Virgin Atlantic to St Lucia

Hi, this is my first msg post. By the way what a very good useful site. My partner an I ware going to St Lucia on the 5th March 2004 outbound flight Upper Class and inbound Premium. I have prebooked seats via the Upper Class Flying Club department. They suggested that on the Upper Class outbound we have row 7 seats cant remember which ones and on the return row 74 in Premium. Are these seats any good. Also is Twilight check in any good, I am scared that our bags may get lost over night. Also they mentioned that we coukd do something called chillout checkin on the inbound flight.

Regards Jason

Hi jcoles7,

Welcome to the forum.

The seat map for your flight can be found under Resources and choose seat ratings for the 747-400 ( LGW).

Row 7 in UC is good ( 2nd row of 4 of Upper class seats).

Row 74 on the Upper deck is good also ( Row 75 exit row will not be allocated until check in) but there will be no one behind you but the exit.

If you do twilight check in remember not to check in anything that you will need for overnight/the next morning. If you do need to check in anything in the morning you will need to go to the check in desk as normal.

The chillout check in is, i think where yuo check in at the hotel in the morning( everybody will need to atttend with tickets and id) you will get your boarding passes while the luggage is taken from you by van to the airport- then you have the day to enjoy the sun.

Hope this helps

Regards

TBS

VS FC Gold

[RichardMannion]

Hi jcoles,

TBS is right in regards to Twilight check-in and Chillout check-in. Both are useful services, your luggage will be perfectly safe upon check-in, you will get your baggage receipts handed to you int he extreme circumstance of any loss, you can take it up with Virgin.

If you are doing Twilight check-in, you are obviously arriving at LGW the night before your departure. If you've not booked your overnight accomodation yet, take a look at http://www.travelodge.co.uk/fiverfrenzy/ (thanks to Roger at FT for the link) - There is an offer on at the moment where you can book Travelodges for £5 night, includign the LGW Travelodge. If it sold out, you can normally get a good deal at http://www.abcholidayextras.co.uk

Thanks,
Richard

I am flying with Virgin to ST Lucia at the end of June, I live in Manchester, so i'm going to fly down to Gatwick the day before, and stay overnight at a hotel connected to the North Terminal.

I've pre-booked my seats and have read on this forum about the 'twilight checkin', could anyone please tell me what time the 'twilight checkin' opens the day before the flight so I can check in early and try and get an extra leg room emergency exit seat.

Thanks for any help.

[RichardMannion]

You can find some more details about Twilight here:
http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/caribbe ... ight.shtml

However, in regards to the Exit row seat - they are £50 per seat each way. And the exit row windw seats are not that good for leg room as you have the innards of the door obstructing. Don't forget that the arms of the seats don't move liek the other rows, and you also must be over 16 and of physical fitness.

Thanks,
Richard

Thanks for the info RichardMannion

I'm surprised Virgin are charging a £50 surchage for emergency exit seats, you expect that from charter airlines but not Virgin, I flew Heathrow to New York in 2001 and got the emergency exit seat for no extra charge.
Well, if i'm paying £50 each way, I might see what their offerring on the upgrade to Premium Economy, brochure price is £225 each way, so hopefully they can off a better price at twilight check as for me and my wife to travel PE return will come in at £900 which is abit beyond my budget [:(]

[mitchja]

quote:Originally posted by RichardMannion
You can find some more details about Twilight here:
http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/caribbe ... ight.shtml

However, in regards to the Exit row seat - they are £50 per seat each way. And the exit row windw seats are not that good for leg room as you have the innards of the door obstructing. Don't forget that the arms of the seats don't move liek the other rows, and you also must be over 16 and of physical fitness.

Thanks,
Richard

[?][?] I have never been charged for an exit row seat in any cabin or class - Both when requesting at check-in or been given an exit row without asking [?][?]

James Mitchell

Silver Flying Club member since 2000

[RichardMannion]

It was done as a pilot at LGW first, and then rolled out to all routes last year. It only applies to Economy, there is no fee in Premium or Upper.

You may find that there isn't enough uptake you will get an exit row seat anyway without fee 9beign FC Ag or Au helps here - however from what I hear there is no shortage on the LAS and Caribbean routes for passengers willign to pay the fee. I knwo someone who had it discounted to £25 one way but he is FC Ag and was travelling on his own.

For the record I would not pay it, I actually favour some different seats in Economy anyway.

£225 does seem a little bit high, I've not paid to upgrade for a few years now but I do remember it been between £150 and £199 for the East Coast/Caribbean. If you are a FC member you can ask for 10% off the VH quoted upgrade prices, making it just over £200 each.

Can understand why they do it too - the fares are low nowadays (Caribbean just over £200 each at the moment) and there are no shortage of people who will pay extra for the 'supposedly' better seats.

Thanks,
Richard

Hi all, more questions I'm afraid,

I have read somewhere that there is no beauty therapist on any LGW flight in UC, is this correct ?? Obviously we can get 1 free treatment in the Touch Salon, I have not seen any official info that sates the service from LHR or LGW are different, could someone clarify this please.

Also at the vtouch salon is a booking needed or not, does anyone have a full list of services they can provide ??

Lastly does anyone have a sample menu from UC, so I have some idea what sort of food they serve.

Best Regards

Jason Coles

[RichardMannion]

I've not done any of the Caribbean routes, but I don't think it includes the Beauty salon onboard, just like there is no bar. I think that LAS out of LGW is the exception here - again not positive as I ahve not done this route.

AT LGW - you can make appointments for the V.Touch salon in advance (unlike at LHR) - 01293 444342 or [email protected]

Sample menu? This is the LHR Clubhouse menu from November - the menu changes 3 times a day:
http://www.airlinequality.com/catering/vs_lng-menu.htm

From -
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/upper_cl ... rd.view.do it tells you that the Bar and Beauty is on all LHR flights, giving the indication that it is not on all LGW flights.

Thanks,
Richard

So what are my chances of Virgin using a LHR plane with J2000 seat + better IFE than the standard Nova on all LGW planes ?? I understand from this forum and vsfan.org that due to plane upgrades on some LHR planes, that they have been using LHR planes on LGW routes.

Does this happen often??

Best Regards

Jason Coles

[Bazz]

Hi Jason,

You do like to pose some tricky ones don't you?

It really is impossible to predict what your chances are, there are many reasons why an airline may temporarily switch aircraft and unless it is for scheduled maintenance, re-certification, refitting or some other pre-planned reason it really is anyone's guess.

Even when it is pre-planned, it doesn't necessarily follow that VirginFlyer, or indeed any other board, would know about it until after the event.

I appreciate this is not the answer you were hoping for but the best thing is to keep your fingers crossed and check back here often for any updates.

Bazz
Still Flying

Sorry one last question,

Is there any difference between the IFE on NOVA Economy/Premium and Upper Class, for example larger screen or more functionality ??

Regards Jason

Anyone got any ideas about above reply please ???

Cheers Jason