greenshoes,

It's normally 12 months in advance. They don't fly to those destinations though, they use partner airlines. If it's virgin Holidays you're looking at, you'll probably fly with Emirates or the national carrier.

Darren

Virgin customer service said they would release them in October 2011 for travel next November. They said that you book your package through Virgin but you are on another airline. We are looking at booking with them as they have nice hotels but it is really frustrating not being able to even get prices for next year with them!

Did you speak to Virgin Atlantic customer services or Virgin Holidays customer services?

I suspect if Virgin Atlantic and you asked about flights for November 2012 they would have told you about flights not being bookable this far out. The thing is they don't fly to any of the destinations you mention.

Virgin Holidays however have those three destinations in their Worldwide brochure (I got my copy about three weeks ago). Flights are with various other airlines but not Virgin Atlantic.

It is Virgin Holidays sorry. They said they will use BA, Air Seychelles etc. You still can't book any Indian Ocean online. Sorry this might be more a TA question.

Could you ring them for prices, or go into a travel agent, rather than book online?

I went into our local Virgin Holidays yesterday and they are saying now that it will be end of November/early December before we can book anything. I think I might take my custom to Kuoni who will take the booking now. I appreciate that it is a year in advance but I have booked holidays to the Med further in the distance!

Hello,

Just looking for a second, third, forth etc opinion...

Looking at booking MAN to MCO and trying to decide which AC to use. (as long as it does not change or go tech)

Currently got the 2 options of the 747-4 or the A330-3 both on the same date but a few hours apart.

Flights is for 2 adults and 1 child, (2 years old) flying Eco.

The best flight times for us appeared to be the route served by the A330. (VS056 & 57) rather than Flight number VS073 & 74 which are served by the 747.

Here are my pros and cons of both flying in Eco.

Pros
A330 - new to the fleet, new PE with touch screen etc, nice "fresh" environment.

747, - Never been on a 747.
Seat config, 3 window seats would be ideal for our party size.

Cons
A330 - Seat config, would mean we will have to be sat in the centre row in a 4 seat bank unless we manage to secure one of the last 5 rows.
747 - Cabin is looking a tired now and PE not as good as A330.

I guess that these flights tend to be 100% full otherwise they would only do 1 flight per day.

Any advice or recommendation would be much appreciated.

Thanks

RickTT,

To be honest, I would just go with the cheapest. The A333 is nice, but so is the 747. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference and what suits your needs best and fits your budget.

Darren

Dazbo HT Mod wrote:

RickTT,

To be honest, I would just go with the cheapest. The A333 is nice, but so is the 747. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference and what suits your needs best and fits your budget.

Darren

Thanks Darren, the flights are the same cost and only 2 hours apart on the same day.

I'm thinking maybe each one, one outbound and one inbound then get both experiences.

Cheers

Rick

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

RickTT,

Personally, I would go with the A333 if price is out of the equation. I love flying on the 747, especially upstairs but the A333 is a lovely aircraft to fly on and with the more modern interior, given the price, that would be what I would choose. Good idea though, choose a different one on each leg then you get the best of both worlds. I did that going to Mauritius for the A343 out and 744 back!

Darren

Thanks Darren,

I have a another question....

Virgin offer child seats on their AC, my son will be 2 years old when we travel, can we request one of these ??

I guess it would be best for him to be in a seat with a "proper" harness to stop him trying to get up, but seen other small kids around his age in the past in their own seat..

Is it something we should request??

Thanks

Rick

Gone for the A333 as the fights times worked in our favour.

Cheers

Rick

I would have gone for the 747. If 2 engines fail in a Jumbo you will get there, but if 2 engines fail in a 330 you will be swimming.

"4 engines 4 long haul" I once saw on a plane, I forget which airline it was.

Qman wrote:

"4 engines 4 long haul" I once saw on a plane, I forget which airline it was.

That was Virgins slogan up to the introduction of the twin jets to their fleet. Engine reliability has come on leaps and bounds in recent years making twins just as safe as quads.

Darren

MRSMG and I are off for our annual holiday on Sunday... flying VA Gatwick to Havana... we booked over 9 months ago...as is my habit I paid off the "flight component" of the costs immediately to get the locator number to pre-book our seats.. (upper deck Premium economy).... the seats we wanted were free and I booked them....

Didn't think anything more until today when I logged onto their website just to have a peek... imagine my dimay when I found that our seats were no longer booked!!!

I fact I was lucky to get two seats together!!!

I phoned VA to express my disatisfaction and was told that due to "reconfiguration of the planes that the booking process had been taken down and when it was re-instated they couldn't fit people back into their booked seats... I pointed out that as far as I could see that the configuration on the upper deck was unchanged, therefore why had we been affected...? only to be referred back to their Ts&Cs time and time again...

My point being that I'm a frequent flyer with them, they've got my email and mob number... they could have taken the trouble to inform me!!!

Lost my custom in future...

Doesn't really surprise me Merseygull - I've got to the point where I'd prefer to fly Cubana than Virgin! As I live in Scotland I'm seriously thinking of following the example of friends and if I can't gey flights to Holguin, flying to Havana with Air France via Paris. Given that I usually fly down to Gatwick to use Cubana it's not really any less convenient but much more comfortable.

Anything other than use Virgin which I've grown to hate - and which in all seriousness suggested routing me via Gatwick/Newark/Mexico City/Havana in the spring of this year. When I phoned to query why this route (at a helluva price!) was the only one coming up on their website I was told that the direct Gatwick/Havana flights were sold out which is fair enough but did they really think that anybody would consider a route based on four connecting flights - 5 for me by the time I'd got to Gatwick? Even at a bargain basement price - which this certainly wasn't - I can't imagine anybody actually booking such a route from the UK!

SM

The seat request is just that, a request. There is nothing stopping them changing your seat right up until you board, at least you know now so have been able to request another couple of seats together. Even British Airways or the charter airlines who charge for seat selection can change your seats. Virgin offerer a complimentry service in regards to seat selection and its a bonus not a right.

The seating reconfiguration will ultimately benefit all of virgins customers unfortunately it is causing some problems in the short term.

It could have been you that I spoke to on the Phone this afternoon.....

I DO understand... BUT, as I pointed out, as a "valued customer" and having "booked" so far ahead for this special occasion I find the lack of communication very poor...

Just MHO

ATB,J.

I don't work for Virgin, I use them a lot for my own travels so used to their policy. Every customer is important though and has a special reason for their seat selection, no one should be treated any better or worse just because of a past history, even gold flying club members don't get the email. Virgins current IT systems cannot handle contacting everyone when their seat changes, The refurb programme is only happening once it would not be economical to pay all that money to update the IT systems, on top of the refurb cost.

There is information on the Virgin website about your problem- they have been open an honest about the refurb and seat requests, Virgin have many a fault, but this, i don't think they have.

http://virginatlantic.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/603/~/premium-economy-seat-reservations-from-15-june-2011-until-01-april-2012