Consolidated thread about Ex-DUB and other Ex-EU travel.

No problem at all. At the check in desk, I just asked if he'd check them to Heathrow so we could use Revivals and he did. I don't know whether it had anything to do with them being extra nice and apologetic due to the aircraft having no working IFE, but I think he'd have been happy to do so anyway.

No problem at all. At the check in desk, I just asked if he'd check them to Heathrow so we could use Revivals and he did. I don't know whether it had anything to do with them being extra nice and apologetic due to the aircraft having no working IFE, but I think he'd have been happy to do so anyway.

Thanks for the feedback.

Completed a DUB > LHR > SFO > LHR (dropped Final DUB sector) yesterday on VS42 UC.

Done OLCI for outbound trip on VS19 with VS but unable to do OLCI with Aer Lingus (seems you need to have booked direct with EI to do that). Our locating flight from LHR to DUB was with BA the day before and so did twighlight check in at DUB when we arrived. Bags were not seen again until SFO and rather surprisingly all three checked bags were first on the carousel!

Check in at SFO was simple and a request to only have our bags checked to LHR only was greeted with a "certainly Sir" and confirmed this is what we wanted before tagging and sending them away. The final sector was booked for LHR > DUB and later (by 6 hours) on EI.

VS42 took off 20 minutes late but arrived at LHR 25 minutes early and was a great flight.

Shall certainly be looking to do this again, if the savings continue that is!

Would someone mind finding this for me must be doing something wrong .
Dub-Lhr -lax on 13/8/16 virgin upper
Lax-Lhr-dub 27/8/16 virgin upper

Thanks for your help in advance

Expedia offering VS Upper Class for £1363 return per person on your dates. Without ex DUB the identical VS flights are £3088 return per person.

Cheers
James

Expedia offering VS Upper Class for £1363 return per person on your dates. Without ex DUB the identical VS flights are £3088 return per person.

Cheers
James

It really is daft this.

[ It really is daft this.

That's the ex-EU trick for you! Typical savings of £3.5k for a couple are the norm

[ It really is daft this.

That's the ex-EU trick for you! Typical savings of £3.5k for a couple are the norm

I love it. Still daft though !

apologies if this has been asked before.

I have just looked up DUB-LHR-JFK-LHR-DUB on google flight for next May,

The price i'm quoted is £1,079 return. However none of the website i have looked on expedia/ebookers/edreams match this price, does anyone know where google get this figure from and how i can get it? or what the best website to book on is. expedia.ie give a similar price but the options of VS flights are very limited i can't seem to get the 787 12:30pm flight. hmmmmmm...

It says i can call virgin but will they offer this price to me

I've been looking for an ex-DUB to Dubai over xmas for my parents and can find it on Google flights for around £1300 each (BA to/from DUB, Virgin to/from DXB) , but can't get any Virgin flights to show when looking at any of the booking sites.

What are the specific dates you are looking at?

When looking a few weeks ago I found mine on opodo and not Expedia, which was annoying as had to pay an extra £55 in fees pp to opodo

apologies if this has been asked before.

I have just looked up DUB-LHR-JFK-LHR-DUB on google flight for next May,

The price i'm quoted is £1,079 return. However none of the website i have looked on expedia/ebookers/edreams match this price, does anyone know where google get this figure from and how i can get it? or what the best website to book on is. expedia.ie give a similar price but the options of VS flights are very limited i can't seem to get the 787 12:30pm flight. hmmmmmm...

It says i can call virgin but will they offer this price to me

Not sure what dates exactly you're after in May but I plugged in out on 11th & back on 18th on Expedia and, among loads of options, it offers VS UC for £1084 ex DUB at 08:50 connecting on to the VS 12:30 service (787). Loads of options for the return. The identical flight without the ex DUB sector is £2614. Expedia have no credit card fee and you still get quadruple VS miles paying with black card as it's VS who invoice (Expedia do a separate charge of £10 pp).

apologies if this has been asked before.

I have just looked up DUB-LHR-JFK-LHR-DUB on google flight for next May,

The price i'm quoted is £1,079 return. However none of the website i have looked on expedia/ebookers/edreams match this price, does anyone know where google get this figure from and how i can get it? or what the best website to book on is. expedia.ie give a similar price but the options of VS flights are very limited i can't seem to get the 787 12:30pm flight. hmmmmmm...

It says i can call virgin but will they offer this price to me

Not sure what dates exactly you're after in May but I plugged in out on 11th & back on 18th on Expedia and, among loads of options, it offers VS UC for £1084 ex DUB at 08:50 connecting on to the VS 12:30 service (787). Loads of options for the return. The identical flight without the ex DUB sector is £2614. Expedia have no credit card fee and you still get quadruple VS miles paying with black card as it's VS who invoice (Expedia do a separate charge of £10 pp).

I was looking at

Sat 7th May - DUB - LHR - BA837 - 15:20-16:40
Sun 8th - LHR - JFK - VS111 - 12:30 - 15:25
Fri 20th - JFK - LHR - VS112 - 2000 - 08:00
Sat 21st - LHR - JFK - Ba826 - 20:30-21:45

google flights gives this £1,076 and says call virgin to book. Does anyone have experience of booking these type of flights through Virgin, will they allow you to book and will their system show the same price?

Thanks in advance, F

Should do, yes - or try an online travel agent like ebookers or STA.

Incidentally if you're checking in bags and not intending to fly the final leg to DUB, if possible make sure it leaves from a different airport (eg LCY) or the following day (but less than 24 hours after your JFK flight arrives) to avoid any risk of VS insisting on checking your bags through to DUB.

Can the ex-Dub be used for anywhere other than the USA, or is that where the best savings are made. Was looking at Cape Town but didn't appear to be much cheaper than direct from LHR.

[honey lamb]

Can the ex-Dub be used for anywhere other than the USA, or is that where the best savings are made. Was looking at Cape Town but didn't appear to be much cheaper than direct from LHR.

It tends to favour the USA and although this thread is titled ex-DUB, it really covers other EU departure points. For example, I'm flying to JNB next month and although I live in Ireland ex-DUB is not yielding up good enough fares. However by going ex-AMS I have a good saving. Others have benefitted from ex-BRU or other European cities.

The whole point of the ex-EU routes is to discourage people resident in those countries from using airlines based in their country and to encourage them to use the British based airlines

Expedia offering VS Upper Class for £1363 return per person on your dates. Without ex DUB the identical VS flights are £3088 return per person.

Cheers
James

Hi looked today and didn't find that fare could you link it please

Not specifically "boomerang" flights for us, as we will take a flight back from Dublin, but my investigations went like this
Looked at VA LGW-MCO 2 X adults 1 X youth (14) in next years summer hols. Upper class around £10,000 plus would have to add hotel night GeForce and car parking as trains back to the midlands no use in a Sunday return
So, looked at BA LGW to MCO £9,000

Then looked at BA BHX to JFK to MCO £7,500 (American airlines business class)

Then looked DUB to PHL To MCO (American business again)
Return MCO to ORD to DUB (again, American business)
Fly drive price including 14days Chevvy Tahoe £3,500 total!
Add £440 for BHX to DUB and return and it's still a massive saving

Also I've told my son he is going in a five city five aircraft trip as each leg is a different aircraft type

Expedia offering VS Upper Class for £1363 return per person on your dates. Without ex DUB the identical VS flights are £3088 return per person.

Cheers
James

Hi looked today and didn't find that fare could you link it please

Hi, here you go >> https://www.expedia.co.uk/Flights-Searc ... ode=search

Coming in at £10 more tonight at £1373

Not specifically "boomerang" flights for us, as we will take a flight back from Dublin, but my investigations went like this
Looked at VA LGW-MCO 2 X adults 1 X youth (14) in next years summer hols. Upper class around £10,000 plus would have to add hotel night GeForce and car parking as trains back to the midlands no use in a Sunday return
So, looked at BA LGW to MCO £9,000

Then looked at BA BHX to JFK to MCO £7,500 (American airlines business class)

Then looked DUB to PHL To MCO (American business again)
Return MCO to ORD to DUB (again, American business)
Fly drive price including 14days Chevvy Tahoe £3,500 total!
Add £440 for BHX to DUB and return and it's still a massive saving

Also I've told my son he is going in a five city five aircraft trip as each leg is a different aircraft type

Not sure if you've booked the AA flights yet but out of interest I looked at VS Upper Class ex DUB on Expedia (using 13/8/16 - 27/8/16 as sample dates). To my astonishment, given this is peak season, the cost is only £1104 pp. You can even opt on the return for the VS74 back to Manchester! Even with the cost of a positioning flight from BHX £3300 is a lot cheaper than the £10K you were looking at without ex DUB!

I did look at that, however Expedia require full payment then and there, whilst BA require €450 deposit only, much better financially for me (Aer Lingus also now do flight deposits of 50% of the fare)

Thought I would join and post up my own my experiences with Virgin & Ex EU flights because it might be useful info for others.

I normally use BA, but Virgin have great prices of late and I decided to book a few flights with them using the Ex EU trick, because it saves so much money.

I recently booked UC tickets for 6 of us from LGW to MCO for less than £6K and just booked 4 of us from LHR to MIA in May next year, again UC for circa £3.5K.

http://goo.gl/flights/Yl7m

I always use Google flights / ITA Matrix to find the flights just because it seems to offer the best flexibility and I like the way you can save itineraries and see the price movement.

On the 2 recent flights booked I used Dublin as the origin because it offered the best costs and on both occasions I ensured that I booked connecting legs from a different airport and on different days, to the Virgin flights to be sure about luggage etc.

The struggle with booking on the phone (can't be done online with the Ex EU stuff) is getting an agent who is competent. I would say that it seems some people think they are breaking some kind of rule by using the Ex EU method. This isn't the case, people have been doing this for more than a decade, departure duty has made the differences even greater and the rest is simply down to competition and supply and demand. With this in mind, I always make it clear to the adviser on the phone that I am only booking the flight to leave from Dublin/wherever because it saves so much money this way.

Each time I called them to book, they first of all try and use EI to connect the flights, when it needed to be BA to get the right price (why is this?). I give them the exact flight numbers and dates from Google flights and they come up with a price about 5 times the one I have in front of me. I call up again and get them to just put the exact flight details in and the same thing. Along the way they ask the price I have and they say that there is no way the flights are going to come close to that price and I must mean economy.

After calling back and going over it again, I get someone who just seems to put the details in and match the price. I asked exactly how they did it, so I can avoid the confusion next time and they just said that they entered the exact flight details I gave them, then applied the travel class and bingo. But the last time, I got them to do this and it didn't work. I called back again, this time the rep said she would try it and it worked.

Both times they were very surprised by the savings and fully understood why I was doing the Ex EU thing. I also explained that I didn't intend to take the final leg. They said it wasn't a problem and there was no reason why I couldn't request my luggage to be checked to wherever I wanted it. (this conversation happened because she asked why I choose the connecting flight to LCY rather than LHR)

The only thing I was not brave enough to ask them was given that their COC say the following -

"3.3.6 Please be advised that in the event you do not show up for any flight without advising us at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled time of departure of the flight, we may decide to cancel your return or onward reservations. However, if you do advise us in advance, we will not cancel your subsequent flight reservations."

What would they say if I called them to advise them I wasn't able to make the first leg? Perhaps a step too far!

Anyway, in summary, if booking with Virgin Direct, give the exact flight numbers and dates as you get them from your search and don't be afraid to explain that you are doing the Ex EU thing, because your plans might not make logical sense to them otherwise. If you don't get anywhere, just say thanks anywhere and pick up the phone and repeat.

[honey lamb]

Thought I would join and post up my own my experiences with Virgin & Ex EU flights because it might be useful info for others.

I normally use BA, but Virgin have great prices of late and I decided to book a few flights with them using the Ex EU trick, because it saves so much money.

I recently booked UC tickets for 6 of us from LGW to MCO for less than £6K and just booked 4 of us from LHR to MIA in May next year, again UC for circa £3.5K.

http://goo.gl/flights/Yl7m

I always use Google flights / ITA Matrix to find the flights just because it seems to offer the best flexibility and I like the way you can save itineraries and see the price movement.

On the 2 recent flights booked I used Dublin as the origin because it offered the best costs and on both occasions I ensured that I booked connecting legs from a different airport and on different days, to the Virgin flights to be sure about luggage etc.

The struggle with booking on the phone (can't be done online with the Ex EU stuff) is getting an agent who is competent. I would say that it seems some people think they are breaking some kind of rule by using the Ex EU method. This isn't the case, people have been doing this for more than a decade, departure duty has made the differences even greater and the rest is simply down to competition and supply and demand. With this in mind, I always make it clear to the adviser on the phone that I am only booking the flight to leave from Dublin/wherever because it saves so much money this way.

Each time I called them to book, they first of all try and use EI to connect the flights, when it needed to be BA to get the right price (why is this?). I give them the exact flight numbers and dates from Google flights and they come up with a price about 5 times the one I have in front of me. I call up again and get them to just put the exact flight details in and the same thing. Along the way they ask the price I have and they say that there is no way the flights are going to come close to that price and I must mean economy.

After calling back and going over it again, I get someone who just seems to put the details in and match the price. I asked exactly how they did it, so I can avoid the confusion next time and they just said that they entered the exact flight details I gave them, then applied the travel class and bingo. But the last time, I got them to do this and it didn't work. I called back again, this time the rep said she would try it and it worked.

Both times they were very surprised by the savings and fully understood why I was doing the Ex EU thing. I also explained that I didn't intend to take the final leg. They said it wasn't a problem and there was no reason why I couldn't request my luggage to be checked to wherever I wanted it. (this conversation happened because she asked why I choose the connecting flight to LCY rather than LHR)

The only thing I was not brave enough to ask them was given that their COC say the following -

"3.3.6 Please be advised that in the event you do not show up for any flight without advising us at least 24 hours in advance of the scheduled time of departure of the flight, we may decide to cancel your return or onward reservations. However, if you do advise us in advance, we will not cancel your subsequent flight reservations."

What would they say if I called them to advise them I wasn't able to make the first leg? Perhaps a step too far!

Anyway, in summary, if booking with Virgin Direct, give the exact flight numbers and dates as you get them from your search and don't be afraid to explain that you are doing the Ex EU thing, because your plans might not make logical sense to them otherwise. If you don't get anywhere, just say thanks anywhere and pick up the phone and repeat.

Quite frankly, over the 4+ years I have been using the ex-EU trick, I have found it easier to book with Expedia or some other similar site, having found the fares and the itinerary that suits me than go through the hassle of multiple calls before I get what I want. And Expedia only charge a small administration fee rather than the exorbitant credit card fee Virgin use.

Agreed, but several people asked for experience of booking direct, hence my post.

Agreed, but several people asked for experience of booking direct, hence my post.

Good to get feedback from another avenue of how to book Ex-UK tickets.

Shows what a hassle it can be though-even if it is sucessful.

Can't see any bonus of doing so either, especially with the Virgin CC 1.5% fee.

I've just booked an ex-UK tickets on Expedia and all seemed to go well.

Proff will be in the journey-Next August!