Which airport to fly to Antigua?

[Boqueron]

Have booked on Arvia for next February and I'm wondering which London airport we will fly from, so I can plan ahead. Has anyone flown from London this year to Antigua and if so, did it go from Gatwick or Heathrow?

[swanseaboy]

I'm flying Heathrow to Barbados to join Arvia in 3 weeks. It's a Virgin flight from Terminal 3. You may well be the same to Antigua. I know Virgin do fly to Antigua from Heathrow on a scheduled flight but P&O normally charter them. 

[wowzz]

18 minutes ago, swanseaboy said:

I'm flying Heathrow to Barbados to join Arvia in 3 weeks. It's a Virgin flight from Terminal 3. You may well be the same to Antigua. I know Virgin do fly to Antigua from Heathrow on a scheduled flight but P&O normally charter them. 

I'm not sure that P&O have ever chartered a complete VS aircraft in the last few years. 

[Boqueron]

After a bit of searching I did find this, taken from the end of January https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/arvia-largest-cruise-ship-ever-dock-antigua 

 

"This Saturday afternoon, the airport will welcome three Virgin Atlantic charter flights with passengers destined to begin their Caribbean cruise excursions from the Heritage Quay in St John’s."

 

Looking like Heathrow as you say swanseaboy. Many thanks

[Well boy 91]

This year P and O have charted Virgin Atlantic flights to Antigua and Barbados .

From Manchester and London Heathrow.

I believe TUI could not fulfil the flights due to a lack of availability with their Dreamliner fleet. We flew on a Virgin Airbus 330 from Manchester to Antigua and back. Very pleasant flight with good service 

[TigerB]

5 minutes ago, Well boy 91 said:

This year P and O have charted Virgin Atlantic flights to Antigua and Barbados .

From Manchester and London Heathrow.

I believe TUI could not fulfil the flights due to a lack of availability with their Dreamliner fleet. We flew on a Virgin Airbus 330 from Manchester to Antigua and back. Very pleasant flight with good service 

 

We are sailing on the Arvia repositioning cruise next March and have been told it is Virgin from Manchester to Antigua; looking forward to that.🙂

[TigerB]

12 minutes ago, Well boy 91 said:

This year P and O have charted Virgin Atlantic flights to Antigua and Barbados .

From Manchester and London Heathrow.

I believe TUI could not fulfil the flights due to a lack of availability with their Dreamliner fleet. We flew on a Virgin Airbus 330 from Manchester to Antigua and back. Very pleasant flight with good service 

 

4 minutes ago, TigerB said:

 

We are sailing on the Arvia repositioning cruise next March and have been told it is Virgin from Manchester to Antigua; looking forward to that.🙂

 

Well boy 91, do you recall which aircraft it was? Was it the one with more economy seats and less PE seats? 

Also, do you recall if they used the upper class seats? It would be a shame to let them go to waste!😉

[tring]

19 hours ago, Boqueron said:

Have booked on Arvia for next February and I'm wondering which London airport we will fly from, so I can plan ahead. Has anyone flown from London this year to Antigua and if so, did it go from Gatwick or Heathrow?

 

I would not make any non cancellable bookings around a flight until you get formal confirmation of departure as different charters may be used next year.  I can understand making provisional arrangements though, as hotel prices can rise.

 

[wowzz]

50 minutes ago, tring said:

 

I would not make any non cancellable bookings around a flight until you get formal confirmation of departure as different charters may be used next year.  I can understand making provisional arrangements though, as hotel prices can rise.

 

Excellent advice. Fully refundable reservations are the way to go,  but in any case,  I wouldn't be booking anything until a lot later this year. 

[Well boy 91]

2 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

 

Well boy 91, do you recall which aircraft it was? Was it the one with more economy seats and less PE seats? 

Also, do you recall if they used the upper class seats? It would be a shame to let them go to waste!😉

Hi Tiger B.  It was a standard 330.  10 years old.  Registration G - VUFO  We had same aircraft both ways . Mrs WB91 and I treated ourselves to upper class. 30 odd seats in the cabin.Great service. I know that Virgin have some A350s set up for leisure.They have smaller upper class and larger premium economy cabins.They have used these in some of the Barbados charters.Antigua seems to be 330s all the time.  Hope this helps 👍🏻

[wowzz]

Is there anyway of finding out in advance if your flight will be on Virgin ?

[TigerB]

7 minutes ago, Well boy 91 said:

Hi Tiger B.  It was a standard 330.  10 years old.  Registration G - VUFO  We had same aircraft both ways . Mrs WB91 and I treated ourselves to upper class. 30 odd seats in the cabin.Great service. I know that Virgin have some A350s set up for leisure.They have smaller upper class and larger premium economy cabins.They have used these in some of the Barbados charters.Antigua seems to be 330s all the time.  Hope this helps 👍🏻

 

Thanks for the information.👍

We have already paid the additional supplement for PE. How much extra did you pay for the upgrade to upper class? The cruise is for my wife's 60th, so I'm prepared to push the boat out.

 

[TigerB]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Is there anyway of finding out in advance if your flight will be on Virgin ?

All we know is that we were told when we booked on board that the flights from Manchester to Antigua should be with Virgin. It's over a year away, so that could change.

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, TigerB said:

All we know is that we were told when we booked on board that the flights from Manchester to Antigua should be with Virgin. It's over a year away, so that could change.

Thanks.

[GOQ]

21 hours ago, swanseaboy said:

I'm flying Heathrow to Barbados to join Arvia in 3 weeks. It's a Virgin flight from Terminal 3. You may well be the same to Antigua. I know Virgin do fly to Antigua from Heathrow on a scheduled flight but P&O normally charter them. 

Well that sounds encouraging, it seems every TUI flight I have been on to the Caribbean had been delayed for some reason so the option to choose a flight on Virgin from Heathrow looks good.

Also Heathrow is a tiny bit nearer to me. 

[wowzz]

36 minutes ago, GOQ said:

Well that sounds encouraging, it seems every TUI flight I have been on to the Caribbean had been delayed for some reason so the option to choose a flight on Virgin from Heathrow looks good.

Also Heathrow is a tiny bit nearer to me. 

Given the choice of TUI PE from BHX, or Virgin PE (on an A350) from LHR, I'd be choosing VS every time. But, knowing my luck, I'd end up flying from LGW with TUI.

[GOQ]

I was chatting to a fellow passenger on my January Arvia Caribbean cruise who told me she was flying back to Heathrow on Virgin, I thought that's a good idea I will have to check this out. Then my return TUI flight from Barbados to Gatwick was delayed for 2 hours.

Definitely a good idea.

[Well boy 91]

1 hour ago, TigerB said:

 

Thanks for the information.👍

We have already paid the additional supplement for PE. How much extra did you pay for the upgrade to upper class? The cruise is for my wife's 60th, so I'm prepared to push the boat out.

 

Hi Tiger B.   Originally it was £999 one way per person.  They dropped it to £500 one way per person. If you look at a Virgin scheduled flight in Upper Class to Antigua from LHR it’s thousands of pounds .  As you’ve already paid PE you’ll just need to pay the difference . That’s what we did through our travel agent. Which I’m not allowed to name,but there’s a village in Derbyshire with same name.  Well worth it I say.  Especially for a special event 

[TigerB]

11 minutes ago, Well boy 91 said:

Hi Tiger B.   Originally it was £999 one way per person.  They dropped it to £500 one way per person. If you look at a Virgin scheduled flight in Upper Class to Antigua from LHR it’s thousands of pounds .  As you’ve already paid PE you’ll just need to pay the difference . That’s what we did through our travel agent. Which I’m not allowed to name,but there’s a village in Derbyshire with same name.  Well worth it I say.  Especially for a special event 

 

 

Thanks again for the information.👍

I'll certainly keep an eye on it. I know the TA you refer to, but we booked onboard in January.

 

I wonder if VA would entertain the notion of upgrading with points; I have a few hundred thousand that haven't been touched since before the pandemic. They probably won't if it's a charter, but I'll still ask.

[Boqueron]

Good advice coming from experienced travellers, thank you. I've booked a Premier Inn near Heathrow but can cancel with full refund up to 1pm on the day of the reservation for £70. 

 

We're travelling to London from Malaga first and I'm tempted to take a punt now on a British Airways flight to Heathrow at £64 pp the day before the day of the cruise. That includes checked in luggage, seat reservation, cabin luggage etc and can be changed at any time for just the difference in cost of the amended flight if it turns out to be Gatwick in the end.

 

So the questions I now have are, if the cruise starts from Antigua on 10th February, am I right in thinking the flight from London would leave early on the same day, the 10th, to arrive around lunchtime? If so, what happens if it is delayed, do they hold the ship, or make arrangements to get you to the first port of call? Sorry if the questions are a bit naive sounding!

 

[tring]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Excellent advice. Fully refundable reservations are the way to go,  but in any case,  I wouldn't be booking anything until a lot later this year. 

 

All personal choice, but hotel costs do go up nearer the time, so you can often end up with a booking that can be cancelled for way less than a non refundable booking.  

Edited March 1, 2023 by tring

[tring]

9 minutes ago, Boqueron said:

Good advice coming from experienced travellers, thank you. I've booked a Premier Inn near Heathrow but can cancel with full refund up to 1pm on the day of the reservation for £70. 

 

We're travelling to London from Malaga first and I'm tempted to take a punt now on a British Airways flight to Heathrow at £64 pp the day before the day of the cruise. That includes checked in luggage, seat reservation, cabin luggage etc and can be changed at any time for just the difference in cost of the amended flight if it turns out to be Gatwick in the end.

 

So the questions I now have are, if the cruise starts from Antigua on 10th February, am I right in thinking the flight from London would leave early on the same day, the 10th, to arrive around lunchtime? If so, what happens if it is delayed, do they hold the ship, or make arrangements to get you to the first port of call? Sorry if the questions are a bit naive sounding!

 

 

The Caribbean flights tend to leave relatively early, with departures about 9 or 10am, arriving in The Caribbean late afternoon/early evening their time if there are no delays.  That means the return flight that day (on the same plane) is conveniently timed for the returning passengers who will be taken to the airport at the appropriate time.

 

Yes if one of their flights is delayed the ship will be delayed, but you often find that you do not have luggage in time for dinner.  Hence worth taking a few bits in hand luggage to ensure you will feel happy going into the MDR, if you wish to do so.

 

   

[wowzz]

26 minutes ago, Boqueron said:

We're travelling to London from Malaga first and I'm tempted to take a punt now on a British Airways flight to Heathrow at £64 pp the day before the day of the cruise. That includes checked in luggage, seat reservation, cabin luggage etc and can be changed at any time for just the difference in cost of the amended flight if it turns out to be Gatwick in the end.

I'd be booking that now - fantastic price! 

[swanseaboy]

On 2/28/2023 at 3:53 PM, wowzz said:

I'm not sure that P&O have ever chartered a complete VS aircraft in the last few years. 

Passenger: David Lewis
Carrier: VIRGIN ATLANTIC, Economy
Flight: VS663, Chartered (No Seat Selected)

 

Just as an update to this, my Virgin flight Heathrow to Barbados is definately chartered and not scheduled. Do I still get a free bar onboard?!?! Unlikely!! Haha

 

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, swanseaboy said:

Passenger: David Lewis
Carrier: VIRGIN ATLANTIC, Economy
Flight: VS663, Chartered (No Seat Selected)

 

Just as an update to this, my Virgin flight Heathrow to Barbados is definately chartered and not scheduled. Do I still get a free bar onboard?!?! Unlikely!! Haha

 

Yup, I was completely wrong about VS !

You get a free bar on TUI charters, so in principle you should also get one on VS .