V-Flyer

It's a bit of a slow day today (apart from the steady stream of deaths in the news ) so got round to thinking about some trips for 2017.

This started me thinking about what "excitement" we might expect from VS in 2017 - hopefully the first being the website getting fixed !

So my top 3 are

1. Visiting the new Gatwick Clubhouse ASAP
2. Trying out the refitted A330's
3. Hoping we see a new route or two

Anyone else ?

David

What's new for me in 2017?

Lots!

1. Santiago in less than 2 weeks time on BA's 787. OK, I had a forced trip there 4 years ago because of a general strike in Argentina but we saw nothing but the overnight hotel and it will be my first time on a BA 787.
2. Easter Island in nearly three weeks time on Lan Chile
3. Atacama desert in just over three weeks time on Sky (a low-cost airline)
4. An unmissable Black Friday sale flight to Melbourne in March on Garuda Airlines
5. Jakarta (and an overnight on the return)
6. Melbourne and wherever we decide to go from there.
7. WOW Airlines flight from Cork in September ( a new route starting in May) to....
8. Iceland

What I hope for is:

1. The VS website to be fixed
2. to be able to log into my FC account

David wrote:This started me thinking about what "excitement" we might expect from VS in 2017 - hopefully the first being the website getting fixed !

So my top 3 are

1. Visiting the new Gatwick Clubhouse ASAP
2. Trying out the refitted A330's
3. Hoping we see a new route or two

Anyone else ?

David

David

Could not have put it better myself

One thing I DO NOT WANT TO SEE is further dilution of VS Service - let us all hope that managers and staff pull together to make VS great again

buns

Annual snowboard trip in March
Then hopefully keys to a new house (or it may go through before March!).
Lastly trying to decide where to blow my last 100k miles & PE upgrades to book by August.
Really looking forward to Honey Lamb Easter Island trip report, as its its on my bucket list & a trip I want to combine with the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
Hence I have switched to collecting to Avios in the hope I can cover as much as possible in Miles.
My understanding if you cant get redemption with LAN - then book via a South American country website, rather than UK as the prices are much cheaper.
If I can book it all with AVIOS then I am looking at 300k miles to cover it for my partner & I (using 241 voucher)

Eggtastico wrote:My understanding if you cant get redemption with LAN - then book via a South American country website, rather than UK as the prices are much cheaper.

We booked our trip to Easter Island on the LATAM website and specifically Lan Chile for our trip to Easter Island and yes, the fares were significantly cheaper than the US and UK websites. The downside was that it was all in Spanish with no English language option. However helped by a modicum of guesswork thanks to a knowledge of Latin and French and the good offices of Google Translate we were able to complete the task.

Sky Airlines for our trip to the Atacama desert was much more accommodating and they allowed us to book in English but the confirmation emails were all in Spanish.

We get to see the CH in Feb and counting down the days now.
I don't suppose the refits will be done for our home trip in March.

Dick D

For me it is

1. Last Feb/early March flights to/from Miami, scheduled to be on 787, which will be first flight on this aircraft. spending 3 days in Miami followed by 10 day Caribbean cruise.

2. Retirement on 30th June 2017

3. Two week Med cruise on Queen Victoria departing Rome on 1st July.

buns wrote:

David wrote:This started me thinking about what "excitement" we might expect from VS in 2017 - hopefully the first being the website getting fixed !

So my top 3 are

1. Visiting the new Gatwick Clubhouse ASAP
2. Trying out the refitted A330's
3. Hoping we see a new route or two

Anyone else ?

David

David

Could not have put it better myself

One thing I DO NOT WANT TO SEE is further dilution of VS Service - let us all hope that managers and staff pull together to make VS great again

buns

My expectation of VS in 2017
So with the recent shambles of IT, huge hike in FF miles and ever diminishing routes I may have to say Goodbye to Virgin

Having been to all 50 sates in the US I think their time is up for me and as I cannot see any new routes appearing any day now and I have been to 90% of their diminishing routes.

Not that I'm a fan of BA but it looks like Ex-Eu cash fares (on a One World Carrier) and maybe Avios RFS fares are the way forward for us now.

It was good whilst it lasted.

I notice Honey Lamb and Eggtastico have a fabulous year coming up but NONE with VS

Says something I think

honey lamb wrote:

Eggtastico wrote:My understanding if you cant get redemption with LAN - then book via a South American country website, rather than UK as the prices are much cheaper.

We booked our trip to Easter Island on the LATAM website and specifically Lan Chile for our trip to Easter Island and yes, the fares were significantly cheaper than the US and UK websites. The downside was that it was all in Spanish with no English language option. However helped by a modicum of guesswork thanks to a knowledge of Latin and French and the good offices of Google Translate we were able to complete the task.

Sky Airlines for our trip to the Atacama desert was much more accommodating and they allowed us to book in English but the confirmation emails were all in Spanish.

I use google chrome web browser. I can click the right mouse button & select translate to English
I can usually work my way around these kind of things... I did once install Windows NT4 Server in Japanese for a manufacturing company with a small operations base in the UK!

The closure of the HKG clubhouse Feb 5th

blindman wrote:I notice Honey Lamb and Eggtastico have a fabulous year coming up but NONE with VS

Says something I think

Seeing as VS don't fly to any of HL's destination, it says nothing. Personally I choose the destination of my trips based on where I want to go rather than by the airline I fly.

A trip to the new LGW clubhouse in early April and our last UC with Virgin for probably a very long time, unless Tesco do a miraculous conversion rate , or a very cheap UC sale(do pigs fly).

Off to New Mexico via Denver First Class courtesy of a 2-4-1 from BA, in September.

Some holidays in the UK, North Yorkshire dales beckons. Linda

Darren Wheeler wrote:

blindman wrote:I notice Honey Lamb and Eggtastico have a fabulous year coming up but NONE with VS

Says something I think

Seeing as VS don't fly to any of HL's destination, it says nothing. Personally I choose the destination of my trips based on where I want to go rather than by the airline I fly.

Which is precisely the point, VS diminishing routes so both posters are flying BA!

And with HL being a moderator of V-Flyer one would expect her to not have to venture to the dark side for flights.

Darren Wheeler wrote:

blindman wrote:I notice Honey Lamb and Eggtastico have a fabulous year coming up but NONE with VS

Says something I think

Seeing as VS don't fly to any of HL's destination, it says nothing. Personally I choose the destination of my trips based on where I want to go rather than by the airline I fly.

£ is weak versus the $
rules out a trip to the US - so looking at other destination on my bucket list.

blindman wrote:

Darren Wheeler wrote:

blindman wrote:I notice Honey Lamb and Eggtastico have a fabulous year coming up but NONE with VS

Says something I think

Seeing as VS don't fly to any of HL's destination, it says nothing. Personally I choose the destination of my trips based on where I want to go rather than by the airline I fly.

Which is precisely the point, VS diminishing routes so both posters are flying BA!

And with HL being a moderator of V-Flyer one would expect her to not have to venture to the dark side for flights.

Erm, where in the rule book does it say that a V-Flyer mod has to fly solely with VS? As Darren (who is also a mod) has pointed out, I choose by destination rather than by airline and none of my destinations are on the VS route map nor have they ever been so you cannot say it is because of diminishing routes.

Also my flights have not been confined to BA. In the past few years, as well as VS and BA, I have flown Emirates, Aer Lingus transatlantic, Aerolineas Argentinas, LAN, Singapore Airlines, Angkor Cambodian Airlines, Air Asia, Malaysian, Virgin American, Alaskan Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines - oh and Ryanair! In fact BA is at the bottom of my list when it comes to choosing airlines unless the price is right.

Oh yes, price is also a consideration. I wonder why?

I am VERY excited for 2017.

1) My first flight on a 787.
2) My first ever UC flight.
3) Three months in NYC!

Wishing you all a fantastic 2017.

Various things - possibly a transition back to entirely oneworld as Mr Hokey is travelling on BA again in his new role and we are approaching decent 2-4-1 territory in the household account. My miles and points game needs some serious thought over the new year... However 2017 is pretty full of planned new adventures already:

1) My first (and maybe last for a while) DTCI & LHR clubhouse, and then upper class to DXB - returning only PE with upgrade vouchers as day flight after visiting Sri Lanka for the first time. Wondering if it might become a repeat stopover destination...
2) DXB-CMB on Srilankan in biz - BA TP run (sort of) couldn't fit Melbourne and Tasmania in between 1) reward flights and it was pricey - Sri Lanka was the obvious alternative
3) Seattle - new route = reward availability... PE out, UC back as night flight and them's the rules! All on 789 hopefully. Vancouver Island, Rocky Mountaineer scenic train to Banff, mooch about the Rockies for a few days, then
4)Calgary back to Seattle on Alaskan Airlines - bargain avios redemption...
5) Mount Rainier NP, Boeing factory tour and then back to SeaTac for home
6) Barcelona for giant family multi-birthday shindig on Costa Brava at Oct Half Term - Avios reward flight saver to the rescue - my best short haul redemption ever by a country mile...some eye popping fares on the locos if you can't be flexible around those dates
7) Planning what to do with any remaining miles...
8) Paying some subs to V-Flyer - about time, think I've more than had my money's worth judging by the above...

Happy New Year to all on here!

First trip to any LGW clubhouse (it'll be the New One)
First time on a VS744 since 2005 (going to MCO economy upgraded with miles to UC) and probably last ever- have flown all the other aircraft to JNB,DEL and NRT more recently)
Booking for DEL for an autumn holiday shortly- again miles upgrade.
A punt; A330s will return to DEL once the UC cabin has been re-fitted- think VS might be missing out on freight with 789s