V-Flyer

Hello everyone,
I take my elderly mum to Orlando from Manchester each year and we can only travel Upper Class because she has restless legs syndrome and can happily cope with the journey if she has the UC bed to sit on.

Up till now we have managed to find fairly reasonable UC fares through the VA website, usually Z class or Z and D, and book about March for a late June departure. But this year, I can't see anything less than £2600-£2800 each :0 or it says "no flights" for lots of the dates.

We could try BA but we would have to fly down to Gatwick which would make the journey very long for her and we love Virgin Atlantic so don't really want to change.

What would be a better way of searching for fares and do you think that they will release any more cheaper fares in the coming weeks?
And would we be better trying to book a return ticket for each of us separately rather than two together?

I would be very grateful for any advice.

The basic price for a Z is around £2100 - unfortunately, because one of the flights out of MAN has been changed to the new A330 that has no Upper Class, that only leaves 14 upper seats on the other flight (a 747).

If you are not able to go via LGW or even AMS, I dont think you will get anything cheaper this year.

David

(oh, and welcome to VF )

Thanks David, that makes sense.

It seems to have gone up a huge amount since last year.

Does anybody know if VS are likely to have a fare sale in the coming weeks?

flights in general are more expensive. The days of very cheap UC fares have probbaly gone.

there was a UC sale that finished in January and there is a Econ/PE one that finishes on Tuesday.

Whilst there will in all possibilities be another sale there is no way to tell when it is going to be. Why have a sale if you can sell your product for full price.

Also given the reduced UC capacity on the MAN-MCO route there is even less likelyhood of sale fares on that route.

Sorry not to be more positive

IzzyRose wrote:Thanks David, that makes sense.

It seems to have gone up a huge amount since last year.

Does anybody know if VS are likely to have a fare sale in the coming weeks?

Know what you mean about the prices going up (around 30% increase in the last 2 or 3 years) - if VS have a sale, it's almost not going to include Upper from MAN to MCO, as with the small number of seats available, they are almost all sold.

David

Hello and welcome!

It's such a popular route and where you are seeing "no flights" this is where they have sold out.

You mentioned not flying from Gatwick because of BA but Virgin also have a twice daily (usually) service to Orlando from here, so although a pain to get down to Gatwick you may still get the dates you want on a Virgin flight.

Unfortunately one of the joys of the the VS website is it's not very good at helping you find the cheapest rates or availability. I'd be suprised if sale fares or further flights were added, although you never know!

You could always call the call centre and see if they can provide some advice?

Good luck,

Luke

Have just looked and the VS73/74 will be the flights operated using 747's and so will have UC

These operate only on an Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat so you might need to adjust your dates to allow for this.

Thank you all for the welcome.

I think trying Gatwick might be our best alternative as you're probably right - I need to accept that no more cheap fares are likely to appear.

And I will definitely try ringing - is there any downside to this? ?|

IzzyRose wrote:Thank you all for the welcome.

I think trying Gatwick might be our best alternative as you're probably right - I need to accept that no more cheap fares are likely to appear.

And I will definitely try ringing - is there any downside to this? ?|

I've found the new Swansea call centre staff really helpful ( a few others on here have mentioned the same thing) and I've always been offered the same rates as the website.

Let us know how you get on

Luke

Try looking on the continental website for your VS flighst as a "codeshare" it can work out cheaper but only works for the LGW flights

How about a few days in Amsterdam to break the outward journey.
With BA Club costing only £1655pp AMS-LGW-MCO; MCO-LGW-AMS and a fairly cheap flight MAN-AMS ..... nothing to stop you jumping off at LGW on the way back.

Sorry - but it seems VS are not really interested in competitive offering UC from MAN this year - just as BA overcharge from London.

With BA Club costing only £1655pp AMS-LGW-MCO; MCO-LGW-AMS and a fairly cheap flight MAN-AMS ..... nothing to stop you jumping off at LGW on the way back.

Bill how does that work?? Do I book a BA flight originating in Amsterdam which calls in at Gatwick? It seems a bit weird?
Would we have to change planes at Gatwick on the way out?

IzzyRose wrote:

With BA Club costing only £1655pp AMS-LGW-MCO; MCO-LGW-AMS and a fairly cheap flight MAN-AMS ..... nothing to stop you jumping off at LGW on the way back.

Bill how does that work?? Do I book a BA flight originating in Amsterdam which calls in at Gatwick? It seems a bit weird?
Would we have to change planes at Gatwick on the way out?

Yes, what you do is book a flight from Amsterdam to MCO return. You will have to change planes at Gatwick but on your return you make sure your bags are only tagged as far as Gatwick. You then book separate flights MAN-AMS with a LGW-MAN return making sure you connect properly perhaps even with an overnight stay. You can also do it with Virgin Atlantic using a BA flight for the AMS-LGW leg but you would have to use Expedia or some other similar website. It is a bit complex but it does save money even when you factor in the flight to Amsterdam

Essentially us Brits are fools who let airlines get away with high prices. The Dutch are more canny. They also have a wider choice of airports nearby.

While it is understandable that pax near London may find LHR & LGW useful, with BA becoming more London Airways and VS not really respecting northern customers, it is certainly cheaper and sometimes even more convenient to use AMS as a hub.
Some UK regional airports now have a more frequent service to AMS than they have to London, there is not the problem of travelling to/from/between LGW & LHR and connection times can be much shorter.

More and more pax are realising this and they are finding the alternatives acceptable, particularly if Business class is a similar price to PE. If you are not restricted by time, a few days in Amsterdam can be quite pleasant to break the outward journey, just as some use indirect flights to have a few days in NY. But short flights to AMS are much more pleasant than US internals.

So if you wish to fly all the way, book either a single MAN-AMS (or return if cheaper and just don't use the return), the return Business Class AMS-MCO which with BA is via LGW on the return flight, as HL says, just check the bags to LGW, then when you get there collect your bags and take the LGW-MAN flights you have also booked.

Use Opodo or Expedia or the likes to make the AMS-MCO bookings so you get the AMS pricing rather than the Brit. pricing.

A short stay at AMS takes away any connection time concerns outbound, for safety on the return you can often find it cheaper to book two flights LGW-MAN, current pricing is from around £36pp (mostly tax) and I suppose you might even be able to claim back the taxes on the unused flight - not tried that but someone might advise...

I'm all for finding ways to cut costs - and it helps keep the airlines (a little more) honest.
):

Mid July this year, all the same dates(AMS flight prices via Opodo:)
VS in PE, MAN-MCO £1330
VS in UC, MAN-MCO £4328...Comedy fare of the year award
BA in Clubworld AMS-MCO or TAMPA £1613

VS in UC AMS-MIA £1628
VS in UC LHR-MIA £2562

I'd say go Dutch!

And the Oscar for Most Interesting Thread In A Long Time goes to...

Those are some very nice looking prices for not an awful lot of leg work. For us poor, neglected souls Up North, I don't suppose that getting to AMS is any more of a hassle than getting down to LGW or LGW. In fact, thinking about it, there's more chance of getting a decent flight out of LBA. Intriguing...

I think in principal going ams is a no brainer, but two things keep nagging at me?

1. what IF your luggage carries onto ams after jumping ship in lgw/lhr. It shouldnt if you have already asked but what if?

2. Luggage allowances not being the same for the o/w outbound to ams, do you buy club europe flights out or pay overweight baggage on say 2 cases each. Plus potentially add hotel overnight, is it really worth it?

I dont know im just playing devils advocate?

cheers

alex

This is not a solution for everyone though I can see that it is appealling to some and I may investigate in more depth for my own future trips.

The OP is taking her 'aged mum' so the extra hassell of the addtional flight(s) plus hotels etc etc may not actually be practical no matter what the saving is in £££

As one who is fortunate enough to live in God's Own County (and yet seems to be cruelly mistreated for this by those at VS) for many years our choice for a Caribbean or Orlando trip has been to pay through nose to go directly out of MAN, or fly from MAN via LGW, which invariably means added luggage hassle and an overnight stay. If all we have to do to save nearly £1K per passenger is swap LGW for AMS (and, to our advantage, MAN for LBA), then I'm game.

Alex V wrote:1. what IF your luggage carries onto ams after jumping ship in lgw/lhr. It shouldnt if you have already asked but what if?

alex

I looked at doing this at the end of last year but I could not get any guarantee that the luggage would come off at LGW.

Any Suggestions ?

-Steve

Stevieboy wrote:

Alex V wrote:1. what IF your luggage carries onto ams after jumping ship in lgw/lhr. It shouldnt if you have already asked but what if?

alex

I looked at doing this at the end of last year but I could not get any guarantee that the luggage would come off at LGW.

Any Suggestions ?

-Steve

Couple of options

Make sure you see the check-in staff tag it for LGW and not AMS

Book the LGW to AMS sector for 24 hours later so as a stop over rather than a straight onward flight.

Alex V wrote:I think in principal going ams is a no brainer, but two things keep nagging at me?

1. what IF your luggage carries onto ams after jumping ship in lgw/lhr. It shouldnt if you have already asked but what if?

2. Luggage allowances not being the same for the o/w outbound to ams, do you buy club europe flights out or pay overweight baggage on say 2 cases each. Plus potentially add hotel overnight, is it really worth it?

I dont know im just playing devils advocate?

cheers

alex

Fair enough to play devil's advocate. There are many potential ifs and buts.

I've booked an ex-AMS to SFO on VS. For me it has definitely been a major savings of well over €1k. If I had been flying from LHR I would have had to buy a flight to LHR in any case, since if I buy a through ticket on Aer Lingus they charge the full fare (but no baggage fees). My fare to AMS and return from LHR is virtually the same with difference of perhaps €20-30. In addition it has been my practice to head over to LHR the night before any flight leaving in the morning since any delays in the first flight out of Cork leaves me with little or no margin of error. In other words I am paying what I would normally pay regardless of whether I fly from LHR, AMS, CDG or anywhere else on the continent. With regard to baggage on the flight to AMS, I will do what I always do and pay for my bag (or bags) on Aer Lingus. OK, it works for me in terms of costs to travel to AMS and for many it may well be an additional cost but it still does represent a saving.

With regard to ensuring my bags will come off at LHR, it is easier as I will be connecting to BA and so can easily ask for the bag to come off at LHR, plus the fact that my onward flight is from LGW makes it easier to ensure this. I can understand the concern but if I were on BA I would ask that they only tag my bag to LGW/LHR and ask to see the bag tag to make sure

Would the baggage issue actually be an issue because VS and BA dont have an interline agreement.

Even though the passenger would have one ticket -ie mco to lgw to ams, I dont know if VS would check bags straight throught to ams from mco ?|

Of course - could be wrong

David

David wrote:Would the baggage issue actually be an issue because VS and BA dont have an interline agreement.

Even though the passenger would have one ticket -ie mco to lgw to ams, I dont know if VS would check bags straight throught to ams from mco ?|

Of course - could be wrong

David

I think you are right on that but in any case I intend to only book my bags through to LHR on the AMS-LHR leg mainly to ensure that my bag has the UC bar code for the LHR-SFO leg

Last time I did it I booked LHR-AMS-LHR-YVR-LHR-LGW-AMS and collected my bags in LHR