As our Christmas Countdown begins, we’re feeling very festive here at Virgin Balloon Flights.
The decorations are up, there is a steady stream of Christmassy baked goods finding their way into the office and it seems everyone has already sorted their outfits for the Christmas party.
But what does our hot air ballooning Christmas Countdown really entail here at Balloon HQ?
1st December – Christmas Countdown Begins
Our mini chocolate Christmas cakes and festive red helium balloons have arrived in stock, ready to be packed into our festive candy-stripe boxes.
We’ve stocked up on the fabulous Due Colline Prosecco and delicious Thornton’s truffles that go in our Sparkling and Chocolates Hamper.
And we start dispatching orders of our Luxury Christmas Gift Packages, which include that exact hamper of chocolates and bubbly.
Friday 16th December
Our Christmas Countdown continues as we start dispatching orders of the Christmas gift packages that include our helium balloon in a box, to make sure they arrive in time for Christmas Day.
Helium balloons have an average life-cycle about 14 days so even though you can order weeks in advance, we won’t actually post your packages before this date so the balloon still looks great on Christmas morning.
Wednesday 21st December
Last orders with free standard delivery (Royal Mail Signed For) need to be place by 2pm today if they are to get to you in time for Christmas.
It’s a very busy time for our call centre and gift package teams, with shiny red helium balloons filling most of the ceiling space as they deal with all these final orders.
Thursday 22nd December
This is our final day to order gift packages with express delivery, with them arriving the next day.
With Christmas on a Sunday this year, our courier doesn’t deliver on Saturdays so our last day for deliveries to arrive is Friday 23rd December.
Friday 23rd December to Christmas Eve
Our Christmas Countdown enters its final days.
But fear not if you really have left it to the last minute for your Christmas shopping, as while Mr Postman has hung up his sack for Christmas, that someone special in your life can still unwrap an adventure with our e-vouchers.
In fact, if you find out Christmas morning that special someone really has spoilt you this year, our instant email delivery means you could even order them a wonderful balloon flight on the big itself.
Simply choose ‘Email’ as your shipping option at checkout and your flight vouchers will be delivered straight to your inbox for you to print at home.
Call Centre Christmas Opening Hours
Our call centre is open its usual hours in December right through until Friday 23rd December on 01952 212750.
Monday to Thursday – 9am to 6pm
Friday – 9am to 5.30pm
Saturday – 9am to 4pm
Sunday - 10am to 3pm
On Christmas Eve, the team will be available on the phones from 9am until 1pm to deal with any last minute e-voucher orders.
We then close at 1pm on Christmas Eve and re-open again on Tuesday 3rd January 2017.
Orders can still be placed through our website during this period, with e-vouchers sent immediately to your inbox and any printed vouchers or gift packages dispatched once we re-open on Tuesday 3rd January 2017.
We can't wait to see your photographs of loved ones unwrapping their hot air balloon adventure on Christmas morning, when they will also be in with the chance to win a hot air ballooning trip to Tuscany - read more about this fantastic Christmas competition here.
Have a very Merry Christmas everyone and we look forward to seeing you take life higher in 2017.