Win a tour of the new A330

[Pete]

The nice folks over at vtravelled have alerted me to a competition they've just put up which would probably be of interest to several V-Flyers - Win a guided tour of the new A330!

Link here: http://blog.vtravelled.com/win-a-tour-o ... new-plane/

[Nottingham Nick]

They posted it earlier on the Facebook page - bit short notice, but a nice idea. y)

Nick

I have entered, so fingers crossed!

Ahh thats handy as i have Tuesday off anyway!!

They posted it earlier on the Facebook page - bit short notice, but a nice idea. y)

Nick

And the whinging has started too !

won't be long before there is a 'where is my refund' post!

It wouldn't be so annoying that it is only open to UK passport holders if I wasn't going to be in the country when the drawing happens...

Now someone wants to call in the lawyers because limiting it to UK passport Holders is somehow discriminatory !

Now someone wants to call in the lawyers because limiting it to UK passport Holders is somehow discriminatory !

I can't help but laugh!

I'm not normally an advocate of violence but some of those people need a good whack around the head to knock some common sense and reality into them.

[Nottingham Nick]

It appears funny on the face of it, but I would guess that they do have a point.

I suspect that Virgin could find themselves in bother, if anyone decides to seriously pursue the matter.

I can't believe that, even though their motives appear honourable, a company can legally be allowed to dictate that only British Citizens can win a competition. It happens all the time in America with competitions being only to US citizens, but I have never seen it here.

Nick

It's to do with getting airside clearance I think.

[Nottingham Nick]

That's what I mean by their honourable intentions, but the question could be asked as to why they have waited until the last minute to run the competition?
Holders of other nation's passports can get airside clearance, it just takes longer.

Nick

Damn, working all next week. Would have entered if I thought I had a chance of being able to arrange the day off.

Good luck to those that have entered, hope a v-flyer wins it.

well if anyone from here wins, take some photos n post! =P

[Darren Wheeler]

Maxine has now come back with more details of why short notice etc.

I'm not sure they have done anything illegal. It doesn't discriminate on the grounds of;

Age
Race
Religion
Sex
Sexual orientation

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advi ... finitions/

The only one that even comes close is Nationality (citizenship) and even then it's not barring anyone who doesn't have UK citizenship, just a UK passport.

Frankly, those complaining need to get out more and if they are that worried about the A330, buy a ticket and actually get to fly in it - something the competition winner won't. ii)

[Nottingham Nick]

I am not saying I support, or agree with, any ambulance chaser who decides to try for some compensation, but I can't see how limiting the entries to UK passport holders in not discriminating on the grounds of race.

In your link, Darren - Race - Refers to the protected characteristic of Race. It refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, and nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origins.

They also insist on UK passports, when we are all citizens of the EEC. ?| ):

Not something I am losing sleep over, but I think they are inviting trouble needlessly.

Nick

[honey lamb]

They also insist on UK passports, when we are all citizens of the EEC. ?| ):

Not something I am losing sleep over, but I think they are inviting trouble needlessly.

Nick

Hmmmm! My Irish passport tells me I'm a citizen of the EU :w )

Ah well, that lets me out

[Nottingham Nick]

I still remember it as the Common Market. B)

It's to do with getting airside clearance I think.

I would think it is exactly that, whilst any nationality can subject to vetting get airside clearance, this takes time. Several weeks sometimes due to disclosure Scotland having to process checks.

The winners will utilise a temporary pass which is only valid for i think a maximum of 7 days but normally for 24 hrs. To use this you need a UK passport and have to be escorted airside by a full permit holder.

[Nottingham Nick]

I don't think there is any debate that the reason for the prohibitive entry qualifications is the tight time scale for air-side passes.

If I was an ambulance chaser, my argument would be that it was Virgin's poor planning, in making it a competition with a tight time scale that has caused the discrimination against non-UK citizens.

I can see that argument that lots of competitions have entry requirements - e.g. those with alcohol prizes are only open to over 18s.

The difference is that it would always be illegal to supply alcohol a a prize to under 18s, but here the time scale issue is purely of Virgin's making and - if they had announced the competition some weeks / months ago, with the prize trip to be taken on a date to be fixed, the air side pass issue could have been sorted.

As I have said, I hope nothing is made of it, but I enjoy debates like this. We used to have lots on here, but they seem to have died away. ):

I too hope a V-Flyer wins and they got lots of photos.

Nick

Oooh, people do like to get hot and bothered on Facebook don't they!

How many people here are members of airline, hotel, etc. loyalty schemes and how many times do you witness say promotions that only apply to US citizens (heck, they still can't understand that not all of the world has a ZIP code to even enter some). C'est la vie!

Entered, fingers crossed!

[honey lamb]

I still remember it as the Common Market. B)

And de Gaulle saying "Non!" to the UK (and Irish) entry

I don't think there is any debate that the reason for the prohibitive entry qualifications is the tight time scale for air-side passes.

If I was an ambulance chaser, my argument would be that it was Virgin's poor planning, in making it a competition with a tight time scale that has caused the discrimination against non-UK citizens.

I can see that argument that lots of competitions have entry requirements - e.g. those with alcohol prizes are only open to over 18s.

The difference is that it would always be illegal to supply alcohol a a prize to under 18s, but here the time scale issue is purely of Virgin's making and - if they had announced the competition some weeks / months ago, with the prize trip to be taken on a date to be fixed, the air side pass issue could have been sorted.

As I have said, I hope nothing is made of it, but I enjoy debates like this. We used to have lots on here, but they seem to have died away. ):

I too hope a V-Flyer wins and they got lots of photos.

Nick

It seems to me that the root of the discrimination in this case lies with the UK authorities who are applying different (more time consuming) clearance procedures to non-British (i.e. EU) passport holders. However there may be good security reasons for them doing so. For example, do they need to contact the other nation's passport authority, which takes more time?

This issue reminds me of the kind of absurdities that often arise when the principle of non-discrimination is upheld as an absolute above all others. There are countless other circumstances where allowing discrimination to take place can be reasonable or even desirable. The recent ruling concerning sex discrimination in pension annuity rates is one example to consider. Another is the huge sums of public money which may have been wasted on the Disability Discrimination Act due to the absence of any meaningful cost/benefit analysis.

I fully support laws which prohibit 'unreasonable' discrimination i.e. discrimination motivated by prejudice or simply a lack of diligence in avoiding it. The latter brings my argument full circle and gives a nod to Nick in questioning whether Virgin had made sufficient effort to avoid discrimination. Like Nick I won’t be losing any sleep over it.

[buns]

Just a quickie:

Landed at Gatwick this morning to see TWO A330's

buns