Merging of LGW-MCO flights?

Well, even though I said I wasn't going to fly with Virgin for a while (following my treatment in Dec 07, which I won't go into details again over) I've returned and have booked myself on the VS27 and VS16 UC early May - sometimes it's better the devil you know [y]

I was just wondering what the likelihood of the 2 flights being merged into 1, UC on the VS27 going out has a few spare seats, the VS15 has only 2 seats taken (!), PE on the 27 appears pretty full, on the 15 again only a few seats taken, economy on both seems pretty full (this is going by expert flyer seat map so it could of course be totally wrong lol).

Anyone with any inside knowledge? [:w]

Thanks

Clare

Im also wondering that, on my flights going out on the 26th Aug returning 6th Sept, UC as well,think going out flight is pretty full (VS27) and returning on the (VS28) I think this flight is quite empty,but we need to get back ASAP as my wife has to go to work on that day

Flights are merged a bit during the off season on the MCO routes.

Whilst your outbound may have only a few seats taken, the returning flight could very well be full which will mean that you will fly out on an empty plane.

I dont see any flights being merged in August, even if its late August you depart for the above reason.

As for May, who knows. May has the potential to be popular due to having 2 bank holidays, so you can ineffect keep a days holiday and of course you have half term right at the end of May. If Y is anywhere near full then it certainly wont be merged.

I have flown back from MCO on an aircraft in September with only about 30 passengers on board. Flight was not merged with the 28.

thanks for that willd,had the incorrect outgoing date,it is 23rd August,but suspect the answer will be the same

Sorry for jumping in on this thread, but I was just wondering if someone was able to check some load factors for me?

VS015 02/10/09

VS028 16/10/09

My family and I have a trip to orlando booked and as we didn't make the booking directly through Virgin, we were unable to pre-book seats.

Thanks in advance [:)]

[honey lamb]

VS 15 J7 D7 R7 Z6 W7 S7 K7 Y7 B7 L7 M7 Q0 X0 N0
VS28 J7 D7 R7 Z0 W7 S7 K5 Y7 B7 L7 M7 Q7 X2 N0

If you have the PNR of your ticket you should be able to request seats. You can get the PNR from the tour operator/travel agent you booked with or alternatively if you call Virgin they may be able to help. Please remember though that they are just requests and can be changed

Thanks for the information.

I think we can request seats, but not until the tickets have been issued. I believe that we will get the tickets some 2 weeks before departure.

Do those class/ticket codes relate to available seats? So therefore the flights are really quite busy?

[honey lamb]

quote:Originally posted by Nick744

Do those class/ticket codes relate to available seats? So therefore the flights are really quite busy?

There are three main classes J, W, and Y, in other words UC, PE and Economy. Each class has subsets or buckets which relate to the flexibility of the fares, whether they are apex, etc. What the numbers mean is there are at least 7 seats available for sale in each class. For example, on your VS 28 flight, there are at least 7 seats available in UC of which at least 7 are available for sale in either the J, D, or R bucket but there are no more Z fares available for sale. When it shows 7 across the board it generally means the flight is wide open

Thanks honey lamb, I work in the industry (in the not so comfortable seats up front) but have never fully understood the loadings when presented like that.

quote:Originally posted by jodash
thanks for that willd,had the incorrect outgoing date,it is 23rd August,but suspect the answer will be the same


Pleasure. Yes it will be the same. The 23rd August will be peak time for a lot of people flying back to LGW from MCO. So even if your flight is light on the outbound I would imagine it will be packed on the return. Having said that 23rd August is still some 2 weeks before the schools are back so I wouldn't be too surprised if your flight, especially in Y, was a sell out.

quote:Originally posted by Nick744

I think we can request seats, but not until the tickets have been issued. I believe that we will get the tickets some 2 weeks before departure.



As HL says ring up your tour operator and ask for the PNR which will now be available if you have booked. If you are going with VH/TCD they should have provided this to you when you booked. Of course if you have booked direct with VS then you should have the PNR already.

Its worth remembering that it is a seat request though, and as has happened to many a VF, your request may not be honored but of course it is worth doing.

On the LGW fleet there is the added complication of the extra legroom seats (which vary from a/c to a/c at LGW), as these extra legroom seats are sold at an extra premium, you can find that if you selected one of these (without realising as the system doesn't show them as extra legroom) then you will be moved on departure day. Clearly operations do not know this far out exactly which LGW based a/c will operate your particular route hence the lack of blocking of the extra legroom seats.

I was given a ref number by TCD and phoned Virgin as advised, but they palmed me off and said that they no longer do seat requests over the phone. I think I read on the Virgin site that only a few seats are made available for pre-request, the rest allocated at check-in. There was also a stipulation that if you booked with a different tour operator, that you could not request seats until tickets have been issued.

When I log in to manage my booking, I do not have the option to request seats.

I'm trying my best to get seats together as there are 9 of us travelling (incl 1 infant). The loading seems to be fairly open according to the figures mentioned above, so I guess there is hope?

Thanks for the help.

[honey lamb]

The amount of seats available for pre-allocation is 60% and once this has been achieved, seat maps are no longer accessible. The reasoning for this is that there is an FAA requirement that families be seated together.

I haven't heard of VS not doing seat requests over the phone but that could be a change in policy (or someone being too damned lazy to bother). If when you get the tickets you cannot select seats from the seat map, the best advice I can give is to do on-line check-in the minute it opens 24 hours before departure and select your seats then. If you are travelling with an infant it might be worth calling Virgin again with this information, although bulkheads where the sky-cots are only get allocated at the airport.

The solution seems to be to check in as early as possible

I would take HL's advice. Although it may be worth re-ringing VS and speaking to someone about why you cant see a seat map. It amazes me how many times you can put down the phone with a call centre and ring straight back up but get a different answer.

Thanks everyone [y]

Thanks for the advice [:)]

I will call TCD tomorrow night as I have to discuss something with them anyway and I will bring up the subject again of seat requests.

If they do merge flights, how much notice do they give you? Or DO they even tell you, if they've merged 2 flights and you are booked on the later one????

[Neil]

quote:Originally posted by catsilversword
If they do merge flights, how much notice do they give you? Or DO they even tell you, if they've merged 2 flights and you are booked on the later one????


Yes they will inform you if you the flight you are on gets cancelled/merged with the other flight. They do try and announce the cancellations well in advance but of course some are done at the last minute due to tech problems etc.

quote:Originally posted by catsilversword
If they do merge flights, how much notice do they give you? Or DO they even tell you, if they've merged 2 flights and you are booked on the later one????


In my experience it has happened twice in the last year - both via text message on the way to the airport in a CDC !

quote:Originally posted by catsilversword
If they do merge flights, how much notice do they give you? Or DO they even tell you, if they've merged 2 flights and you are booked on the later one????


Also when you log into you flight details it will be clear that they have merged, and you have to tick a box there to indicate you understand whats happened.

I have a question though, what if because of a merged flight you miss an apointment, do you have the right to cancel that flight?[:?][:?]


cheers

alex[:)]

quote:Originally posted by Alex V


I have a question though, what if because of a merged flight you miss an apointment, do you have the right to cancel that flight?[:?][:?]



Well if a flight is canceled on a certain day they seem to offer alternative transport on another carier or you can rebook to go at a later date. Not sure about canceling it all, I would imagine you have to take the loss of the booking.

I doubt this ever happens though on the MCO route. I mean how many leisure passengers have appointments booked within 2 hours of landing at LGW or MCO (2 hours is approximately the time difference between the 2 flights).

quote:Originally posted by willd
[br
Well if a flight is canceled on a certain day they seem to offer alternative transport on another carier or you can rebook to go at a later date. Not sure about canceling it all, I would imagine you have to take the loss of the booking.


When they cancelled my return flight from Chicago they offered to refund the whole trip, which had been booked at a sale fare.

Paul

quote:Originally posted by willd
quote:Originally posted by Alex V


I have a question though, what if because of a merged flight you miss an apointment, do you have the right to cancel that flight?[:?][:?]



Well if a flight is canceled on a certain day they seem to offer alternative transport on another carier or you can rebook to go at a later date. Not sure about canceling it all, I would imagine you have to take the loss of the booking.

I doubt this ever happens though on the MCO route. I mean how many leisure passengers have appointments booked within 2 hours of landing at LGW or MCO (2 hours is approximately the time difference between the 2 flights).


Happended to me on that route - my flight to MCO was cancelled and no seats left on the earlier one so I was offered a flight to MIA and an internal one up - no option but to take it and be late for my conference registration (along with the majority of the fther Upper Class pax as it turned out). They offered us loads of miles too but as I dont use them it was no compensation.

I have another conf coming up in May in Orlando (which is now becoming a major conference centre in the USA)so thinking of going with BA just in case as Tamapa would suit me better than the awful MIA expereinces I have witnessed.

Regards,

Hackneyguy

I know I wasn't going to go into detail (and believe me this isn't all the detail lol) but both my flights were cancelled to/from MCO on the day with no warning given - I was travelling UC on both. Checked in online, no calls nothing, not until I turned up to deposit bags/get boarding passes. I guess you could call it unlucky, particularly as the flights were within a 7 day period. [n]

Both times, UC passengers were offered 2 alternatives, 1) downgrade to PE on the other MCO flight (and PE passengers therefore downgrade to economy)and get miles + a free economy ticket anywhere 2) fly out the next day. No alternative route on the day or carrier offered. Thankfully on both occasions there was 1 spare seat on each flight and due to my 'special needs' I was given the seat(s).

The reasons the flights were cancelled were problems with other aircraft and due to economy not even being half full on the flights they decided to merge the flights (regardless of the fact that PE and UC were full, bar 1 seat, on all flights).

Firsttimer i would say thats the unluckiest thing i have heard for a while, i assume you will never be flying VS again? With service like that i would have to defect!

cheers

alex

quote:Originally posted by Alex V
Firsttimer i would say thats the unluckiest thing i have heard for a while, i assume you will never be flying VS again? With service like that i would have to defect!

cheers

alex


LOL Alex, TBH I did defect but I'm back again [:D]