Sky-high Virgin Atlantic prices - LHR to USA?

Hi all,

I travel between NYC and London at least three times a year (having previously lived in the UK for five years) and try to only fly Virgin Atlantic.

In the last few days I've been trying to plan my next trip for March, April or May and I'm shocked at how expensive listed fares are! Normally I've found the spring to be a time where Virgin fares are between $700-850 . Right now I can't find any flights during that time for less than $1100! Most are well over $1200.

Other odd things:
- While checking for flights departing on the 19th or 26th March, Virgin's site shows only three available flights, one of which is a Delta code share. I've routinely flown 9pm flights on Thursdays - but now they're just not showing up. Is Virgin cutting back their schedule this spring?
- Almost every class is sold out on the majority of the dates I've viewed. I've never seen this before!

Anyone else notice this? Thanks!

i'm wondering if the DL codeshare is increasing loads, if loads go up VS can increase prices

i did LHR-ATL and back last week, i've never been on VS flights with so many american accents, mix of business and family, on the return there were people across the aisle doing their first VS flight on business, they said it was way better than flying DL (we were in PE)

risky extrapolating from such a small sample, but if this is true in general i suppose we can expect busier/pricier VS flights

There haven't been any cuts in fact there has been an additional flight added though there have been some rejigging of the schedule to provide a more evenly times service between both VS and DL and changes at EWR where the morning flight will be replaced by an additional evening flight operated by DL rather than VS.

I've just done a dummy booking for 19th and 26th March and was indeed only offered 3 flights too but when I selected JFKrather than the generic NYCwas offered the usual 7.

So it looks like a website glitch.

Why would you 'try to only fly Virgin'?

There are many options to NYC, you'd be mad not to go with whoever suits your budget.

i'm wondering if the DL codeshare is increasing loads, if loads go up VS can increase prices

i did LHR-ATL and back last week, i've never been on VS flights with so many american accents, mix of business and family, on the return there were people across the aisle doing their first VS flight on business, they said it was way better than flying DL (we were in PE)

risky extrapolating from such a small sample, but if this is true in general i suppose we can expect busier/pricier VS flights

I don't know if we can say that that will lead to hihger prices across the board, they still have to compete with BA/AA

My own experience is also that many DL customers are switching to Virgin. Good if it keeps the routes open - I miss VS in the eastern destinations

[Neil]

Why would you 'try to only fly Virgin'?

There are many options to NYC, you'd be mad not to go with whoever suits your budget.

There are many reasons one might try and only fly a specific airline.
Maintaining status and earning miles are usually the top 2 reasons usually.

Why would you 'try to only fly Virgin'?

There are many options to NYC, you'd be mad not to go with whoever suits your budget.

Due to the various alliances there are essentially only 4 options (using 6 airlines) that fly direct from NYC to LON

VS / DL (EWR/KJF to LHR)

BA / AA (Ditto)

UA (from EWR to LHR)

Norwegian (from EWR to LGW)

Yes there are lots of others but they are indirect and not every one wants the bother of having to change planes somewhere with extra time (and for some people there may be immigration restrictions on doing that).

i'm wondering if the DL codeshare is increasing loads, if loads go up VS can increase prices

i did LHR-ATL and back last week, i've never been on VS flights with so many american accents, mix of business and family, on the return there were people across the aisle doing their first VS flight on business, they said it was way better than flying DL (we were in PE)

risky extrapolating from such a small sample, but if this is true in general i suppose we can expect busier/pricier VS flights

Hmm this might make sense - I've been noticing the same thing recently; lots of Americans onboard! Maybe Delta is pushing Virgin to be more of a "premium" option?

I just can't get over $1200 return tickets in APRIL. I paid less than that for a flight last July. Then again, I just checked on Kayak and Skyscanner and it looks like BA flights are around the same price at the same time. Maybe I've just got accustomed to cheap flights to the UK!

There haven't been any cuts in fact there has been an additional flight added though there have been some rejigging of the schedule to provide a more evenly times service between both VS and DL and changes at EWR where the morning flight will be replaced by an additional evening flight operated by DL rather than VS.

I've just done a dummy booking for 19th and 26th March and was indeed only offered 3 flights too but when I selected JFKrather than the generic NYCwas offered the usual 7.

So it looks like a website glitch.

Ah! Thanks for this. Now if only the prices were a glitch too

Why would you 'try to only fly Virgin'?

There are many options to NYC, you'd be mad not to go with whoever suits your budget.

Due to the various alliances there are essentially only 4 options (using 6 airlines) that fly direct from NYC to LON

VS / DL (EWR/KJF to LHR)

BA / AA (Ditto)

UA (from EWR to LHR)

Norwegian (from EWR to LGW)

Yes there are lots of others but they are indirect and not every one wants the bother of having to change planes somewhere with extra time (and for some people there may be immigration restrictions on doing that).

Thanks and you're right! I prefer Virgin because of the points I've accrued and the fact that I often fly Delta domestically. After knowing how nice Virgin and BA are, I'd never fly an American carrier to the UK!

[honey lamb]

I just can't get over $1200 return tickets in APRIL. I paid less than that for a flight last July.

A lot depends on when in April you were looking. Remember that Easter is April 5th this year and most schools this side of the pond schedule their school holidays around that date rather than having a set Spring Break time that seems to happen in the US. Many families will take a short break then to NYC. In July, schools in the UK finish for the summer in the latter half of the month, if your flight last year was at the start of July then the surge in fares that occurs at the beginning of the school holidays will not have begun. Add to the equation a couple of Bank Holidays at the end of May (UK) and the beginning of June (Ireland and also the beginning of the school holidays for post-primary school children together with the end of many university terms with students heading to the USA on J1 visas) so there are several factors which come into play to increase fares during that period

I just can't get over $1200 return tickets in APRIL. I paid less than that for a flight last July.

A lot depends on when in April you were looking. Remember that Easter is April 5th this year and most schools this side of the pond schedule their school holidays around that date rather than having a set Spring Break time that seems to happen in the US. Many families will take a short break then to NYC.

Good point - I didn't consider Easter holidays! But what's so weird is that I've looked for a selection of dates from mid-March through mid-May and have yet to find a Thursday departing, Sunday returning flight for less than $1100. I'm banking on prices declining over the next month or so, as they sometimes do. In the meantime I'll reminisce about the Virgin flight I once took in March for $760 return!

I too have been looking at flights around the April time to nyc , expedia are offering some great CW prices .

I can see those Thursday to Sunday flights as being popular from the US

Leave on Thursday evening - arrive UK Friday Morning then return Sunday - even the last flight out arrives in NYC before Midnight US time - and back to work Monday morning with tales of what they did in their 3 day trip to Britainland!

[honey lamb]

I can see those Thursday to Sunday flights as being popular from the US

Leave on Thursday evening - arrive UK Friday Morning then return Sunday - even the last flight out arrives in NYC before Midnight US time - and back to work Monday morning with tales of what they did in their 3 day trip to Britainland!

They are, tonty! I have a couple of friends who do that regularly, not only to the UK but also to other destinations in Yoorp!

I full heartedly agree that prices between LHR and the US are atrocious.

I've been looking to buy flights from IAD to LHR for the past few months (to fly end of March) and nothing less than $1400 has shown up for Virgin which is odd as the exact same flights in the other direction (LHR to IAD) were £490! I'm not entirely sure what is causing this drastic change in price?

What is also interesting is that since looking on Delta's site yesterday, I've now found the exact same flights for $1185 - why can Delta offer less for the same flight than Virgin? Would Virgin atlantic price match to this if you rang them up?

Complete newbie comment I'm sure and please feel free to slap me silly if I sound daft, but could it be anything to do with the absolutely atrocious exchange rate against the Dollar? Just a thought ...

Maybe this is coincidence, but I also find that the time of day you book on the Virgin website can matter for US flights. Book when America is "awake" and the prices seem higher. Mid morning UK time seems to work. ??

Maybe this is coincidence, but I also find that the time of day you book on the Virgin website can matter for US flights. Book when America is "awake" and the prices seem higher. Mid morning UK time seems to work. ??

Pretty sure that's just the loads changing everyday, so for example if 10 people book one day the next day the price will be increased

I full heartedly agree that prices between LHR and the US are atrocious.

I've been looking to buy flights from IAD to LHR for the past few months (to fly end of March) and nothing less than $1400 has shown up for Virgin which is odd as the exact same flights in the other direction (LHR to IAD) were £490! I'm not entirely sure what is causing this drastic change in price?

What is also interesting is that since looking on Delta's site yesterday, I've now found the exact same flights for $1185 - why can Delta offer less for the same flight than Virgin? Would Virgin atlantic price match to this if you rang them up?

UK school holidays are at the end of March so more demand whatever flight your on

I full heartedly agree that prices between LHR and the US are atrocious.

I've been looking to buy flights from IAD to LHR for the past few months (to fly end of March) and nothing less than $1400 has shown up for Virgin which is odd as the exact same flights in the other direction (LHR to IAD) were £490! I'm not entirely sure what is causing this drastic change in price?

Yes! This! A friend of mine in London who is planning to visit around the same time told me she was surprised flights to the USA were "so cheap".

At first I put it down to tax or fee increases, since it's the *UK segment* on the Virgin flights I've been seeing that's so expensive. Yet it doesn't really account for the massive price drop when you look at flights going UK -> US

Again, $1100 used to get you a Y seat on a early August flight to London, and now I can't find one in mid-March. It's really strange!

i'm on the LHR-IAD next week for a couple of days, prices do seem very high

loadcheck shows good availability and seatmaps show EC with very few seats reserved, PE probably busiest, but still 9+ in all cabins

under policy it's a 'short' flight so i'm booked EC via company TA, but i managed to get it on a B and now living in hope that this time i can do a UC points upgrade at the airport, my contingency plan is head for the back as i think there may be a lot of empty rows!

will be my first time on a shiny new dreamliner too

You cannot just do a currency conversion of a US-UK flight price from $ to £ and compare it to a UK-US flight.

The US-UK and UK-US markets are very different and will be priced accordingly due to airline competition.

The different markets will also bear different prices and US and UK peak seasons e.g. school holiday periods do not always coincide. And just as school holidays vary between England and Scotland (and even in different English counties) the same can is true for different US states.

You cannot just do a currency conversion of a US-UK flight price from $ to £ and compare it to a UK-US flight.

The US-UK and UK-US markets are very different and will be priced accordingly due to airline competition.

The different markets will also bear different prices and US and UK peak seasons e.g. school holiday periods do not always coincide. And just as school holidays vary between England and Scotland (and even in different English counties) the same can is true for different US states.

Hi Tonty,

I agree with you and certainly think you're right about the lack of direct comparison, but my overall pricing concerns stand. I've booked 2-3 flights per year for the last five years on Virgin - both from inside the US and inside the UK, with both pounds and dollars - and have never seen a prices this consistently high for an entire spring period.

In five years the only time I've ever spent more than $1000 on a VA flight was when I was either a.) flying during the summer/Christmas holidays or b.) flying Premium Economy.

But as was also mentioned earlier, it seems like BA and United are also posting prices for USA-UK in the low 1000's for that time period. Whatever is going on is happening industry-wide. All I hope is that it doesn't last forever!