Virgin Atlantic Syd to UK

[Isabel]

Has anyone travelled from Oz to UK in Virgin Atlantic's Premium Economy. I'm nervous about booking QF or BA because at the time of paying you aren't guaranteed that there will be economy+ on that flight - if there isn't you travel economy with no refund! Then there are all the comments for and minus - it's confusing to say the least.

 

[SimonM]

Hi Isabel and welcome to AFF

My personal experience with Virgin Atlantic was from Hong Kong to LHR and back in Upper Class and I loved it. Would do it again any day.

My mother took my VA recommendation and did Aus to LHR in premium last year and is still unhappy. On the way back she was seated next to a very large passenger, when there were 2 empty seats in the row behind. There was a big fuss when she shifted there as the FA brought a young couple up from economy and had clearly intended those seats for them. In the end, she couldn't sleep in the PE seat anyway and so she moved back to Economy and found an empty row of seats to use.

Back in premium, she was also disappointed by breakfast which was a roll (bacon and egg, I think) wrapped in tinfoil on a paper serviette. Not what she'd expected for $5000+.

Complaints to VA were responded to with a letter saying that FAs would never upgrade friends or staff and that the writer had tried the food and found it perfectly satisfactory.

YMMV.

 

[Bundy Bear]

I have flown Virgin Atlantic from Sydney to Hong Kong and thought the service was good. Seat pitch was good; the food offerings were good.

I got off at Hong Kong as I was flying Qantas to London.

I find that Qantas tend to over price PE too much so if you can get a good deal from Virgin Atlantic then I would fly them.

No I haven't flown Qantas PE, I have flown Air NZ PE and I thought Virgin Atlantic were better.

 

[Isabel]

Thank you both - I'm more confused than ever. I've spent hours on line this morning looking for flights - I'd prefer a mixed class but not many airlines offer it, on line at least. I've done Thai/SAS in the past, and it was great, but now I read that SAS is rubbish! I dread doing the trip to the UK from Sydney - I've done it so many times in economy and can't do it again. Mixed class seems to be a good compromise between economy and business. Any tips?

 

[Bundy Bear]

Thank you both - I'm more confused than ever. I've spent hours on line this morning looking for flights - I'd prefer a mixed class but not many airlines offer it, on line at least. I've done Thai/SAS in the past, and it was great, but now I read that SAS is rubbish! I dread doing the trip to the UK from Sydney - I've done it so many times in economy and can't do it again. Mixed class seems to be a good compromise between economy and business. Any tips?

For mixed class you usually can't do it online if you want all Qantas.

Option 1. Ring travel agent.
Option 2. Do it online separately.

How to do option 2.
SYD-HKG-SYD on Qantas - flights to Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Asia. Book airfares at qantas.com. or Virgin Atlantic Airways - Popup
HKG-LHR-HKG Qantas - flights to Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Asia. Book airfares at qantas.com. and Book Flights, Hotels, Holidays, Car Rental with British Airways - BA.com and set your country as Hong Kong.

That way you can buy mixed class fares rather cheaply; I flew SYD-HKG overnight then caught the Qantas day flight HKG-LHR so arrived in London without feeling dead. The higher the fare class the cheaper it is compared to Australia. I could have brought HKG-LHR-HKG in Business for $4,200 AUD on either QF or BA. I think PE was about $1900 and economy was $899.00 BNE-SYD-HKG-BNE was on points but was selling for $1,125 in economy.
Mixed class to London was $5,600 from the travel agent. and that was Y to Hong Kong and PE(Premium Economy to London) :shock:

I had a 10 hour window in Hong Kong to get some sleep and give a bit of a window for a delay.

Also tell your credit card company you are going to London and you need to book some stuff.

 

[vitaminp]

I recently took V Atlantic to LHR via HKG in PE. I upgraded at SYD - for ~600AUD if memory serves. The big difference was the seat - wider and a better recline and in leather. I am 182cm and it was comfortable enough, managed about 7 hours on the HKG-LHR leg. There was no difference in the food between Y and PE, however in PE you get china and stainless steel cutlery (plastic knife). I didn't find the food very pleasing, however airline food is a very subjective issue!

Entertainment was fine. It was a little slow in loading at times, but the choice was fine.

Re the QF/BA PE booking issue you mentioned - are you sure that is correct? I don't think QF would offer PE and then sit you in economy with no refund. My partner just booked PE to HKG and there was no mention of that. I think if you book PE and the hard product is not on that aircraft you sit in J with PE service. More experienced hands can probably comment on this.

 

[docjames]

Try finnair for a mixed fare - Y to Asia then J to Helsinki and on to your destination in Europe.

 

[NM]

I'm nervous about booking QF or BA because at the time of paying you aren't guaranteed that there will be economy+ on that flight - if there isn't you travel economy with no refund!

Not sure where you found this information. I think your information may be out of date. Qantas has Premium Economy seating on all aircraft that fly to the UK. They use a mixture of aircraft configurations, including A380 and 747-400. All the 747-400 aircraft with a First Class cabin now also have Premium Economy cabins installed, making them 4-class configurations. The only Qantas 747-400 aircraft with no Premium Economy cabin are the 2-class aircraft of which there are 5 in the fleet and these are used for BNE-LAX and SYD-SIN-FRA routes.

While Qantas was going through the process of upgrading the 747-400 fleet to include Premium Economy cabins, they would routinely carry PE ticketed passengers on a section of the Business Class cabin. I am not aware of they downgrading any PE passengers to Economy without compensation.

However, if you book say BNE-SIN-LHR, then the BNE-SIN sector will be operated by an A330-300 aircraft with no PE cabin and travel will be booked in economy for that sector. But that is know at the time of booking and actually booked into the economy cabin as an economy fare.

So if originating from SYD or MEL and travelling on QF1/2, QF31/32 or QF9/10 I believe any fears of being downgraded to economy from a Premium Economy fare are unwarranted.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Has anyone travelled from Oz to UK in Virgin Atlantic's Premium Economy. I'm nervous about booking QF or BA because at the time of paying you aren't guaranteed that there will be economy+ on that flight - if there isn't you travel economy with no refund! Then there are all the comments for and minus - it's confusing to say the least.

Don't worry about the 'no refund' bit. As other posters have mentioned, if you ever had to downgrade you would be given some refund - although it may not be as much as you hope.

There are lots of other options out there.

Checking BestFlights there is a range of fares in including:

• thai airways business class all the way for 4289 - if there are two of you

or

• premium economy on Japan Airlines for around 3000. If you are a qantas frequent flyer the Japan option would get you points.

or

• royal brunei out of brisbane for $4700 (sleeper seats but it is a dry airline, and you'd need connecting domestic flights if you're not in BNE. Out of Perth is about the same price but i think they might fly a smaller plane out of perth without sleeper seats to Brunei?)

or

• the SAS deal - with Qantas economy to Asia then biz class on SAS, which you have already found for about $4200 as well

If it were me looking for a comfortable option with all the frills for a good price I would consider the Japan Airlines.

It seems that a fare offered last year, with Qantas to Asia and then Swiss business from there to europe which was about $3890 has now been withdrawn - although it may come back - it has been around for a while.

 

[Isabel]

Thank you! I'm keen on the Finnair/CX option as well as the JAL PE - but will wait to see what happens with JAL before making any bookings. It's amazing how many combinations are out there which the travel agents don't know about until you tell them! I've done Thai/SAS combo in the past and that was very good.

 

[Travel Guru]

Thank you! I'm keen on the Finnair/CX option as well as the JAL PE - but will wait to see what happens with JAL before making any bookings. It's amazing how many combinations are out there which the travel agents don't know about until you tell them! I've done Thai/SAS combo in the past and that was very good.

Your information about being downgraded on QF is definately incorrect, i've never once had or heard of a passenger being downgraded from Y+ to Y due to a lack of Y+ on a particular flight but I have had alot of passengers upgraded to J because of it.

As for the TA not knowing about the fares, sounds like you need to find yourself a better TA.

TG

 

[MEL_Traveller]

... passenger being downgraded from Y+ to Y due to a lack of Y+ on a particular flight but I have had alot of passengers upgraded to J because of it.

Although I do believe reading somewhere that when PE was being introduced an aircraft swap (without PE) led to the allocation of J seats based on status... so those without status being accommodated in Y and those with a certain level being moved up to J.

However it was clear that compensation was payable to those who had been downgraded.

 

[Travel Guru]

It's certainly true that the fare rules on the QF Y+ faresheets generally read "where not T class, pax travels in Y at nil compensation", but that's always at the choice of the pax to book on said route without Y+, which is a far cry from booking Y+ and then being downgraded.

If someone were to be downgraded in such circumstances which as I said i've never had occur, they would most definately be entitled to compensation.

TG

 

[serfty]

When the QF30 flight landed at MNL Qantas were in the process of introducing PE. That particular bird was one of the first to have it - as a result there were quite a few downgrades. Qantas did not handle it well at all and received a lot of bad publicity.

Later on when the 388 was further delayed after Qantas had been selling PE they had woken up somewhat and published a list of defined compensation.

http://www.qantas.com.au/agents/dyn/qf/policies/fareRefundTable160908.pdf

More on the downgrades here:

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com.../qantas-premium-economy-14589.html#post190262

Qantas downgrading me (and denying it)? - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[oz_mark]

Not sure what changed (aside from an extra PE class), but the Dec 2009 version of the compensation table is at http://www.qantas.com.au/agents/dyn/qf/policies/FareRefundTable181209.pdf

 

[serfty]

Not sure what changed (aside from an extra PE class), but the Dec 2009 version of the compensation table is at http://www.qantas.com.au/agents/dyn/qf/policies/FareRefundTable181209.pdf

This new table has changes necessitated by the redefinition of R class from "Premium First" to "Discount PE" and T class to "deep-discount PE".

(Also, the addition of compensation for "Sectors between Australia and South America")

 

[sunbeamrapier]

The absolute best way to fly to London is in Upper Class in Virgin Atlantic, via Hong Kong. First of all you get a flat bed, and the lounge in HK is amazing. But it is the arrivals lounge in London which makes this trip so much more pleasant - you will sleep all night on your flat bed and on arrival at Heathrow early in the morning you can make your way to the arrivals lounge, have a shower, a free massage and breakfast. You can kill a few hours in the lounge and then catch the tube into London, dump your bags at one of the major railway stations and spend the day sight seeing.

Virgin Atlantic often have sales on flights from HK to London or Sydney to HK, and sometimes Sydney to London. You can book economy from Sydney to HK and then Upper Class form HK to London and still enjoy the lounges at HK and on arrival in London. Check the VirginAtlantic website and sign up for their Flying Club (its free).

 

[diablo]

Interesting ... I don't seem to be able to find any PE fares from Aus to the UK with JAL on bestflights or the JAL website itself. Does anyone know how to book them? $3000 for PE to LHR is a bargain!

 

[smckay]

Interesting ... I don't seem to be able to find any PE fares from Aus to the UK with JAL on bestflights or the JAL website itself. Does anyone know how to book them? $3000 for PE to LHR is a bargain!

I'm keen too. only search i get is over $10K

 

[Isabel]

Flight centre have JAL PE flights for just under $3,000 - and JAL's own website has a similar fare - payable by 31 March. I thought I had also seen one on Bestflights. If you book with FC you will need to sign a waiver that you won't be looking for compensation/refund if JAL go further under. I ended up booking a special PE Virgin Atlantic fare in the end, not much more than JAL.