New virgin-atlantic.com website release (update 29/02/12)

The next update was due over the next few days funnily enough, but this has been pushed back a few weeks by the website developers due to technical issues.

Again, lack of investment due to making no money is the problem here.

The lack of investment and the generally poor website actually puts people off booking VS so that is costing VS money.

Many shops spend a lot of money on their window displays which encourage people to enter (and spend). Unfortunately for VS once you get past the nice front window the rest of the store is disfunctional

Exactly, which is why I booked a flight + car deal on BA.com in 10 minutes flat.

Even after the DL tie up, the VS website still tells me 'no flight available' when I select LON to TPA regardless of date and class of travel. I thought that the point of the deal was to offer seamless connections in the US.

The next update was due over the next few days funnily enough, but this has been pushed back a few weeks by the website developers due to technical issues.

Again, lack of investment due to making no money is the problem here.

The lack of investment and the generally poor website actually puts people off booking VS so that is costing VS money.

Many shops spend a lot of money on their window displays which encourage people to enter (and spend). Unfortunately for VS once you get past the nice front window the rest of the store is disfunctional

Agreed.. Unfortunately the ones in charge of the money don't seem to see it that way..

The lack of investment and the generally poor website actually puts people off booking VS so that is costing VS money.

Many shops spend a lot of money on their window displays which encourage people to enter (and spend). Unfortunately for VS once you get past the nice front window the rest of the store is disfunctional

Agreed.. Unfortunately the ones in charge of the money don't seem to see it that way..

I agree. Perception is a massive thing and shouldnt be overlooked. Afterall perception led me to avoid AA and all other American Airlines. Perception is also what partially led me to fly VS in the first place.
If VS were getting their end of year school report I reckon it would read all in all performing to a high standard but as always room for improvement. Could do better
Like most things in life its relatively easy to get to a reasonable level but to get to the next level requires much more effort. I wonder if VS would/could take a small committee of V-Flyers and do a brainstorming session

This is what I get on VS' website when I try to book LON - TPA in PE on a random date in May. v(

I am resurrecting this thread as this afternoon whilst digging around for some M fares to BOS in November I noticed a new page in the Flying club section of the site.

There is a nice new cover page for Spend Miles - a shame that when clicking on anything it then resorts back to the old school VS site but there is a handy Spend Miles table for download at the bottom.

Getting there - slowly but surely ii)

I wonder if VS would/could take a small committee of V-Flyers and do a brainstorming session

Just noticed this.... yep won't be that expensive will it ii) Here is another thought, how about getting FFs when they are in the lounge to answer a few questions over a drink, instead of trying to flog them a new credit card that is

I wonder if VS would/could take a small committee of V-Flyers and do a brainstorming session

Just noticed this.... yep won't be that expensive will it ii) Here is another thought, how about getting FFs when they are in the lounge to answer a few questions over a drink, instead of trying to flog them a new credit card that is

yes that would be a good idea too!!

I reckon a few FFs and maybe the odd V-flyer (as Im not a FF lol) over to crawley towers for a "brainstorming" session on Friday afternoon.

Virgin have used V-Flyers in focus groups and website development.

Well, call me a Luddite, but am I the only one that preferred the old 'grid' display of prices? I find myself searching for M+M fares initially just to get that to show up, and then adjusting back to cash only. Works perfectly. Very good for trying to spot a cheap out/inbound combo IMO.

Anyway, back to my cave...

Well, call me a Luddite, but am I the only one that preferred the old 'grid' display of prices? I find myself searching for M+M fares initially just to get that to show up, and then adjusting back to cash only. Works perfectly. Very good for trying to spot a cheap out/inbound combo IMO.

Anyway, back to my cave...

I'm with you on that rc but I guess when the site eventually morphs into the "new" site we cave dwellers will have to adjust

Virgin have used V-Flyers in focus groups and website development.

Wow really?
I would love to have a chance to give my input too

Well, call me a Luddite, but am I the only one that preferred the old 'grid' display of prices? I find myself searching for M+M fares initially just to get that to show up, and then adjusting back to cash only. Works perfectly. Very good for trying to spot a cheap out/inbound combo IMO.

Anyway, back to my cave...

I'm with you on that rc but I guess when the site eventually morphs into the "new" site we cave dwellers will have to adjust

Lol well after a while we might "forget" about the good old days of the VS website
For example only one week after both radio five live and bbc radio London changed their jingles I couldn't even remember the previous versions lol

I have to agree, the grid is a far easier way to see the price for multiple date combinations on one screen – I always search through "more options" to get it. With the new set up (and BA's), you have to scroll up and down the page to select individual legs. This is fine if your dates aren't flexible but when you're searching for a bargain…

Where the VS website really is let down is finding/booking miles upgrades (for the uneducated non v-flyer anyway) and multi destination journeys. If I want to fly to MIA with a 3 day layover in NYC I would need to call up VS just to get a price. People who don’t have an airline preference aren’t going to bother doing this and as most other airlines enable this online I expect it loses them some (albeit bespoke) business. I would have thought this would be a priority for VS since the tie in with DL; good way of turning the negative of an indirect flight into a positive.

And the app…don’t get me started on the app…

Where the VS website really is let down is finding/booking miles upgrades (for the uneducated non v-flyer anyway) and multi destination journeys. If I want to fly to MIA with a 3 day layover in NYC I would need to call up VS just to get a price.

Agreed it is annoying, although tricky to do as VS don't offer flights NYC - MIA, they will have to use DL metal.... perhaps something to come with further JV integration. One can hope at least... in the meantime I believe that Madonna has been banished from the on hold music and that Jackson 5 are featuring most prominently. A,B,C easy as 1,2,3 :w

And the app…don’t get me started on the app…

Ha ha ha, have you tried out the DL app on the iPad? It has a fair few features, is easy to navigate and I would definitely recommend giving it a look. It even includes VS flights in the searches, so who needs the VS app Another hope I have from the JV is for VS to take a bit of a tech lead from DL.

Ha ha ha, have you tried out the DL app on the iPad? It has a fair few features, is easy to navigate and I would definitely recommend giving it a look. It even includes VS flights in the searches, so who needs the VS app

Good point, the DL iPhone app does include VS flights. Maybe booking through DL is the way forward - just need to be careful not to accidently select an AF flight.

AF aren't that bad. And it does add a bit of excitement to flying knowing you might not survive!

Personally I quite like AF

Well, call me a Luddite, but am I the only one that preferred the old 'grid' display of prices?

Ahem!
http://v-flyer.com/forum/index.php?f=4&t=277349&p=834727&hilit=New%20booking%20engine&rb_v=viewtopic#p834725

Jolly good. Perhaps we should start a petition

Unsure if this has been mentioned or not buts it new to me. Looks like they've updated the Membership Benefits pages

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/fl ... efits.html

N.B. Also according to this page you now only need 10 tier points to renew AG

To keep your silver status, you need to earn at least 10 tier points in your membership year. Your fix membership year will be 12 to 13 months dependent on the day you reached Silver. If you renew your Silver status, as a thank you from us, 2,000 miles will be credited to your Flying Club account.

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/fl ... efits.html

that must be an old page

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/fl ... ng-up.html

I was on the VS site today and I got one of those "We'd like you to take a survey" boxes. Having waited ages for assorted MMB pages and prices to load, I thought I'd have my say in answer to their question: Is there anything we could do to make the site better for our customers?
I hope its not too over the top

"The mixture of the Old and New look website pages is a disgraceful indictment of Virgin Atlantic's IT capability. Way back on 27th July 2011 (yes 2011), on V-Flyer.com the Virgin IT team (Fergus, Kyle, Greg & Howard) first told the Virgin flying community about the "exciting ..root & branch redesign of our website". Over 2 years later the site is still a mishmash of old and new. Even the booking process flips between the two as you go back to change the details. [Google: "v-flyer root & branch redesign of our website"] for the full story.

Secondly, the speed of page loading for the pricing pages and for retrieving existing flight bookings is amongst the worst of any airline I use. This year that I have flown, Emirates, Delta, Easyjet, Air Asia, Malaysia Airlines, Air Canada and a couple of others. Only Ryanair is worse and that is not a comparison that VA should be wanting to make.
<End rant>

Other than that its all lovely!"

[preiffer]

Agreed - it's an absolute disgrace.

They appear to have updated the mobile version of the website

Was just speaking to a fellow v-flyer about the website last week.

Try and go to the online shopping page.

You start with the new site and log in,

Which takes you to the old site, press online shopping,

Which takes you to the new site, press shop now,

Which takes you to the old site, press shop now (again)

And it takes you back to the new site.

Just wonderful ...........

David

[mitchja]

All the Flying Club bits (including the mobile version) still seem to be the old design.

DL have a great site so hopefully they will be suitably embarrassed by the VS offering and fix it.