I just thought I would put this out there. I had been trying to plan a trip for summer to take my Dad to England. Couldn't find any good fares. Next thing I know, MINI sends out this offer via e-mail. I filled out the forms on-line, and the next day Virgin started to call me and confirm all of the dates and flight info. I absolutley can not believe how fantastic the customer service from Virgin Air actually is. Especially compaired to the other carrier (B.A.). They helped me with the seating choices I booked the 3 day and added on extra days to the trip @ no charge. I would like to let everyone know that it is a very good savings for a budgeted traveler like myself. I would also like to point out 'one' negative -only so very slight as it is- I really do not think that MINI was prepared for all of the interest in the 'Oxford Plant Tour' You can only tour m-f (closed wknds) and only 2 tours / day. one very early and one very late-go figure!! They could not book my tour anywhere close to my stay in London. So the voucher they will give me for train fare , I very well might not be using, finding my own way instead. I will be on the 09/20/05 evening tour if anyone from NAM is going. Check it out folks!!!

mini-g

 

Sounds like fun!!! I must admit, though, I wasn't sure at first what virgin vacations were all about.

 

Yes! This thread title was a bit startling! I thought you meant taking your first MINI roadtrip!

Thanks for the info, though.....nice to know about the good service!


Clover

 

Oh sure you did

 

If Virgin Atlantic still offers the packages, we may go back to the UK next year


Last time we were upthere was in early 2001 and yes we did go to Oxford but at the time I had no much knowledge about the new MINIs and the fact that they were being manufactured there. Oxford is a nice college town, many things to see for sure.

 

i'm going! my wife and i had already been thinking about a trip to london
and had done some research. when we saw the mini/virgin thing, we
jumped on it. we're going in september. it was may 26th when we booked
the trip.

so, about a week passes and i get this in the morning mail:



i know the type may be small but here's what is says:

Dear Mr. Roberts,

We are more than thrilled (in fact, we are jumping up and down excited) to
tell you that you have the distinct honor of being the first to sign up for the
MINI Motoring Holiday.

We commend you on your foresight and for wanting to motor in the place
where it all began. You'll get to see how we build our MINI and experience
the culture of its birthplace. We know you that you're going to have a blast.

And because you are the first, we are sending you a gift to help make your
trip even more special. Just a little something from us to you. We hope you
enjoy it.

Have a brilliant trip.

The MINI team
LET'S MOTOR


i thought, 'wow, that's cool, i was the first?'

anyway, i went left home for a couple meetings then came home around
2 and low and behold, this is what i came home to:



for reference, the box is big. really big. not big enough for a car
unfortunately, but big enough to make me think, 'What the f*** could be
in that enormous box?!?!?' it was addressed to me from MINI USA and
was delivered via fedex.

so i dragged it inside thought about waiting for my wife to get home to
open it with me (for about 3 seconds) then tore into it. i pulled out some
packing to reveal an entire set of MINI luggage! the mandarina duck stuff
that fits in the boot that you can get on the mini website (you could at the
time of this post).

here's a promo picture for the luggage i found on motoringfile.com:



needless to say, i've always thought that MINI USA had smart advertising
and marketing. but to send me $500 worth of luggage out of the blue,
that's not just smart, its thoughtful and genius.

there was no name on any of the paperwork, so if who ever is
responsible for this is reading this, i'd like to say 'thanks!'

 

That's so cool STL...you're a celeb!!!!!

 

Think the Virgin Airlines service is better than the service of the new Hooters Airline?

 

STLMINI, WOW!!!! Congrats on being the first (heh heh, I know there's a virgin joke here, somewhere) to book the trip!! And how neat to get the lovely luggage for it....what a wonderful surprise!!!!!


Clover

 

I'd be going if the darn dates weren't so limited...I take vacation later in the year or in the spring, not summer/fall :(

 

so, friday (7/8) we got a package from virgin vacations. everything came is small black nylon bag with the MINI logo and MINI MOTORING HOLIDAY screen printed on it in white. the contents of the bag include:

- a small wire bound brochure titled: LET’S MOTOR ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD (on the back it says: MOTOR OFF THE BEATEN PATH). it's a list of drives you can take outside of london and a list of interesting places to stop.

- virgin vacations london guide book.

- NTC's Super-Mini BRITISH SLANG Dictionary.

- a super cool embroidered MINI patch with the Union Jack on it.

- two virgin vacations bag tags.

- two oxford plant tour tickets which are also oval stickers that say OX with the union jack in the background.

- brit rail passes to oxford.

- directions to the plant from oxford.

- my invoice (ouch! still, it's a great deal).

- a note from MINI telling me to get ready for some "great curves, dips fish and chips."

- transfer vouchers, coupons and other miscellaneous info.

- a checkered MOTO-Go GRIP from 'MOTORmate').

- oh yeah, our tickets! (actually reciepts for E-tickets).

that's about it!

 

Back when I used to live in London, I would always fly Virgin Atlantic over BA if given the choice. Their planes are a lot newer and considerably more comfortable when flying cattle class.

The best feature of the VA flights is being able to select from a variety of movies from the onboard movie database. You can pause, fast forward, rewind, whatever just like renting DVDs from a store. It definitely makes the flight over and back go by quicker.

 

My wife and I are going in September. Our tickets and other goodies arrived last week.

No free luggage, though.

 

has anyone gone on their trip yet? my wife and i leave 2 weeks from tuesday and i'm soooooo excited!

 

First, it's Virgin Atlantic Airlines and not Virgin Airlines. The airline is part of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin empire which includes Virgin Records, Virgin Megastores, and quite possibly a big chunk of the new Virgin America Airlines a new low cost carrier that's trying to get FAA approval.

Second, you will probably find that Virgin Atlantic has some of the best service in the skies. The only airlines that do it better are probably Malaysian and Singapore. Their Premium Economy service is as good as or better than Domestic First Class on any US airline, and while technically a Business Class and not a First Class, their Upper Class is fantastic... Extremely attentive service, a bar, even onboard complimentary message treatments.

Should you fly in Upper Class to Heathrow, make sure you take the time to stop in the Revivals Lounge. Take a quick shower to freshen up, get your shoes shined and your clothes pressed while you shower, you get even get another massage or have your hair cut, then have a hot fresh breakfast before heading out from the airport.

 

ok, it's 8pm central time. my flight leaves at 1pm tomorrow. i have been putting off packing all week. haven't even thought about it. this is my last ditch attempt of putting it off.

maybe i'll watch one more episode of top gear...

maybe not.

 

Have a great trip, Mike!!!

Be sure to bring back a lot of great stories for Happy Hour when you return!

 

i'm back! we had a great trip. i highly recommend it.

the plant tour is great... it was so neat to see how our beloved car is manufactured. plus i got to see the new colors and silver roof in person. they are very nice by the way.

one word of advice though, for those who are going: call and confirm the time your plant tour starts. they changed the start time for the tour after i got my tickets. we arrived right before 7pm and the tour started at 6:30.