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Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
11 Jan 2012, 23:38
by graham49
I've been searching for flights for MAN - MCO for September in PE and have been getting cheaper results on Last Minute and Kayak than on VA's own site.
Has anyone had any success claiming on Virgin's price guarantee?
What are the Disadvantages or Advantages of booking VA flights through a site such as last minute, eg anyone know if you get an eticket straight away and can you then select seats?
Any one that's done this route in the past give me an idea what my target price should be - not looked at PE before don't really know whats good or bad, seems a little pricey at the moment in Economy and PE
Graham
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
11 Jan 2012, 23:47
by tontybear
If it is cheaper elsewhere then book there. IMHO it is not worth the bother of trying to meet the VS requirements which only apply to the base fare and not the total fare (i.e VS fuel surcharge, APD, airport fees etc) plus you have to take screen shots and claim by midnight of the day you spotted the cheaper fare and AFTER you have bought the ticket via the VS website and it has to be the same fare bucket too.
I have booked VS on expedia and very quickly got my booking
reference so I could request seats via 'manage my bookings'. Got the right number of miles etc too.
As to price - if you are happy paying the advertised price then thats all that matters. What the fare last year was shouldn't matter. A lot can happen in a year e.g. oil prices have changed dramatically plus demand changes. Compare the current VS price to the alternatives currently on offer not what last years cost was.
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 00:15
by Adapsys
I actually did this yesterday and matched Virgin against an offer on Expedia. Within 12 hours I had a response and they refunded the difference. As tontybear says be aware they only match the base price. Also Virgin charge a credit card fee where as many other sites don't. Personally I think this is a bit of a joke especially when paying by Virgin Atlantic Amex!
I've also booked Virgin flights through Expedia in the past and the process was very easy. Within a few hours you get the Virgin booking reference like normal and you can then log in to your flight on the Virgin site directly. Hope this helps.
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 08:56
by Neil
graham49 wrote:
Any one that's done this route in the past give me an idea what my target price should be - not looked at PE before don't really know whats good or bad, seems a little pricey at the moment in Economy and PE
Graham
That's a tough one to answer really. As a regular MCO traveller the current fares for the latter part of next year seem pricey to me. PE shouldn't be more the £1000 with economy somewhere around the £450 (those are non peak fares), going from past experiences.
Of course, prices could just be on the rise, but my hunch would be that by March/April time the current fares will be down towards the figures I have quoted above. The issue you have is, are you happy to wait that long and risk them either not coming down (maybe going up) or the flights you want selling out before they do come down.
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 09:57
by graham49
Thanks for these replies, when I get round to booking will probably look at expedia again as they dont seem to charge for credit card, which is quite a chunk on 4 PE flights.
Neil the prices you quoted for economy were about what we have paid in the past and I did think they were pricey at the moment. First looked in Nov at PE they were just over £900 but cash was a little tight just then, here's hoping they come down a bit again

Graham
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 15:29
by tontybear
graham49 wrote:Thanks for these replies, when I get round to booking will probably look at expedia again as they dont seem to charge for credit card, which is quite a chunk on 4 PE flights.
Expedia now charge an £ 8 admin fee (think is is per booking rather than per person) rather then a CC fee - still its cheaper than the VS CC fee. At least they did the last time I booked a TATL flight
If you join one of the cash back sites like quidco you will get 1% back of the base fare too !
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 15:45
by mdvipond
Just a slight thread hijack, but does anyone have experience of Ebookers? They're currently shaving a hundred quid or so off a couple of UC flights (1 adult, 1 child) that I'm interested in.
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 16:06
by Concorde RIP
mdv - not direct experience, but they are the travel service preferred by Natwest bank for their "yourmiles" product which they introduced when airmiles went to Lloyds.
So, if it helps, they are reputable...
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 17:42
by tontybear
mdvipond wrote:Just a slight thread hijack, but does anyone have experience of Ebookers? They're currently shaving a hundred quid or so off a couple of UC flights (1 adult, 1 child) that I'm interested in.
They charge 1.5% CC fees (only visible near the end of the booking process though v( v( v(
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 18:01
by mdvipond
tontybear wrote:mdvipond wrote:Just a slight thread hijack, but does anyone have experience of Ebookers? They're currently shaving a hundred quid or so off a couple of UC flights (1 adult, 1 child) that I'm interested in.
They charge 1.5% CC fees (only visible near the end of the booking process though v( v( v(
How does that compare to booking direct? VS charge a CC fee don't they?
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 18:28
by tontybear
I was v( v( v( the fact you only see the fees almost at the end of the booking process and after you have entered passenger details etc rather than the fees themselves (which of course VS also charge)
It does make price comparisons very hard as a slightly cheaper fare on one website may become slightly more after the CC fees than another site where the fare may be higher but the fees lower.
As to factoring in possible cashbacks you almost need a degree in maths to work it all out !
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 22:02
by Spill
tontybear wrote:graham49 wrote:Thanks for these replies, when I get round to booking will probably look at expedia again as they dont seem to charge for credit card, which is quite a chunk on 4 PE flights.
Expedia now charge an £ 8 admin fee (think is is per booking rather than per person) rather then a CC fee - still its cheaper than the VS CC fee. At least they did the last time I booked a TATL flight
If you join one of the cash back sites like quidco you will get 1% back of the base fare too !
I booked two tickets to mco on Sunday with expedia and wasn't charged an admin fee.
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
12 Jan 2012, 22:25
by Penny_L
Spill wrote:I booked two tickets to mco on Sunday with expedia and wasn't charged an admin fee.
there is an admin fee if you book over the phone
Re: Virgin Price Guarantee

Posted:
15 Jan 2012, 17:41
by robinnelson
Virgin Atlantic Website vs. Expedia
Just booked 2 PE returns to NYC for June, Expedia flights were £20 each cheaper than VS website and no credit card fee. Flights have appeared OK on My Bookings. Saved approx £65!
