Virgin America

Los Angeles to Las Vegas 15/06 outbound and inbound is 20/06. Poor service despite only having 10 passengers onboard no soft drinks offered only beer wine and water. Staff more interested in talking to colleagues and organising their social life. On checking in for return flight staff unsure what to do were only able to give boarding cards for 1st out of 3 flights. Forgot to give us the luggage tags on check in so this caused no end of trouble with other flights.

✅ Verified Review | This was by far the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Virgin America cancelled my flight due to crew issues and did not provide a new itinerary. Rather they sent an email asking me to rebook my flight within two months so as not to incur fees. I proceeded to call them and spent four hours on the phone to get on a new flight. They confirmed me on several flights, I raced from terminal to terminal (mind you I'm pregnant) but because the supervisor took so long to confirm each flight I missed three flights in a row. I could have accomplished what they were trying to do (rebooking me through a flight on Kayak) in 5 minutes. Because they did end up rebooking me on a flight (which instead of being direct, flew through Boston and added 4 hours to my trip) they are not giving me a reimbursement, even though the supervisor on the phone promised to do so. I have never been more disappointed in customer service and will not be travelling with them again.

✅ Verified Review | New York JFK to Los Angeles. I was told more than an hour and 20 min ago this morning that I could not board my flight - which I had already checked into online, by a woman representing the airline who then claimed she was a supervisor, when I asked to speak to one. After driving home my point that this was completely unacceptable and wasting valuable time, she allowed me to speak to the woman at checkout, 10 ft away, who said there was no problem at all, showed me how to call up my boarding pass on screen of my phone. Flight was not to leave for another 40 min, 11:30 AM, yet first woman sought to unnecessarily block me and delay me. At 12:23pm now, I'm still sitting on that plane, that she argued I couldn't board, waiting for it to pull away. Unnecessary stress.

I flew on Virgin America flight #89 at 9.15am today from IAD to LAX in First Class. Other than asking me which breakfast dish I would like the flight attendant did not offer me anything to drink or ask if I needed anything for the five+ hour long flight. Not only that but I had a hard time getting her attention the entire flight. With 40 minutes left in the flight I finally waved her down and asked her for water. I have flown over 5 million miles on American Airlines alone and I have been considering Virgin as an ideal alternative until I spent as much as I did for first class and literally had to track down our flight attendant for a glass of water. My experiences with the positive attitude of Southwest Airlines' and American Airlines' flight attendants have been exceptional compared to today with Virgin.

✅ Trip Verified | After the last time I flew Virgin, I promised myself I wouldn't do it again but my travel companion convinced me otherwise so I gave Virgin another chance. Unfortunately, my trip back home was more unsatisfactory. Upon purchasing a small meal pack (I'm guessing the options were limited since it was only a 1.25 hour flight) and a cocktail, we were the last ones served (last seats on the plane). I feel as though delivering purchased products would be more of a priority. Perhaps assigning one person to deliver products while the other offers complimentary drinks would be more effective for customer service and efficiency. Maybe operationally that doesn't work for them because of cost but it compromises service. After receiving our order, the steward forgot an item and when I said excuse me and tried to tell her, she turned and said "you have to wait". I completely understand that but the way she said it was in a tone and look that I could only receive as annoyance. It was as if I was a nuisance to her. After reaching the back of the plane, I could hear loudly the other steward complaining and bad mouthing about a gentleman who wanted 2 diet cokes. I understand people talk shop but wow, in ear shot of other guests? We only received our purchases after the plane started to descend and before we knew it, we were forced to give up our purchased wine and cocktail. When my companion said "I didn't even get to finish. I'm going to get a refund." The steward retort with a "you do that". All I could think, and pardon the language, was "what the heck?". I have worked in customer service for over a decade, and this is by far the most unprofessional group of employees I have ever encountered. They were rude, unpleasant and just seemed so unhappy. Perhaps they are not suited for this kind of work but the airline needs to acknowledge that.

The flight San Francisco to Los Angeles was delayed while we waited for crew to turn up for work for nearly an hour. This cost me my connecting flight. They accepted no responsibility as my connecting flight was not booked through Virgin America, but Virgin Australia. I then had to pay for another ticket to continue my journey back to Australia. The staff member was smug and and would offer no assistance to my predicament. When I arrived at LAX, Virgin America had then lost my luggage. After waiting around I finally hurried a lost luggage report that took so long I was in jeopardy of missing my newly booked flight. I had to argue with the attendant as he would not accept the fact that my phone number was an overseas number. He was adamant that I needed to provide an American phone number(?), which of course I could not provide, as I live in Australia. We agreed on my email address. After arriving back in Australia I did receive an email saying that they had found my luggage and it was ready to be picked up.I replied that this was impossible and how was I to get the luggage and would it be couriered to my house. Their reply was that it was "a courtesy" that they would place it on a plane back to Australia, giving me a ticket and flight number.

✅ Verified Review | I purchased a round trip ticket on Alaska Airlines for a flight operated by Virgin America. Three hours before my Sunday evening return flight from Portland was to depart for San Francisco (3:15 p.m. and my flight was scheduled for 6:20 p.m.), I received three text messages from Alaska Airlines letting me know the flight is canceled and I have been rebooked on a 5 a.m. flight from Portland to San Francisco via Los Angeles arriving in San Francisco at 11:40 a.m. the next day, a Monday. There was no explanation given for the flight cancellation. The text message included a toll-free number that did not work when I called it. It said I had a message waiting for me, but when I pressed "1" for my message, it said I had no messages. It was a fully automated line and pressing "0" did not connect me to an operator, it only repeated the cycle that said I had a message and then said I did not have a message waiting for me. I had to buy a $199 one-way ticket on Southwest that got me back to San Francisco at 12:30 a.m. Sunday. I had a meeting Monday morning at work that I could not miss and Alaska provided no options for rebooking on other flights that would get me back on Sunday night. This is very poor customer service and I cannot recommend Alaska or Virgin to anyone.

✅ Verified Review | Las Vegas to San Francisco. I am really upset about my experience with virgin America. I had a layover in Las Vegas and my first flight was delayed so I only had 35 minutes in between flights. I ran to my Virgin America flight and go there 25 min before the flight departed to be told that they gave away my ticket because I wasn't checked in 30 minutes ahead of time. I tried to ask what was going to happen and she just told me to sit down and wait because she needed to get the plane going. She then called people on standby before me even though I actually had a reservation. I missed my flight and don't know when they are going to put me on - never flying with them again.

✅ Trip Verified | Boston to San Francisco on Sunday morning, January 7, 2018. It was the worst situation and the worst customer service experience I have ever encountered. The water in the plane was frozen so our flight was delayed taking off. I was seated in the very last row of the airplane and when the repair crew was trying to defrost the water they kept the exterior door open. It was windy that morning and the outside temperature was around -6 below zero. I put on all the layers of clothing I had with me but was still completely frozen. I asked for a blanket or some sort of assistance and the flight attendant just kept saying no ma'am but the repair will be done soon. This went on for about 40-45 minutes with no resolution or even basic assistance. Every time the flight attendant walked by me visibly frozen, upset and uncomfortable he just kept repeating it will be warm soon. This is outrageously bad customer service and I recommend that no one ever make the mistake of flying Virgin America.

✅ Verified Review | Flew from San Francisco to Boston. I use to love Virgin but now two flights in a row I have sat on the tarmac while they fixed an issue with the plane. Twice now with well over an hour delay in a row for an airline I use to consider reliable. The worst part was the complete lack of information. The employees ran for whatever hidden cover they could to avoid questions. The captain came on just to give a 15min update of we aren't moving yet and they are working on it because in his words, "he was required to by law" as if the law wasn't there he wouldn't care. The lack of communication is dumbfounding for an airline who use to pride themselves on customer service and quality. The least they could do is give us a free movie for the delay but they didn't last flight that had a 2 hr delay and I have no faith this one will either if we ever get off the ground that is. Should have stuck with Southwest. They are bare bones but at least they seem to care.