Booking Delta vs. Virgin Atlantic- please help

Hoping for some help from the experienced V-Flyer Guru's.

I'm VS Silver and despite a flew rare transgressions to BA for odd flights (LHR-CHU-PEK-LHR last week) like to book VS were possible.

I have been watching fares over the past month for an Orlando trip in January 2017. I can recharge the air fare to a client but still need to be mindful of the cost. Can only fly up to W, sadly no J.

Fares in Y seem fairly evenly split whether on VS or BA but when it comes to W then there are bigger differences. I get that VS might be out of line with BA in some cases but I struggle why VS is around £200 more expensive than DL when I'll end up on VS metal anyway.

For my flight dates (and even with flex in the dates the fare differences are similar) I'm up against this:-

LGW/MCO/LGW Economy/World Traveller
VS GBP447.52 BA GBP448.00 DL GBP447.52

LGW/MCO/LGW Premium Economy/World Traveller +
VS GBP1029.52 BA GBP832.52 DL GBP807.52

The recent VS/BA Sales have made little no difference to fares on my route/dates. Much as I feel I want to stay loyal to booking VS direct I think I will end up booking via DL (and flying VS). I'm guessing that unless someone from VS Commercial is on V-Flyer that no one can answer why DL is cheaper than VS but can you help me with the following:-

1. From what I can tell if I book DL yet end up flying VS, the operating carrier's (VS) baggage policy applies and therefore I still have two pieces of checked luggage at 23kgs each in PE. Is this right?

2. If I input my VS FF # at delta.com I will still receive VS FF miles/tiers. Are these the same amounts regardless if booking via DL over VS direct?

3. As Silver I believe I get 50% bonus miles. Would I still get this if booking via DL?

4. With regard to seat assignments, on VS in PE this would be free and available to make at time of booking. Will I still be able to do this if booking via DL?

5. Have I missed anything else out of the decision making process which should make me consider booking direct with VS rather than on DL (yet flying on the same VS plane)? It is £222 cheaper to book via DL after all.

Thanks!

I'm seeing this for quite a lot of destinations at the moment, particular in PE as you've noticed.

In short, the answers to your first four questions are "Yes". The only difference is going to be that Delta issued your tickets instead of Virgin. Everything else remains the same between the two (miles, TPs, etc).
The mystery around the cost difference may be down to fare buckets, in this instance perhaps the 'K' bucket (cheapest PE one) is empty for bookings direct with VS but they may have made some available to DL bookers. It's anyone's guess. Perhaps someone on here may know more!

But in this instance I'd say you're totally safe to just book with Delta. Besides, the BA WT+ seat is quite inferior to VS PE :P

Yep - just book under the codeshare with Delta and you'll end up on a Virgin aircraft anyway. Your etickets might show a 4 digit DL flight number with 'operated by Virgin Atlantic'.

Also check on Virgin Holidays - a fly drive may come out cheaper if they still have their own "bucket of cheap prices" available for your dates. It isn't unusual for a flydrive to be cheaper than the flight on its own! Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

Same is sometimes true for hotels as well.

Thanks for your replies fellow V-Flyers.

Looked at VHOLS but it was £1500+ for the FlyDrive. Nice tip, I'll keep in mind for the future deep_south. Thanks for setting my mind at rest SlimpyJones.

Booked at the weekend and amazed by the fare differences. VS website for my PE flights up to GBP£ 1054.82 (with weekend £30 supplement on return). Same flights on Delta.com were GBP£ 832.82. Would truly love an explanation from VS commercial as why that is possible when they are code share and equal revenue partners on the route.

I also looked at expedia.co.uk and the PE fare (out VS-K, back DL-W) was GBP£ 812.82.

Ended up booking with Netflights.com (part of dnata group) based on VS015 and DL4409 back at GBP£ 772.82 both in PE. So that's GBP£ 282 cheaper than booking direct with VS????.

Netflights provided my PNR within a minute of booking. Reservation showing VS015/VS016 rather than a DL flight number on the return. All confirmed.

Been on to VS MMB and added my FF#, selected seats.

All seemed fine and a large cash saving to boot. Job done...

Thanks for the update - well done!