In this post:
Virgin A350 routes and dates announced – tickets and redemptions available now!
At TLFL, we have been waiting with bated breath for the opportunity to fly both BA and Virgin’s A350. BA announced a while ago that they would start flying theirs in October long haul, and now Virgin have finally revealed their plans.
Virgin Atlantic will begin flying its new Airbus A350 with its new Upper Class business class seats – between London and New York JFK from 1o September.
The A350 will be on VS153/VS138 until 25 September 2019 when it changes to VS137/VS138. When you are booking, make sure you double check that an A350 is showing as initially, they will only use the A350 6 days a week until they receive another aircraft when it goes daily.
The schedule from 10 – 24 September 2019 is:
VS153 London to New York departing 1:30 PM arriving 4:25 PM
VS138 New York to London departing 7:00 PM arriving 7:20 AM (+1 day)
Starting 25 September, 2019, it will be:
VS137 London to New York departing 11:50 AM arriving 2:50 PM
VS138 New York to London departing 7:00 PM arriving 7:20 AM (+1 day)
I managed to find availability on miles, which was tricky but doable. Reward flight finder is an excellent way to identify potential dates and then you can look at the available flights on Virgin Atlantic to see if the A350 is available. Flights costs from 95,000 miles plus a rather whopping £666 in taxes and fees. You can check for availability on Virgin here.
The new Upper Class on the A350 features a new lounge area and much improved mini-suite seating with a partial door. You can read all the details of the new Upper Class seat in this article.
London to New York on the A350 from £1359 on Virgin Atlantic
No doubt in response to BA’s current sale fare to New York, Virgin and Delta have launched a similar promotion. The A350 is available on some dates at this price, which makes it an absolute bargain! Make sure you look closely at the route as some involve odd routeing via Amsterdam unless you want the extra Virgin miles and status.
The rules are:
- Book by: 16 July
- Travel:
- Outbound –
Permitted Tue/Wed/Thu on each transatlantic sector.
Inbound –
Permitted Mon/Tue/Wed on each transatlantic sector. - Outbound –
Permitted 3 Jan 20 through 31 Mar 20 or 18 Apr 20 through 31 May 20 for each transatlantic sector.
Inbound –
Permitted 3 Jan 20 through 4 Apr 20 or 19 Apr 20 through 31 May 20 for each transatlantic sector. - Must be booked 120 days before departure
- Outbound –
- Minimum stay: a Saturday night
- Maximum stay: 12 months
- Transfers: 3 transfers permitted in each direction free: 1 in Europe in each direction + 2 free in the US in each direction
- Stopovers: Unlimited at £300
- Refundable: No
- Changeable: No
You can book direct with Virgin Atlantic here or find the cheapest online travel agent price with Skyscanner.
Hilton Asia Pacific anniversary sale
Hilton Honors are relaunching their Asia-Pacific sale in honour of their 100th Anniversary. You can get a discount of 15% to 35% off of the Best Flexible Rate for Hilton Honors members. The basic discount for non-members is 10% to 25% off, and Hilton Honors members get an additional 5% to 10% off. The extra discount doesn’t apply within Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan).
The offer is for stays at participating hotels until 29 February 2020, and you must book by 6 September 2019.
Several hotels we have stayed in and reviewed included in the sale:
And also two or our recent stays yet to be reviewed:
You can find the special sale page on Hilton’s website here.
