Virgin Atlantic

My first flight with Virgin, and it was the return flight from my honeymoon. When we finally departed (30 mins delay), we were told that the inflight entertainment was not working across the entire plane - while the cabin crew manager seemed sheepish about the announcement, the captain made light of it, explaining "It's only a short flight" - perhaps to him 10.5 hours flying is a short flight, but to me, it felt like a very long time without a service that is clearly part of the package you pay for. Of course, with this inconvenience, you would think the crew would go above and beyond in terms of customer service to ensure we all felt comfortable and enjoyed the flight? Hardly! Crew were unfriendly and impossible to find at times - clearly avoiding any possible conflict from the upset guests on board! The food was appalling, the drinks were fine, though the crew again were not exactly generous and did not offer refills or any extras. The seats were average and the space in the cabin felt very outdated. Overall - an abysmal service offered by a very below average operator - I will never fly Virgin again.

An extremely disappointing experience. We were not aware of the charge for booking seats together until after we had paid and went online to print our etickets. Fares should be transparent when booking - had I wanted a budget airline experience I would have booked with a cheaper airline. The inflight entertainment did not work and we were only issued iPads, 2 hours into the flight and after we had asked to speak to a supervisor. Some of the food was inedible (eg frozen salad). We requested a replacement 3 times before one arrived - only to find it was one that we had sent back earlier. Our outbound flight was cancelled and we had to transfer to BA. The Virgin staff processing this were clearly unhappy at the extra work, made no eye contact with us nor spoke to us and chatted to each other throughout the process. Normally I would take this up with the airline but have found it impossible to locate a suitable online form or telephone contact number. I will not book with this airline again

Flew on new Dreamliner VS7, 4 July, premium economy and considering the cost felt Virgin were mean with food - cheap and not very cheerful. Ran out of ice half way through trip (I'm sure they had some at the front of the plane but miserable faced stewardess made no effort to find out). Two stewards at the start of flight brilliant. Far too expensive for what you get over economy.

Flew LHR-MIA and return with this airline. Seats were horrible, even though we booked extra legroom seats. I have never experienced such an uncomfortable seat in my life. Plane looked old on both ways, cleanliness was ok. Very poor entertainment choices, not many movies, old and bad screen, and only one episode from each of the tv series. Food was ok. On the outbound plane was almost empty, so the service was great, we could order lots of drinks and the crew were very nice. Full plane on the inbound with poor service, on an 8 hour flight they came by twice, and the breakfast was awful. Bottom line I would never ever fly with this airline again.

Economy cabin clearly outdated as made me feel like I was in the 90s. Seat was creaking which made me feel bad for the boy behind me. IFE was the major letdown of the trip, the screen looked like it had been smeared with vaseline and had very bad clarity. Combined with a very small selection of films, I turned to my laptop for entertainment. Dinner was okay, with a good dessert, but the cooked breakfast contained the gnarliest sausage I have encountered. The windows did have a nice view and flying out of London at night was a treat. This can all be fixed with a refurbishment of the aircraft.

Overall delighted with the service from Virgin Atlantic. Ground service staff at both Manchester and Orlando were courteous and efficient allowing for a smooth and hassle free check in. The service on the flight out of Manchester was first class, the crew were pleasant and attentive. The food on board was plentiful and tasty and nice touches like the ice lolly and cloth to freshen up were appreciated. Lots of movies to choose from made the long flights much more bearable and entertaining. The leg room was adequate even for 4 of our party who range from 6ft 2 to 6ft 5, if no one reclines the seat in front, however if this happens it becomes a very uncomfortable long flight, which unfortunately happened to my son who is 6ft 4 but these are the chances you take if not paying for extra leg space. Overall excellent flights and good value for money.

We had booked premium economy with a view to seeking an upgrade to Upper Class using the 10's of thousands of miles we have. Upgrades were available, but not for miles but for a payment of £1500 each. Apart from this the ground service was fine. The aircraft was a Dreamliner delivered the previous day. Very smooth flight, we were told that the flexible wings smooth out almost all but the worst turbulence. What excuse will the crew now use to get a break? Food was a choice of Shepherds Pie, Curry or vegetarian. The Shepherds Pie was tasty but was tiny, a very thin layer of minced lamb covered by a very thin layer of potato. The blackberry sponge had sunk at one side and was cold and clammy. Seats were the biggest problem. Yes they are wider than economy and have 38" pitch, but the one in front still reclines into your face and if that person reclines fully then your entertainment screen does not hinge enough to allow you to watch it without you also reclining your seat. Some airlines now have seats were your seat base slides forward so you recline within you own space. They even supply small packets of mints giving you tips on how to "surreptitiously" recline your seat without making it too obvious. Crew were fine as were the drinks, and a very nice red wine with dinner. However, I can't help feeling that they have missed an opportunity to overtake their competitors by fitting old style seats.

I recently flew from Heathrow to San Francisco on a 747 with Virgin Atlantic for the first, and last, time in economy. Now I'm a broad fella but not enormous but the seats are tiny. Even the guy in the seat next to me who was about 5 stone lighter commented that he'd need a shoe horn to remove himself from the seat! To make things worse the man in the seat in front of me decided to recline it for the whole 11 hour flight so I had about 150mm movement in front of me. The food wasn't bad. The toilets disgusting. The cabin staff smiled now and then. My entertainment screen had a life of its own sometimes working sometimes not. I fly a lot due to my work and I would say that I would have had a much comfier experience on a Jet2 737 for 11 hours. To top it all that nice Mr Branson kept popping up, when the screen worked, asking us to donate our spare cash to some appeal or other.

No complaints at all with the service and indeed seats, flew Premium Economy seats 22a/22c LGW - St Lucia. From online check in, to actual arrival and seats was easy. Staff and plane on both trips were first class. Food was acceptable for us although not first class perfectly edible. Offered drinks straight away on boarding, hot towels etc. I am 6'2" and found that there was plenty of room to stretch out and indeed sleep on the return leg. Would use Virgin again and would recommend same.

Very upset with the quality and the service on both my outgoing flight on June 14th flight VS10 and on my return flight on June 19th, flight VS45. On the outbound flight the Audio wasn't working which wasn't so bad because I slept most of the flight. On the way home from London to NY the TV picture was upside down. This is not acceptable especially since this was a day flight and there is very little to do on a 7hr flight. I thought Virgin prides itself on quality, service and technology but you wouldn't get that from traveling on these flights. I also couldn't have been the first person to complain about these issues either. My only option was to sit in a middle seat which I will not do. Not a happy traveler.