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#938377 by TimCrawley
13 Sep 2017, 11:30
Just thought I'd post some info on my latest booking (a 'last minute' to Jamaica as the VS UC fare round trip was under £500 above the Economy fare round trip - I simply couldn't resist!).

Used to be that if you hit the Flight+Hotel on the VS website it effectively took you to the VH website and there was no real difference over going direct to the VH website in the first place. Now it takes you to the travelplus section of the VS website which gives different prices (usually cheaper) compared to the VH website.

One difference to note is that VH bookings (at least to Carib destinations) do include a shared transfer to/from the hotel at the carib end whereas VS Flight+Hotel do not include a transfer BUT if you do book the private car transfer with VS Flight+Hotel it costs the same as upgrading the VH shared transfer to a private car transfer anyway.

For website pricing - ignoring any extra VS Flying Club or Virgin Holidays Frequent discounts that you would get with a telephone booking - the two routes give prices of VS Flight+Hotel £3208.28 compared to VH £3431.09 for the flights, private car transfers in resort and the 14N in the hotel (Secrets Wild Orchid for me this trip). So a nice couple of hundred quid extra saved :-)

The other interesting thing is the travelplus part of the VS website FINALLY accepts the new FC numbers at time of booking.
#938378 by marshy11
13 Sep 2017, 11:44
We tend to book separately. I would only say that price isn't the only thing to factor in. There can be a HUGE difference in how you are treated if something happens beyond the package company's/flight company's/hotel's control.

Irma is a good way to highlight that separate bookings may mean that changes/assistance in onward travel aren't necessarily easy or even possible to do. Booking a package should give you better protection as a whole. It wasn't too long ago the Iceland ash cloud caused havoc. Insurance will certainly help, but sometimes it's a case of having a great holiday without a care or having to sort out your own return arrangements/hotel stays etc.
#938380 by TimCrawley
13 Sep 2017, 11:51
You're 100% right Marshy, separate flight and hotel bookings can be problematic. Fortunately the VS Flight+Hotel route still results in a load of emails from VH themselves with a VH Booking Reference (and an ATOL certificate) so it's normally still treated as a package from them as far as I can see.
#938396 by marshy11
13 Sep 2017, 20:21
Well that sounds like a double whammy! Well done on the "find". Now you've got to make sure you book and don't look back! Nothing worse than rechecking months down the line *unless it goes in your favour!
#938400 by allymc316
13 Sep 2017, 23:07
Just a quick note. Last month whilst booking our family holiday to Orlando I came across the flight and hotel section of virgin atlantics site and whilst cheaper it would not allow me to pay by deposit but wanted full upfront payment which wasn't feasible for us.

If you can stump up the full amount it seems a great option
#938402 by TimCrawley
14 Sep 2017, 06:44
by allymc316 » 13 Sep 2017, 22:07

Just a quick note. Last month whilst booking our family holiday to Orlando I came across the flight and hotel section of virgin atlantics site and whilst cheaper it would not allow me to pay by deposit but wanted full upfront payment which wasn't feasible for us.

If you can stump up the full amount it seems a great option


Quite right about the deposit issue, thanks for highlighting. I hadn't spotted that as this was a last minute booking so well within the 12 weeks before departure when VH required full payment too.
#938404 by Dinnerlady
14 Sep 2017, 08:44
Totally agree... I priced up our next holiday through Virgin as a package and then looked at booking sepeaate flights and Hotel ...Not only was over a thousand pounds cheaper but we also managed an upgraded hotel room in the price as well.
#938412 by Eggtastico
14 Sep 2017, 13:12
TimCrawley wrote:You're 100% right Marshy, separate flight and hotel bookings can be problematic. Fortunately the VS Flight+Hotel route still results in a load of emails from VH themselves with a VH Booking Reference (and an ATOL certificate) so it's normally still treated as a package from them as far as I can see.


I think the law changed - so if you book 2 elements of a holiday it counts as package.
This was to combat the tour operators who booked everything separate and claimed your not on a package holiday & not covered under package holiday law.
#938420 by marshy11
14 Sep 2017, 15:44
Eggtastico wrote:
TimCrawley wrote:You're 100% right Marshy, separate flight and hotel bookings can be problematic. Fortunately the VS Flight+Hotel route still results in a load of emails from VH themselves with a VH Booking Reference (and an ATOL certificate) so it's normally still treated as a package from them as far as I can see.


I think the law changed - so if you book 2 elements of a holiday it counts as package.
This was to combat the tour operators who booked everything separate and claimed your not on a package holiday & not covered under package holiday law.


I would be interested in a link to that. We have friends who booked separately and it's became a nightmare for them.
#938421 by MoJoJo
14 Sep 2017, 15:52
marshy11 wrote:
Eggtastico wrote:
TimCrawley wrote:You're 100% right Marshy, separate flight and hotel bookings can be problematic. Fortunately the VS Flight+Hotel route still results in a load of emails from VH themselves with a VH Booking Reference (and an ATOL certificate) so it's normally still treated as a package from them as far as I can see.


I think the law changed - so if you book 2 elements of a holiday it counts as package.
This was to combat the tour operators who booked everything separate and claimed your not on a package holiday & not covered under package holiday law.


I would be interested in a link to that. We have friends who booked separately and it's became a nightmare for them.


Me too. For a booking later this year I had no option to book flight and hotel (to Cuba) separately with VH as the package price for an I fare would of been £2000 more than separately!
#938423 by TimCrawley
14 Sep 2017, 18:08
UK law hasn't changed yet but is changing as a result of an EU directive see

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_ ... dex_en.htm

The UK Government consultation process is still underway until 25th September, so the final UK law to be proposed has yet to be established - see

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... vel-sector

but I haven't seen anything that suggests it won't be enacted due to Brexit and it should still comply by being passed into law no later than 1 January 2018 and it will be applicable no later than 1 July 2018.
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