Silverjet in takeover talks

[Globaliser]

We flew back with BA premium economy last Dec. and I was not impressed. If there was any difference, it was very minimal.

You have to remember that premium economy is not business class, nor does it pretend to be. It's basically a tarted-up economy. The main "hard" selling point is that the seats are bigger and you have more personal space - about half as much again as in economy, which is a very significant increase. There is also a big "soft" selling point, which is that because it's a small cabin with a generally higher proportion of frequent flyers, it's usually much calmer and quieter than the nervous tension and excitement that you find in economy.

I know its a silly question, but I am asking anyway...how will I know when the offers are on.?

Sign up for emails, and look at their sites every week or so. Also keep your eye out for ads in the newspapers.

 

In fact, if you haven't already done it, it would be worth making sure that you're a registered customer on the BA website, with a username and password for logging in. Even if you get no other discounts, you are entitled to £20 off in most BA sales just for being a registered customer.

My flight with Silverjet is not until DEC. but the offer from BA and Virgin only lasts until June.

BA is currently offering business class returns to New York for £1399 for travel from 1 September 2008 to 31 December 2008. See this page. Virgin has a similar offer on this page.

I am now looking at L 'Avion as you suggested. After my experiences with Maxjet and Silverjet, I am rather concerned as to my booking with them being some sort of " Kiss of Death" . I have never heard of them, what do you know ?

I am rather naive, so do not understand the meaning of code sharing, nor " working with Openskies " who fly from JFK.

I don't know much about l'Avion other than that it's a similar company to the three business-class only operators from the UK, and I don't know anything about their financial health.

 

OpenSkies is British Airways' new subsidiary airline which will operate to the US from points in Europe. It is starting operations on 19 June 2008.

 

What is going to happen is that you will be able to book business class seats on the OpenSkies flights through l'Avion, with a l'Avion flight number even though the flight will be operated by OpenSkies. This means that if you book through l'Avion, you have the choice of flying Orly-JFK (operated by OpenSkies) as well as Orly-Newark (operated by l'Avion).

 

The arrangement does not appear to be reciprocal, ie it does not look like you can book onto a l'Avion flight through OpenSkies with an OpenSkies flight number.

[astrogirl66]

Well, tried to call the TA today - they are supposed to be open from 10-1 on Saturdays - and all their phone lines are "temporarily not working". Will see what happens Monday.

 

BA has direct flights to Manchester, which is more convenient to me personally, so it would be good if the agency could hook me up with one of those for little extra cost. I'm not expecting it, though.

[Globaliser]

Well, I spoke to my travel agency and they said that according to ATOL if Silverjet isn't running they have to provide me with a business class flight with another airline at no additional cost.

You might want to have a look at the CAA's page about Silverjet. This includes the following note:-

ATOL (short for Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) is managed by the CAA and gives comprehensive protection from losing money or being stranded abroad to over 26 million people in the UK who buy air holidays and flights from tour operators each year. It is by far the largest travel protection scheme in the UK, and the only one for flights and air holidays sold by tour operators.

 

All tour operators selling flights and air holidays must hold a licence from the CAA. If a licence holder fails, the CAA is responsible for ensuring customers are either repatriated to the UK or receive a refund of payments made.

So if you haven't started your journey, you may only get a refund - which is the same as if you'd booked directly with the airline using a credit card.

[astrogirl66]

You might want to have a look at the CAA's page about Silverjet. This includes the following note:-So if you haven't started your journey, you may only get a refund - which is the same as if you'd booked directly with the airline using a credit card.

 

Well since it's a package deal - transatlantic cruise to the US, Silverjet flight back to the UK - most of the cost of the package is the cruise, and it is well in advance of the deadline where I am entitled to a 100% refund for the whole thing, they are only hurting themselves if they risk my cancelling the whole package by their mucking up my flight arrangements.

[Globaliser]

Sorry, I'd misunderstood - when you said you'd bought and paid for Silverjet tickets through a travel agent it didn't sound like it was part of the package. In that case, tour operator ATOL rules will apply. I hope that they can find you something else in business class.

[astrogirl66]

They offered us

1. Virgin Premium Economy

2. To arrange our own flight

3. To cancel the whole cruise package.

 

We chose 1.

 

I'm not really bothered about business class; I would be fine with economy. It's my husband who cares, and he says Virgin Premium Economy is OK.

 

We have already received a revised invoice in the post, and a £120 refund for a fuel surcharge that we paid Silverjet.

 

How brilliant is that?

[WELSH WIZARDS]

.I don't know much about l'Avion other than that it's a similar company to the three business-class only operators from the UK, and I don't know anything about their financial health.

OpenSkies is British Airways' new subsidiary airline which will operate to the US from points in Europe. It is starting operations on 19 June 2008.

What is going to happen is that you will be able to book business class seats on the OpenSkies flights through l'Avion, with a l'Avion flight number even though the flight will be operated by OpenSkies. This means that if you book through l'Avion, you have the choice of flying Orly-JFK (operated by OpenSkies) as well as Orly-Newark (operated by l'Avion).

The arrangement does not appear to be reciprocal, ie it does not look like you can book onto a l'Avion flight through OpenSkies with an OpenSkies flight number.

Hi..Globaliser, I have taken your advice and signed up with Virgin and Ba. I am now looking at flying from New York on 14th Dec. 2008 [ to replace my previous Silverjet flight]. I have taken on board your info on L' Avion and Open Skies. The advantage of using either of them is that we could then fly from Paris with Flybe into Cardiff. We would want to book a return ticket for the 11 th April, 2009. My question is would we be able to fly in Dec. by L' Avion, and in April by OpenSkies ? How does their arrangement work ?

[Globaliser]

My question is would we be able to fly in Dec. by L' Avion, and in April by OpenSkies ? How does their arrangement work ?

I think that l'Avion's code is on all OpenSkies flights. So you could book a return ticket through l'Avion to fly out Orly->Newark, and then JFK->Orly. That should put you on a l'Avion aircraft outbound and an OpenSkies aircraft inbound.

 

Incidentially, FWIW the BA Club World sale has been extended to 8 July.

[WELSH WIZARDS]

I think that l'Avion's code is on all OpenSkies flights. So you could book a return ticket through l'Avion to fly out Orly->Newark, and then JFK->Orly. That should put you on a l'Avion aircraft outbound and an OpenSkies aircraft inbound.

Incidentially, FWIW the BA Club World sale has been extended to 8 July.

Thank you for your response.

That is what I though...which leads me to my next question...whcih may be impossible for you to answer...but I have great faith..:D Since L' Avion only has one class....if I booked my flight with them....what class would I be on the Openskies flight...I would not guess, or expect , Biz but would it be Premier ? not Economy...?

[Globaliser]

From the l'Avion website about the codeshare:-

L’Avion will market OpenSkies “PREM +” class tickets for the same prices as L’Avion’s Business Class. “PREM +” is the equivalent of L’Avion’s Business Class (two rows of two seats separated by a wide central aisle, power outlets at every seat and individual digital video players with an on demand in-inflight entertainement).

Prem+ looks better than any other premium economy product I've seen. (In fact, some think that it may be a trial for a possible retrofit to BA mainline aircraft, which would really raise the bar for premium economy generally.)