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#963426 by OliverD241
28 Feb 2024, 07:53
How busy are flights normally week of Thanksgiving?

I am booked on VS117 LHR-MIA on Sunday 24 Nov. I know you cannot go by seat reservations but currently only 19 reserved seats on VS117, and 36 reserved seats on inbound flight VS118.

I did check Flightradar (did a Business account free trial) and saw that both VS5 & VS117 operated last year and year before and in November the flights that were cancelled were VS5 not VS117. Isn’t that weird as VS117 is the additional flight whereas VS5 is the original main flight?

I shouldn’t be too worried as last January I flew LHR to Tampa and there was only 57 passengers on the outbound flight.

I know it’s a good 7 months off, but do Virgin cancel flights due to low loads?

They still have quite a few UC reward seats available the entire week.. just that I need to then travel to Orlando the next day for a cruise.
But no reward seats available on Saturday 23 Nov.
The VS5 would get in too late to get the bright line train to Orlando.
#963428 by mikethe3rd
28 Feb 2024, 09:07
Thanksgiving is normally one of the busiest travel periods in the US, but you’re arguably a couple of days too early for the major rush.

Highly unlikely an airline will cancel due to low loads. They also carry cargo, and whilst an outbound flight could be quiet, the inbound could be full.

IF it was to cancel there should be plenty of rebooking options via JFK, BOS or ATL and then into one of the many Floridian ‘ports.

As an aside, I’m confused by your dates. Presumably the cruise is out of Port Canaveral on Monday 25th? There’s at least 3 UC to MCO on the 24th.
#963429 by OliverD241
28 Feb 2024, 14:15
mikethe3rd wrote:Thanksgiving is normally one of the busiest travel periods in the US, but you’re arguably a couple of days too early for the major rush.

Highly unlikely an airline will cancel due to low loads. They also carry cargo, and whilst an outbound flight could be quiet, the inbound could be full.

IF it was to cancel there should be plenty of rebooking options via JFK, BOS or ATL and then into one of the many Floridian ‘ports.

As an aside, I’m confused by your dates. Presumably the cruise is out of Port Canaveral on Monday 25th? There’s at least 3 UC to MCO on the 24th.


Thanks for the reply! Yes the cruise is 25th out of Port Canaveral. However, there are 4 of us and we were quite lucky to get 4xUC reward seats on VS117, so thought it was better to do that then 3xUC points and 1xCash+points.
Hopefully won’t be cancelled. Or if they consolidate with VS5, then will just have to get the train Monday morning
#963446 by VS0069
29 Feb 2024, 20:38
I often fly ex UK over the thanks giving period and it does tend to be ‘quieter’ at times. However, Miami is kind of considered winter sun with people escaping to cruises and the last dabs of warmth so can’t really say this is true of Miami as my Miami flights have been full but New York’s slightly quieter. Travel trends are quite fluid at the moment though compared to previous years.

Re the cancellation of the VS5 over the VS117 there is that age old ‘use it or lose it’ slot rule and this actually does apply to the flight number so it may be a factor in choosing which to cancel to prevent being penalised.

As Mike mentioned people often forget about the freight which is also important and makes a flight which may be quiet passenger wise viable to operate so I wouldn’t worry.

Good luck!

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