Virgin Express
The airline Virgin Express is not exactly the same company as Virgin Atlantic, it is Virgin’s budget sector airline, that I think it is run by Sabena, the official Belgium carrier. This means that you cannot use your Virgin Atlantic Airmiles to buy tickets or use the ... Read review
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Advantages: Reasonable Airfairs Disadvantages: Connection at Brussels
Virgin Express
The airline Virgin Express is not exactly the same company as Virgin Atlantic, it is Virgin’s budget sector airline, that I think it is run by Sabena, the official Belgium carrier. This means that you cannot use your Virgin Atlantic Airmiles to buy tickets or use the frequent flyer program to speed up check in, basically they operate a similar service to EasyJet and Go.
Last year I bought tickets ... ...but to be fair to Virgin Express the price is very reasonable, and you must be prepared to accept potential problems if your journey includes a connection. Delays are not usually the fault of the airline, in this case it was bad weather in Brussels. If I require flights to Europe again, I will definitely check the prices on their website and possibly use them as a carrier if there are large price differences.
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Virgin Express
The airline Virgin Express is not exactly the same company as Virgin Atlantic, it is Virgin’s budget sector airline, that I think it is run by Sabena, the official Belgium carrier. This means that you cannot use your Virgin Atlantic Airmiles to buy tickets or use the frequent flyer program to speed up check in, basically they operate a similar service to EasyJet and Go.
Last year I bought tickets for four people to Rome from their website, after surfing between EasyJet, Go, RyanAir, LastMinute.com, ebookers and a few others, I found they offered the cheapest prices. Considering that we were flying on a Bank Holiday weekend the overall price of the return fairs per passenger was £163 including tax. The cheapest tickets found anywhere else were £234 with RyanAir. This was a flight on a Saturday morning flying out of Heathrow, there was only one small problem and that was the fact that we had to change at Brussels, this is the case with the most of their flights (makes sense as the service is run by Sabena).
However the website is plain and simple to find your way around, and includes a map showing all destinations that they fly to. Moreover the booking process is very swift and only takes 3-5 minutes to book your flight. Like EasyJet you must enter your start point, date including return date, number of people travelling and destination and the website will give a list of all possible flights and prices. From the UK most flights fly out of Heathrow, but some fly out of Gatwick. It is possible to fly direct to Shannon (Ireland), Copenhagen and Berlin from the UK, but to fly to any other destinations, that include Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Milan, Nice and Rome, then you must change at Brussels. This is the only obvious inconvenience. When you decide to go ahead with a transaction the website gives you a reference number to present at the ticket desk at your departure airport, there are no tickets involved. I found this very convenient, but EasyJet I am told use exactly the same procedure. The only problems that could occur are those regarding security, but this is checked for, as you have to produce passports at the ticket desk.
As for the departure flight, I found this very enjoyable, the flight from Heathrow included a mini Breakfast, consisting of a roll and coffee, it was just about edible. The actual airplane was quite comfortable, there was enough legroom considering it was cow class and the seats were all upholstered in leather. Also the staff were courteous and helpful. This was repeated in all the airplanes.
The connection in Brussels was not a problem, we had to hang around Brussels airport for approximately one and a half hours, but this enabled us to shop in the duty free (although not really duty free when travelling in EU) and get a bite to eat. However on the return journey the plane was delayed by an hour and this caused problems in Brussels. It became a worry that we would miss the connection at Brussels. When we arrived in Belgium, we had to run around the airport, go through passport control, and the get to the plane to fly back to London. The joke was after having all this stress and running halfway around the terminal, we got back on the same plane again. It is now quite funny, but we were not amused at the time.
Overall not the best of experiences, but to be fair to Virgin Express the price is very reasonable, and you must be prepared to accept potential problems if your journey includes a connection. Delays are not usually the fault of the airline, in this case it was bad weather in Brussels. If I require flights to Europe again, I will definitely check the prices on their website and possibly use them as a carrier if there are large price differences.
Advantages: cheap, flexible flying times Disadvantages: might not be the fastest way to travel!
...thing to note is the Virgin Express is completely different from Virgin Atlantic, if you mix them up, you might be in for a nasty shock! Virgin Express is the 'budget' or no-frills airline from Virgin and the reason that it isn't, perhaps, as well-known as some of the others (Go, Ryanair, Easyjet) is that it is based out of Brussels rather than the UK. There are direct flights to Shannon from London, but other than that, all flights are routed via ... ...a bargain by travelling with Virgin and they certainly offer a wide range of destinations. They fly from Gatwick, Heathrow or Stansted, to Brussels, and from Brussels you are offered a wide range of destinations, including Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Berlin and many more that I can't remember! The pricing policy is remarkably transparent (for an airline). If you book a little in advance, most flights are £99 if you chose the earliest or latest ...
womble 10.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Virgin Express
Advantages: Not many now They used to be best UK Scheduled airline Disadvantages: tends to dislike Northern based regular passengers
...that this Op is in Virgin express section and don't mind it being rated down becasue of this, I already have an Op on Virgin Atlantic in the right place but in I felt it import to associate these additional remarks with Virgin Atlantic here and not Virgin Express which although associated with the Mother Comapny ( Virgin) is actually a separate company operating out of Brussels....
~~~o0o~~~
Having just got off a Virgin flight from Orlando to Manchester ... ...of complaints from passengers about Virgin sub-chartering an AIR Atlanta Boeing 747-300 (in Charter configuration) they suddenly found available in September the oldest Aircraft they had in the fleet and sent it up to Manchester to finish off the season..
~~~o0o~~~
Of course being a member of the Aviation society at Manchester Airport I knew a few months before travelling that we were on this aircraft, and I was not happy with this situation, I ...
Dalesman 30.09.2000 (30.07.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Virgin Express
Advantages: roomy, good food, friendly atmosphere Disadvantages: availability fills up very quickly...
...airlines. I found that Virgin Atlantic had more room, better food, and better service than any other airlines. Plus, their entertainment system is by far the best. It'll keep the kids quiet and help pass the long hours. The great thing is that now they run all kinds of special offers and are usually one of the best deals around. The drawback is no frequent flier program for the cheap seats, but the lower price usually takes care of that. ...
JeffSumm 20.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Virgin Express
Advantages: Seat back entertainment, night flight Disadvantages: Horrible food!!
...was my first flight with Virgin Airlines. I flew with my husband, mother -in -law and 3 month old baby. We were allocated the bulkhead seats so that I could use the "Sky cots" which Virgin provide free of charge, but I kept my baby on my lap for the whole (12 hour) flight and used the extra space to stretch out. The seat back entertainment was good, with a variety of films, programmes and computer games to play, but as it was a night flight I didn't ...
ckmukisa 24.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Virgin Express
Advantages: Good customer service Disadvantages: Poor room in the economy cabin, nowhere to rest your head to sleep.
...have recently started traveling with Virgin and must admit I looked forward to their legendary customer service on the transatlantic route.
True to form their service was good, on the ground and in the air. From check in onwards the staff seem prep;ared to go the extra mile to make the journey more enjoyable for all.
Where I feel Virgin let themselves down is in the area of comfort on board. I am not a little person, especially in the waist area, ... ...head against.
In conclusion, Virgin are good, but need to give a little more space to their economy travelers especially on the very long haul flights. Will I fly them again? Yes, I have booked to travel to Orlando with them next April. Would I recommend them to a friend? Yes, my friends are coming with us with their children. ...
Advantages: I can not think of any Disadvantages: Too many to list
I feel compelled writing to share a recent experience I had with Sabena, the Belgium Carrier, with you all.
It should be noted, that whilst I booked the flight with Sabena and my Ticket was a Sabena Ticket, the flight was actually operated by VirginExpress, a code share partner with Sabena.
Whilst I accept that weather is outside the control of airlines, I do not accept that this seems to be frequently used as a "cheap" excuse by the airlines.
To elaborate:-
I was unfortunate enough to have booked a flight on Sabena from Brussels (BRU) to London Heathrow (LHR), using the following Itinerary:-
14.11.2000, BRU to LHR 10:25
15.11.2000, LHR to BRU 18:25
I use the word "unfortunate" for the simple reason as I, like my fellow passengers, have been subjected to a delay totalling nearly 9 hours on two segments of about 40 ...
AlfWilbert 29.11.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Sabena - SAB
Advantages: Price.Modern planes. Disadvantages: Im sick of belgium chocolates
This is a money saving tip for travelers whom book travel with Sabena airlines, but whom actually travel with VirginExpress on a codeshare basis.(Codesharing is when two or more airlines actually sell seats on a flight).
If you travel from Heathrow to Brussels, and book via a travel agent or direct with Sabena the fares can be very high, for example a day return on the above routing-cheapest sabena fare is £245 plus airport taxes and passenger charges.Try booking on VirginsExpress's Website at www.virginexpress.com and you will find the same flights available from £28 EACH WAY plus tax subject to availability.
I would avoid connections in Brussels under one hour..this is why they have a lot of complaints from People with delayed baggage.Sabena sells it service on quick flight times and allows a minimum of only thirty minutes ...
bazza1603 07.12.2000 (12.12.2000)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sabena - SAB
I have flew Sabena several times over the past year, not by choice may I add. It is the only airline I've ever heard of who managed to loose everybodys luggage who was on the direct flight whilst people who were using it as a connecting flight had no problems. They also have some kind of facination with salmon, I recieved this about 14 times out of 18 flights. Then finally there is always the possibility you will end up on a virginexpress flight, now if I've paid virginexpress prices I don't mind their service... ...
LittleMiss 29.06.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Sabena - SAB
