Virgin Network Changes

If, as I suspect, EK and the ME3 has had an effect on CPT and some other eastern routes, then I too am surprised at the continuation of DXB. It must have good O&D yields and RASM to substantiate keeping it, especially since there's no onward feed or other connections from DXB.

Wow, I am exceedingly glad we booked our NRT UC upgrades for December as any later and we'd be in a very sad situation indeed. I'm really sad about the withdrawal of the Tokyo service. I am now in a bit of a quandary as we were planning on saving VS miles for a trip to Hong Kong next year, but as the Far East routes seem to be diminishing and with HKG a less popular flight due to the cancellation of the SYD route, I am now wondering if it's time to switch allegiance to BA. Really rather a shame as I thought we might make AU with VS this year. We still do a lot of transatlantic flights, but our business market is really growing exponentially in Asia and losing VS flights there is a blow. A real shame. For us, the only benefit *might* be a slight increase in rewards seats on the LAX and SFO routes, but that's about it.

Oh ******* hell

I have flights booked to NRT in April and just received the email:

In order to take advantage of these opportunities, further proposed changes to our network will include:
• A withdrawal of operations to Tokyo Narita with the final flight from London to Narita on 31 January 2015 and the final flight from Narita to London on 1 February 2015.

If you have any questions, please visit our website. And if you're travelling with us to any of the proposed affected destinations and booked via a travel agent, please contact them for more information. If you've booked directly with us, please feel free to get in touch with our Reservations Team on 0344 209 2774 (UK) who will be happy to help.

So I called them and the lady who answered was only told herself an hour ago and she has no further details. She can not help me and suggests I call back in 2 weeks!!!

I have planned this trip for months. I have hotels booked. I have leave approved. Unhappy is an understatement

This has seriously hacked me off big time.

In such situations are VS obliged to find an alternative flight for us on the same dates? Or can they just return my money and FC miles?

Any word on when the extra flight to/from lax will begin?

I have five UC reward seats booked for April to Narita - I knew they would pull the route sooner or later which is why I booked the trip. I've just spoken to virgin and been told we are protected and they will tell me tomorrow who we are now flying with.

Has anyone any idea who it might be with? Don't fancy swapping Virgin UC with ANA business......

Gutted

VS is no longer a British airline that exists purely to take Brits on holiday or on business. As its recent losses prove, that's just not viable when it's up against the might of BA and the money's no object approach of Emirates and other eastern airlines.

VS is now "Delta's sexy little British sister". It clearly sees its future growth in providing connections for Brits on to DL's US network, and - crucially - in attracting more Americans on to the JV TATL routes.

If VS/DL can eat into AA & UA's TATL market share in the US, that's a result for them. Sadly it means losing some routes and with them some loyal UK customers but, in the grand scheme of things, that'll be a price they're willing to pay if it means returning to profit.

I too am amazed that VS have not dropped DXB to use the slot elsewhere. They cannot compete against the ME3 on this route with one flight a day. Don't Emirates have 6 flights a day LHR-DXB? (Before you throw in all the other UK airports they serve).

Can only guess that maybe the slot VS use for DXB at Heathrow is not suitably timed for a route they [or Delta] wanted. Given the "use it or lose it" rules surrounding LHR slots, keeping DXB going for now may have been the lesser of the two evils.

Maximus I'm in same boat. They told me we can have a full refund, or they will provide alternative seats in same class on any other airline. But who knows who that airline is?

Good to see an increase in frequency to destinations like JFK, MIA, LAX and SFO but this obviously reflects in the long term on the fact that they will not have the 747s for these services, not sure on reward availability due to all the changes though - LAX for example looks like the plan will be to go from the current 747/346 to 787/787/DL 767 so 89 UC seats a day reduces to only 62 and PE drops from 100 seats a day to 70.

I do hold out some hope that an expansion at MAN might prompt them to consider putting a Clubhouse in! Perhaps if MAN-ATL goes well they VS might take over JFK as the 787 config would be well suited to that market. I can but dream!

I too am amazed that VS have not dropped DXB to use the slot elsewhere. They cannot compete against the ME3 on this route with one flight a day.

I'm led to believe it's a key route for Virgin Holidays and carries lots of cargo, two factors which make it very profitable. Being a tiny minnow in a huge pond doesn't necessarily mean you're at a disadvantage.

Maximus I'm in same boat. They told me we can have a full refund, or they will provide alternative seats in same class on any other airline. But who knows who that airline is?

I suspect they will use partner airlines first such as ANA?

Lets hope Ryanair don't decide to set up a NRT service

Anyone know if the MAN to NYC and Atlanta routes will be virgin or delta planes? And I should assume that reward seat availability will be rubbish?

The woman on the phone said possibly ANA - what are they like?

I hope those of you who've booked to NRT get suitable replacements. I feel so bad for you as I know how much time and effort goes into the forward planning of these trips and it really does feel like the rug has been pulled out from under you when something like this occurs. Please let us know how it goes.

DrFlyer, I hadn't thought about the aircraft changes and if that's the case, the reward availability from LAX dropping so sharply seems like another nail in the coffin. We haven't decided fully yet, but I might switch our miles earning over to BA and just use up or remaining small bank of FC miles for a JFK upgrade next year, perhaps.

I have five UC reward seats booked for April to Narita

And that, presumably, is why they're dropping the route.

UC reward availability to NRT (and BOM & YVR) seems to be consistently good which suggests they're not selling enough revenue fares and not enough FFs want to go there.

Try finding Gs to MIA, LAX or SFO though - they're like hen's teeth, suggesting demand for UC is very high. So surely adding extra flights makes sense?

Incidentally for those thinking of switching their allegiance to BA, I read on Head For Points this week that in a recent survey of BA FFs, only a third were happy with reward seat availability ...

I'm in the "I'm glad I jumped ship" boat!

I would now not feel safe in booking a VS flight east, who knows when they will axe them?

It's good to increase frequency on USA flights, but it does devalue the loyalty scheme, as apart from USA, very few other routes to gain or spend points.

Odd that I can get to the payment stage on a booking for NRT flights in April next year...

I suspect that DXB is propped up to some extent by Virgin Holidays.

That's how I knew they would pull the route soon - easy availability! Also good availability for Mumbai always, ditto there.....

The woman on the phone said possibly ANA - what are they like?

Very good - I would be happy to swap to ANA, better than BA if reviews are to be believed.

The woman on the phone said possibly ANA - what are they like?

Very good - I would be happy to swap to ANA, better than BA if reviews are to be believed.

Thanks! Will see what they say and update you all

With my re-booking I am extremely annoyed because:
1) we originally booked a short break to NYC in May as a mini-moon but changed this to YVR for our Honeymoon last week (at a cost of £50 change fee).
2) we only have a one-way booking to YVR at the moment because the returns aren't available yet, the plan was to ring and add the return.

So in theory VS are going to say 'tough, you only have a one way ticket'.

I am due a call back from the agent. At the very least I am expecting a refund of our £50 change fee given we only booked it last week!

I do hope that suitable alternatives (and maybe a goodwill gesture) will be found for those that had tickets already booked for those withdrawn flights. When I first saw the changes, my first reaction was to check whether any of my existing bookings are affected.

The notice is really rather short, and with reward availability so hard to come by, I have my fingers crossed for those who were celebrating bagging the Gs and busy planning their trip maybe just yesterday. Do keep us posted.

Absolutely no way HKG will get pulled
There may be a few seats available at the moment but thats the knock on effect of SYD being dropped, it will be overbooked again before you know it

I am concerned about HKG. Since SYD was stopped this route is flying with empty seats in UC which I never saw prior to that.
BA and CX seem to fill several planes a day so I would have expected VS to manage one - unless they are not putting any marketing effort in (with a view to dropping it).

I have five UC reward seats booked for April to Narita

And that, presumably, is why they're dropping the route.

UC reward availability to NRT (and BOM & YVR) seems to be consistently good which suggests they're not selling enough revenue fares and not enough FFs want to go there.

Try finding Gs to MIA, LAX or SFO though - they're like hen's teeth, suggesting demand for UC is very high. So surely adding extra flights makes sense?

Incidentally for those thinking of switching their allegiance to BA, I read on Head For Points this week that in a recent survey of BA FFs, only a third were happy with reward seat availability ...

I'm not fully surprised, either, as the reward availability was one of the main reasons for us booking (although we've paid for the NRT route before, but it is remarkably cheap in PE).

Regarding reward availability, sadly it seems to be a universal issue that it's very poor on a lot of carriers. The problem is with a dearth of Far East flights it will become harder and harder for us to earn TP with Virgin, which I think might be easier with BA. I'm not sure, though. I need to do a crash course in their frequent flyer programme as I've only really skimmed over it.

Just wanted to chime in with some support for the changes and sorry to hear people who have already booked trips on the cancelled routes. Hope it all gets sorted ASAP.

I do think its good that VS are hunkering down on profitability and at the same time expanding services, luckily it is to all the places I fly to. Also glad to see a Clubhouse finally coming to LA. It's been long overdue