Virgin Atlantic sale now on: Upper Class flights from £1,149, Premium Economy from £569

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• Blenz101 says:

  16 Dec16 December 05:26

  I wonder if Virgin are kicking themselves about withdrawing from Dubai or have even considered restating the service short term.

  Brits are flooding into Dubai right now and I understand the route does well on cargo as well. Whilst they could never have predicted the pandemic, US closure or Dubai being one of the first places to reopen with Covid safe measures in place Virgin have always seemed pretty nimble.

  They could well have got a winter season out of Dubai which should have been able to turn them a profit rather than have airframes and crew sat idle burning cash.

  • Mart says:

    16 Dec16 December 06:53

    Dubai is full of Brits at the moment ,alot are enjoying furlough here the bars are full of them many here for months.

    • KBuffett says:

      16 Dec16 December 07:17

      Cue all the moaners who hate Dubai because it’s fake and want culture on their holidays!!

      • Brian says:

        16 Dec16 December 07:20

        Not really sure that they’re moaners. People just like different things when it comes to their holidays. I’d rather go to Kandahar on holiday than Dubai but each to their own. If people enjoy Dubai then why should they not go on holiday there?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          16 Dec16 December 08:29

          Yeah but the point is why do they feel the need to come on here and question why others are going.

        • Brian says:

          16 Dec16 December 09:04

          “ Yeah but the point is why do they feel the need to come on here and question why others are going.”

          Did anyone come on here to do that though? Wasn’t it more a case of someone else commenting on something which hadn’t actually happened yet?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          16 Dec16 December 09:59

          Not in this. It does every time the Middle East is mentioned in other threads though.

      • Catalan says:

        16 Dec16 December 07:24

        In the main, Brits who go to Dubai aren’t looking for Arabic culture. They want sand, sea and bling. For them, Dubai is nothing more than a longhaul Benidorm.

        • blenz101 says:

          16 Dec16 December 08:01

          Have you ever been? You are so wide of the mark that the nose you are looking down at others casts a shadow.

          Duabi is a city break with world class resorts, beaches and hotels and at this time of the year boasts some of the best weather you will find just about anywhere. People come for the shopping, architecture, resturants, beaches, waterparks, safety etc.

          As for not seeking Arabic culture, it isn’t a requirement when you travel to do so. Do you look down on those going to the Maldives, Mexico or Carribean for failing to seek out the local culture and instead laying around a resort pool, enjoying the sand and sun?

          Given Dubai is $10 + for an alcoholic drink it isn’t able to compete with European shorthaul destinations offering drinks for 1 Euro.

      • Mart says:

        16 Dec16 December 08:12

        I’m nearly 50yr old done all my backpacking holidays
        Seen poverty/slums and the like just want spoiled now.
        Yes Dubai not for everyone but everyone has there own expectations and are at different stages of life.

    • jamie says:

      16 Dec16 December 07:28

      If that’s the case then it won’t be covid free for long!!

      • TGLoyalty says:

        16 Dec16 December 08:30

        It’s not Covid free.

    • John W says:

      16 Dec16 December 07:43

      Where is the best location in Dubai to book ? near the bars ?

      • Rob says:

        16 Dec16 December 09:51

        There are no bars in Dubai outside of hotels, obviously.

        • blenz101 says:

          16 Dec16 December 11:53

          The Palm is actually licenced if you want a bars outside of a hotel affiliation.

          Places like Ella’s, Riva Beach, the resturants and lounges at both Club Vista Mare and The Pointe all on The Palm are unconnected to any hotel yet serve alcohol legally.

          Tourists can also buy alcohol from any off licence (MMI and A&E) just by showing their passport – residents must apply and be licenced to do the same.

    • ChrisW says:

      16 Dec16 December 09:21

      Dubai is not a cheap destination, especially for alcohol in bars. I would be interested to know the sort of furloughed jobs that pay enough furlough to live it up in Dubai!

      • aa123 says:

        16 Dec16 December 17:13

        Furlough is capped, so anyone earning over £37.5k/year would be on £2500/month (gross). I guess that should be enough to live in Dubai

        • Stuart says:

          16 Dec16 December 18:22

          Some companies make up the remainder of the salary over and above the furlough amount

    • Brian says:

      16 Dec16 December 09:38

      How do you know a lot of them are on furlough?

      • ChrisW says:

        16 Dec16 December 09:39

        I was replying to Mart’s comment above.

    • Rob says:

      16 Dec16 December 09:58

      There are no bars in Dubai 🙂

      Apart from in hotels.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        16 Dec16 December 10:00

        There are actually lots of bars in Dubai. They’re just connected to hotels.

        • blenz101 says:

          16 Dec16 December 11:55

          Palm and DIFC both have bars not connected to hotels.

          DIFC is treated as ‘offshore’ and assume Nakhel struck some kind of similar deal for The Palm.

  • Travel Strong says:

    16 Dec16 December 07:36

    If they relaunched Dubai, I’d book this morning! Seems like an obvious opportunity, but I guess there are many hoops to jump through to start/restart a route.

    • blenz101 says:

      16 Dec16 December 07:51

      I was just wondering out loud if Virgin had thought about it and Duabi would be willing to reduce some of those hoops given they are one of the few cities in the world benefiting from tourist spend right now.

      If Emirates can send 4 x A380s and a 777 to LHR alone per day the demand is pretty evident.

      • Catalan says:

        16 Dec16 December 07:58

        But that demand is not from Dubai stopovers. It’s generated by transfer traffic.

        • blenz101 says:

          16 Dec16 December 08:05

          In normal times yes, but there isn’t really anywhere east of Dubai accepting tourists from the UK.

          I travel between Dubai and the UK regularly and the plane empties out into arrivals, very few if anybody heads for flight connections right now in DXB.

      • Rob says:

        16 Dec16 December 09:48

        There are time zone issues with Dubai. A UK day flight down requires you to either a) fly back at 2am which is about as popular as a bag of sick with the leisure market or b) leave a $200m plane sitting on the ground for 8 hours and fly back at 10am. This gives Emirates a clear advantage because the aircraft which lands at midnight can head off somewhere else three hours later even if there is no demand for a UK flight.

        That said … Lufthansa, Swiss, KLM etc only have 2am departures out of Dubai and seem to make it work.

        • Harry T says:

          16 Dec16 December 10:41

          I did the 2am departure in BA Y once… never again.

        • Sarah says:

          16 Dec16 December 11:33

          I actually really like the 2am departure, you get to spend the whole day, go out for dinner and then get to the airport. Much better than doing that, paying for a night’s accommodation and getting up early for the morning flight (not sure I’d be a fan in economy though)

        • Jonathan says:

          16 Dec16 December 12:03

          I’ve never been but that’s a perfect flight time for me if I’d been on a short break (assuming in Business). Full final day. Keeps you awake till 11PM UK then a long enough flight to get a proper sleep & arrive early AM.

        • aa123 says:

          16 Dec16 December 17:21

          If a flight left LHR around 6.30 am it should land in DXB around 5.30 pm. Then it could take off around 7.30 pm local, and get into LHR around 11.30 pm.
          Would that not work?

        • Rob says:

          16 Dec16 December 17:28

          Heathrow slots are gold dust around 6.30am and are used almost exclusively for the overnight flights from Asia and US to land. It’s not a popular time for long-haul departures for obvious reasons.

          A two-hour turnaround is too optimistic – 2hr 15m is better.

          Flights are currently blocked at 7h 5m to 7hr 10m out and 7hr 15m to 7hr 20m inbound.

          Heathrow closes (well, the curfew kicks in) at 11.30 – a diversion would be needed if the aircraft was running late.

        • Mark says:

          16 Dec16 December 21:52

          I agree with Sarah on the 2am flight. We’ve done it a couple of times, albeit in Club. I’d rather do that than spend an extra night in a hotel to leave early the next morning for a 10am flight.

• Dac1234 says:

  16 Dec16 December 07:59

  Swiss and lufthansa also offering some cracking companion tickets at the moment. Just picked up Swiss business to Hong Kong for 1k a ticket in October next yr

• BS says:

  16 Dec16 December 08:12

  Do remember you get a further £60 off in upper class your bookings if you are (or know) a student.

  • Aston100 says:

    16 Dec16 December 10:05

    Students in Upper Class? no wonder they are all broke.

    • MattB says:

      16 Dec16 December 10:19

      On our honeymoon flight with Virgin in upper I couldn’t get a seat at the bar as it was full of a group of American students going home for the summer!

• GivemeBeirutanyday says:

  16 Dec16 December 09:45

  Expats might be there, but believe me they are not welcome!

  • Aston100 says:

    16 Dec16 December 10:38

    Ah that word ‘expat’.
    Such a controversial word.

    • Ronald Jeremy says:

      16 Dec16 December 19:36

      Why’s that then?

      • Omar says:

        17 Dec17 December 23:18

        Immigrants are a more suitable term.

• Aston100 says:

  16 Dec16 December 10:25

  “Travel is valid until 31st December 2021”.
  However, the Virgin site tells me “We can only show you flights up to 331 days in advance”.

  Perhaps need some clarification in the opening paragraph of this article?

  • Rhys says:

    16 Dec16 December 10:40

    The sale runs into February!

    • Scallder says:

      17 Dec17 December 00:00

      the T&Cs actually say the sale is valid until February 2020!

  • Rob says:

    16 Dec16 December 10:42

    Both are correct. You can only book 331 days in advance but, once 31st December comes into the 331 day window, you will be able to book it.

• Scott says:

  16 Dec16 December 11:06

  I still stand by my theory that an Israeli CEO takes over VA and suddenly the flights to DXB were dropped. Funnily enough between two nations that previously did not acknowledge each other existed and had zero diplomatic relations. Spin forward to now and Fly Dubai are starting the first ever link between the two countries as (and this is hard to believe / swallow) relations were helped by Donald Trump. Suddenly Tel Aviv appears on the VA route network. DXB was how I made Au with Virgin Flying Club. It was ALWATS rammed full and at one point considered twice a day. Something stinks, and no matter how many people will repeat the VA marketing line of ….. Emirates were making it impossible to compete. It would be making better money right now other than any US route. BRING IT BLOODY BACK!!!

  • Rob says:

    16 Dec16 December 11:08

    The one thing I do find odd is that they have the Virgin Holidays infrastructure, and it is very odd for Virgin Holidays not be able to offer Dubai.

    Tel Aviv was already in the works when Shai took over at Virgin – you can’t launch routes that quickly.

    Yield is more important than numbers though and the old Virgin business seat couldn’t cut it compared to Emirates or Etihad. That is where the big money tickets were being bought.

    • Carol says:

      16 Dec16 December 11:16

      I found some holidays to Dubai offered on the Virgin holidays website earlier today

    • Mark says:

      16 Dec16 December 21:50

      Virgin Holidays offers flights with other airlines, including Emirates. I seem to recall that was even the case even when we booked to Dubai with Virgin Holidays ten years ago, though we flew on the Virgin Atlantic flight.

  • ChrisW says:

    16 Dec16 December 11:42

    I doubt an airline with a route network as small as Virgins could drop a route just because of the personal feelings of the CEO. Surely it would be a board decision, with a business case etc?

• Dave says:

  16 Dec16 December 11:15

  Don’t forget you flyingclub discount on holidays when you add your number at the booking stage.

  https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/09/14/virgin-holidays-discount-using-virgin-air-miles/

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