Reading some of the above comments, I think Virgin need to be careful.
Over the past few years, Virgin have made a concerted effort to "harvest" premium passengers for their routes and have been very successful by providing an excellent product. I am one of their "harvestees". I run a division of a FTSE100 company that did a corporate deal with Virgin in 2003 that made UC travel very attractive. I travel about 15 returns a year and I have 15 colleagues who do the same. In the wider corporation, there are another 1000 people who fly regularly. However, we all have a choice..it is not mandated that we use Virgin.
I think it is perfectly appropriate for Virgin to look carefully at their costs and put pressure on suppliers to do the same. I also think it is appropriate for Virgin to increase the price of the ticket from time to time. What is not appropriate is for them to reduce the product. I promise you, if they do that, even by the smallest amount, people will walk. Virgin can put forward any argument they like about how it's not really different or how it makes sense but if I or people like me don't like it, they will vote with their feet..just like we did with BA...and they could afford to lose pax. The customer is not always right, but the customer is King.
Drive in check-in changing, reduced amenities all seem small but it's my £3000and I'll spend it with whom I want.
I'm off now, to take the VS flight to JFK
