greyman,

Sorry to hear about your flight cancellation. I wouldn't let this put you off flying with Virgin in the future as this is far from the norm. I remember hearing about these cancellations a while back on the MAN-UVF flights. It's not like you have any other choices from MAN either. I'm sure they could put you on a sooner connecting flight, there are plenty up to MAN throughout the day.

Darren

Thanks Dazbo5 , thats the real bug bear , the time waiting at gatwick , we`ll have to start all over again now though .

Probably a silly question..

But me and the girlfriend will be booking a flight to Barbados for september, and were tempted to upgrade to Premium Economy @ £310pp.

Is it actually worth upgrading? As far as i can see from the Virgin website, we will get a meal with proper cutlery and some extra leg room! Most other 'benefits' are the same as a standard economy seat as far as i can make out!

Has anybody flown with Virgin on both economy and premium? Any major differences?

Thanks

gr123,

You are basically paying for more room. Seat pitch in economy is 31", PE is 38" so far roomier. If you get the upper deck in the 747-400, it's far quieter and more exclusive then the main deck. In addition to what economy [passengers get, you get faster check-in (premium check-in), priority boarding & disembarkment, PE amenity kit, meal you know about, and priority baggage reclaim. If you don't think you'll get value for money with the extra room, then it's probably not worth it.

Darren

Thanks Darren

Hi,
I wouldn't bother upgrading to PE as it's not that great. I've flown both return PE & Upper Class to Orlando with Virgin & didn't rate their PE product much. If you do decide to book it, the upper deck is quieter, but the extra leg room isn't great, especially when the person in front reclines for 8 hours & I found it really restrictive.
As for priority disembarking, bear in mind that you will be held on the stairs for a while, whilst they let some of the economy passengers off first & they even do this when flying Upper Class too. I'd say the only advantage is your luggage coming off a bit quicker.
Oh, also, the LGW & MAN fleet still haven't had the new PE seats fitted yet (the purple leather ones you see on the web), so they may be a bit tatty.
I'd rather pay the money for the exit seats in economy at check-in than fly PE again, but that's just my opinion Have a look at the trip reports for your flight number on V-Flyer.

Ang

Does anyone know when the planes will be upgraded at gatwick?

greyman

I booked flights last year for MAN - UVF for April this year. I was informed by Virgin Atlantic last OCT that they were cancelled. Also offered BA via Gatwick. As it was only for one week, we cancelled. Full refund. Can't believe Virgin Holidays are being so slow in informing everyone.

BMi are also dropping all their Caribbean Manchester routes. Apparently we in the North do not provide enough air lift! So they only fly to Barbados now, I wonder if they'll drop that? So you Southerners, if you want to avoid us Northerners, keep out of Barbados, we'll all be hanging out there.

Aliceadventures,

Bmi have dropped long haul routes from Manchester because Lufthansa, their new owners have redeployed their long haul aircraft (Airbus A332's) to Heathrow to operated middle eastern flights. It's a shame because bmi were pretty good and in combination with Virgin Holidays, provided additional destinations from Manchester that we now don't have. Luckily, I went to the places now dropped before they were pulled!

Darren

hello, as you can only book your exit seats at check in & not before hand, what do you think the chances are of them beeing available on the manchester to orlando flights? if we get there early would you think there would still be some available? i know no one really knows, just wondered what your opinions/experiences were of them selling out quick? thanks.

bubble123,

Unless you get there very early, slim! Chances are there won't be any available but if you don't ask, you don't get. There are restrictions relating to whether you can occupy these seats to bear in mind, eg if travelling with under 16's etc.

Darren

well when we go on holiday we normally pre book them before which is normally fine, im still really hoping to be able to go, waiting to hear on visa application, but like to be organised & ask questions ahead of time. so check in opens 3 hours before, do you think if we arrived 4 hours before we stand a good/better chance? virgin dont have a night before check in at manchester do they? thanks.

Hi Dazbo, going back to Jamaica for Christmas and New Year this year but going with Virgin instead of Thomson.
I will be flying out on the 22nd December from LGW to Montego Bay and flying back on the 7th January 2010 but from Kingston to LGW.
I have been told that the return flight leaves Kingston at 15.35pm, but having checked the Virgin website that is the summer schedule time and not the winter schedule time of 17.15pm.
Could you please just clarify what time the flight will leave Kingston and which plane we will be flying on.
I am miss organisation and need to book the Tim Air flight from Negril to Kingston.

Many thanks
Ellen

elliemaybelle,

Your flight details according to the information I have are as follows:

Dep LGW 1145, Arr MBJ 1645, Boeing 747-400, Flight No: VS065
Dep KIN 1930, Arr LGW 0910 +1, Boeing 747-400, Flight No: VS070

Darren

Just an update on my previous post regarding Virgin , we have now recieved a full refund after 4 weeks of calls to our travel agent and them phoning virgin , its put all our plans out the window and we now are going to Aruba instead but in June now. Thanks Virgin but never again for us .

Up to 600 jobs going at Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic is responding to a drop in demand for air travel by cutting 600 jobs.

The airline said it was continuing to reshape its business to ensure it remains strong during the downturn.

Virgin is currently consulting with staff about the possibility of up to 600 redundancies across the business.

"We are keeping our staff fully informed and will be working closely with staff and union representatives in order to find ways to protect as many jobs as possible and avoid compulsory redundancies," the carrier confirmed.

Chief executive Steve Ridgway said: "No airline is immune from the recession and we continue to reshape our business to ensure we're in the best position for the longer term.

"With falling demand for travel, airlines have to reduce their costs through a variety of measures including cutting capacity, freezing pay, unpaid leave and, regrettably, adjusting staff numbers. We need to stay healthy so we're ready to grow again when economic conditions allow."

The job losses came as Ryanair announced that 200 jobs would go as it reduces capacity from Dublin (see separate TravelMole story).

British Airways has already culled hundreds of managers and has forecast a £150 million operating loss for this financial year.

With permission from Travelmole

Hi we are flying to las vegas on 25/08/09 on VS043 and from orlando to gatwick on 08/09/09 on VS016 does anyone know what the seat configuration will be as on virgin's website there are 3 different ones!!

orlandobaby,

Your flights are operated by the LGW/MAN suite Boeing 747-400's. Seating plans are on V-flyer. Whether it'll be config 2 or 3 will depend on the aircraft assigned to the flight on the particular day.

Darren

Darren, have you got any photos of the new extra legroom seats on any of the LGW/Man fleet by any chance - even v-flyer don't have them, probably because they all seem to fly Upper class on that particular forum.

The only other issue I can see is I would only pay for the ones at the rear, no way would I pay even £30 for rows in the 50s by the galleys, do the check in staff know which actual aircraft is on the stand? I think I'll have to print out which aircraft has which rows of extra legroom seats, so I can ask at the desk.