Don't VS want my money??

OK, I've hammered on about this in a couple of previous posts, but the whole thing is starting to cheee me off just a tad. Been doing LGW-BGI each spring with VS for the last 6 years, usually book about this time, invariably get return Z fares or, at worst, Z one way and D t'other.

Checked on ExpertFlyer (I only have basic subscription, I'm cheap like that) and it's showing Z2 going out on 01/05/07 and Z3 coming back on 16/05. Onto the VS site, book Upper (lowest) and get D fares. £6688 for 2 adults and an infant. Why?!? To make matters worse, BA can do the same route, same dates, in Club, for £3186! I don't want to betray dear old VS, but what is a boy to do...?

At these prices, book BA,

Iain

I have to agree with Ian here.

Someone, somewhere, inside VS needs their head examining... not just for this, but for a whole series of other sins.

Mike

I have to agree, Go BA.

I think VS are in danger of killing the goose...golden egg...etc. If enough people go to BA on price and like their service many won't come back and when the next air travel downturn comes there'll be trouble.

Miopyk

[fozzyo]

I am sure there are times when BA are stupidly overpriced compared to VS so people then choose to fly VS to save money. Unforutnately it is the nature of the beast.

Mat

[Decker]

Well FWIW my next 7 legs are non-VS - BA have been making serious attempts at wooing VS customers based on the route pricing I'm seeing. At the end of the day loyalty comes down to a slight price difference and a willingess to accept some routing differences NOT paying twice the price...

If that's the case Mat, how can these brands continue to hold onto their loyal following.

[Scrooge]

Whith that price difference you have to go BA.

I have noticed this now a few times recently too. Give VS a phone and ask for a fare quote. If they also quote the D fare, ask why Z fare is not available. Would be interested to hear the reason why as well

Thanks

Originally posted by mike-smashing
I have to agree with Ian here.

Someone, somewhere, inside VS needs their head examining... not just for this, but for a whole series of other sins.

Mike

I'm in agreement too.....

I'm fast approaching the point where the only thing holding me back from switching to BA is their track record on strikes or threatened strikes. It's holding me back quite well at the moment, but if they sort that out and VS remains as it is, I'm really not sure I have any incentive to remain brand loyal....[:(]

Instead of using the internet to look at prices, i'd call them up and speak to someone. You'd be amazed what a bit of charm can do.

I've notice the price difference over on the at dark side too but just the thought of flying with them where you get stuck up flight attendants and staff who seems to think that they are the paying customer is enough for me to pay the extra to fly VS, and that's just my personal opinion. [:?] [:?]

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by Lipstick
Instead of using the internet to look at prices, i'd call them up and speak to someone. You'd be amazed what a bit of charm can do.

Hang on a sec [:(!]

Airline's want us to use the internet to book flight's,it's cheaper for them this way,also why should we have to call ?

There are many was a company earns loyalty with customers,with airlines it's comfy seats,good food,good IFE,a good FF program and of course price,im sorry but as most know here my last trans atlantic was with BA because of the price difference and the VS flight's we wide open.

This could lead to a whole new thread,but is load managment at VS a chimp pushing buttons or is someone making decisions that just don't make sence to us [?]

Originally posted by fozzyo
I am sure there are times when BA are stupidly overpriced compared to VS so people then choose to fly VS to save money. Unforutnately it is the nature of the beast.

I agree to a certain extent, it's often been the case when I've been shopping around for BGI and various other destinations. However, I've never seen such a big price discrepancy - and this doesn't just apply to the two dates in question, it's the same for most of April and May. Also, I've never yet know for ExpertFlyer to show Z availability when it obviously isn't the case. Which leads me to...

Originally posted byGreboDB
Give VS a phone and ask for a fare quote. If they also quote the D fare, ask why Z fare is not available. Would be interested to hear the reason why as well

Grand idea. I'll give them a try later today, should be interesting. And...

Originally posted by jetwet1
is load managment at VS a chimp pushing buttons

Looks likely to me...

Originally posted by mavrick
stuck up flight attendants and staff who seems to think that they are the paying customer [:?] [:?]

Not my experience at all on my last few flights with BA (admittedly in Club). The staff couldn't have been more friendly, down to earth and above all consistent. Virgin need to be careful.

Don't forget that Virgin Holidays gets an allocation, maybe the two seats are VH's?

Originally posted by londonguy
Don't forget that Virgin Holidays gets an allocation, maybe the two seats are VH's?

I was just thinking the same thing - the cost of a flydrive with VH but no car insurance added is £3512.15 (some discount but not all you could get).

Jilly

April is going to be a strange month for the caribean routes next year with the world cup going on. Given VS are only offering 14 seats on each flight they may well have been snapped up quickly plus rev management may have caught on that a lot of people/celebs want a trip out there so it becomes peak time for them and so more bucks???

I think the BASIC problem is the low number of upper class seats available on the route. B-A have a much higher number of club class seats and also a first cabin on the Barbados flight. V-S has 14 suites. This leads to a shortage of cheaper seats.

B-A have 48 club seats and 13 first class seats. This gives a higher volume of cheaper seats available.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if the V-S Gatwick Fleet were fitted with the same cabin layouts as the L.H.R 747-400Õs.

I think this would lead to a greater number of discounted fairs and would compete fairly equally with B-A.

At the prices quoted I would fly B-A club no worrys.

Capacity and all being an issue, it's still a ridiculous difference, and echoes so many other threads of late. VS have limited capacity, can fill it, charges through the roof ... but pretty soon more people will cotton on and we may see a reaction. Just book BA, it's not so bad (!) and at half the price it'll be much better value.

It sounds like there may not BE a Z fare available yet. AFAIK, sometimes (discounted) fares are held in reserve for a bit later for flights departing after the 31st march (which is the normal cutoff date for winter bookings) and maybe later this summer, provided those Z seats are still showing for sale, they may release the fare????

Originally posted by slinky09
Capacity and all being an issue, it's still a ridiculous difference, Just book BA, it's not so bad (!) and at half the price it'll be much better value.

The problem would arise though when B-A sell most of the seats it has, the remainder will then be just as if not even more expensive than virgin.

Either way both airlines are all about profit and both only release a set amount of discounted seats in each cabin.

Originally posted by GreboDB
Give VS a phone and ask for a fare quote. If they also quote the D fare, ask why Z fare is not available. Would be interested to hear the reason why as well

OK, just come off the phone from dear old VS. Put my quandry to them re. twice the BA fare to fly with them and told, "don't worry, there are Z fares available for your dates". Jolly good, says I, how about a quote then? Much umming, ahhing and keyboard tapping at the other end: "Sorry, all we have available are D class fares".

Long story short, they couldn't explain why there was Z availability showing without the associated Z fares. And to make matters worse the Z fares "may never be released". Their advice? "Book BA if you must...", believe it or not. They don't make it easy, do they...?

You would think that someone there would make a commercial decision to have your business at some level rather than lose it to the competition. Did you try asking to speak to a manager or someone higher up the chain? No disrespect to the customer service staff you were dealing with but sometimes they are bound by "rules and regs"[:#]