V-Flyer

Has anyone ever flown BA Club to MCO??? If so, then how did it compare to Virgin UC???

I am looking at MCO for 2 weeks at the end of Aug this year... BA comes in £2000 cheaper than VS for 2 adults and 2 kids, and that’s a lot of extra spending money for the holiday.

I've read a few trip reports on flyertalk, and they all says its great. But, as a VS die hard, I wondered if anyone has any other advise on why/why not to use this...

I also notice that BA use a 777 this time of year. I have never flow on a 777 so don’t know what to expect, but, using a seat map website, BA manage to get 8 (yes 8!!!) across in club... Does that make everything really close together???

Many thanks as always for your advice and information,

Dann:D

We happily fly Club when VS take the proverbial with pricing. Like at Xmas 2 Club < 1 UC to HKG. You'll miss some of the touches in UC (well the bar and (if they're good) the friendliness of the staff) but BA provide consistently good professional service. If you drop into casual conversation that you normally fly VS UC this seems to get even better

Unless you are particularly in need of VS miles / TPs, then I would say 'go for it'. As you quite rightly say, £2000 is a lot of extra spending money.

Nick

Danno,
If you don't mind the driving VS still have some UC sale fares at £1599 for flights to MIA in August.

I fly on BA 777s occasionally to and from BDA. I think they are known as wide body jets. I was lucky enough to get an op up to CW last August and the CW seats are indeed 8 across in a 2-4-2 formation. It certainly didn't feel cramped and I was seated forward facing.

The service was efficient and professional as you would expect from BA, but I still prefer to fly VS.

However, £2k is serious spending money[y]so on this occasion I'd go with BA[:w]

As above, I fly both airlines, I have had no problems with either of them in the last couple of years, BA CW is nice, is it up to VS UC..well in some ways no, in some ways it's better.

Service is consistently good, food is way better, you don't have the bar, you don't have the clubhouse...you do however still have 2k left in your pocket.

When I am looking for a flight I price out both airlines, I will take VS if the price is close, but as Decker says, there are times when they are taking the proverbial then I take BA.

Unfortunately, I'd say go BA;) Come on VS, step up...

45.

You've got to go with the Dark Side on this one, as the saving is so big. £2k will easily cover all the Theme Park tickets for a family of 4 if you are heading out to Orlando for Mickey, Universal & Co, with plently left over for the shops.

Maybe the VS fares to Orlando will become more competitive when they do the alleged reconfig of the LGW/MAN fleet next year to increase the number of UC suites on each plane?

Originally posted by Tim
Danno,
If you don't mind the driving VS still have some UC sale fares at £1599 for flights to MIA in August.

And if you don't want to drive BA are doing Club to MCO in August for £1199.

No competition! Book BA

Paul

Hi,

Given such a price difference , I would go BA (however unless you have BA status you will not get seats assigned until OLCI opens at T-24 hours.)

I think if you have chlidren then OLCI opens at T-72 but not sure.

The BA Terraces in LGW North are nice and BA uses the Delta crwon room at MCO ( same as Virgin)

Regards

TBS

Thanks for the advise all[y][y][y]

I have booked BA for 2 adults and 2 kids today. The total cost was £4299.60. Given the kids discount etc, that works out at just £1075 each .

I would have loved to fly Virgin, but as everyone has mentioned, the difference will cover almost all the spending money needed!

Thanks all, and I will let you know how it all goes!

Dann:)

I would love a report on how the flight went upon your return please[y]

That is such a saving - hope you enjoy your trip

Just another reminder for VS to increase J capacity to MCO.... (and all LGW/MAN destinations!)[:w]

The also need to reduce their prices (and availability of G fares) as well as increasing capacity.

Paul

Originally posted by NS
That is such a saving - hope you enjoy your trip

Just another reminder for VS to increase J capacity to MCO.... (and all LGW/MAN destinations!)[:w]

You may well find that this comes at the expense of PE on the Upper Deck of the 747's [:#]

That would be a real shame - I'd almost say that the upper deck PE cabin (on LGW/MAN aircraft) has a better ambience than UC - for a daytime flight at least...[:?]

I would of gone with Virgin [:w][}:)] Have a great time![y] It would be a shame if the Top Deck PE got moved as i love it up there, half the reason i go PE![:(]

Our very good friends have also decided to come with us on this trip[y]. They have just booked another 5 seats in Club World on the same flights and got the same fare as us[^]

All in all, as we are now a party of 9 [:0], this is a massive saving over VS on this trip.

As for the upper deck, the ONLY reason we fly PE is to get the upper deck on our holidays... IF that went, it would be a crying shame[V].

Thanks

Dann[8D]

Having just flown upper deck PE from SFO to LHR, I found that the experience is just not worth the price paid ($2300). The extra legroom is nice (over coach), and I like that little compartment next to the window seat, but the seats were well-worn and I couldn't really see the screen in front when that seat was reclined.

Virgin's 747's are badly in need of PE overhaul (this is my second experience), even at the expense of the upper-deck experience. I understand this is coming soon. Until then, I'll fly United SFO to LHR: economy+ coach with a possible upgrade to business, and a savings of over $1000 (not counting the miles for upgrade).

Hang on..you paid how much ?

Was this a last minute ticket?

EDIT: I just looked at the VS site for ticket prices with a 60 day advanced purchase...someone at VS is smoking a lot of crack, I love VS but Caseey is right, $1977 rt in PE....errr no thanks

I wonder how much of this is the exchange rate being where it is ?

At least for us US flyers PE is getting to the point of being a stupid choice.

Following up a bit, I checked advance purchase fares for a trip in late Sept, SFO-LHR return.

Virgin's PE fares were $1600-1900 depending on date.

United RT coach fares were:
$ 886 (non-upgradable coach)
$1056 (upgradable to business class with miles)

Since I'm a Mileage plus member, I can book Economy plus seats (5" extra legroom), so it comes down to whether I want to burn UA miles to upgrade to business. Virgin's PE, in terms of comfort, comes out better than UA's economy plus (since the seats are wider), but well below United's business class - so I have to ask myself whether PE is worth $600-$900 extra?

This is why I think Virgin's PE product seems overpriced, at least in markets where they are using older equipment.