stuart_f wrote:For those of us who are in the UK market we have a free choice of carriers. VS is not part of an alliance, has a very limited route network and the flying club is stacked against us in comparison to a US member. There's no guarantee of reward flight availability, no household accounts (except if you are gold in the new system), no real 2-4-1 (the current companion award is widely regarded as a joke) and the Clubhouse, which is a huge factor in my decisions of who to fly with when I spend my own money, only exists at LHR and LGW, most outstations have laughable lounge access, this includes MAN and GLA. To be fair to flying club, the Economy to PE upgrade vouchers are good but the extra APD is killing the value here.
In contrast, I can choose to collect with BA which is part of One World and offers benefits across a vast alliance. There are 2 CW and 4 WT/WT+ seats guaranteed for reward availability on every flight at T-355 days. BA offers a First class cabin which VS doesn't. Most people point and laugh and claim BA First is the "best business class product on the market" but it's now pretty much the same cost as VS Upper after the VS devaluation so who is looking silly now? In addition BA's CC offers a real 2-4-1 which makes BA a cheaper option than VS for pretty much every premium cabin option. VS may well be introducing tier point earning via partners in UK but without reforming Silver status it's meaningless (I base this on the expectation that Silver status is likely to be the most you can earn without actually flying). Silver doesn't help me on connecting tickets (no alliance), it doesn't offer me lounge access, it doesn't let me book the seat I want when I pay. The same status on BA would allow all of these things. Basically, VS silver is most meaningless status in the airline world.
I really enjoyed my VS journey. I loved my UC travels and the pinnacle was visiting Crawley Towers earlier this year for the customer experience day - PS: I've not seen any of our suggestions integrated into the app yet. That said, I think I'm done now. Other airlines are now a better fit for me, and I suspect, for many others here.
Even ignoring the status and frequent flyer accounts, I stuck with VS because I liked their service and the in flight bar was quirky. Sadly this has been killed by the removal of the extra cabin crew from Upper meaning the bar is now just an empty table and the service in Upper only works if you know what to ask for rather than you being able to relax and wait for it to be offered to you.
Oli, I don't expect you to reply point by point but why should UK members not look to greener pastures?
Seconded. I am a fairly recent VS regular - I only really started using Virgin heavily about 20 months ago. These changes can only make me feel like I am not important to Virgin anymore. I see no major compelling reason to stay loyal now.