edi - lgw virgin codeshare?

Planning trip to las for new years but am unable to book a straight through ticket with virgin from edi. Would have thought that they would have had some sort of tie up to enable this. I can book with ba no problem but am obviously wary of future strike action. Any ideas?.

Also would be interested to know any views on peoples experiences between club world and upper class as never flown either before.

The only Airline that flies EDI-LGW apart from BA is easyJet, so it's hardly surprising Virgin don't have a Codeshare on the route. They do codeshare on bmi to LHR, but getting from Heathrow to Gatwick is a major pain in the...

Maybe you could look at Continental via Newark?

If U're hell-bent on flying VS intercon fm the U.K., U better live near MAN, LGW or LHR or prepare to spend hrs in car/train/bus to get to your nearest VS gateway. VS is one of the least networked/partnered/aligned intercon carrier in the world today.....it seems to enjoy the cowboy/lone-ranger strategy very much for yrs. Hell, VS doesn't even really code-share with some key VirginGroup buddies such as VAustralia....no excuse there really IMHO as otherwise, one could hv traveled round-the-world on a single VirginGroup thru ticket via routing LHR->LAX->SYD->HKG->LHR.....opportunity squandered especially for an intercon carrier with so few global/codeshare partners.....is Branson sleeping?

I always pity people living in the U.K. but far away fm London and Manchester who wish to fly Intercon on a U.K. carrier. It's such a big hassle for them. Flying Intercon fm EDI, your best bet is to do it via the EWR<Newark> hub on CO<Continental> for Westbound<Exactly like matt757 stated for destinations in the Americas such as LAS> or via the AMS hub on KL for Eastbound/Southbound. Both hubs are superior to LGW/LHR<Except T5> for connection. The only catch is that U'll most likely find CO fare EDI-EWR-LAS to be higher than VS' LGW-LAS....well, U pay for what U get and after factoring in transport costs+extra effort<e.g. EasyJet doesn't do baggage interline> for EDI-LGW, their total cost probably ended-up pretty similar. If flying CO, U won't see your bags again after check-in @ LAS for your return leg until U arrive EDI.

I concur with FLX and recommend CO or KL. Another possibility is DL through ATL, although Atlanta being more out of the way would result in longer travel times. KL offers better onboard service than CO, which offers better service than DL. In terms of fares, CO and DL/KL should be competitive with each other.

Of course you could also just drive an hour to GLA and fly BA GLA-LHR-LAS. If you purchase with a reputable credit card you should get insurance protection against strike cancellation.

In terms of BA club world vs. VS upper class, I'd give the edge to BA. Slightly better seating, slightly better food, and better cabin service on BA but better IFE on VS. There's also a different philosophy on each airline...the analogy I make is that BA is Fortnum & Mason - conservative, traditional and genteel whilst VS is Harvey Nichols - modern, flashy and sassy. It's been my experience flying upper class on VS's LAX-LHR flights that entertainment industry fliers in upper class get much better inflight service than working stiffs like me. The last time I flew VS my wife and I were seated in the same row as a certain A-list actor and his girl of the month and the FA's were so busy fawning over them that they couldn't be bothered to serve us.

I think I would book KLM if I were you. Great service out of EDI.

thanks for all info. well impressed with a quick response from 3 of the 4 big guns (u know yho u are) speedbird must be sleeping or i would have done the grand slam. would like to go with continental via ewr but 7 hours longer with stopover and would need to be sure 757 from edi had new bus-first product. have had good service with klm before but not sure with transatlantic code share, i can remember mabel praising northwest on his trips but again about 7 hours longer than ba. think il book with ba and hope unite go bust before ba

7 hour stopover on CO? Jesus! BA is a good choice assuming the flight actually departs.

I didn't want to push BA but I think you have made a good choice. I hope the union intervention wont ruin your holiday.

captain bill:
Unfortunately, KL doesn't serve LAS. If with partner such as DL, the routing to LAS fm EDI would be uncompetitive involving @ least 2stops. Only 1 SkyTeam partner<Not even DL> fly Int'l nonstop to/fm LAS: KE<KoreanAir>

Mabel:
I don't think lidras is talking about a 7hrs stopover @ EWR on CO. That must be the diff in total flight journey time<i.e. Stopover/transit time+flight sector time>.

lidras:
Naturally, EDI-EWR-LAS is a longer routing than LGW/LHR-LAS just by greatcircle distance alone. However, comparison on that basis alone is still a bit flawed since 2 key factors are unaccounted for:
1) Assuming U live near EDI, what about the travel time, whatever means, via GLA or not, from EDI area to LHR/LGW?
2) During stopover/transit @ EWR on CO, U'll clear U.S. CIQ<Custom+Immigration+Quarantine> there before your EWR-LAS connection. So U'll be actually utilizing your stopover time and not exactly sitting idle doing nothing. In fact, U'll want your stopover to be @ least 2-2.5hrs since we all know how long CIQ can take these days in the non-U.S. citizens queue.... Upon arrival @ LAS Domestic on CO, U just grab your bags from baggage claim<Tend to be quick since fewer pax travel with lots of bags on Domestic> and then U'll be heading straight to your taxi<Or your chaffeured stretch-limo>. Upon arrival @ LAS Int'l terminal<An outdated/undersized facility relative to EWR> on BA or VS, U'll be clearing U.S. CIQ and wait for your bags<Tend to be slow since more pax travel with lots of bags on Int'l> along with 300+ fellow pax on the same flight, an exercise that can easily add 1hr or more to your BA/VS total journey time.

I believe CO's 752 on EDI-EWR is extremely unlikely to be equipped with CO's latest intercon C/J product @ this stage if I remember correctly fm what I saw on continental.com<Its 772ER fleet seems to hv higher priority>. U can actually see for yourself the exact installation progress across CO's intercon fleet on CO's website anytime.

I believe DL still flies EDI-ATL-LAS and/or EDI-JFK-LAS on a seasonal basis. Last time I flew out of EDI I saw a DL 763 parked at the gate next to a CO 752. Worth checking into.

I just flew KL LAX-AMS-LPL over the weekend, J class with my wife and our 7 month old. Service was very good on LAX-AMS and loads better than CO or DL, however the flight arrived late, causing us to miss our connecting flight to LPL. Rather than wait 5 1/2 hours for the next KL Cityhopper flight, we decided to book AMS-LPL on EasyJet, but that's another story.

Mabel:
KL may hv superior soft-service to CO or DL and I won't doubt that. However, I find the LATEST intercon inflight product in KL's J to be INFERIOR to CO's and DL's latest....@ least 1.5 generations behind. Therefore, considering all relevant factors, I consider KL and CO and DL to be roughly equivalent in terms of overall pax experience in the premium cabin.....SkyTrax seems to agree and rated 4Stars for each of these 3 airlines.

Nothing wrong, really, with KL's latest intercon J product by itself<Otherwise, I wouldn't consistently book my Dad on KL whenever he's flying intercon to the U.K.>. It's a very modern & comfortable premium seat design. The problem is competitors, including traditional laggards like U.S. carriers, are raising the bar significantly....in warp speed. U just can no longer offer premium pax a seat which doesn't recline to flat<Even inclined full-flat seats are considered a bit outdated these days> on flights lasting 8hrs or longer.

FLX, I agree that the seat products of all 3 are more or less equal, but it's the service that sets KL apart. U.S. airlines give priority on international routes to their most senior FAs, many of whom are close to retirement and just don't have the enthusiasm and regard for the customer that the younger ones have.

Just to clarify, I actually consider KL's latest/best intercon J product to be significantly INFERIOR to the latest/best intercon J on CO or DL. IMHO, they're NOT more or less equal. Compare these photos and U'll see what I mean:
KL:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/KLM---Royal/Boeing-777-206-ER/0453941/&sid=03dedfac259f9480eb33110bddf20e35
DL: http://images.delta.com.edgesuite.net/delta/lie_flat/777_LR-lg.jpg
http://images.delta.com.edgesuite.net/delta/lie_flat/767-400-lg.jpg
CO:
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/businessfirst/seat.aspx

Aside fm its hard-product issue, KL generally does offer a better <soft-product/service>. What U said about FA/cabin attendants on U.S. carriers is spot-on across all cabin classes. They just tend to be less attentive and dare I say, come across as a bit rough around the edges so to speak.