Virgin suspending Turks & Caicos and Bahamas flights

[AL]

As @SamG says: if the original ticket was in W, then WSKHP are also valid for rebooking – I don’t have to care about their inventory management. You can also upgrade by paying the additional TFS assuming regular inventory availability.

[NorthernLass]

A quick update, however I apologise that I can’t offer any re-routing info! We looked at all our options and decided to flip the trip around and do the Bimini part first, returning from GCM on BA at the end of March. I therefore booked MAN-ATL in PE, called Virgin, asked for the NAS-LHR leg to be refunded and the cc voucher to be applied to the new booking to upgrade us both to UC. Could probably have got better value outside the US, however I think we’ll enjoy UC much more on a day flight than overnight!

Also booked ATL-NAS for the next morning for a very reasonable 11k Virgin points & $7 each – cash prices are around $300 pp on this route.

If anyone else is calling today, I got straight through on the phone about an hour ago and a lovely Welsh lady sorted it all out in no time.

[davefl]

If you’re looking for a hotel at ATL the Indigo Atlanta Airport – College Park is ok, right next to the Marta station and yes the VS Welsh call centre is generally excellent.

[NorthernLass]

Thanks, @davefl, I have my eye on that very hotel! 28k points on our required night compared with 74k for a HIEX at JFK if we’d decided to go that route instead.

[Author of the Seas]

News of the suspension piqued my interest from the outset because I had booked a flight to Jamaica via Turks & Caicos for March 2025, using a reward companion voucher.

I had been looking forward to a LHR – MBJ direct flight, with the removal of Turks & Caicos from the route.

It didn’t dawn on me that the service from LHR to MBJ would be removed altogether on the days incorporating the Turks & Caicos stops. I received an email today that my flight dates (outbound & inbound) had changed.

I have a lot to consider. I can get a refund, but hotels have already been booked (separately) for the original dates. And I booked when I did due to sales running at the time (for the flights and hotels).

The only option if I want to keep the flight dates the same is to book connecting flights (Virgin and Delta) via ATL, which I’d rather not do.

If I accept the schedule change (and rebook hotels accordingly), I suppose there’s no guarantee the schedule won’t change again.

[JDB]

@Author of the Seas – your last statement/question is correct. Virgin’s schedule is as flaky as a 99.

Apologies to younger readers who may not know what a 99 is.

[SamG]

Have you checked with the hotel? They’re usually reasonable about things like this especially far in advance

[NorthernLass]

The flake was considered unnecessarily decadent in our 1970s Methodist household, and don’t even mention raspberry sauce 😱

@Author of the Seas (great handle, btw), I would speak to your hotel first and see if there’s any flexibility there. @JDB noted a few posts back that VS might struggle to insist on re-routing you via the US because of the extra documentation required.

Does BA go to MBJ these days? If not you might have a couple of unorthodox options either via a European city (though I don’t know what cabins are offered), or LHR-NAS on BA then onwards on Bahamas Air.

Or, there does seem to be a weekly service between Montego Bay and Kingston which would open up more options.

*Have you also checked the flight times for the ATL re-routing? I’d be very surprised if you didn’t have to overnight at ATL then continue the next day.

[NorthernLass]

This is piquing my interest now – Edelweiss Air seems to have a proper business cabin and flies to MBJ on Thursdays in the winter months from Zurich!

Admittedly there doesn’t seem to be a direct J class alternative, however transiting the USA is probably the most onerous way of getting anywhere. I’m only contemplating it because it allows us to at least do the long-haul sector direct from MAN, so it’s swings and roundabouts for us!

[Author of the Seas]

@JDB It seems I’m not old enough — I had to look up a 99.

@SamG I think there’s flexibility as far as the two hotels are concerned. (I’m planning to stay in Negril and Montego Bay, hence the two hotels.)

@NorthernLass The Edelweiss Air option is worth looking into. BA doesn’t fly to MBJ. In the late 1990s, family members of mine took an Air Jamaica flight between MBJ and KIN … Thanks for the information and suggestions you have provided … (I’m a self-published ‘author’, albeit of one novel (so far) … I’ve been on a few cruises, mostly with Royal Caribbean, whose ship names end ‘of the Seas’.)

[NorthernLass]

Also – if you accept an earlier travel date on VS, wouldn’t they have to cover any extra accommodation costs? If you have a bit of flexibility with the travel dates, it would be worth getting an extended holiday AND a direct flight to MBJ!

[strickers]

@JDB Should that be flakey? I accept flaky would be grammatically correct but it’s a flake, it doesn’t work without the e. Do we get strawberry sauce too?