Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Which airline do i choose, BA or Virgin?

37 replies

buktus · 09/02/2011 17:18

Planning a trip to Antigua have 3 kids aged 9,8 and 5. BA is coming out so much cheaper than virgin, would like to hear of your experiences with both, thanks

OP posts:
Giselle99 · 28/03/2011 10:04

Good choice, OP. Virgin is the longhaul equivalent of Easyjet as far as I'm concerned; I only ever fly BA or one of their oneworld partners. Flew 12 times last year (i.e. 6 return) and 14 times the year before and was never affected by strike action as contrary to popular belief their planes still fly during strikes. I fact for the "inconvenience" of flying during a strike I got a fistful of miles, which I thankfully added to my miles bank and used to ugrade my next longhaul trip to business.

mumoverseas · 28/03/2011 12:10

I can pretty much guarantee that BA will strike on 1st July as thats when my next flight with them is. I am known to be jinxed, be it volcanic ash, snow or strikes Wink

ElliotW · 28/03/2011 12:52

I thought Virgin were terrible with kids. I would always go BA.

mumoverseas · 28/03/2011 15:23

except BA cabin crew have just voted 8 - 1 for more strikes, dates to be decided!

MABS · 28/03/2011 17:53

but there are so many other staff trained up, masses now, that i don't see any flights will be cancelled, and the inside word is that many of the crew won't strike when it comes to it.

mumoverseas · 28/03/2011 18:15

oh I do hope you are right MABS. How are things with you? Any news on move? x

MABS · 28/03/2011 19:30

I hope so too Mos, take care

Rocky12 · 27/04/2011 18:07

I worry about BA and their strikes but am travelling long haul from Gatwick so should be fine. I find that Virgin have lost their way. Their cabin crew are rubbish in ecomony and seem to be young girls (and a few boys!) out for a good time. Virgin definitely need to rethink their marketing. That stupid ad with all the glam girls striding through the airport... What are they selling again???

juneau · 02/05/2011 09:28

Having flown umpteen times back and forth across the Atlantic with both BA and Virgin I have to say that I think they're as good/bad as each other, so now I just go with whoever is cheaper as there really isn't much to put between them in terms of service. I wouldn't spend more money just to fly with Virgin.

gillybean2 · 15/05/2011 15:30

I paid extra for virgin to florida one time thinking they'd be better. We were then loaded onto the same plane owned by BA for the flight Hmm
I go for the cheapest now.

MisSalLaneous · 15/05/2011 19:00

Virgin. After our last trip with BA where our 8pm flight was delayed for 24 hours, but they would only tell after 12 that we were allowed to go home / to the airport hotel they offered, I will not fly with BA ever again. It was terminal 5, so after 11pm all coffee shops etc was closed. There were crying children, old people, people in wheelchairs, and all they offered (exluding hotel in the end) was a £5 food voucher per person. Being terminal 5, there were no other lounges, yet they refused to let even assisted passengers in the BA lounge "without proper tickets" (one BA staff member's words!) (i.e. Business / First). Anyone wanting to leave before the final decision was available (that they would only be flying the next evening) were told that they would lose their money should BA decide to fly that day after all. You were not even able to volunteer for a later flight. Oh, and when people tried recording the rudeness to passengers (this was 11pm) on their mobiles, they were told that police would be called to escort them off the airport. Police later arrived anyway, but they were great in chatting to people and trying to keep people calm. This was in March, and the reason given was that an unusual number of their planes have recently broken - something like 5 in the last week - and therefore people should understand that, with technical difficulties on our plane, they had problems finding another plane to replace it.

Sorry, I'm ranting and clearly still very annoyed, but I cannot get the rudeness and attitude of BA personnel out of my head! Things happen, planes break, but such a high number indicates maintenance issues, imo. Actually, even if you ignore that, if they treated passengers better and communicate more, the situation wouldn't have gotten as bad as it did.

Fly Virgin. They strike less and are generally friendlier. Of course this attitude doesn't include everyone, and I've been a regular BA customer for years, but enough is enough.

MisSalLaneous · 15/05/2011 19:01

Uhm, just noted date of OP! Rant stands, but not applicable to your trip. Blush

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread