Hi
I am looking to go to Florida in 2010, when am I likely to be able to book flights etc. Last time I went was 2 years ago we went with Travel city Direct, I understand they have been taken over by Virgin, I have also travelled with Virgin.
Does anyone know if it is cheaper to book via virgin sight or an agent? I am looking to book for August 2010

Scouse mags,

You Can Book Flights Direct With Virgin Atlantic About A Year Before.

Travel City Direct Are Now Operating Under Virgin.

Gower

I don't think you will be able to book for August 2010 until end February 2009 for Orlando. Even then that is likely to be only a limited selection of holidays. The main brochure normally comes out at the end of April each year.

Flew with virgin from mco-man on the 7/12/08 where our in-flight entertainment did not work neither did the night light or the call button, there was no empty seats so couldn't move and was offered 2 dvd players to share between 4 adults. 1 of the cabin crew told us that the system was not working on the outbound flight!
I e-mailed virgin and there reply was basicly Tough what do you expect us to do we do not have engineers on board. I would like to take this further but to whom??? any ideas.

Why do you want to take it further?
IFE is not a requirement of a flight, they got you there in one piece did they not?
You paid for a flight not a cinema ticket.
You got two DVD players, probably more than others in the same situation.
I suppose you "expect" some money back for your inconvineience?
Bad Virgin not having 350 DVD players on board and not having an engineer on board.

bluemoon,

I have to agree with Denny Crane, what outcome would you like? Cabin crew did what they could in the situation and offered you an alternative. Aircraft are very complex machines and minor faults occur to systems such as IFE from time to time. They can't afford to take an aircraft out of service because a couple of screens are inoperative and don't have £200 million replacement aircraft lying around! You'll not get anything out of Virgin because they supplied portable DVD players as a replacement.

Darren

In response to Denny Crane and his comments, first let me ask do you by any chance work for Virgin? They got you there in one piece is a ridiculous comment to make! Are you suggesting that airlines should put a surcharge on your flight if you manage to land in one piece. My point, as minor as it may seem was quite simply that out of the whole flight our IFE was not working and the other problems I mentioned. When I book flights I take into account the seats available, meals and yes IFE and book and pay for my flights accordingly. What do I expect??? Quite simply what I booked and payed for, have you been on a long haul flight in the dark where you have no light to enable you to read, no tv screen working all which help to break up the monotiny of a long flight especially if you have a fear of flying.

No I do not work for Virgin.
They have carrioed out their contractual requirements, yet you are the one coming up with ridiculous "Surcharges" statement.
The point was made that they are tasked with getting you there safe and sound. thats what they did. The fact the light did not work above your seat is not a cause for complaint

It seems unrealistic to want compensation for what at the end of the day is a nice 'added extra' that just didnt happen to be working on your flight. The contract is to get you from a to b safely and they did.

Virgin aren't stupid they will have something in ther small print to cover the IFE going down or a light bulb breaking.

Interestingly enough, in the Virgin holidays brouchure (page 25 of the latest one)
it clearly states the following:

Post edited for copyright reasons. The information which was quoted can be found by clicking HERE and scrolling down to the final paragraph of the "Keeping your kids entertained" section.
David HT Mod

Thats in a dialogue box on the page not even hidden in the Gerneral T &C 's

Sorry my apologies maybe its me, but where does the word 'compensation' come into my post?

bluemoon wrote:

Flew with virgin from mco-man on the 7/12/08 where our in-flight entertainment did not work neither did the night light or the call button, there was no empty seats so couldn't move and was offered 2 dvd players to share between 4 adults. 1 of the cabin crew told us that the system was not working on the outbound flight!
I e-mailed virgin and there reply was basicly Tough what do you expect us to do we do not have engineers on board. I would like to take this further but to whom??? any ideas. :que

Well you have written to them once already, so what did you have in mind by 'I would like to take this further' ?
Having alerted them to a problem which they must have been aware of when you complained on the flight, what else is it that you want ? Some kind of grovelly apology for something that was clearly out of their control ?

I assume the stewardess said sorry at the time when handing over the portable DVD players.

What outcome do you want ?

bluemoon,

I have to agree with what most other people have said. An airline simply can't afford to delay a plane or take it out of service because a few ife screens are broken. When you think about it would you rather have been delayed because they had to bring engineers onboard to start fixing a minor problem? Did you also know that if a flight is delayed then the Airline must pay extra, rather high, taxes and charges for using the gate/stand outside of their allocated time slot? To the airline the priority would have been to get going and try to then do whatever they could to help you out - in this case provide you with a standby ife system. I know of a few airlines who would have said to you onboard the aircraft, tough, there is nothing we can do. I personally think that it was pretty good of Virgin to have supplied the portable DVD players to you. As others have said, at the end of the day, you paid for the flight not a cinema ticket.

Alasdair

Has anyone on HT used the Virgin V room at Gatwick yet who could let me know if its worth the money ? Is it just like a normal exec lounge with drinks, snakes, internet etc ?

Hi,

We have booked to use the V room when we go back to Florida on 29th of this month... 17 sleeps!!

We booked it on recommendation from friends who have used it and thought it was really good. They said it was spacious, excellent runway views and with good facilities for the whole family, kids area, newspapers, free internet and gaming area with PS3, good range of complimentary snacks and drinks etc.

We paid £42 for 4 adults and a child for myself, hubby and kids 16,14 and 9. They have a special offer on at the mo. Its good value for us as we would usually buy food and drinks for the 5 of us costing as much!

Will let you know if we are as pleased with it as our friends!!

Oh, and you also get fast track security with a V room booking
Apparently though, it books up really early as they can only take 180 people a day.

Kelly

Thanks Kelly.

That's really helpful, when I can sort out where I am staying I think I will go for it provided there are places left. In a way I am glad they restrict entry though otherwise it defeats the object of it being a bit special if its bursting at the seams.

17 sleeps ! how lucky are you. I hope you have a wonderful time.

Will be brill if you come back on and tell us how you get on, as its something new.

Doe

on my Premium Economy flight to vegas in August my return seat did not go back and my Tv did not work so I complained s soon as we sat down.

I recieved 10000 extra miles for me and my partner and a huge apology.

doepsmc,

I have posted on the America forum as well but V-Flyer.com has a thread on the V-Room.

http://www.v-flyer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=21611

Many thanks. I picked up the link.