virgin holidays

[Britchick]

when would their prices come out for 2010?


sell me virgin holidays! lots of people seem to book with them and we have always done diy, i would like to for a change just book and pay off as we go- am i going to be too restricted though? do you have to go to a welcome meeting to get tickets? - i would absolutely not do that!! I like the sound of the Vroom although i think that it will end up with lots of screaming kids just in a different place lol - are you guaranteed a seat in there?

if you book with VH and you want to upgrade on the way back can you do that at a later date? do they charge you for it

thanks!

[Dizneyblonde]

We never went to any welcome meetings just got the vouchers for our tickets that we traded at the parks.

[Dawn]

We don't go to welcome meetings. Last time we went the tickets were part of the room card so we got them at check in. You could always just buy your tickets seperately.

[ukwdwnut]

get the tickets from OTD julie i found them the best place

[Keith]

I generally price the flights+room up DIY on the various sites and that gives me a target price. If Virgin Holidays is REALLY close to the price then I'd go for them for the ATOL protection and the all-in-one-place ease. Another benefit is only having to pay a smallish deposit with them at booking time.

USUALLY I've found them much more expensive because of the per person pricing versus the per room pricing of the resorts but every now and again it has worked out.

Booking with VH has been pretty painless usually. I don't much like the wait for the tickets though, they seem to send them out far too close to the departure date for my liking.

The one time they really did let me down was when I bought attraction tickets from them. I bought some tours to KSC, shopping, everglades as well as cirque tickets and other things. I was promised actual tickets but of course that was a lie and I eventually got some virgin holidays vouchers. I phoned and said I'm not going to a welcome meeting where can I exchange these and they said at Manchester Airport, or at Orlando airport at the VH desk by baggage claim. Ok.

Of course the Manchester desk said nope, have to be Orlando. Orlando desk said nope has to be welcome meeting. After some moaning they gave me the reps phone number and said to work it out with her. Well of course she was all about selling MORE attraction tickets so was insistant on coming to the welcome meeting. In the end we compromised on her exchanging my vouchers before the meeting so I didn't need to sit through it.

So got there at the time agreed and she was already starting the meeting. (why do I get the feeling that was all planned?)

End of the meeting I presented the vouchers pointing out what a farce it had all been and she looked at the vouchers and said oh you shouldnt have bought those from the UK office, mine are cheaper and I'll sort you out with better seats etc how about we cancel these and rebook now? Well I said no forget that, already spent too much effort on this just exchange them for tickets please.

Then came the messing with the ticket machine. Oh that tour shouldnt have been booked on that day, they dont even run on Thursdays. Hmmm that tour seems all booked out and so on.

Well we managed to arrange all but the Kennedy Space Centre one which was of course the main one I wanted to see and because I'd booked launch day I wasn't accepting any other day! She eventually said she'd call the tour company and fix it all up giving us a ring at our Hotel later that day. Of course, no call. I ended up calling her and getting an answer phone each day with no call back. KSC launch day approaching and no tickets so then it was onto virgin holidays uk who said they couldnt do a thing, it HAD to be the rep. Finally after much moaning and escalations, I got a call back from the rep and the tickets were sorted out for the right day.

All in all it was stress we didn't need and I'll never risk booking any tours/attractions with VH again

[MystikPiglit]

If Virgin Holidays is REALLY close to the price then I'd go for them for the ATOL protection and the all-in-one-place ease. Another benefit is only having to pay a smallish deposit with them at booking time.

That's what DH likes about booking it all together. He says if there's a problem you only have 1 company to shout at.

I spent all last week checking prices & options, then booked the whole thing with VH. I think we got a good deal.

We never go to the Welcome meetings and always buy attraction tickets/ excursions elsewhere.

[Debbie2]

2009 is our fifth booking with VH. I have priced up DIY each time and have found VH ticked all our boxes (not just price led) and usually have some incentive or other e.g next year at the Swan we are getting 4 free nights and a whole host of other perks as it is one of their 'favourites'.

I like the option to 'manage my booking' on line and also make weekly payments by DD so actually don't 'feel' the pain of paying up 8 weeks before.

Have never attended welcome meetings and just exchange the vouchers at check in.

As a family we think the Special Assistance Dept are fabulous and always look after our needs.

[ukwdwnut]

ive not got anywhere near a competetive price from VH to a diy ever

[Dizneyblonde]

VH packages have always been best for us but this time we are moving around and want the free dining for our last week and you can't do split stays like that with VH.

[lisaw]

We absolutely never go to welcome meetings - certainly not wasting the first morning of my holidays listening to all I know already just to get a free meal.

Last year we bought tickets through Virgin which came in the form of vouchers and Disney added them to our room keys at check in without any problems.

I would have paid for the VRoom if we hadn;t got it free - I figure that with the problems we had getting a seat in departures last October I can only imagine August would be horrendous. At least there is stuff to keep the kids occupied in there.