What if it goes wrong ?

We're flying UC to Orlando shortly. We've not flown Virgin before but it looks like the IFE will be perfect for entertaining our 2 small children. I've read some posts that referred to part/all of the IFE not working. Would it be wise to take our portable DVD just in case ? Do they have a backup plan for when the system fails ?

Thanks for your help.

[HighFlyer]

Hi Ric

Personal DVD players are always a godsend if you have children. If you have the room, i'd certainly take them along anyway with a few of their favourite DVDs as a back-up, especially if there is nothing onboard that interests them. You'll have SuperNova onboard, not the V.Port video on demand system, though there are usually at least 2 channels showing kid friendly films throughout the flight.

IFE issues do happen, though i have yet to be on a flight where there is no IFE for the whole flight. Usually if there is an issue the system is reset, and most of the time will kick into life again a short while later. If it fails completely and there is no way of fixing it, there is little the crew can do. They do carry DVD players onboard bt only around 15 or so, these are mainly for Upper Class passengers though if you alone have an IFE issue in PE or Y you may be given one to use.

Aircraft wide IFE failures usually result in passengers being given miles as compensation.

In short, it does happen but not regularly. I would not lose sleep over it.

Thanks,
Sarah

Thanks for the excellent (and quick!) advice Sarah.

[HighFlyer]

Ah we aim to please here

Thanks,
Sarah

I'd echo HF's advice and say take your portable players and some favourite DVDs. From an age and stage point of view I remember our offspring went through phases of just wanting to watch the same thing again and again and again (for some reason it was "The Snowman") and you've got insurance against the IFE not having anything that keeps their interest or failing for some reason.

Unlike HF I have been on a flight where the entire IFE was U/S (save for Skymap)..11 hrs to Los Angeles and it was our first VS trip 8 years ago. Not happened on any subsequent trip though...

Paul

[preiffer]

Is that an echo, echo, Paul [:w]

Originally posted by preiffer
Is that an echo, echo, Paul [:w]

No, just thought my words of wisdom so important that I'd reinforce the point. [:w]

[:?] I actually got some background system error when I was posting it so thought it wouldn't be there at all.

Paul

[Neil]

Originally posted by pjh
[:?] I actually got some background system error when I was posting it so thought it wouldn't be there at all.

Paul

That would be this error then Paul;):D

Originally posted by Attitude23

Originally posted by pjh
[:?] I actually got some background system error when I was posting it so thought it wouldn't be there at all.

Paul

That would be this error then Paul;):D

Indeed it would...

Paul

V:Port failed completely on our flight back from JNB the other week. They had 3 or 4 attempts at a reboot but with no luck. Would have been very disappointed but I was so tired I managed to sleep! Everyone on the plane was given a compensation letter for a choice of 5000 miles, 10% off next booking, £25 off Virgin Holidays or £25 off duty free which is very good customer service in my opinion - it is what keeps me loyal to Virgin. I would imagine it is pretty rare for this failure to happen though.

My screen went AWOL in UC on a flight to JFK earlier this year. Got 5k miles. Unfortunately my seat was also bust, and the table wouldn't release from the seat back in front.. *sigh*. Just as well the CC kept my champagne glass topped up at all times, or I might have become grumpy!

Originally posted by vwaz
Everyone on the plane was given a compensation letter for a choice of 5000 miles, 10% off next booking, £25 off Virgin Holidays or £25 off duty free which is very good customer service in my opinion - it is what keeps me loyal to Virgin.

I got one of these yesterday for similar problems. There were no instructions on how to claim the compensation. How did you claim yours?

[honey lamb]

Same thing happened to us yesterday also and the cabin crew came round with a letter to be returned to VS along with the passenger ticket receipt - which I suppose is the boarding card stub

ISTBC but I think the original passenger receipt is the part of the ticket that doesn't get collected at check in and not the boarding card stub. I think an e-ticket receipt may work. My e-ticket never turned up so they printed out something at check in which consisted of the outbound and return tickets together with passenger receipt.