V-Flyer

Hi all,

I have booked an award flight MAN to JFK via LHR with a combination of Little Red outgoing and connecting to UC in September, but due to having to travel on a specific day have ended up with about an 8 hour layover at LHR due to their only being availability on the 17.15 from LHR and on the first LR flight. At first I wasn't bothered, thinking I'd never been able to explore the Clubhouse before etc but the more I think about it it's absolutely ages, and I'm sure even I couldn't find enough to do to keep myself amused that long! I've checked fairly frequently and there doesn't seem to be any availability for the 14.00 departure. Does anyone have any experience with this route and know if and when Virgin may release some seats on this flight? (I know it's all down to inventory management but thought there may be a date when they're more likely to be there.) Also, if this flight did come available what would be the charges to change, would this increase or be restricted very close to the date of the flight?

Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

Date changes on reward flights come with a hefty £25 admin fee . Free to AU holders though.

I have a fair amount of experience with that route and can say with certainty that reward fares are released completely when the computer (or person in back room) says so... no predictable pattern I am afraid.

Ordinarily I would not recommend the VS45 to people thanks to the way in which arrivals are handled at JFK at that time of day, however that would be a hefty wait in the CH otherwise - nothing wrong with that mind... Imagine breakfast, lunch and early dinner in the CH with mojitos and champers a plenty... You may be requiring boarding assistance should you pursue that avenue :w

It is a long way off to sept so keep checking and it is likely something will open up a little earlier. If on the other hand it doesn't, don't be afraid to go straight over to T3 check in to see if they can sneak you onto the VS45 (or perhaps the VS1 into EWR) flight.

Hope that helps 8D

It might be easier to ask if VS can change your Manchester flight to a later one rather than the JFK one. Am not up to speed on the timings of the MAN to LHR route though.

Asking once you get to LHR might be a problem as your luggage will be tagged for a particular flight and it will be a pain fir VS to find and switch it,

Very helpful thank you, the idea of walking onto the plane merry and full is looking increasingly tempting!

Never thought of looking at Newark departures and there is an open seat on the VS1 so will definitely consider that!

Thanks for the speedy reply!

tontybear wrote:Asking once you get to LHR might be a problem as your luggage will be tagged for a particular flight and it will be a pain fir VS to find and switch it,

I did think about that tonty, but to be fair it is more than likely to have availability pop up before September. Still a fair way off.

Sound advice though, having the question mark as to where your bags will end up is an additional concern. Perhaps it would be advisable to not tag them all the way through, if you have not managed to snag an earlier flight.

The next flight from MAN is at 1 landing at 2(ish) - might give too little time in the lounge for it to be truly appreciated.... :0

On my last reward flight when I went into the clubhouse(a tad early) they proactively encouraged me to take the earlier flight, which had a few empty seats so no obvious advantage for them.

ilikebluesmarties wrote:On my last reward flight when I went into the clubhouse(a tad early) they proactively encouraged me to take the earlier flight, which had a few empty seats so no obvious advantage for them.

Perhaps your original flight was over booked and you were helping them out - albeit unwittingly - by freeing up a seat rather than having to pay compensation to someone else that they might have bumped,

joeyc wrote: Perhaps it would be advisable to not tag them all the way through, if you have not managed to snag an earlier flight.

That would then mean Magidero having to collect them in T1 and then lugging them to T3 himself and then rechecking and reclearing security rather than just getting the special VS bus from T1 to T3

Still as you said plenty of time for rewards to open up on the earlier flights to NYC and to switch.

After checking almost religiously today one reward seat opened up on the VS45 to JFK at 2pm. Change fee paid and I am one happy bunny! Looking forward to being able to have afternoon tea on board now, anyone know what it's like?

Thanks for all the replies!

magidero wrote:Looking forward to being able to have afternoon tea on board now, anyone know what it's like?

They fetch round, on a trolley, sandwiches (no crusts) and a selection of macaroons and small fancy cakes to go with your drink of choice. You can have them served to you on a small cake stand if you wish. It works well in the A zone of the 747.