On balance, I prefer flying into MCO than Sanford, but that isn't an over-riding factor. Virgin is a scheduled airline, TCD is a charter operation. From everything I read, TCD is simply second rate. To be fair, that's probably all they aspire to, but I want something a bit better.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I can only give reasons why we fly with Virgin.

1. My son is Autistic and their special assistance department have always looked after us with bulkhead seats etc, although we now fly PE.

2. A preference for flying into MCO rather than Sanford.

3. On the couple of occasions we have suffered delays we have been extremely well looked after.

I have never flown with TCD, hence feel it would be unfair to judge them.

 

[tony64]

Never flown Virgin but we have been on scheduled flights like American Airlines before.
We have flown TCD 3 times before and will be again this weekend.
for us it comes down to price.
The children are not children from a pricing points of view so as long as we get there ( which has always been on time) I am happy.
the more money I have to spend when I get there the happier I am.

 

[Miffy2003]

Cost would be a prime motivator for me. Sadly I have never found TCD very cheap whenever I have had a quote from them though

 

[mushumadness]

we are using tcd this year because they came back with the best price for eight of us,

next year for the two of us we are treating ourselves to uc on virgin as it will be a long while till we go again (house buying time)

 

[stevechase]

Hi All, you can only really speak as you find, but I would go with Virgin every time. We are not seasoned Disney goes like your selves, but I have booked today for July 2007, Fantastic!

Manchester - Orlando, 21 nights at POR 2 adults, 3 kids July 11th (year tomorrow) 4069.00 all in. I still have to sort tickets but just really needed to book

I am impressed with the price the closest anyone could get to it, was going places or travel city direct or airtours, all just over another grand, 5000.00 +

So Virgin everytime, I think I have had an excellent price

Cheers

Steve

 

[Boo Boo Too]

Depends on budget and how you want to spend your money (often you find that the more you spend on flights, the less that you have to spend on accomodation/meals/etc).

On a class by class basis (i.e. TCD economy vs. Virgin economy, TCD Sunshine Premium vs. Virgin Premium Economy, TCD Sunshine First vs Virgin Upper Class), then I would always choose Virgin over TCD... Virgin have a better product for each class and a scheduled service (vs. a charter service).

However, as mentioned in another thread, IF the choice was TCD Sunshine First vs. Premium Economy (or TCD Sunshine Premium vs. Virgin Economy) it MAY be more difficult to decide. I would look at my budget and then work out what suited me best...

Boo

 

[daveyoghurt]

Having travelled with both I would not hesitate to recommend Virgin, quality of product, service and value for money are the three reasons. I only holiday once every two years and I like the fact that Virgin have consistantly provided a high quality of service.

I won't say any more about TCD other than they were as poor as Virgin were good. My own experiences and those of others are enough to convince me that I'm better off sticking with Virgin!

Great choice to have to make though!

 

[dee slack]

thanks for all your replies, thought I'd finally made my decision (Virgin) but now I've heard we won't get our FV discount off the Disney tickets as they are part of the wedding package (requirement of wedding is to have Disney tickets) and they don't give FV discount on the wedding side of things! Guess I'll try for a discount again, otherwise it's back to the drawing board (again!).
Grrrrrr
Dee

 

[arieliwish]

I just priced up for 2 ad + 2 ch for aug 07 with both virgin and tcd and got a shock! I really thought tcd would come out a lot below virgin.

Travelling with virgin to CBR with car but no insurance came out at 4062 (Sorry keyboard set to US so can't find pound sign! - any tips would be appreciated).

The same trip with tcd came out at 4001.

The travel dates weren't identical but within 3 days of each other. I can get annual car insurance for under 100 with natwest, so that would have to go on top of the virgin price, tcd don't let you take the car ins off the price.

I added pre book seats and extra baggage onto tcd, not sure if these are included with virgin?

We flew with tcd 2 years ago and would be reluctant to do so again, unless price was massively lower than anyone else!

Lynn

 

[gilld]

For me, it's flying into MCO - it does it for us everytime. We have used VA up till now ( apart from our first visit when we went with Britannia - never again!) but would consider BA as well.

 

[dee slack]

Inflexibility. TCD seem to rely on selling packages and, if you want to DIY (which we do), they make things difficult. Also, although they fly daily, you can only book for multiples of 7 days - no good for us, whatsoever.

Grrr this messes up my plan B then! So even if you phone them and plead(!) it's still a rigid 14 days, no extra day allowed? When I looked at booking all the elements direct, it didn't actually save any money, and obviously more hassle and less reproach if everthing didn't fall in to place. Is there a plan 'C'?????

 

[lizzysmith]

3 reasons we won't choose TCD
* Too many stories of plane switches. The lure of their Sunshine First cabin * Inflexibility. TCD seem to rely on selling packages and, if you want to DIY (which we do), they make things difficult. Also, although they fly daily, you can only book for multiples of 7 days - no good for us, whatsoever.

They don't fly daily. For the past few months its been two days per week but they increase it during the school holidays.

Lizzy

 

[mike230652]

UKDEB

Since you've never flown with TCD...well, let's be honest you're of the opinion they're second rate without even using them.....how do you know what they are like when it comes to making a DIY booking??

We've booked with them for January 2007 and have always gone DIY preferring to book our own villas. Not a problem with TCD, and absolutely no pressure from their staff other than to take the booking exactly as we wanted it....let alone "make it difficult " as you state.

As to reliability....why not try reading the FACTS about reliability of airlines ( including TCD and Virgin ) on the "other site"....it might enlighten you.

As for your closing words.......

"From everything I read, TCD is simply second rate. To be fair, that's probably all they aspire to, but I want something a bit better" a comment based on nothing other than hearsay.....and almost as offensive as another poster. You're telling all those who use / intend to use TCD they are dealing with a second rate company .........condescending or what??

I'd prefer to listen instead to JohnnySharp....

I really wish more people would talk from experience rather than go into the usual pointless criticism based on what they've allegedly heard........and No..it's not because I'm flying with TCD this time...... I just prefer to hear opinions based on fact.....


Mike

 

[Queenie]

Why do we always fly TCD over Virgin? One reason, cost! I just priced up two identical holidays based on our own trip this year (I've had to use dates 1 day ahead of our own as our TCD flight is now fully booked.) Hopefully this is the most objective viewpoint you can possibly get to compare the two as there's no opinions or hearsay involved! Here's a costing for you:

Based on: 3 adults flying Sept 22nd for 14 nights - flydrive
Included: Flights, Car hire (2dr compact), fully inclusive car insurance, all taxes & booking fees etc.

Cost with TCD: £945 (£315 p.p)
Cost with Virgin: £1914.30 (£638.10 p.p)

Sorry but no matter how much we'd love extra security you may get from Virgin's extra planes etc, there's no way we can justify that kind of price increase when we struggle to afford to go with TCD!