Virgin Atlantic status match still running if you fly Little Red – and why you should do it

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• Joe says:

  3 Feb3 February 18:27

  I am doing a day trip on Sunday to try and do this so fingers crossed…..ba up to Edinburgh (avios tix) and vs back (ended up booking cash as for £54 was cheaper than redeeming at 1p/mile). I’m Virgin silver currently so hope they will offer it on the flight…

• David Barron says:

  3 Feb3 February 20:21

  The following has now appeared on the Virgin Atlantic site so if you are wanting to do a status match then best do it quick!

  Virgin Atlantic announces plans to stop its short-haul service, Little Red, in 2015

  Little Red was launched in March 2013 as an attempt to reintroduce consumer choice on key domestic services after British Airways’ takeover of bmi gifted them a monopoly on these routes.

  Over the past eighteen months, Little Red has delivered for consumers, leading the way on customer service and on-time performance at Heathrow. Flying well over a million passengers between London, Scotland and Manchester, Little Red offers convenient onward connections to the rest of Virgin Atlantic’s worldwide network.

  Bookings grew steadily for the service in the first part of 2014 with the airline enjoying excellent customer feedback. However the demand has been predominantly in direct – point to point – customers rather than connecting traffic. High levels of connections onto Virgin Atlantic’s long haul network have always been important to the success of Little Red.

  Chief Executive Craig Kreeger has committed to returning Virgin Atlantic to profit by the end of this year and the airline is on track to deliver that, however Little Red has unfortunately not been able to make a positive contribution to Virgin Atlantic’s network.

  Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Craig Kreeger said:

  “Little Red came about through an enduring passion at Virgin Atlantic to make a difference for our customers. We really wanted it to be a success and everyone involved worked extremely hard and gave it their best efforts.

  “It was always a huge challenge on behalf of the consumer, as the totally inadequate number of slots made available by the European Commission did not deliver close to BA’s network position, even when supplemented by our own slots to fly between Heathrow and Manchester. The time lag between the takeover of bmi and our entering the market also meant Little Red initially faced an uphill battle to win recognition and convert customers to its services.

  “While this challenged environment meant Little Red ultimately did not deliver the results we had hoped, this certainly will not dampen our enthusiasm to try new things in the future. We have always fought for what we believe is best for our customers and we will continue to do so.

  “We’re very grateful for all of the support and goodwill shown to Little Red in Scotland and Manchester, where we received a warm welcome. I would also like to personally thank the Little Red team, including the cabin crew who have been fantastic ambassadors providing exceptionally high levels of customer service. We are working to offer them roles on our long haul operation when these services end.”

  The President of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson, said:

  “When the competition authorities allowed British Airways to take over British Midland and all of its slots, we feared there was little we could do to challenge BA’s huge domestic and European network built through decades of dominance.

  “To remedy this, we were offered a meagre package of slots on a short-term basis and decided to lease a couple of planes and give it our best shot. The odds were stacked against us and sadly we just couldn’t attract enough corporate business on these routes. We will stop flying the Little Red services between Manchester and London at the end of March 2015 and the Aberdeen and Edinburgh services at the end of September 2015.

  “The team did their absolute best to make a go of it and I thank them all for their amazing efforts. In the meantime, keep flying on Little Red where you’ll continue to get amazing offers and great service.”

  Virgin Atlantic would like to thank its customers and teams in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Heathrow and Manchester for their loyalty and commitment to Little Red and looks forward to continuing to work with them on the service over the next 12 months.

  Passengers can continue to book with Little Red with confidence until this time and frequent fliers will be able to enjoy special loyalty benefits for doing so. There will be an increased earning incentive per-sector as well as a significant reduction in the number of points needed to redeem a flight.

  The airline remains committed to its operations in both Manchester and Scotland. Its existing services from Manchester to Orlando, Barbados and Las Vegas will continue, with the addition next summer of a new daily Virgin Atlantic flight between Manchester and Atlanta. In Scotland, the popular seasonal service from Glasgow to Orlando will continue with eight extra return flights just announced for summer 2015, alongside a new five rotation operation between Glasgow and Las Vegas.

  The decision on the airline’s short haul carrier follows a major review of Virgin Atlantic’s wider network. Last month the airline announced a network update delivering five new daily transatlantic flights and an ambition to grow to record levels of sustained profitability by 2018. This will be supported by a major programme of work that will see £300m invested into customer experience.

  Passengers who are concerned about their existing Little Red bookings should contact our Reservations team.

  • Alan says:

    9 Feb9 February 20:50

    That looks like the announcement from the end of last year, perhaps they’ve just reposted it?

• Wozza says:

  9 Feb9 February 11:49

  I flew down from EDI on Saturday night and confirm that this was announced by the cabin crew and that they provided forms with a section for the crew to fill in your BAEC details; they also asked to see my BAEC card. Will report back when I hear from Flying Club.

• Lux says:

  10 Feb10 February 15:45

  By chance I did this last week, before Raffles mentioned it. Avios redemption up and a £30 fare back down on Virgin, with some business in between. The crew forgot to bring me a form but it was all easily sorted out by email to customer.relations@fly.virgin.com, quoting my PNR and Flying Club number. They later asked for a scan of my BA Gold card.

  Grab one while you can!

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