Flights with Virgin Holidays

[Minniesgal]

We have been booked for Orlando since February 2020. As you can imagine trip has been moved a few times but hopefully will actually be travelling 21st July 2022. We had booked Edinburgh to Orlando through JFK with Delta codeshare.

Then Delta cancelled the Edinburgh JFK flight and thats where the fun and games started.

Delta booked us on a flight Edinburgh to JFK connecting in Boston!!!! We landed in JFK 3 hours after our Orlando connection departed.

I called Virgin holidays and they said they would call Delta and hoped they would change it free of charge. To which i replied considering we don't actually get to our destination they had better change it free of charge. Anyway they rebooked us Edinburgh Boston Boston Orlando. Only downside a 1 hr 35 min connection time in Boston. The Virgin holidays rep told me don't worry you stay airside and all you need to do is change gates. This was the 20th October

Well I checked that out with Delta who said no as i thought you need to do immigration, customs, collect baggage put it in the transfer area, change terminals and go through security.

So I go to call Virgin holidays back and they are taking emergency urgent calls only. I finally get through today. Bottom line Delta say it is a viable flight so they refuse to change it. Even if they did change it it would be an 8 hour layover in Boston. They say there is a priority lane at immigration/customs and security for transfers that will get us on our flight on time. And if they don't they will get us. flight and guarantee getting us to Orlando that day. I don't believe them but feel stuck with it.

Any thoughts??

 

[Plague]

Any thoughts??

Ugh! That's pretty horrible.

You need to get that "Delta say it is a viable flight" in writing, as that (should) make it their, or at least Virgin's, responsibility if it goes wrong. And make sure your insurance covers such woes, eg. for an overnight hotel.

However, it's a way off and as things are only just getting back up it may change again. I'd leave it till early next year and, if by then they haven't changed it to something more likely to work, get on their case again.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I would be worried to. Are you able to travel with only hand luggage? Otherwise, maybe ask Delta if you can take the fist leg of the flight a day early, stay overnight in Boston and fly in the next day.
I am sure that Delta will get you there but I wouldn’t want to risk losing a day’s holiday.

 

[SirDuff]

First, yes, you will definitely have to go through immigration and customs in Boston as your next flight is a domestic flight (actually, most US airports make you do so even if you are doing international to international). I’ve not done the connection at Logan, but pretty sure you cannot transfer terminals airside which does mean redoing security.

My favourite source for travel help is FlyerTalk. A long thread about connecting at Logan.

You are above MCT (Minimum Connection Time) but only just as MCT is 90 minutes. That is really tight.

A things to think about if deciding if you should push more for different flights (even if a different connecting city):

1) What is the make up of your group and how many of you are there? The more of you there are, the harder to rebook you on a different flight if you miss the connection. Having children or those with mobility issues slows down your ability to move quickly.

2) How many later flights are there if you miss your connection? I’m much more likely to risk a tight connection if there are more options available if I miss my connection.

3) How much later is the next connecting flight? If the next flight really is eight hours later, that would increase the chance that I risk a tight connection. If the next flight were only an hour or later, I may try to move to it.

4) Will you have checked luggage? I’ve had times where I made a tight connection but my luggage didn’t. Not the end of the world, but a pain.

5) Do you have any status with the airline or one of it’s partners? I have high status with two alliances and am more likely to risk things with them (knowing that I’d be prioritized for help if there is a problem).

6) What are the chances that weather may lead to my first flight being delayed?

7) Where are you sitting on the plane? If I’m in International business, for example, I know that I’ll be one of the first off of the plane, which buys extra time. Someone sitting at the back of the plane could easily be getting off 10-20 minutes after me.

8) What do you need to get into the US? Can you use any of the shorter lines or will you be entering with a visa?

9) Is it a busy travel time? Delta will get you on the next available BOS-MCO flight but depending on how busy it is and how many people are in your party, it may be the next day (or even later). It usually isn’t, but if things go haywire, it can get bad.

FlyerTalk thread here - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/del...ansfer-time-boston-bos-definitive-thread.html

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I think that I would also send an e mail to Virgin and Delta expressing your concerns. It may be worth checking alternative flights available through Virgin’s alliance partners and proactively suggestion alternative flights that work better for you. If you can’t find e mail addresses, it is sometimes worth approaching them on Twitter.
I would also ask about Delta in the US travel thread as Americans are more likely to have first hand experience of Delta. Good luck.

 

[Lucys dad]

If you've booked with Virgin Holidays I wouldn't be happy with them palming me off to Delta for answering flight queries. Your booking is with Virgin. There is a direct VA flight from Edinburgh to Orlando on the 20th July, I'd be pushing them heavily to get on that flight at no cost. Even if it means paying for an extra night in a hotel in Orlando on the 20th.

 

[Plague]

If you've booked with Virgin Holidays I wouldn't be happy with them palming me off to Delta for answering flight queries. Your booking is with Virgin.

You'd think there was a legal obligation with a package, but the connection between the 'tour' operators and the airlines seems a bit looser. Even Disney UK will pretty much disown you if the airline pulls the rug leaving you to sort out the difference, like an extra night somewhere.

The other day I was booking next year's WDW and wondered about booking the flights with Disney UK too, to 'lock in' the price. Then I read the Ts&Cs and it appeared Disney reserved the right to pass on any increase in flight costs, so I didn't bother.

 

[Minniesgal]

So we decided to cancel with Virgin completely. We lost our deposit but I booked tickets through United airlines that were so much cheaper it was worth losing the deposit and still save money over Virgin. I don't think we will ever use Virgin again.

 

[Minniesgal]

I love to golf so I think we are going to start at SSR. Figure we can always use the DVC points at other resorts as we’ll also be looking for 2BR. The SSR recently renovated 2BRs are super nice.

If you've booked with Virgin Holidays I wouldn't be happy with them palming me off to Delta for answering flight queries. Your booking is with Virgin. There is a direct VA flight from Edinburgh to Orlando on the 20th July, I'd be pushing them heavily to get on that flight at no cost. Even if it means paying for an extra night in a hotel in Orlando on the 20th.

Yeah that would have been great but we can't leave until the 21st.

 

[cheryl.UK]

Their direct service is great. I've only booked indirect with them once and didn't have the best service. This was precovid so flight cancellations/changes weren't so common as they are nowadays. We were booked London to JFK, JFK to Orlando. The London to JFK was pushed back with didn't give us time to get through customs. They assured us it did, JFK recommend 2 hours, we had 80 minutes. Upshot was that we missed our flights to Orlando. We were still in customs when our flight left. United did put us on the next flight but we were split up around the plane.

 

[Lucys dad]

So we decided to cancel with Virgin completely. We lost our deposit but I booked tickets through United airlines that were so much cheaper it was worth losing the deposit and still save money over Virgin. I don't think we will ever use Virgin again.

Virgin were always my preferred choice of airline but their behaviour during the pandemic was a disgrace. I vowed to go out of my way not to use them again. Their current pricing has made that decision even easier

 

[deno]

Virgin were always my preferred choice of airline but their behaviour during the pandemic was a disgrace. I vowed to go out of my way not to use them again. Their current pricing has made that decision even easier

They were totally brilliant in my case. I got my booking changed to an open ticket and when it was time to reselect the dates for this year it was changed over effortlessly and no difference to pay.

Couldn't fault it really.