V-Flyer

Hi
I would like to go to Seattle but sadly Virgin Atlantic don't fly there which would mean I would have to fly to either SFO or LAX and catch a Virgin America flight. Although they are both Virgin companies I understand that they are not connected in so far as I would have to treat both flights as two seperate companies?
I am concerned that if my US bound flight was delayed or canceled, it could mean missing my Virgin America flight and messing up my whole trip!
I have never had to take an internal flight like this before and would be travelling on my own.

Does anyone have any experience or advice for me?

Much appreciated and thank you.

I've connected from Virgin Atlantic to Virgin America no problem at SFO. It really has been very easy as the VX check in was upstairs in the same terminal as VS and it was just a hop up the escalator to their check-in. The flight to Seattle goes at 6:05pm and there is also a later one so there is plenty of time for you to connect. If it happens that your VS flight is cancelled there will be the opportunity to change the flight on-line if VS won't do it.

I would also call VS and see if the flights can be put on the same ticket.

Virgin Atlantic & Virgin America are two different companies. This was forced upon them when setting up Virgin America as the USA does allow foreign ownership of a US based airline. They also do not ticket together so if you missed a connection with Virgin America due to the late arrival of your Virgin Atlantic flight Virgin Atlantic would not to anything.

Your best bet is to ensure there is at least 2 hours for connections, or book a flexible connecting flight.

Don't worry, If you leave yourself 2-3 hours between flights you should have no issues at all. I would advise going through SFO, as Honey Lamb says, having both flights in the same terminal makes things so much easier - and SFO is an easy terminal to find your way around.

Do ask VS if they can give you a price for the connection. They may come out more expensive (they have for me in the past so I book seperately) but if you want that extra piece of mind it might be worth it as your tripwill all be on the same ticket, though I really wouldn't worry too much, hundreds of thousands take connections each day.

And as a final reassurance, check out my SEA-SFO-LHR trip report on VX/VS where both airlines pulled out the stops to get me home when the VX flight arrived into SFO very late.

Thanks,
Sarah

Based on my experiences you'll also find that US airlines are more accomodating/flexible than UK airlines if you miss your connection even if ticketed seperately, I wouldn't worry too much in any case.