Chicago

We are going back to ORD on April 23rd
VS49 will be operated on an A340-300
Departs LHR at 1115
Departs ORD 1800

I cant wait its a fantastic city.

Cool! Lets hope it proves to be a popular route! [y]

FT Reporting Branson will make the announcement today in Chicago about the new route.

Article also made reference to the fact that Virgin America could be facing greater problems from DOT though.

AF

Originally posted by virgin is the best
We are going back to ORD on April 23rd
VS49 will be operated on an A340-300
Departs LHR at 1115
Departs ORD 1800

I cant wait its a fantastic city.

Great news and confirmation - my fave US city and a wonderful destination!

Good news....[y] Makes sense starting with an A343. Lets hope the route starts well and either a 744 or A346 is introduced for next winters timetable...

[fozzyo]

Woohoooo!

So happy that ORD is back, I'm at a conference there in August so that's perfect, now I just need Vancouver and my day will be made.

Merry Christmas to you all.
Back to SRQ via VS03 on Sunday.

[y]

ahh - they implied it would return when I queried the route with CS a few months back (I posted this here somewhere). Fantastic, have never been, but I think a summer trip may be organised shortly!

G.

[mcmbenjamin]

Funny. A crew member mention this to me in the tube yesterday.

Great news! All the UA folks will start to jump ship... maybe.

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
All the UA folks will start to jump ship... maybe.

Probably only the O&D pax. All the pax from elsewhere in the UA network will most likely still be there, and then you've got those flyers who have built up status, like 1K, on UA who are less likely to jump ship.

Or maybe this will get UA to finally start their long promised F and C cabin refits? [}:)]

Mike

[Pete]

Now officially confirmed

http://www.v-flyer.com/pages.asp?click=184&pageid=184

Hooray! At last the long awaited return of the VS039/040 [y]

Now I know which trip I'm going to request in April

I did that inaugural in Nov 1999, and the city is wonderful. It's a bit like NYC, except a lot cleaner! It's a shame that Virgin stopped the route in the first place really, so I'm glad that they're flying there again.

[y][^] Bravo VS. If this site is anything to go by, I can see the route being very popular;)

VS.

Fantastic - I've wanted to go to Chicago for years!!![^]

please note that miles reward level have not yet been confirmed..... if you want to spend your miles on ORD, they haven't given the amount to spend yet... although I expect it would be the 100K for Upper, 75k for Premium and 50K for Economy rewards.

[preiffer]

Emails have now gone out to the US folk:

Dear Paul,

We're delighted to announce our newest route from Chicago O'Hare to London Heathrow, aptly named The High Riser, to honor those pioneers who envisioned a city that could touch the sky, and for today's jetsetters who elevate business to new heights. Our daily service commences on April 23, 2007, with flight times as follows.

Flight Departs Arrives
VS 040 ORD 6:00pm LHR 8:00am the next day
VS 039 LHR 11:15am ORD 2:10pm

Thanks, Paul[y]

Those flight times look pretty good, although I'd like the ex-LHR leg to be around 45mins earlier. Ah well, beggars can't be choosers;)
Hopefully, the route will be upgraded to a -600 soon:D

VS.

Hi,

Interesting.

Maybe a trip to ORD for my birthday ( week after service comencement)

Now for the important question?

Any idea what lounge VS will use?:)

Regards

TBS

[Nottingham Nick]

Originally posted by The_Banking_Scot

Any idea what lounge VS will use?:)

That's spooky, Gregory, I was just about to post the same question. [}:)]:D

Nick

Any ideas to when the seats go on sale?

-Steve

[preiffer]

They're already loaded into Expertflyer for fares, so I guess they're available from right now (although va.com doesn't seem to have been updated yet)

For comparison, here are the fares to ORD with VS for 10/Jun (as an example)

Fare Basis Airline Booking Class Trip Type Fare Effective Date Expiration Date
QJXGB VS Q Round-Trip 440.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
QJWGB VS Q Round-Trip 470.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
MJXGB VS M Round-Trip 490.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
MJWGB VS M Round-Trip 520.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
LJXGB VS L Round-Trip 540.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
LJWGB VS L Round-Trip 570.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
BJXGB VS B Round-Trip 590.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
BJWGB VS B Round-Trip 620.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
KJXAP VS K Round-Trip 890.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
Y2 VS Y One-Way 451.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
KJWAP VS K Round-Trip 920.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
KJXAP7 VS K Round-Trip 990.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
KJWAP7 VS K Round-Trip 1020.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
SJXAP7 VS S Round-Trip 1190.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
SJWAP7 VS S Round-Trip 1220.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
WX1R VS W Round-Trip 1510.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
WX1OW VS W 830.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
WW1R VS W Round-Trip 1660.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
WW1OW VS W 905.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
ZLAP VS Z Round-Trip 2299.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
DLAP1 VS D Round-Trip 2999.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
W VS W One-Way 1826.00 (GBP)
DAP7 VS D Round-Trip 4387.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
J2R VS J Round-Trip 5157.00 (GBP) 23/04/07
J1 VS J One-Way 3210.00 (GBP)

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by VS045
Thanks, Paul[y]

Those flight times look pretty good, although I'd like the ex-LHR leg to be around 45mins earlier. Ah well, beggars can't be choosers;)
Hopefully, the route will be upgraded to a -600 soon:D

VS.

That would make it virtually impossible for anyone with a connecting flight from another UK (or Irish ) airport. The only LHR flight which would require an overnight if coming from any of these is the early morning flight to JFK and, let's face it there's plenty of choice there. Even 11:15 is pushing it for me

[mcmbenjamin]

One point that may be worth considering is that normally on newer routes have lower passenger loads during the initial phase of the route. Not so great for Virgin but wonderful for flying club members who want an award seat.

Anyone during the inaugural flight?

I'm in NY in mid May so planning on doing an open jaw out of ORD.
Never been to Chicago so now seems the right time and its near (well for America, 4hrs..) to Cedar Point!!!! I really need to go there..

Dean