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There are some genuinely good ‘Black Friday’ deals around, but a lot the supposed bargains are really just marketing spin. I’m afraid that Virgin’s effort this year falls into the latter category.

In theory, you can “Save up to £125 across Economy, up to £145 across Premium and up to £200 across Upper Class”. However, rather than offering an actual discount code (like Air France), Virgin has decided to apply the claimed discount to all the flights itself.

Oddly, these apparently discounted fares look extremely similar to the sorts of fares Virgin (and BA, etc) normally offer. For example:

To be clear, the New York and Boston fares aren’t terrible, but there is nothing special about them either. BA’s stablemate Aer Lingus was offering direct return flights to New York from Manchester (£238) and Dublin (£165) just last week…

Bottom line

With all the Black Friday hype around, make sure you really are getting a good deal before confirming a purchase or booking.

If you spot any genuinely good offers, please share them in the comments!