V-Flyer

Greetings,

I have booked 2xG's to Nairobi over the Christmas period and as reported on V-Flyer the plane is now some old A343 rust bucket that VS have managed to scam off some Nigerian which is fitted with the old J2000 seats.

After speaking to premier team I was told I would be offered 10k Flying Club points per passenger as recompense. These points have been added to my account already even though I told VS that I was not happy with this amount. The other option was a 100% refund of miles, this is of no use as I have paid for the hotel and onward flights.

I am seeking the advice of all you 'wise old sages' as to whether this is fair compensation for 18 hours of trying to sleep on a children's slide!

Many thanks for your help and sorry for the

"serious amounts of drivel"

Mark
"Their my bloody points, you know".

I'd thought they were offering double reward points to paying pax, so normal UC reward points would seem to be in order?

Hi Mark,

My personal opinion is that while it is a shame that VS have brought back a J2000 equipped aircraft for some time, its not really a huge issue. Its still a lie flat bed. Believe me, i am someone who couldn't sleep on J2000 very well as i did get the feeling of slipping down the bed all the time, particularly as i sleep on my front as opposed to my back, but compared to some airlines equivalent (and the many airlines offering 'spacebeds' that are in effect the same type of seat) its really not that bad. You can still sleep, and more importantly, you do still have the full Upper class service onboard. The A343's are not that old at all in terms of aircraft years, and several of them are still very active in the fleet, having been fitted with UCS and currently undergoing new PE refits.

VS could have offered slightly higher mileage compensation, but i guess from their viewpoint they are still getting you to your final destination in Upper Class, in what was once their flagship product. There are still BA aircraft flying around with the cradle seat IIRC. 10k miles is the standard Upper/Au compensation rate, higher levels are possible for something going really bad.

You could certainly write a letter to SRB's office explaining your dissatisfaction. I think its important that it feeds back to HQ that customers are not happy with not getting the suite on all routes, but i do not think you will get much more in the way of miles or compensation, other than further apology.

Thanks,
Sarah

Just to add to this!

G-VSUN is in all likelihood going to be re-fitted before re-entering service but this depends upon whether Virgin can find space at an American re-fitters (all GB ones are full with scheduled re-fits) to be re-sprayed and re-fitted internally!

VS hope to not have to use the J2000 seat at all but we shall see....

Originally posted by marko
I have booked 2xG's to Nairobi over the Christmas period and as reported on V-Flyer the plane is now some old A343 rust bucket that VS have managed to scam off some Nigerian which is fitted with the old J2000 seats.

For your reference, that "old A343 rust bucket" (if referring to VSUN) was built in 1996 and is still registered to VAA, not Virgin Nigeria.

Total Hours: 39121 at 31/12/2004

That'd be around the same time as G-VBIG (1996, 42571 hours at 31/12/2004), NEWER than G-VFAB (1994, 54044 hours at 31/12/2005) and newer than G-VHOT (1994, 56885 hours at 31/12/2005).

All of which are "shiny new Boeings"...[:w]

[ii]

And just to throw my 2 cents in, I am one of the people that likes the J2K, it in all honesty is not a bad seat, hell it is a great "seat", far better than the UCS, it is just not as good a better as the UCS.

Originally posted by VeronaSeagull
Just to add to this!

G-VSUN is in all likelihood going to be re-fitted before re-entering service but this depends upon whether Virgin can find space at an American re-fitters (all GB ones are full with scheduled re-fits) to be re-sprayed and re-fitted internally!

VS hope to not have to use the J2000 seat at all but we shall see....

That's interesting, other posts suggested this would be in 2008.

I suppose all the near shore refitters are busy with BA and their 53 747s and 47 777s being refitted in Club World and with the new IFE.

They have it scheduled for 2008 but are trying to find a location to get at least UC done before it re-enters VS use, particularly as it needs re-spraying into VS colours! It's currently sat on the tarmac at LGW just behind the old Dan Air hangar awaiting any decisions!

Am I one a the very few that actually loved the old Upper class seats, don't get me wrong the suite is ok ( if it works ), but I liked my first ever Upper class experience and it was in a ordinary seat.

Originally posted by easygoingeezer
Am I one a the very few that actually loved the old Upper class seats, don't get me wrong the suite is ok ( if it works ), but I liked my first ever Upper class experience and it was in a ordinary seat.

In the Recarro's ?...yep I loved those things [y]