NEW: Get 50% off USA redemptions in a new Virgin Atlantic reward seat sale

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• mhughes says:

  14 Mar14 March 15:10

  They aren’t taxes, it’s mostly money into virgin’s pockets, “taxes and charges” needs to be retired long ago, it’s pandering to an airline industry myth, just call it what it is “£995 payment”, if something is £100 in the shop, I really could not care less how that is broken down, in terms of import duty, vat etc, the payment required is £100.

• dougzz99 says:

  14 Mar14 March 19:17

  Generally I’m a BA person. Don’t experience the depths others seem to, and whilst I wish the cleaning was better I find a lot of comments around BA to not be my experience. I like to fly Virgin every year or two to get my own take on things.
  I think £1000 for a refundable ticket is a fair deal, wish it was £600 – £800, but it is what it is. I don’t usually care about refundable as book a long way out and barring something serious I don’t change my mind. Oddly I should have flown to LA today with Virgin, but had to cancel following unexpected knee op (there’s a lot going around) and the required follow-up. The flexibility does have real value, if only the avoidance of insurance and form filling.
  I do wonder about VS stability right now, these sales are frequent, and the time taken for cash refunds seems from various forum posts to be growing.
  In terms of product I’ve never quite seen the wonder of Virgin that many do, but subjective matters like that are always good for a debate.
  Agree with Rob on the plane swap to the old seat being a bigger concern than the TFC.

• Max says:

  15 Mar15 March 00:15

  This readership will probably not like to mention it, but New York seems to have gotten so more expensive also because US incomes really spiked up in recent years compared to income in the UK. Now a massive 40% difference at purchasing power parity (source: https://www.prb.org/international/indicator/gross-national-income/map/country). Just another consequence of the UK dropping from the global league tables…

  • Rob says:

    15 Mar15 March 07:07

    My highlight last time was a $25 standard salmon sandwich in a deli near the Met. This was not made to order – it was pre made, wrapped in clingfilm and sat in a fridge at $25 plus tax.

    • Max says:

      15 Mar15 March 10:46

      Which is about ~£15 in UK context, adjusting for income levels and FX. Expensive yes but not unheard off near the tourist locations

      • Rob says:

        15 Mar15 March 11:18

        Correct, but as a tourist you’re not benefitting from NYC income levels.

        • Ziggy says:

          15 Mar15 March 19:47

          In fairness, NYC has been one of the most overrated destinations for decades, so if this is what it takes for people to realise that they would do well to look elsewhere, I’m all for the gouging.

• Skywalker says:

  15 Mar15 March 18:03

  Is it possible to add another SkyTeam membership number to Virgin? If so, can you do it ahead of booking, or do you have to do it at the time of booking? TIA

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