Virgin Atlantic

What a disappointment. This was my first time with the airline and trust me though in some ways better than BA I would have rather flown with Delta or US Air. I had to fly to Charlotte for a Funeral and I had to make my reservation at the last minute. All was fine until I wanted to allocate my seating and was unaware that Virgin do charge for allocating seats prior to 24 hour web check in. That was the start of disappointment. I got my seats done 24 hours prior to departure and managed to get 2 seats by the window. When I got into the aircraft Airbus 333 and took my seat I could barely fit in the seat as on one side my partner was sitting near the window and I was rubbing my shoulder with her shoulder for 8 hours and then the Aisle where my other shoulder was bumped by walking passengers and trolleys. Food was ok nothing exceptional and service was ok too. On my return on 14/02/15 flight was empty and my partner was not feeling well at all. I requested the crew for a middle row which there were plenty of them empty for my partner to sleep due to her not being well and despite row 44 to row 48 were totally empty crew had tied the armrest with seat belts advising passenger that the arm rest cannot be pulled up to make a bed. My partner was given a bassinet seat where she had to be cramped in to lie down. As this was an overnight flight as we got nearer to Heathrow I asked one of the crew as to who the seats were RESERVED for as I saw a lady crew writing RESERVED and placing it on the dinner table. The crew replied boldly: IT WAS FOR US. This meant that the crew were allowed to use passenger seats for themselves rather than making the passenger comfortable for a 7hr 15 minute flight. I stopped flying with BA in 2004 and have not flown with them again and the same goes for Virgin Atlantic. No more praises for such an airline.

Flight Gatwick to Las Vegas VS43. Little disappointed with the presentation of female staff whilst male were very well presented. Comfort of seats were very disappointing along with the fact no blanks were available to us. The movies available were very dated. Food provided satisfactory but half way through the flight they had run out of soft drinks so they said on request but it was clear this was not the case as they were visible on the trolley. Extra leg room was paid for which was provided but they did not inform me when booking to expect a playground at my feet. Width of seating was shocking not being a large person it was a little tight but disappointing that I had to have a person sitting next to me invade my space. Very disappointed to over hear young staff talk about customers on the return flight in the manner they did very unprofessional. Again female staff presentation very poor on the return journey. Very much the same as the outbound journey very uncomfortable journey. Surprised that staff did not check seat belts of customers in the economy cabin but couldn't do enough for upper class and premium. Very poor all round.

Flew Virgin Atlantic to Shanghai end Jan in Upper Class. Aircraft was old Airbus 340-300. Seats looks tired and so did the crew. Entertainment system was terrible - not as good as new VERA on 340-600 planes. Food was average. Return from HK was worse as 340-300 aircraft was even older than one on Shanghai route. Having paid a fortune to travel Upper Class it was disappointing not to be told that old aircraft were going to be used on both routes. Will definitely think twice before flying with Virgin again. I have travelled on this route with them for almost 10 years and this is the worst I've known the airline to be.

EDI-IAD via LHR. First time with Virgin Atlantic flew 30th January. Flew little red to LHR pleasant flight staff pleasant then Airbus 330 LHR-IAD. Staff great although flight wasn't busy only gripe is that arm rests are fixed although had 3 premium economy seats to myself. IFE great tiger beer decent wine food ok. Return journey much the same but on VA's new 787 Dreamliner. Impressed loved premium economy felt very spacious on the new plane service again good leg room excellent. United you could learn from Virgins service and meaning of premium economy. Only downside is little red connecting flights stop from Edinburgh later this year so will be difficult to keep using Virgin Atlantic without guaranteed connecting flights with baggage right through. Overall very pleasant experience pity they don't fly Glasgow to New York direct.

Virgin Cape Town to LHR UpperClass Disappointment. My wife and I spent 3 weeks in Jan travelling around S/Africa and Mauritius for my 50th. Our first leg from LHR to Jo'Berg was in premium economy which was comfortable enough but the plane was just a little tired and where had all those lovely girls off the TV ad gone ? Anyway we completed our travels and were looking forward to a great trip back especially me as I'd upgraded us to upperclass when I'd first booked so it was going to be a lovely surprise for my wife. Having travelled with Virgin years previously in their prime I was expecting something pretty lush. Alas yet another 'tired old donkey put out to graze'. Don't get me wrong it was certainly a step up from premium and the staff were excellent but it certainly didn't warrant the prices being charged (luckily I'd picked them up 11 months previously at almost the same rate as premium so it wasn't such a loss) and it burst the balloon quite a bit. The audio/video system needed a little bit of a makeover too. However the biggest disappointment was the food. I have eaten better quality food on budget airlines within Europe it was terrible especially for upperclass I even politely rejected the breakfast run (In fact it was only a slight improvement on Air Mauritius which was absolutely appalling). I will travel with Virgin again only simply due to the amount of air miles I have amassed for upgrades but I'll make sure I've got my Ipad full of music & movies and a few bags of crisps to eat. For me Cathay still has the edge.

Friday 30th January. Flew Barbados to Manchester on refurbished 747. Superb cabin and leather seats with lots of leg room in Economy class. Very good staff and food lovely and hot!. Nice breaky just before landing. Good choice of entertainment and a selection on newspapers to read. Nice comfy pillow and blanket and goody bag with socks eye protectors toothbrush and toothpaste and ear plugs that worked. Very enjoyable.

Upper / Business class London Gatwick to Orlando. From check in to your seat on the aircraft brilliant treated like a celebrity that's what you pay for. From an English breakfast as much to eat and drink as you like the shoe cleaning - nice idea along with a pair of jazzy socks. On boarding seat 12k the wife seated opposite on the other side of the bar didn't matter as we could see each outer across the aisle. 9 hours and 15 min flight time seemed to go quite quickly. Bit of a wait for baggage at the carousel 8a 20 minutes but that didn't matter. However the journey home was a different matter! Upper class check in ok. Customs no preferred lane then to the lounge using deltas lounge hot food is a no-no apart from some soup and nibbles. Virgin rep escort to the gate to board nice touch so you don't get lost! same seat 12k wife now seated in the seat beside me. very enjoyable dinner now time for lights out seat converted into a lovely comfy flat bed sleep suit on time yo enjoy a few hours sleep or not! The amount of noise in the cabin was unbelievable from the cabin crew laughing in the galley to the constant clicking of the cabinet handles in the galley and on the on the bar cabinet every five minutes drove me nuts only managing about an hours sleep not the idea I had in mind as we had a four hour drive when we landed. Flat bed idea is great but choose a seat further away from the bar so you can enjoy a decent nights sleep which I thought was what you were paying for! Pre-ordered English breakfast nicely presented such a shame it was served on a cold plate! Apart from being tired it was an experience that could have been a lot better.

Not nearly as bad as I would have thought given those reviews written here. Travelled from LHR to JFK on Jan 24th in Economy. First of all - heard they have an excellent newspaper selection - and found that to be true. Also heard they have very cramped seating in economy - and also found that to be true. But on the positive note - there were plenty of extra seats available so people could move around and switch places. As for the famously bad food - I opted for veggie option out of fear and wasn't disappointed. The only thing was the small portions - everything was tiny. The entertainment system was all right but mostly commercial Hollywood films on rotation. As to the famously unsmiling stewardess - some of them did smile making up for those who did not. Lots of drinks were served with juice and water on constant rotation. Landed safely and on time.

Flew from Delhi - London - New York and it was a big disappointment. I flew the airline years ago back in it's early (no doubt) glory days. Today's service is a far cry from what it once was. Today's plane was old the in- flight service below standard and the on-time take-off/arrival non-existent. As bad as the Delta flight was going to India as it was 90 minutes late to depart and arrive in Paris for the connection the plane was newer and therefore the entertainment much better as were the attendants.

London Gatwick - Orlando Int'l - Finally received a good flight from Virgin. Crew were good food was nice and inflight entertainment was good (despite my screen freezing 2 hours prior to landing and nothing could be done to re-set) On the whole would recommend.