VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review :  19 September 2008 : by Nathan Farrow

Customer Rating :   4/5

LHR-HKG-SYD, LAX-LHR Premium Economy. Flights comfortable, although I had the fortune of splitting the LHR-SYD flight by stopping in HK for a few nights. Seats are wide enough, but do not recline as much as other airlines' Premium Economy, also the leather makes for a clammy sleeping experience (a problem I also found in Upper Class). IFE was fine, although crashed several times during eah flight. Food was good, apart from the lame excuse for breakfast that they call their Bagels' or Bacon Rolls - this is really not sufficient after a 9-12hr flight; and especially not when you've spent the best part of £4k for your trouble! Crew were very attentive, and generous with the after dinner whiskey, although at times not up to the standard I have come to expect from VA.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review :  19 September 2008 : by Linda Brand

Customer Rating :   4/5

LHR-LAX Upper Class Seat 3K. The check-in at London Heathrow was excellent. Attractive check-in area and helpful staff. The Clubhouse is the best lounge I have seen. Attractive design and plenty of room. My experience with the Upper Class seat was pretty good. Turning your seat into a flat bed was easy, but the bed is too hard for a good nights sleep. Easy to get it back to a seat again also. Food onboard was of Economy standard, but staff provided excellent service!

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review :  18 September 2008 : by C Knight

Customer Rating :  1/5

LHR-MCO in Upper Class. Had to accept a downgrade to Premium Economy as the incoming flight had been delayed in Havana, so they were tying to get everyone on one flight. The refund from Virgin for the difference in price for an Upper Class flight and the Premium Economy one that we were forced to accept has been absolutely laughable and despite regular communications since June, has not yet been resolved to my satisfaction. I am now reluctant to book flights with Virgin, in case of another downgrade and loss of money. Usually we are quite happy with our Upper Class experience with Virgin, but this has definitely made me very wary. Will use up our Frequent Flyer miles and then review the situation.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review :  18 September 2008 : by A Davis

Customer Rating :   4/5

VS39 to Chicago - seats quite good but huge 5 hour delay, however cabin crew were very friendly! Meals were very tasty and staff accomodating. However, the VS40 back was completely different - newer aircraft with better seats and more gadgets including AVOD, got a bulkhead which was excellent and food was not quite as good as on the way there. Great aisles but restrooms a tad small and TV screens hard to see. Overall, however a quite pleasurable couple flights, with exception of the unexpected delay!

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review :  15 September 2008 : by Lynne Whitmore

Customer Rating :  5/5

VS1 to Newark in upper class. Small queue to get on board and located seats 3&4k. Narrow aisle so when putting bag in overhead locker, it's difficult for people to pass by. Great seats, very private as facing a wall where the middle row of seats, so don't have to look at anyone. Champagne brought round by staff and menus taken away as they were the wrong ones. Menu announcement over tannoy instead. Shoe bags with eye masks, toothbrush/paste, ear plugs and socks on seat and a basket brought round by FA offering lip balm, moisturiser, polos, razor/cream, pen. A drinks round was carried out with nut/crips snacks. Meals delivered quickly and AVOD working well. Asked the FA to assist with converting seat to a bed, managed to sleep for a couple of hour.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review :  12 September 2008 : by A Vickers

Customer Rating :  3/5

LHR - DXB Upper Class. Check in at LHR was excellent staff pleasant and the private channel through scanning was effortless. It took only ten minutes from check in to arriving at the clubhouse. Clubhouse food and drink of a very high standard. Flight excellent and the bed comfy. The return flight was good, but the Gulf Air lounge at DXB was awful in comparison to LHR and lets down VS in this area. Food on both flights was ok but certainly not that good.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review :  12 September 2008 : by M Graham

Customer Rating :  3/5

LHR to ORD on A340. Outbound in economy, the seat pitch was cramped but the seat was quite comfortable. We had a choice of three meals and mine was perfectly fine. The return journey was in Premium economy which we were offered at check in for a greatly reduced price and my daughter was upgraded free! The seats were very comfortable and worth the extra money. However I would not pay full price for the upgrade. Breakfast was just a bagel or piece of fruit and tea in a polystyrene cup. Overall, not the dreadful flight I had been expecting. Both journeys left right on time and arrived early.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 7 September 2008 : by N Beavis

Customer Rating :  3/5

LHR-ORD in Economy A340-300. The food was reasonable, inflight entertainment good, drinks service fair - the biggest issue I have is with the cabin crew! Only a couple on my flight had smiles. Virgin are supposed to pride themselves on the service they deliver but I find this falls well short of BA who appear more friendly in the most part. Far too many Virgin crew are aloof with passengers. No doubt Virgin were very good a few years back and took plenty of business off BA. I guess the problem is that maybe they don't think they need to try anymore - well they do.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 7 September 2008 : by R Mattocks

Customer Rating :  4/5

LHR to JFK to LHR. Upgraded to premium economy and pleasantly surprised. Cabin staff (with one notable exception) went out of their way to make you feel comfortable. Food good. When my movie screen didn't work, I was offered a personal portable screen, but as this did not have such a wide range of films, I was then given the choice to change seats or to use another seat to view the film and return to my allocated seat at any time. Cabin staff on hand offering refreshment. Check in was easy and speedy at LHR, although the check in service was far worse at JFK.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 6 September 2008 : by Andrew Ward

Customer Rating :  4/5

LHR-BOS-LHR in Upper Class. Used online check in and bag drop painless - straight to lounge which excellent, although drinks service a little slow. A340-600, excellent service on board although food only economy standard. AVOD needed rebooting once and was a but clunky but good selection of films etc. Excellent flight. Return 40 minutes late in departing and OK but nothing special service wise. Only had breakfast which fairly mediocre.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 5 September 2008 : by J Stanley

Customer Rating :  3/5

LHR-NYC-EWR-LHR: Travelling with elderly adult and two small children the journey was good. Seating adequate. Staff were attentive on both journeys. However, food standards have gone down somewhat and the romance of flying have since gone downhill. FA's do a good job considering the pressure they are under with some of the fellow passengers. Check-in at LHR very strict with baggage weight but not so at EWR - not one item was weighed. One major complaint I have is not with Virgin Atlantic but with OCS and their passenger assistance service at LHR. They need to learn the meaning of service and assistance and manners.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 2 September 2008 : by N Francis

Customer Rating :  1/5

LAX-LHR. On arrival at LAX, waited for almost 30 minutes to drop off luggage, and met by surly staff who spent much of the check-in time chatting between themselves. Air New Zealand lounge which Virgin shares was crowded, noisy and nothing to write home about. Once boarded, a crew member actually man- handled me out of the way while I was stowing my bag without saying anything. When I asked for some water before take-off, I was met with a very frosty response. Inflight, while the IFE was pretty good, the seat was hard and I managed only an hour or so of sleep. Throughout the flight, staff made all passengers, myself included, feel like pesky inconveniences, with every request met by a loud sigh and on several occasions, an eye-roll. The crew were the biggest let down of this trip, - talked/laughed/swore loudly throughout the night. Rather than keep some sort of order, the purser seemed to be the instigator. Adding insult to injury, the flight landed more than 40 minutes late, and the limo was nowhere to be found upon arrival. By this stage I gave up completely and took a cab home.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 2 September 2008 : by K Doyle

Customer Rating :  2/5

Travelled to Orlando - really dissapointed with plane which was old and tired, seats were dated and worn, my screen didnt work for two hours, various crew did try and reset the system etc but I eventually gave up and tried to sleep. Similar comment to others, crew in galley banged / crashed, talked at high level. By the time the food was served (which was about 35 minutes after the drink supposed to accompany the meal) there was no choice. The return was not much better with the breakfast a joke of an egg/cheese bagel or nothing. Have flown Virgin to San Francisco and it was excellent - maybe because this is such a tourist route its standards have slipped.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 2 September 2008 : by S Chalmers

Customer Rating :  3/5

LHR-Newark return. A340-600 has a good 2-4-2 seating arrangement easier for accessing the aisle The staff were helpful and friendly but the service not the same standard as before. The meals were poor, and a bout of turbulence on the return flight was used as an excuse not to offer the full meal service even afterwards. IFE was prone to locking up and only was enabled well into the flight and ceased long before landing. The seat pockets were torn and caught on the leg, and though I am quite a small person found the economy seating very cramped. Virgin Atlantic are a bit frayed round the edges now and need to smarten up their act a bit.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 28 August 2008 : by J Duncan

Customer Rating :  1/5

MC -MAN. Row 50 - no choice of meal, they had run out by the time they got to us. Pasta terrible, and lacked any taste. Seats had virtually no padding, old plane with no games, and seatback screens some of which didn't work! Breakfast, a cheese and egg bagel and no choice again. Despite a child's meal being ordered there was no difference in adult and child bagel, my daughter doesn't eat egg so went hungry! Cabin staff who banged and crashed about all night long, discussing their overnight in Orlando, not what you need to hear when you are trying to sleep. Nap was all that we could do. Toilets were terrible by an hour into the flight. Will not be using them again!

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 28 August 2008 : by J Harris

Customer Rating :  1/5

We flew Virgin Atlantic to Orlando on July 29th 2008 with our two daughters age 16 and 12. We had booked to sit 2 and 2 but they decided to separate my husband and 12 year old daughter due to an overbooking. They did ask the woman who was sitting in his place to move but she held out for 45-50 minutes delaying the plane taking off. They did ask people to move bribing them with a bottle of champagne. A couple did move and so did she - totally delaying our flight out to Orlando. It was their fault and to put a 12 year old by herself I do not think this is clever! Food was okay going out but coming back was a horrid croissant. Coffee, tea was dreadful and my daughters seat was damaged going out it kept moving back all the time! I will definitely not be flying Virgin again!

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 28 August 2008 : by James Wyatt

Customer Rating :  4/5

London-Nairobi-London Upper Class. Effortless check-in, no queue, through security within 10 minutes of arriving at the airport. Superb lounge with plenty of space and lots to do, including enough to keep our 3 young kids amused for a couple of hours. A340 had the old IFE system which is pretty rubbish considering the on demand systems so common these days. Nosh and wine were very reasonable, and the bar is a fun place to meet other passengers and chat - a great way to while away the hours. The staff were good and did a lot of running around keeping our kids amused, which we really appreciated. I don't particularly like the UC beds, but then again I don't like any airplane beds. However the kids slept all the way, so they must have found them ok. Virgin have a problem with the Nairobi lounge - they use the KQ first class lounge, which is without doubt the worst first class lounge I have ever experienced. The flight was much the same as the outbound although the return is a daytime flight. The crew were happy to serve us plenty of champagne and wine, so it flew past in a very enjoyable haze.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 27 August 2008 : by Peter Savage

Customer Rating :  5/5

Heathrow-Miami 3return Upper Class. Slight delay checking in due to only one person on desk but that was soon made up for the excellent facilities including lift to private security and wonderful Virgin Lounge. The lounge facilities are wonderful for children and adults. Excellent crew onboard. Clean plane, enjoyable food. Straight through immigration at Miami and baggage waiting on the carousel for us. Our return journey was just at efficient although the aircraft was an older 747 400.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 23 August 2008 : by Oliver Hubbard

Customer Rating :  4/5

Gatwick-Orlando Premium Economy. V room was well worth it at Gatwick. I travelled with two boys (6 and 9) and they loved the free games and food. Premium economy was upstairs on the 747 which made you feel special. The seats were wide enough but don't lean far enough back. Food was good. Entertainment was pretty poor though - no on demand and many sets had faults (no audio etc). Staff were attentive and helpful though. Would fly again but please sort the entertainment systems out. On-demand please.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 23 August 2008 : by L Depoint

Customer Rating :  4/5

DXB-LHR on A340-600. Check-in was virtually empty with no one in the queue. The flight left from a remote gate at DXB. Aircraft clean, cabin crew pleasant and efficient. The meal was a choice of chicken, lasagne or shepherd's pie. IFE overloaded and hit and miss. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't. Before we began our descent, cabin crew came around with breakfast -t he choice of a muffin or a cereal bar. This could certainly be improved - a light lunch perhaps? Certainly another round of drinks in between the first meal and this. Be aware that passengers with children are usually seated at the bulkhead so I recommend passengers looking for peace and quiet to select seats towards the rear of the aircraft.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 20 August 2008 : by Peter Sandgren

Customer Rating :  1/5

I have to downgrade Virgin Atlantic economy class seating to the lowest level. LHR to Johannesburg in February, and during such a long flight we were seated in the middle seat section of the economy class. These seats are closer to each other (sideways and front-to-back) than any seat I have experienced, even on short-haul flights! Having slightly longer legs than promedium, I had to stand in the alley most of those 11 hours, and there were several of us who had no other choice! We kndly asked for seat change to the window sections (which are better) on the way back but were treated with arrogance and again I had to fly standing up. I do not at all agree with the rating you are awarding to Virgin Atlantic, considering their long haul economy class conditions.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 19 August 2008 : by John Wilson

Customer Rating :  4/5

LHR-SFO, LAS-LGW Premium Economy. Quick and pleasant bag drop at Heathrow. Online checkin had worked OK. Outbound to San Francisco on a 747, very comfortable seats and excellent service from crew. Pre flight bubbly and juice offered with left over glasses of bubbly being poured back in the bottle rather than offered out! Frequent drinks runs throughout the flight. Lunch was OK, standard chicken or beef or veggie options. Offered ice cream mid flight and a wrap followed a little later. Entertainment system was V-Port AVOD with an excellent selection of TV, films and music. Return from Las Vegas - again a 747 but being the from the Gatwick fleet, hadn't been upgraded and the entertainment system was on a loop. Still a good selection of films, TV and music. Premium Economy is upstairs in the bubble of the Gatwick 747's and makes the journey quieter and feel more special. Seat was slightly narrow but very comfortable. Not enough room in the overhead bins, so most of our hand luggage had to be taken out of our bags and put in the side binds by the window seats. Very good service from the crew. Plane was stiflingly hot on the ground as it was over 100 degree's outside and the air con didn't work until we took off. Food back was OK. Snacks and drinks available at the back of the Premium Economy section all flight. Breakfast was a hot muffin and a cup of coffee. It will be nice when Virgin finally get round to upgrading the Gatwick fleet to AVOD and with the new seats.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 15 August 2008 : by A Stubbs

Customer Rating :  5/5

LHR-IAD and JFK-LHR Economy Class. To Washington from Heathrow on an Airbus A340-300, quite an old plane that still had the old IFE system. Film choice good. Pleasantly surprised with economy class, seemed like we had a lot of leg room - we were sat 2 rows from the back of the aircraft. One passenger in our party had requested a special meal both outbound and inbound and these were acknowledged and the meals provided for everyone were tasty and filling. JFK-LHR service was on an Airbus A340-600 - very new and modern interior and fitted with the new IFE. Crew were attentive and friendly. We were kept well informed by the crew as we had an ATC delay at LHR for take off and the same coming from JFK on the inbound, water was handed out due to the long wait which was apologised for by the crew and captain. Late arrival into LHR however surprisingly we taxied straight to a free gate. Surprising for Heathrow!

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 7 August 2008 : by Christine Wood

Customer Rating :  4/5

Manchester-Orlando. We have travelled with Virgin 4 times before each time we have been on time and the organisation has been excellent, however we did notice on this trip that they were slightly understaffed - staff were very good but did not seem to have much time. They did run out of duty free which when there is a special offer on this item seems strange, my sons TV did not work so they brought him a portable DVD player. The food was OK but I do not fly for the food. We took off late however made up time, overall trip very good but I do agree the interior of the aircraft is looking a little ragged round the edges.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 7 August 2008 : by A Zubier

Customer Rating :  4/5

DXB-LHR in Premium Economy 3 times in the last 6 weeks or so, and have to say after vowing not to fly Virgin after my last flight (2006 LHR-DXB in Economy) there is a great difference between economy and premium. In economy I found the crew to be more interested in chatting amongst themselves, serving their off duty colleagues and on one occasion plain rude and obnoxious. Being a big guy I find Premium comfortable and good value for money, but the breakfast is terrible (a muffin) I used miles to upgrade to UC on a night flight from LHR-DXB, the lounge is great, staff are great but found the seats extremely uncomfortable to sleep in as they are at an angle.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review : 4 August 2008 : by A Newton

Customer Rating : 2/5

HKG-LHR. Staff didn't seem interested. Dinner was excellent but breakfast was awful. Problems with AVOD, kept having to restart it like every 20 minutes and it kept freezing, so I gave up on this in the end. Seats were extremely upright which felt uncomfortable. I've flown with a number of different airlines over the last couple of months as have been touring Asia and Australia, and would say Virgin Atlantic were probably the worst.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS review :  1 August 2008 : by Linda Wouters

Customer Rating : 5/5

London Gatwick-Orlando return Economy. During both flights crew was very friendly, planes were clean and on the way back home we had a V-port system, which was superb! The food was fine and we had plenty of drinks and snacks.