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I was chatting with Greg the FrequentMiler about his upcoming Necker Island trip for 1,200,000 Virgin Atlantic miles. That will be an awesome week for him.
I noticed Virgin has a comparatively budget offer that will thrill aviation geeks, Flying without Fear.
The dedicated Flying without Fear website provides extensive info, here’s the capsule overview:
The morning
Virgin Atlantic Captain debunks the myths around flying that people have picked up from the various sources. Turbulence, wings flapping, dropping sensations, engines, air pockets, security and much much more all answered and explained.
Cabin Crew trainer takes you through the vast amount of training that every cabin crew person has to go through. Do you know the primary reason cabin crew are on board? Which airlines do the most training of their crew? All of this and more is covered.The afternoon
After a hot meal which many are surprised to want to eat, the psychology worries are covered. A chunky session on the psychology of fear; how to spot old fear patterns and lots of techniques to combat your fear are given to you.The flight
We take a special flight together with a full narration of every movement, squeak, wobble explained from start to finish by one of our Captains. A true treat for those that like to know what is going on at all times.You receive a booklet and CD worth £30 plus 2,000 Flying Club miles and we are the leading course in the UK.
Let’s see:
- cabin crew training
- psychology course
- flight
- 2,000 mile rebate!
Sounds great!
This course is intended for people with fear of flying so those without should at least not be obnoxious. It is a commercial operations so I wouldn’t have a problem booking myself.
It is offered about 20 times a year. Upcoming dates include courses at Gatwick, Leeds and Manchester with a ground only (no flight) option in Bristol. Their blog shows a Heathrow event this month that used a 787 Dreamliner.
The flight ones are £267, ground £180, if not using miles. 40,000 miles instead of $350 may seem poor value, though consider the ease of earning Virgin Altantic miles and their relative worth elsewhere. The Bank of America Virgin Atlantic credit card periodically has offers up to 90k miles, subject to various spend thresholds, so earning 40k is not difficult.
The separate children’s course includes 1 child and 1 ‘fear free’ adult for £367 and is not listed as a miles redemption option, though worth an inquiry.
(sidebar: since this is a psychology post, what does it say about me that every time I have typed Fear without Flying before correcting it to Flying without Fear?)
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I’ve thought about doing one of these. I used to love flying, and the idea of being afraid to fly was completely foreign to me. Then like a switch, I started to notice every sound and wonder if it was normal and it steadily progressed to a pretty serious fear of flying. Medication helped me get over that, and now I am more of a “nervous” flyer. As long as everything seems normal, I’m fine, but if there is too much turbulence or I feel strange sounds or movements, then it bothers me. My experience is that there are two… Read more »
Just listened to the commentary from the flight-deck and in keeping with flights that my wife and I have taken recently on Air France (777), KLM (777), China Airlines (774), Etihad (333) Qatar (346, A333), Singapore (388, 77W), British Airways (388) it was almost impossible to hear what was being said. I commented to my wife that if the aircraft was on fire the crew would be better served walking down the aisles holding photographs of the problem that they were trying to communicate (engine trailing flames, fuel pouring out of the wing, Airport Name – we’re diverting) to us.… Read more »
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