Virgin Network Changes

MAN-ATL will be on 3 class A330

I had dreams last night ANA had pulled out of the UK and I was flying Ryanair to Japan. Now that is what I call a NIGHTMARE!

This leaving a sour taste....
With NRT and CPT going that is a good percentage of my routes, thus TP's going.
This only leaves East and West Coast US for me.
Never thought I would say this but when renewal time come round next year it may be time for a change.
After 6 years of almost monthly flying its a shame but I like my travel simple. One airline, one rewards scheme.
Will keep my fingers crossed until then.

Someone's raised the point over at Head For Points that with VS pulling out of YVR, BOM, NRT and CPT, reward availability on BA is likely to become even more scarce.

Food for thought for those thinking of switching to Avios.

We shouldn't be too harsh to DL. They paid $300m+ for an airline that has lost £150m in the last two years. They were hardly going to allow business as usual.
SQ would have gladly sold to anyone willing to pay for years- but there was only one taker.

We shouldn't be too harsh to DL. They paid $300m+ for an airline that has lost £150m in the last two years. They were hardly going to allow business as usual.
SQ would have gladly sold to anyone willing to pay for years- but there was only one taker.

100% Agree with that but why then have VS been selling this as sharing deal?? I haven't looked that hard but is there any real plus for VS pax when VS still hold 51% of the company??
From a mere basic pax looking in if I was a DL business flyer I would be a lot happier at the moment. VS pax seem to only be getting transit routes......

I'm annoyed as I just booked a Premium Economy fare to NRT so I could get the miles so I could reach 100,000 points to get a nice upper class reward fare next year. Now I can't do that anymore

I wrote to VS aboiut this and they replied back stating I can use my miles on ANA, although I wrote back stating that for a similar class of fare I now need 20,000 to 25,000 more miles which would require me to fly to Tokyo again or buy a few hundred pounds worth of miles, lets see what they say...

jamtex - good luck using miles on a partner, I've had no luck.

On the subject of the DTW flights - I am positive actually - I'm on Delta BE week after need to DTW to another city, and it's quite full according to seat-map. As a connecting option it's better than JFK for me.

ATL though - have we heard who VS are using as a lounge partner - with 3 flights per day peak in summer... I'm a little worried. ATL intl terminal has Delta and The Club ( who is used by BA and others). The club is far better than the DL skyclub imho with a more european food/drink offering - including high end spirits for free (I had some excellent Devils Touch there last month) - but will VS pay for a rivals lounge?

Any idea when we will see the new flights in the reservation system (week, month, longer)?

We shouldn't be too harsh to DL. They paid $300m+ for an airline that has lost £150m in the last two years. They were hardly going to allow business as usual.
SQ would have gladly sold to anyone willing to pay for years- but there was only one taker.

It's fair to say that Delta are producing some great results (financially) recently. I absolutely understand why people won't like the changes, but if it brings stability back to VS and allows for future growth then I'm all for it.

Whilst I understand the commercial rationale, it is hugely symbolic in the 30 year history of Virgin Atlantic. This must be the biggest single shake-up in history after the events of 9/11.

It's interesting there was no comment from SRB in any of the announcements. It must be quite saddening to see so many routes go, some of which Virgin fought hard to get traffic rights for.

When Virgin announced the closure of Sydney they said no more route cancellations were planned. I can't help but wonder if more will be announced next year, depending on how the transatlantic business performs next summer.

yes i agree. it does seem strange. i have been upgraded twice on that route due to over bookings.
if they had said they were cutting the service to only three times per week with potential to cut further if things continue etc
now they dont fly to japan they must be losing quite a lot as tokyo is a major city for commerce. surely more so than detroit? seriously lol

High loads do not always equal high yields.

Japanese economy is not doing well at the moment.

Detroit is a major hub in the mid-west and is DLs 2nd biggest uhub. People may start to prefer using that rather than say JFK as an alternative if they have onwards travel in the US

On the subject of the DTW flights - I am positive actually - I'm on Delta BE week after need to DTW to another city, and it's quite full according to seat-map. As a connecting option it's better than JFK for me.

DTW is quite a nice airport too, airy and modern, and I agree, not a bad place to transfer.

And DTW has a very, very convenient hotel right on property for overnights if needed - the Westin. I've stayed there and it's a pretty good hotel right next to one of the main terminals.

Sad to hear that some of the few flights with good reward availability (NRT and YVR) are now disappearing.

Yes, they had the G's because they weren't full, but if that's the criteria they are using, VS rewards points are absolutely and totally useless... Then why bother even using the programme now, when you know you'll get BA reward flights to far more places?

Sad to hear that some of the few flights with good reward availability (NRT and YVR) are now disappearing.

Yes, they had the G's because they weren't full, but if that's the criteria they are using, VS rewards points are absolutely and totally useless... Then why bother even using the programme now, when you know you'll get BA reward flights to far more places?

Yep, back to my earlier posts, that's another reason for me being on the verge of cutting to BA. Been able to use avios for 2 school holiday short haul trips this year, as well as a CW upgrade for 4 next year, again in the hols.

Wheras my VS miles just sit there, accumulating...

Yes, I'm a sample of 1, but I can't be that unusual a customer in that I fly business for work, have kids, so only real value in miles is school hol flights, and need multiple seats...

It strikes me that the days of the 330 day, more than one person advance upgrade both ways is gone for VS.

I booked a PE for Vegas in December, and while they've made it incredibly difficult by cancelling the day before the flight and rescheduling it (and BA cancelling the competing service from LGW), I did notice the "way things will have to be to use your points".

If I decided to be really flexible, pay the day change price, then I might get a G on a LAS flight the closer it gets to flight dates. Of course with Vegas, the accomodation is cheap and often bookable flexibly, but also its a 14 seat UC, so it's a different comparison.

I've not got this flexibility though, and I doubt I could get a return leg which suited the 7 day holiday I want, plus the Eastbound ones will likely not be available (I got bored of playing the matrix game with dates and checked one way). But there was nothing 330 days in advance for those flights and nothing since. So perhaps the miles will be useful with (semi) flexible tickets bought for their work, and seats being grabbed closer to the day. For the rest of us? Perhaps not.

Still no tickets issues to me - will have to call today.....

So we have been reprotected on to BA in Club. Expecting a new ticket anytime soon, it's been about 36 hours now...

For the return we have cashed in a 2-4-1 and luckily got club seats on our exact preferred date.

Impact is that it's cost us 50k more miles than it would've done had we been able to use our 2-4-1 on the outbound.

VS have also refused to refund us the £50 change fee we paid them only 7-8 days ago to change our initial NYC itinerary to a YVR trip.

I agree with the sentiment on here about not accumulating miles and loyalty clearly doesn't work both ways.

Still no tickets issues to me - will have to call today.....

I have not received my e-tickets yet. I called VS yesterday evening to chase this. Bottom line is they may take a week to be sent to us as there are, unsurprisingly, lots of re-bookings to be processed.

Patience is a virtue as they say Unfortunately I have no virtues

hi all
quick update.
when i tried to log into my booking yesterday i was unable as to so figured this must mean that the vs one had been cancelled and that a new eticket should follow shortly. by 3pm still no ticket but after quick call i received the ticket by 5pm. however (and this is why i wanted to wait a bit more before updating) i have not yet received the BA booking reference which i have been advised can take up to a further 24 hrs.
i did call BA though who confirmed I am on the flight but was told i would have to wait for VS to supply the new booking reference. so hopefully today
i will update later

I have read lots of the comment here, and it seems that Virgin certainly has undergone change; but it is all quite simple, predictable and gives the airline a better chance of survival.

The Atlantic is a joint venture and since it is risk sharing it is expected that DL will have a say. They will want VS to serve their hubs and their customers; this is being achieved.

So we have restored a second daily to LAX (good) seasonal SFO (good), seasonal extra MIA and JFK (good really weren't we saying VS ought to be able to do a second MIA) Atlanta (inevitable) and Detroit (inevitable).

Slots for these have to be found. Look first to non-US seasonal routes -that found YVR and Cape Town. Then to routes where their in severe competition and yield isn't great but which have useful slot times for US routes. Mumbai and Narita, although the inbound time from Japan isn't great. Never mind. DEL and DXB ( and HKG) slots are not great for the US so leave them be at the moment. I'd be watching PVG as that is possibly useful as a US slot next.

QED. It makes sense - it's Virgin Sir Richard but not as we knew it. it is a credible alternative for UK passengers who go to the States and US passengers. It might work the old VS wasn't.

Morning folks, another brief update from me. Approx 60 hrs since I spoke with FC and no confirmation received so I've phoned again and spoken to another agent, who has confirmed I'm reprotected onto the ANA flight in business class. Unfortunately the email to ticketing department hasn't been sent which he has now done and I'm told it should be a max of 24 hrs before the confirmation comes through! So I'm pleased I rang again.

I'll update again when I know more, and won't really believe it until I get the confirmation and e-ticket through. Hey ho...

Update
Since making this last call the MMB page has now been updated showing my booking with ANA on a Z fare bucket. So, fingers crossed for the actual confirmation coming through soon.

My MMB has shown the ANA flights (Z fare) for 2 days but no e-tickets sent as yet. The agent I spoke to did admit this may take up to a week for the e-tickets to be sent to me.

I imagine they are having a horrendous time make all the new arrangements for everyone.

And I expect ANA & BA are rubbing their hands with glee (Kerching!)