who to book with

[twinton]

i was wondering who you can book with but still fl with Virgin or can you only book direct to go with them? i have seen prices for the same hotel cheaper than virgin but i have always said i would only fly long haul with them because they are so good with little ones

 

[Groovee]

i was wondering who you can book with but still fl with Virgin or can you only book direct to go with them? i have seen prices for the same hotel cheaper than virgin but i have always said i would only fly long haul with them because they are so good with little ones

I'm sure my SIL booked with Thomas cook last year and they flew virgin.

 

[heatherbelle]

Have a look at teletext for companies who sell Virgin flights, they will also do the car hire. In the past, I have used Mercury Travel and skydeals. If you shop around, you will find cheaper prices for your flights and car hire.

As for your accomodation, you can do this seperately via the internet, or through the agent you book with. The above agents were cheaper for us, than booking direct, and they can get most hotels.

Also think about renting a condo, there are some lovely ones close to Disney if you want to stay off site. Emerald Isle gets good reviews and there will be people on here who have stayed. The prices are the same as hotel rooms, but with all the benefits of a house, a washing machine and kitchen. Good if you have little ones. You can get a 2 bed for around 350 per week.

I would recommend virgin for your flight, although they are not as good as they use to be. If you are planning on booking late, then look at Thomas Cook. Thomsons have also upgraded their long haul planes, but I haven't flown with them, I also go with Virgin.

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

We have booked with Thomas Cook signature and are flying with Virgin.

 

[Claire L]

Just book the flight with Virgin Atlantic and then do the rest yourselves. Otherwise Jetlife use VA but again their hotel prices may be quite high.

Claire

 

[carolfoy]

companies who use virgin atlantic flights:

Jetlife
Virgin Hols
Funway
Thomas cook signature
airline farebank
premier
travel 2
key to america
north america travel service
tradewinds

and many more!

 

[NeilDrum]

We booked with Thomas Cook Signature last year that flew with VIRGIN and it was a bargain!!!

£450 each inc 14 nights at Quality Inn International.

Have fun

Claire

 

[JoeSam]

We had a good deal, and good service with Jetsave last yr. Only downside was not being able to use the online check in.

 

[wicket2005]

We have booked with Thomas Cook signature and are flying with Virgin.

Same here.

 

[carolfoy]

We had a good deal, and good service with Jetsave last yr. Only downside was not being able to use the online check in.

you can always use all the virgin atlantic facilities even if you book through anotrher consolidator, you only need the unique virgin atlantic booking reference (locater) that tour ops won't give you unless you ask them for it!
but theres nothing to stop you from using online checkin or twilight or downtown check in (although there is a charge for DTD check in if you're not using virgin holidays)

 

[Chilly]

I booked with Expedia last year and flew with Virgin.

 

[JoeSam]

you can always use all the virgin atlantic facilities even if you book through anotrher consolidator, you only need the unique virgin atlantic booking reference (locater) that tour ops won't give you unless you ask them for it!
but theres nothing to stop you from using online checkin or twilight or downtown check in (although there is a charge for DTD check in if you're not using virgin holidays)

Hi Carol, I did get the booking ref from Jetsave, and sent quite a few emails back & forth to VA customer services, the upshot was that if they let me use the "manage your flights" bit, I would be able to see all other seats that were booked as a block by Jetsave. Customer Services did say that they would try to resolve that loophole in the future, so maybe they have, but if this is important feature to you, you should check first before booking.

 

[TraceyL]

you can always use all the virgin atlantic facilities even if you book through anotrher consolidator, you only need the unique virgin atlantic booking reference (locater) that tour ops won't give you unless you ask them for it!
but theres nothing to stop you from using online checkin or twilight or downtown check in (although there is a charge for DTD check in if you're not using virgin holidays)

Sorry - that is not correct. Even though we have our locator, Virgin have confirmed that we cannot use any of the online facilities (seats/meals requests, API, check in etc) We also could not request seats by phone until the TA had realeased our names to VA (approx 5 weeks before flying) by which time of course there were no pre-bookable seats left.

Be very careful who you book your Virgin flights with as we were told at the time time of booking that we would be able to access our booking online (I specifically confirmed this). This we later found to be false. We were also told we had seats booked - this we also found to be false The TA in question refuses to acknowledge or enter into any discussion about any of the 'alleged' lies I was told!

You need to weigh up the savings against the reduced benefits

 

[carolfoy]

well I book hundreds of people a year with companies other than VH (my biggest operators are Gold medal/travel2 and Jetlife) and I always manage to pre book their seats and meals, even do their advance passenger info using the virgin atlantic public website . You were totally misled, with your 6 digit reference anyone can access your booking.

 

[TraceyL]

Sorry Carol but Virgin & my Travel Agent have confirmed this both verbally & in writing. It is a group booking (that we have part of) and we cannot access it online. It is a glitch in their system that they have acknowledged. I am not the only person to have been told this - your customers are lucky that you manage to provide a service that my particular TA can't. i will not be booking with this particular company again
btw - I have given my locator & all references off my flight tickets to another Travel Agent and she cannot access my booking online either.

 

[carolfoy]

ah, all becomes clear then Tracey, a group booking can't be accessed apologies for confusion!

 

[TraceyL]

I don't have a group booking - but unfortunately that is how my booking has been processed - as a block booking by the TA with unknown other pax to fufill their allocation.
I just wish they hadn't lied to me

 

[carolfoy]

thats really bad Tracey, I hope they sort it out for you.

 

[TraceyL]

Thanks Carol - I just wanted to warn others that cheaper isn't necessarily better.
We'll find out at check in whether we get to sit together - luckily we are planning on staying the night before so will be using twilight check in.

Would we have booked if we'd known about the restrictions? Who knows We did save a considerable amount of money. But for them to tell me what I wanted to hear, to continue to insist we had booked seats even after I'd confirmed with VA that this was not the case & to ignore my requests for an explanation is unforgiveable & unprofessional.

Sorry to hijack the thread for a moan

 

[JoeSam]

Thanks Carol - I just wanted to warn others that cheaper isn't necessarily better.
We'll find out at check in whether we get to sit together - luckily we are planning on staying the night before so will be using twilight check in.

Would we have booked if we'd known about the restrictions? Who knows We did save a considerable amount of money. But for them to tell me what I wanted to hear, to continue to insist we had booked seats even after I'd confirmed with VA that this was not the case & to ignore my requests for an explanation is unforgiveable & unprofessional.

Sorry to hijack the thread for a moan

Tracey, I went through the exact same process as you, getting confirmation in writing from Virgin that I couldn't use the "extras" as Jetlife had booked my family in with other people as well, this is apparently how lots of TAs do it. I've got to say though that Jetsave did book us seats together, and a kids meal without us even asking, so it wasn't the same bother to us as it has been to you. No complaints from me about the Jetsave service as a whole, and we also saved a ton of money.....