Virgin Atlantic

[easyflyer83]

Originally Posted by ATIS

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...im-unfair-pay/

good luck to the cabin crew.

I just don't understand why in Europe it's a constant battle with so called "management"

VS cabin crew have never been particularly well paid and have always relied upon their allowances (which isn’t really pay in the strictest sense and how much they actually spend downroute is monitored by HMRC). However, it is still often seen as the benchmark when people think of cabin crew.

The power of a brand.

[lotus1]

Flew out last Sunday to lasvegas with virgin from Gatwick not many happy VS cabin crew with the loss soon of the 747 from gatwick being transferred to Heathrow on 787 also being flown back next day as passengers to uk I was impressed with all the staff happy done jobs well

[andrewn]

Originally Posted by 116d

Last off-topic post from me!

It depends if it's your first time or not. If you're going for the first time then I agree a week isn't enough and 2 weeks is needed to do all of them at a reasonable pace and still have time for a chill day by the pool or shopping or go further afield. If you're going in low season, you could get away with doing it in 10 days if you're prepared to do 2 parks in one day. If you know what you want to do and what you don't want to do, then you might get away with 1 week.

It also depends on the individual/group. For example, I find there isn't enough at Epcot or Magic Kingdom to keep me there for the whole day (again, please remember I don't have kids), so I once visited both in the same day. I also find that Epcot only really has enough rides of interest to keep me occupied for half a day and the World Showcase is heavily food & drink orientated, whereas Magic Kingdom is great for the day if you have young kids/families.

Thanks for the tips 116 - now back from the WDW experience. It's expensive, VERY expensive, like $5 minimum for a soft drink and $25 just to park each day!! But we all enjoyed it immensely so I'm glad we took the plunge before the kids (and parents) got to old.

[andrewn]

Originally Posted by 116d

The Economy seats in the rear half of the bubble on the 747 are sold as Economy Delight seats along with a number of seats in the main cabin. I am 6ft tall and the legroom does make a difference having sat up there coming back from JFK 3 months ago and downstairs on the way out, plus the bubble has a more quiet, intimate atmosphere and there's storage bins at the side in between the windows and the window seat (the overhead bins are there as well, but are slightly smaller than downstairs). As the front half of the bubble is also PE, you will be let off the aircraft before the rest of the Economy cabin which will be just what you need when you land at MCO to avoid the immigration queues.

If you can, make sure your Delight seats are in the bubble. Although if you can wangle an upgrade to PE, you won't be disappointed.

That's right about the water parks. I know that during the winter months Disney closes one of them at a time for annual maintenance (they call it "rehabilitation"), but best to check beforehand which one will be open as they don't close them in the same order every year. I saw why in March 2016 as Blizzard Beach was open whilst Typhoon Lagoon was closed and, maintenance aside, it wasn't that busy - mind you it was a weekday. In the previous couple of years before, Blizzard Beach was closed at that time.

Anyway, back on topic...enjoy the 747 experience!

No Econ Delight bubble seats on our 744s unfortunately, ended up on rows 40/41/42, right in the middle of the big wing, which restricted viewing somewhat. But it was definitely worth paying a little extra for the legroom, in my opinion. Being pretty much in the middle of the jet meant that you always waited until last for the drinks / meal services, and some meals had "sold out" by the time they reached us, which was a little annoying and seems odd given Econ Delight pax had paid the extra. And the IFE was showing its age, with poor touch screens, broken USBs and rubbish headsets!

Other than that nothing but good things to say about VS and the 744 - both flights ran either to time or early, cabin crew were great, the 744 was fantastic to fly on - still the queen of the skies, despite both our planes being circa 20yrs young! And the flightcrew were happy to show the kids round the cockpit on landing in MCO - always a nice touch, and very much appreciated.

[goldeneye]

With the double daily flights from both LGW and MAN to MCO a good chunk of the year, what A/C is likely to take these routes over from the 744.

[PDXCWL45]

Originally Posted by goldeneye

With the double daily flights from both LGW and MAN to MCO a good chunk of the year, what A/C is likely to take these routes over from the 744.

The A350 1000 Heathrow and Manchester will see them first.

[chaps1954]

But as the A350 at LHR and MAN are both high in business class they are more likely to go to JFK and ATL possibly LAX

[PDXCWL45]

Originally Posted by chaps1954

But as the A350 at LHR and MAN are both high in business class they are more likely to go to JFK and ATL possibly LAX

I've read that there will be higher density A350s for the beach routes.

[adfly]

The travel weekly interview with the CEO seems to suggest that there will be 7 A350's based at Heathrow and 5 at Gatwick, with the latter presumably in the leisure configuration. I guess either the two 332's from Gatwick will be used for expansion there (possibly the BOS/JFK routes if Delta don't fly them), or they will move up to Manchester to expand that base.

I guess if this is the case the question remains if Manchester will see the A350's rotated through to operate the MCO route, or if it will go over to the A330, presumably with a frequency boost? It will also be interesting to see how they will expand LGW if Delta end up operating the BOS/JFK routes, since they seem to have been slowly shrinking there for the past few years.

Link here: http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articl...irgin-atlantic

[MANFOD]

I read somewhere else a quote that referred to the first 7 A350s being based at LHR & MAN, but the quote in that Travel Weekly article only mentions LHR.

Weiss said: “The first seven will be based at Heathrow, then five at Gatwick perhaps by 2021.”

So unless some of the a/c are rotated through MAN, it would seem we may have to rely on the A330s when the B747s are phased out.

[azz767]

https://www.ausbt.com.au/virgin-atla...e-a-new-design

Daniel Kerzner in this article seems to suggest that MAN will get some of the more premium heavy batch of the initial seven. Whether 1/2 of the LGW will do MCO and rotate down route is another question but the article above definitely suggests that of the initial 7, 'some' (I would say two) are destined for MAN, probably for JFK and ATL ops

[chaps1954]

Yes they were mentioned and that they are the high end business machines 44 business class from memory.
my feelings are that we will see the Gatwick ones as well but just on MCO as it is very high demand from Manchester
and will involve aircraft changing over at MCO as the B747s do now

[azz767]

VS 75 and 109 cancelled from MAN today. Is there a problem with the 744's?

[VickersVicount]

Presumably there is profit to be made but how much expense is there is what seems like disproportionate ferrying of 747s for Orlando weekend flights. As per VirginSource there are multiple short ferry flights eg GLA-BFS, MAN-GLA, LGW-MAN etc which must be a crewing and logistical nightmare.

[BAladdy]

Originally Posted by azz767

VS 75 and 109 cancelled from MAN today. Is there a problem with the 744's?

This mornings VS110 from ATL was cancelled. Severe weather at ATL yesterday evening lead to a large number of flights being cancelled. Today’s VS109 to ATL has probably been cancelled due to the aircraft still being in ATL.

This mornings VS074 from MCO was cancelled after the aircraft due to operate the flight G-VROS, was diverted to MIA due weather which resulted in the aircraft night stopping there. VS plan to add and additional flight tonight from MCO to MAN operating as VS1074.

[johnw1951]

There was a lot of shifting around of times and gates before the decision to cancel the VS74 Manchester flight was announced. Annoyingly, at least for us Manchester bound passengers, the inward flight from Glasgow (which was already running late) on which we were due to return was switched to cover the Gatwick flight, leaving us in Orlando for another 24 hours.
One service rep said it might be because of slot problems at Manchester. Does that sound realistic? With over 100 flights cancelled at MCO yesterday some disruption was always likely - but was there some advantage in choosing to drop VS74 rather than Gatwick?

[fatmed]

Bid for TCX

Just being reported on sky news that VS are bidding to buy TCX long haul operations.

[spannersatcx]

Originally Posted by johnw1951

There was a lot of shifting around of times and gates before the decision to cancel the VS74 Manchester flight was announced. Annoyingly, at least for us Manchester bound passengers, the inward flight from Glasgow (which was already running late) on which we were due to return was switched to cover the Gatwick flight, leaving us in Orlando for another 24 hours.
One service rep said it might be because of slot problems at Manchester. Does that sound realistic? With over 100 flights cancelled at MCO yesterday some disruption was always likely - but was there some advantage in choosing to drop VS74 rather than Gatwick?

They do it to protect LGW always have and always will!

[rog747]

Originally Posted by fatmed

Just being reported on sky news that VS are bidding to buy TCX long haul operations.

And Lufty are after getting Condor back...

[azz767]

VS orders A330neo for A330ceo (-200 and -300) replacement plus 6 options for expansion at Paris.

Twitter