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Virgin Atlantic drops Austin flights but boosts Miami, Barbados and Dubai

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18 months after Rhys headed out to Texas for Virgin Atlantic’s inaugural Austin flight, the airline will pull the plug on the route.

The last flight will take place on 7th January 2024. If you have a ticket booked, the airline will be in touch about a refund or a rerouting.

The good news is that the aircraft freed up will be used to expand services to Miami, Barbados and Dubai.

Virgin Atlantic drops Austin flights

The tech bubble burst, and so did Austin

Austin had been one of the fastest growing cities in the US for a number of years on the back of a booming technology sector. Cheaper than the west coast, it got into a virtuous circle with more and more companies moving in as the pool of qualified employees to hire from grew.

The tech bubble has now burst with most major players making substantial redundancies this year. It has hit traffic on the London to Austin route, leading to this announcement. Virgin Atlantic said that total international travel from Austin is at just 70% of its 2019 level.

British Airways will continue with its Austin service. It can’t have helped Virgin Atlantic that it put its worst Upper Class seat on the route (see our review) when British Airways had a more frequent service and was sending over an A350 with Club Suite. I would have been giving Virgin Atlantic a miss myself purely on this basis if I’d needed to visit. British Airways will also benefit from connecting traffic as there are few other European flights to Austin.

Virgin Atlantic drops Austin flights

The aircraft is moving to routes with strong premium leisure demand

With business travel volumes remaining weak, Virgin Atlantic is moving the freed up Boeing 787-9 to expand three routes with strong leisure traffic:

  • Barbados will increase from 11 flights per week to 14 flights per week between 10th January 2024 and 29th March 2024
  • Miami will increase from 11 flights per week to 14 flights per week between 30th March 2024 and 25th October 2024
  • Dubai will increase from four flights per week to seven flights per week from 26th October 2024 to late March 2025

It goes without saying that this is a good time to look for Virgin Flying Club reward seats to Barbados and Miami on these additional services. Virgin Atlantic guarantees at least 12 reward seats per flight – two in Upper Class, two in Premium and eight in Economy.

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Category

Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (68)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Young L says:
    28 Oct28 October 05:24

    Not sure why Virgin no longer flies to Tokyo? Should be a profitable route.

    • Rob says:
      28 Oct28 October 05:37

      Three airlines flying it already, and all have better connectivity either in Europe (BA) or Japan (JAL, ANA).

      • Vit says:
        28 Oct28 October 09:39

        @Rob, please educate me — but with VS being now with Skyteam would the connectivity in Europe via AF/KLM is just as good as BA if not better (except UK, of course)?

        • Rob says:
          28 Oct28 October 09:50

          ? You can connect from BA to probably 100 European cities. Virgin can connect you to Paris and Amsterdam.

          No-one is going to book Austin – Paris – Berlin to get to Germany when BA can do it with one stop.

          • Charlie says:
            28 Oct28 October 09:57

            In this case, LH have a direct flight from Austin to Frankfurt. Equally you can fly on American or United via one of their hubs to somewhere in Europe.

            I suspect that Virgin’s failure here is far more to do with their product and reliability (which puts people off) than their ability to connect people through to Europe, the latter of which is an issue from anywhere they fly from in the US.

          • pigeon says:
            28 Oct28 October 13:38

            When BA bought BMI, one of the conditions was it had to feed the competitions long haul flights. So you can book Austin to LHR on VS, then connect on BA to BER. Of course it’s a change of terminal, and VS doesn’t advertise this well.

        • Littlefish says:
          28 Oct28 October 16:21

          In general, Delta/VS/KL/AF shoot themselves in the foot and don’t offer tickets from an eu starting point to arrive back somewhere else. Aa/BA do.
          Took a lot of getting used to.
          Even connectivity in the US is worse than pre Covid. The only plus is the direct flights on KL to west coast at earlier times.

  • patrick C says:
    28 Oct28 October 06:20

    I am always surprised by how many people fly these routes.
    I mean Miami and Dubai are pretty boring fake towns. There are so many more authentic places to discover with better weather (especially compared to dubai).
    Also how does virgin sell cash upper class tickets to dubai? High competition and no connection opportunities…

    • Toppcat says:
      28 Oct28 October 06:26

      To each their own, of course, but I think bracketing Miami with Dubai is incredibly harsh on Miami!

    • Rob says:
      28 Oct28 October 06:54

      You can get direct Dubai flights from everywhere so connectivity isn’t a competitive disadvantage. The Heathrow catchment area is easily big enough to sustain this.

      If you’re paying £500 – £1000 per night for gulf-facing accommodation at a five star in Dubai then a fair % of this group will also pay for Upper Class. Whether they pay for it on a 787-9 is a different matter.

      • Yuff says:
        28 Oct28 October 07:08

        I’ve done west coast US and Dubai in the last 3 months. BA CS on A350 and Etihad 787 in J. Etihad wins by a country mile… service and seat, although our 17 year old son did like the privacy of the BA seat.
        In terms of destination, we’ve done Dubai about 15-20 times in the last 12 years and LA once. I seriously doubt we will be going back to LA.
        Appreciate the east coast is a lot nicer than the west coast, certainly from our experience it was.
        Although I will be glad when I don’t have to pay the rip off school holiday prices which seem to have gone mad this year in Dubai.

        • Rob says:
          28 Oct28 October 07:12

          We’re in Oman this week, marginally (marginally) easier on the budget.

          • mrs_fussy says:
            28 Oct28 October 14:36

            Please tell me you aren’t in Al Bustan as we have been here all week

          • Rob says:
            28 Oct28 October 15:00

            No. Been there before, wanted a change. Were at Jumeirah first and then moved on.

        • Nick G says:
          28 Oct28 October 09:26

          I feel the pain with our 9 yr old and a teacher wife I’ve got years of being paying more. That said just come back from Berlin this week after staying at the Waldorf Astoria for 4 days booked via Emyr and a nice upgrade to a junior suite with a city view made the trip. The hotel is stunning, service excellent, and I thought Berlin was an incredible city with loads to do. I also thought the prices of food and drink were very reasonable compared to London. The amount of HH points I received was also a no brainer to not use Emyr. Will definitely go back.

          Now looking at booking something next April for two weeks, and August for a week . Can’t decide and what/where. I was looking the WA in Dubai but with expensive hotels and food etc just don’t think I can justify it or want to go. Done Abu Dhabi and Doha so not sure I want another Middle East trip.

          Any other european or other suggestions on those dates that are ‘reasonableish’ preferably somewhere warm?

          • Dev says:
            28 Oct28 October 12:29

            Look on the bright side , with revenue based earning, your earning more miles, avios, points, etc

            (I’m kidding, I’ve got 2 kids myself and I’m stuffed too. I shoot for FF Programmes where I can pool points together).

          • The real Swiss Tony says:
            28 Oct28 October 16:02

            @Dev – sadly I think we’re about to see the end of the only sensible *A option for family pooling as SAS gets absorbed into AF/KLM – unless anyone knows of an alternative?

            Eurobonus has served me well over the years.

        • Expat in SJC says:
          28 Oct28 October 17:38

          “East Coast nicer than the West Coast.” The West Coast is seriously miles ahead of the East Coast. Granted if you just hung out in LA / Vegas I can see how you might form that view. Northern CA, Oregon, Washington and are absolutely great places. And with a bit of hunting SoCal is brilliant also.

    • Anna says:
      28 Oct28 October 07:51

      Miami is a huge hub for connecting to Latin America/Caribbean and also for cruise passengers. It also picks up some of the traffic for Orlando as direct flights there are often astronomical.

    • Johnny Tabasco says:
      28 Oct28 October 08:06

      Crazy statement to make about Miami

      • No Longer Entitled says:
        28 Oct28 October 08:30

        Crazy statement to make about Dubai on HfP. It is treated like a trip to Mecca.

        Miami is a great place. I adore South Beach and the art deco architecture and it is an easy starting point for a road trip down through the Keys.

        • Johnny Tabasco says:
          28 Oct28 October 08:36

          Totally agree. Dubai is the most soulless depressing place I have ever visited.

          Whilst Miami has its share of issues it’s a historic and vibrant city with soul. Everything Dubai is not.

          • JDB says:
            28 Oct28 October 10:40

            Dubai was a wonderfully traditional, characterful and charming place in the 1980’s so it’s sad to see that everything has been razed to the ground thereby ripping out the soul of the place. You could be in any concrete jungle city now and as a ‘beach’ destination, hmm.

            We have been travelling to China frequently since the 2010 Expo and it’s been interesting to see that many cities originally embarked on this same eradication of the old but quite rapidly stopped the process, particularly in Beijing and now make a great virtue of the old and its embodiment of ‘chineseness’ and tradition.

        • Rob says:
          28 Oct28 October 09:53

          Good luck doing that as a one week half term trip with two kids under, say, 10.

      • ianM says:
        28 Oct28 October 08:37

        Agree, Miami has so much going on in different areas, it’s a fantastic authentic destination.

  • Travel Strong says:
    28 Oct28 October 06:48

    “It can’t have helped Virgin that it put its worst Upper Class seat on the route when BA was sending over an A350 with Club Suite. I would have been giving Virgin Atlantic a miss myself purely on this basis if I’d needed to visit.”

    This is exactly why I give Virgin a miss when I fly to Las Vegas. I’d like to fly Virgin… but the seat really does swing the decision to BA every time!

    • Andrew says:
      28 Oct28 October 07:42

      Same here, love Virgin for the lounge experience but when it comes to the plane the old seat is such a downgrade on the BA suite.

    • AL says:
      29 Oct29 October 01:32

      This is why I don’t ever do direct LAS services. I was surprised to hear BA have now got CS ex-LHR. I usually do a one-stop via LAX, but that entails an overnight. Likely back off to LAS and was pleased to see AUS is doable for it before it ends, but with no DL connection same day, means heading in on AA internal – perhaps my OWE will be honoured!

  • Can2 says:
    28 Oct28 October 07:38

    Is the seaweed problem is still a thing for Barbados?

    • Anna says:
      28 Oct28 October 07:53

      It’s seasonal and comes and goes. It’s here for the long-term though, until someone comes up with a workable solution.

      • Catalan says:
        28 Oct28 October 08:38

        Nutrient pollution from industrialised countries is one of the main contributors to the problem. I don’t see that ending soon.

      • roberto says:
        28 Oct28 October 08:45

        Flooding is a problem there this week. Check the socials for endless videos of rivers on roads. And yes seaweed is an issue still , mostly the east and southern coasts only.

      • Can2 says:
        28 Oct28 October 10:49

        Sorry for my ignorance, as I am slowly planning a trip there with Virgin, but, when is the season for the seaweed? And if I stay in the West, even during the season, would I be completely safe?

  • Nick G says:
    28 Oct28 October 09:27

    Meant to add this a separate post sorry!

    I feel the pain with our 9 yr old and a teacher wife I’ve got years of being paying more. That said just come back from Berlin this week after staying at the Waldorf Astoria for 4 days booked via Emyr and a nice upgrade to a junior suite with a city view made the trip. The hotel is stunning, service excellent, and I thought Berlin was an incredible city with loads to do. I also thought the prices of food and drink were very reasonable compared to London. The amount of HH points I received was also a no brainer to not use Emyr. Will definitely go back.

    Now looking at booking something next April for two weeks, and August for a week . Can’t decide and what/where. I was looking the WA in Dubai but with expensive hotels and food etc just don’t think I can justify it or want to go. Done Abu Dhabi and Doha so not sure I want another Middle East trip.

    Any other european or other suggestions on those dates that are ‘reasonableish’ preferably somewhere warm?

    • Harry T says:
      28 Oct28 October 09:44

      Malta? Canary Islands?

      • Nick G says:
        28 Oct28 October 10:10

        Agreed and looked but having been to the canaries many times over the years I just find it hard to get excited about going there. Although Hyatt might add some options with the Alua chain so will take a look.

  • David S says:
    28 Oct28 October 09:50

    Another reason for me to never book a flight on Virgin. They keep cancelling routes to nice destinations . OH was just about to use her slowly accumulated points to book me a Birthday trip to Austin. At least BA has depth and scale when making a booking.

    • Expat in SJC says:
      28 Oct28 October 17:40

      Agreed. The seat is so poor but they can’t keep a consistent schedule. Their reputation suffered hugely in the Bay Area when they kept canceling the SFO service at the last minute and re routing people to LAX.

  • Charlie says:
    28 Oct28 October 09:51

    And this summarises the problem with Virgin. They open and close routes all over the place, which makes them an unreliable choice for booking more than 3 months out.

    Frankly I’m less fussed whether I have an A380, 787 or an Antonov vs whether they cancel my flight a few months out, forcing me to pay a lot to rebook.

    • Opus says:
      28 Oct28 October 10:14

      The whole business model can only work so much. Virgin has limited growth prospects, no feeder traffic from LHR and if it’s not flying into a delta hub no feeder traffic the other end. So it has to fly into destinations that either have enough demand from/to LHR OR a delta hub, where there is enough demand to sustain the competition. There are too many filters to see how an airline like virgin can actually grow.

      • Charlie says:
        28 Oct28 October 10:43

        Fine. So fly into Delta hubs and stop messing everyone (not least Rhys) around.

        And/or open in markets that have have more substance than the latest craze (but I guess that’s not really on brand for Virgin…)

  • mart says:
    28 Oct28 October 10:14

    Some of the comments on here today ridiculous,every place has pros and cons,love Miami witnessed alot of crimes whilst living there still return occasionally but obviously that’s a down side.Dubai completely safe never seen anything,don’t care that the punishments are harsh it obviously works and as for certain groups persecuted rubbish now the destination of choice for our happy friends.
    Not interested in seeing poverty lack of sanitary facilities anymore I’m too old ,rant over

    • David says:
      28 Oct28 October 15:11

      Miami has some of the sketchiest areas I have ever seen and I’ve been around South America’s not so finest. Please like a good ol’ moan. For years it’s Dubai “I will never give it my hard earner money” but pay taxes in this country. Who have, let’s say a chequered past/present.

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