VA UC Aug 2011....

Hi Guys,

Our last three trips from MAN to MCO have been in UC, a mixture of bargains and then using air miles but I thought that we had flown our last UC trip due to rising costs but it's looks like we are going to get our hands on some Thomas Cook vouchers...

We are looking to fly again in Aug 2011, approx. 7th to 28th, this will be our first trip in the school summer holidays and so my question is this....

As we are going for three weeks anyone booking for two weeks will of course be able to book before we can. How quickly do the UC seats sell out in peak season? We will be looking to book 4 seats.

Also I have got these Thomas Cook vouchers which will make UC possible for this trip, will it complicate matters at all booking through a Thomas Cook travel agent? Can they access all available seats or do VA reserve any just for direct bookings? I'm just trying to figure out what my chances are of pulling this one off, I can always use the vouchers to book PE if needs be but would much rather put them towards the costs of 'upgrading' to UC.....

Thanks in advance,

Ali

Bear in mind that current plans are the vs75/76 to have no uc wef April 2011. Vs 73/74 will. This cuts down your options to 14 uc seats on a service that Is not daily.

[Neil]

As already mentioned, only 4 flights a week from MAN to MCO will have UC on them, as the daily VS75 will be operated by the new A330's which will only have Y and W class on them.

As you have already said, August is a popular period for travel to MCO and flights will book up fairly quickly. I imagine the travel agents will book either through Virgin Holidays or like they do and they will have an initial allocation and once it is sold then it will be up Virgin if they are willing to release any more or if they are happy to just sell the seats themselves.

Neil

Is the two class 330 on the MAN route indefinite? I can't remember.

Wow had no idea that there would not be daily UC flights?! We always fly on the vs075 and return on the 076 but have always flown in low season (jan/feb/march)...... Sorry for typos replyin on my phone!

Ali.

I'm a bit gobsmacked! The UC cabin was full on every trip we made?! Was thisnot always the case? Isn't there the demand for UC from Man? just interested to hear why the daily UC is being cancelled?

Ali.

I'm a bit gobsmacked! The UC cabin was full on every trip we made?! Was thisnot always the case? Isn't there the demand for UC from Man? just interested to hear why the daily UC is being cancelled?

Ali.

It's not that it's been cancelled - a slightly complicated story to do with introducing the new A333s, refurbishing the current LGW / MAN 747s and managing rotation of planes on routes as best VS can.

The new A333s come online in 2011 - they'll feature a new UC (maybe upgraded more than new) but this has yet been certified by the Civil Aviation Authority so will not be installed on the first two A333s due to enter service - but probably will be retrofitted to them. At the same time, the existing 747s are going in for lengthy interior upgrades, so this takes some out of action for a while, they will have new IFE, new seats etc. So the mix of planes to MCO from MAN is changing and VS is coping with all it's plans by mixing A333s with no UC initially, and some 747s and thereby giving flexibility in their schedule to get all the work done.

Note, none of this is official, just pieced together by many here making sensible assumptions about what is going on from the little news we have.

So, yes, for some dates in 2011 UC availability from MAN is going to be down, but we hope this is a temporary thing.

Hi

I've just been through the 3 week issues myself for 2011. I wanted to go to and through LA in UC, and was convinced that if I waited for the return to be available, the outward G seats would have gone.
I emailed members here who warned me about the dangers of booking 'singles' - but I did it and it turned out fine - and I was right - if I'd waited for the return, no seats outwards would have been available

I have to add that this was because I was booking with points - but there again it's a lesson to be learnt

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply, all very informative.

I am just so glad that I asked the question as now that I know the reality of the situation with reduced numbers of UC seats available etc at least I can prepare myself and just use these vouchers to book PE and make a saving rather than putting them towards UC. I guess there is a small chance we might be lucky but we will just have to wait and see....

Also froma a negative point of view, I am guessing that the prices of UC from MAN may creep up further if availability is low but the demand is still there?!

Anyway, I appreciate all your help y)

Many thanks,

Ali

Peter, out of interest, what are the dangers of booking 'singles'?

Ali.

You maybe lucky, you may not. it depends who else is looking for the same dates - either out or inbound. All you can do it look and keep your fingers crossed.

The issue with singles is that paying with cash is vvvvv expensive when compared to a return but not so much when paying with miles as a miles single is 1/2 the return.

Peter, out of interest, what are the dangers of booking 'singles'?

That you commit yourself to an outbound flight with miles and find that the return leg cannot be paid for in miles and can only be achieved by paying eye wateringly large amounts of cash.

In my (admittedly limited) experience the key with any reward booking is flexibility. When I booked this summer's outing last year I could book outward and return legs at the same time, but only if I was able to travel midweek. This turned a two week trip into 3 weeks off work. IIRC I could have done 3 weeks away (albeit by date selection and being willing to fly into and out of different airports), but couldn't have booked 4 weeks off work.

[Neil]

Note, none of this is official, just pieced together by many here making sensible assumptions about what is going on from the little news we have.

So, yes, for some dates in 2011 UC availability from MAN is going to be down, but we hope this is a temporary thing.

The majority of what you have said is almost all certainly as it is going to happen. It is very likely also that when the A330's with UC are delivered alter in 2011 they will operate on LHR routes, keeping the 2 class config a/c on the leisure routes ex MAN/LGW, so I don't hold out much hope for the V75/76 going back to having UC any time soon.

Another reason for the decision to move the daily MCO flight ex MAN to the new a/c, is the fact the LAS flights start ex MAN next year, which is going to be operated by one of the 747's

Neil

The 'dangers of booking singles' - I was about to give my own reply, but nearly everything has been covered by other contributors - wot a knowledgeable bunch you get here!!!

However the BIG one is that if you use Miles out, and can't (for some reason) get a Miles flight back, a Single back is silly money....

Peter

I was looking for three seats next May for travel to Florida. It seemed that MAN Reward flights to MCO were not showing for that period so I checked the VS website and saw that three UC seats were available from LHR to Miami as another option. Whilst online, I rang VS and was informed that those seats were not showing on the agents screen.When I mentioned MAN, the agent checked and said that three UC seats were available on VS73 and "Did I want to book them?" The answer was pretty obvious and I felt that I had pretty much won the lottery equivalent. The chance of getting these seats from MAN is usually almost non-existent.The tax payable is £220 approx. so I feel particularly lucky to have secured the booking.

Well done on those reward seats, seats on that route will be like gold dust so a good result. Did you book the outward leg only so far?

We are going on a cruise in May 2011 so only required the outward leg as we are doing a Transtlantic back to Barcelona.Stil can't get over the shock!

Just to let you know I have checked availabliity on UC MAN to MCO in May just to see what is available and the answer is, very little and the prices are through the roof :0

Not to worry, I will just use the vouchers towards PE and save ourselves some money. Have to admit to being a smidge disspointed that we won't be able to use these vouchers to upgrade but it is what it is....

Thanks again for all your replies at least I know where I stand!!

Ali