Virgin Atlantic

Boston to London. As this was a gift we flew business class and paid the full amount. While new to the Virgin style I found the set up a bit confusing. The flight attendants actually had to make people's beds as it was impossible to figure out how to do it yourself. On the way back from London I had ordered a starter main course and dessert when requested at the beginning of the flight. When the dessert time came the flight attendant said there was no more left of what I had ordered. The dessert itself is irrelevant but the fact that they ran out of anything for people paying thousands of dollars for this service was enough to make me angry.

A great disappointment. We traveled with Virgin Atlantic a few years ago and the economy cabin was comfortable and the service good. Not any more. Shabby and cramped seats with very little leg room unless you pay for an extra couple of inches Virgin seem to have lost the plot with economy passengers either that or they just don't care! Food was inedible on the outward flight from London to Boston the cabin crew were over stretched and took nearly two hours to serve the meal. This was not a problem on the way out but the return flight was delayed by four hours and left at 1.45 a.m so by 3 a.m. they were still offering poor food to people who just wanted to try to sleep. BA who were subject to the same delay in London managed to turn their flight round much faster and were only two hours late.

I recently travelled Virgin Premium Economy from London to Hong Kong and my experience was not what I had expected for the price. Having been upgraded to Premium on a return flight from New York to LHR I was looking forward to experiencing Virgins mid level class as the BA version was absolutely wonderful. Comfort is my primary priority on long haul as I really need to sleep in order to arrive feeling healthy. The Virgin website shows a video of what to expect in PE and I was gleefully looking forward to what was described by many as an even more luxurious level of comfort than what BA offered. Unfortunately those expectations were dashed when I sat down in the elderly Boeing aircraft to find a dirty poorly maintained and cramped environment. I was who shocked to find that my legs were blocked by a rigid plastic barrier beneath the seat in front ensuring that I wouldn't be able to extend my legs fully (this ridiculous design feature appeared to be in place throughout the PE cabin but not in regular economy). The promise of greater levels of comfort were further reduced by the large metal footrest that dug itself into my lower leg. Pulling it down so I could actually use it resulted in my legs being hoisted so high in the air that my knees where above my stomach. The armrests were large ugly plastic topped designs that were static preventing my partner and I from sharing our combined areas (a feature available in most economy cabins I've flown in). So I put my earphones in to watch an inflight movie and was promptly deafened by the pilots announcement as they had set volume level to maximum independent of the local level I had set. I complained to attendant who very politely said he'd get it sorted. I also asked why the PE cabin I was in didn't reflect the one I had seen on their website when I paid for it. He explained that only the more recent fleet of aircraft were fitted with the new trim and these older planes were not considered for upgrading as they would be replaced in the next few years. I would have expected more clarity when parting with my hard earned money so I could have been better informed about what I was actually paying for as the resulting experience fell way short of what I was expecting. I certainly won't be making that mistake again.

VS076 MCO- MAN. Make this trip half a dozen times a year. Never use the lounge at MCO instead always get $30 voucher for a meal in the airport instead of eating on the flight. Not tonight $15. Not bad for a £2750 ticket.

We have travelled with Virgin Atlantic a number of times over the years and have always rated their premium economy service. Our most recent trip change that. The flight was delayed by almost 3 hours but they did send an email and text about 8 hours before the flight to let us know which was great. The text gave a number to call if you had a connecting flight which we did. I called the number and after listening to many options had to chose the general "wait for assistance". I did and was still waiting 15 minutes later. Tried again with the same result so decided to email which was a form that required you to put in all your details. When I hit send I got a message to say they would get back to me in 28 days or less! I was getting a bit stressed by this point as our connecting flight was going to be tight due to the delay. We got to the airport early and I went straight to the Virgin desk to explain. I was asked if the connection was with Virgin and when I said "no" I was given a shrug and told there "probably won't be a problem you should make it". I asked if there was anything they could do and was told to check onboard to make sure we got off the flight promptly. On the plane and we were told "you should be OK because you are amongst the first to get off". When we landed it was clear that they were not disembarking in any systematic kind of way. As it happens it wouldn't have mattered if we were first off as our luggage took 55 minutes to appear. Customer care was one of the reasons we used Virgin in the first place but it is obviously totally superficial and as soon as you have a problem they really don't want to know. My dissatisfaction was made worse by the experience on the flight. We were seated upstairs and although this seemed a good option I would not chose to sit there again. This was our return flight and everything was inferior to the outward flight. The foot rest seemed to be in a misaligned position so are not as comfortable. The cabin is split one part premium and on part economy and everyone from economy walked through the premium cabin to queue for the toilet. Trying to sleep with people standing beside you waiting for the loo is not great. The usual format for Virgin is drinks service after take off - didn't happen. Food - extremely poor quality. Liqueur service after the meal - didn't happen. On the outward flight we were given ice lollies and then sweets on landing. None of that. I asked for new headphones as mine were faulty and I'm still waiting. I honestly felt like we were on a different airline from the one we flew out on. Very disappointed and really wouldn't recommend Virgin to anyone. I know you pay your money and take your chance but there is no excuse for poor service and the attitude from staff was awful. Consistency should not be too hard to achieve if the airline are serious about offering a good experience.

I like Virgin Atlantic for the following reasons excellent meals good legroom and a wonderful service overall. I flew on VS 200 and VS 201 from LHR-HKG-LHR. Nice check-in lady and quick boarding. The con is though that the entertainment took 2 hours to turn on. VS is a wonderful airline.

Was looking forward to good quality service but it appears you only get this if you pay more. Economy passengers are treated like cattle - herded in poor seating extremely cramped - I am not tall but even I could kick the feet of the person in front of me when I attempted to stretch my legs! Substandard food - beef stew had a single piece of meat. In contrast flew out on code share Delta - was expecting poor service but got excellent care. The only commendable point about Virgin was the ground crew. Pity the rest of the experience was a let down. Maybe Virgin should remember that not all passengers are business travellers or have air miles for upgrades.

VS032 Saint Lucia-Gatwick 02/11/2014 - felt like we were a pain to them in economy. Tried to tell female crew member that wife's screen did not work she said we would have to wait and waltzed off and never returned wife did not see safety briefing. Told male member who helped us out. A child was sick later in the flight and many of the crew froze with fear. It was left to one attendant to tidy up. Poor show by most.

London to Orlando October 2014. Outward flight VS15 747-400 in PE which was OK the food was acceptable and there were several little extras throughout the flight including ice cream sweets and squash offered. Priority boarding and a welcome glass of bubbly started the flight quite nicely and the inflight service was generally attentive and friendly. The flight attendants worked solidly throughout the 9 hour flight they were understaffed and it was clear that they had little rest. The cabin was disappointingly a bit grubby though dust around the air vents and crumbs around the seat. The seat was comfortable and plenty of legroom. The IFE worked well. On the whole not a bad experience and the benefit of a smaller cabin at the front of the aircraft makes a lot of difference. We couldn't get PE for the return flight so ended up in Economy towards the rear of the plane. What a difference! VS28 another 747-400. A disinterested cabin crew more concerned about fancy hairdos than their jobs arrogant and dismissive attitudes dreadful food. The main cabin lights were switched off for the entire duration of the flight (apart from the 'food' service) and we took off at 7.30pm hardly bed time. I think this was to get people to go to sleep so they didn't have to do anything! In fact the attendants disappeared to the back of the aircraft for some 'rest' when perhaps they could have been attending to their passengers. They were not interested in collecting used drinks/rubbish which languished on my tray until I got up and returned them to the galley. The seats are crammed in 459 passengers on this flight although not especially uncomfortable for me (I am 5ft 5) but for a taller person must have been hellish. The food choices had run out by the time they got to us so adding insult to the injury of being stuck in the bowels of the plane - first dibs on the food would make that a bit better! To summarise you get what you pay for and I would probably consider PE with Virgin again but definitely never Economy. BA for us in future.

Lots of negativity read before I flew Newark return. Not really worried as I'm not a fussy person. Flight out was on time attendants were courteous and professional food was OK for airline food. Return was supposed to land and 07:30 so booked train tickets accordingly then changed to land at 09:05 so changed train accordingly but landed at 07:45. Not many will moan about landing early but cost me train change costs for 3 people. Having said that everything on the return (apart from changing our seats and splitting 1 of our family up - not the end of the world) was good. Food (beef stew) again OK and hit the spot. Would I fly Virgin again. Definitely. If you can see past the fact that a few hours flight on an aeroplane is not supposed to be a fortnight in a five star hotel then Virgin will do the job just fine.