PLANE CHANGES

I AM LOOKING AT BOOKING LHR-LAX FOR SEPTEMBER. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS A 747 ROUTE BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS CHANGED TO A A340-600. IS THIS A PERMANANT CHANGE, IF SO DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY ???
SITES ME BECAUSE I LOVE THE A340 COMPARED TO THE 747, MUCH MORE ROOM !!!!

Newboy,

The 346 has been used on the LHR-LAX route for a number of years now. I do not have an exact figure but I believe it to be at least 18 months.

The only 744 routes now in the USA are: SFO, LAS, MCO, MIA, BOS, JFK/EWR. And on some of those such as BOS and MIA they switch with the 346 depending on season.

I cannot recall the exact reason for the change but I believe it could have been due to cargo capacity. Although maybe it was something to do with some of the then LHR based 744s switching to LGW.

[Scrooge]

and could you please refrain from posting in caps...thank you

[preiffer]

In fairness, LAX USED to have one Boeing and one Airbus flight every day.

Thanks for the replies, as always very helpful.
Sorry about the caps !!!!

The 747 is due to operate the VS007/8 from 11th Jan to 23rd Feb, 1st to 29th March, 6th april to 17th may, 10th August to the 25th October.

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by NEWBOY
Thanks for the replies, as always very helpful.
Sorry about the caps !!!!

No worries

Originally posted by declansmith
The 747 is due to operate the VS007/8 from 11th Jan to 23rd Feb, 1st to 29th March, 6th april to 17th may, 10th August to the 25th October.

Thanks for that info, nothing better than the UC upstairs.

When I booked VS008 for May 08 (in Jun 07) it was a 747. If I remember rightly, it was initially half UC/half PE upstairs. It then changed to all UC upstairs, at which stage I moved us to 5A&K.

Yesterday Virgin phoned to tell me that the flight time had been brought forward by 25 minutes. But they didn't bother mention that the aircraft had been changed to an A340. [V] I went online to check that it showed the new timings, looked on the seatmap and saw the aircraft change. They had kept us in 5A&K, waving at one another across whoever is in 5D! [ii] Not very clever.

Shame, I was looking forward to being upstairs for the overnight flight.

[preiffer]

Now to be fair, while the upstairs 744 suites ARE longer, so better for tall people, the A346 IS notably quieter in general. I'd say, if you struggle to sleep on an aircraft overnight (and are 6'2 or less), then you're actually better off on an A346.


...much though it pains me to say it. [:I]

Hmm, this is strange...

I'm flying back the 30th of March from LHR to LAX and I remember choosing my seats in a 747 config.... but when I logged on after reading this, the seating config has 'magically' changed to that of a A346.

I'm guessing this was for operation reasons... I personally like the 346s better, especially in the first six or seven rows in K... I've never been upstairs in a 747 in UC before, I have been downstairs..... and I know that some people rave about the top deck in UC...

Originally posted by wraf137
When I booked VS008 for May 08 (in Jun 07) it was a 747. If I remember rightly, it was initially half UC/half PE upstairs. It then changed to all UC upstairs, at which stage I moved us to 5A&K.

Yesterday Virgin phoned to tell me that the flight time had been brought forward by 25 minutes. But they didn't bother mention that the aircraft had been changed to an A340. [V] I went online to check that it showed the new timings, looked on the seatmap and saw the aircraft change. They had kept us in 5A&K, waving at one another across whoever is in 5D! [ii] Not very clever.

Shame, I was looking forward to being upstairs for the overnight flight.

This is exactly what happened to us. We booked seats originally, plane changed and they game us worse seats! Sorted that some time ago and booked good seats again. Heard on another forum about this recent change, though no phone call for us I might add! They had kept our seat number but of course it was nowhere near where it originally was. Spent some time phoning India a couple of times(no idea what i was on about) before being put through to UC who changed our seating - again![:D]

It all looks far more squashed and closed in than the 747 - does it feel that way?

Edit to say I had the window open on here with the seating plans when talking with Virgin. Thanks for that!![y]