Virgin Atlantic

30th Jan 2014 flight from Dubai to Heathrow on VS401. Boarding was chaotic at Dubai and during the flight they really know how to treat economy passengers like third class citizens. Seat uncomfortable and leg room was minimal. They could only provide my wife and myself with two seats in the middle of the middle row of four. The food was extremely disappointing with very small amounts of unappetising fare. Overall the experience was unpleasant and I would not travel with them again unless unavoidable.

VS 200 HKG-SYD A340-600. Cabin staff were quite quick to respond when the button was pressed but were hard to 'flag down' if simply present along the aisles. Food although generally good on previous flights was terrible this time because the main dish was identical for both dinner and breakfast and the appetiser comprised of a ration of saltine biscuits assorted jam and meaningless mini paper cups and condiments. Movie selection was bland and I was disappointed that most of what was offered was already shown the previous month. TV screen was very dim and one of the earmuff covers for my headset disintegrated mid-flight. Seat could have been wider because the passenger next door could not keep their elbow and knee within their boundary given the 'shared' centre armrest.

JFK-LHR on VS004 26th Jan. Excellent friendly check in process. Flight departed a tad late due to de-icing frequent updating announcements by the skipper. Lovely quiet A330 seemingly new as everything was bright and clean. Crew were confident and professional with smart new uniform on test. As a loyal BA customer this was my first venture with VA and as such was a pleasant surprise. I have minor health issue which the cabin crew were made aware of they could not have been more thoughtful and considerate. IFE is never a priority for me but VA's was delight to explore BA could learn much from it. Aircraft was about fifty percent capacity so those that wished could stretch out. Excellent food and cabin service. Stacked at LHR due to density and early arrival. I would certainly fly VA again.

Travelled to St Lucia in January premium economy out and upper class return. Online check in was very easy but twilight bag drop at Gatwick not possible on arrival at 4.30pm and we had to queue for 1 hour to check our bags in probably because they have reduced the twilight check in time from 2pm to 5pm and only 2 staff were on duty. The new 330 wide bodied aircraft is much more cramped in premium economy than the 747 when travelling in the bubble which was a joy. The aisles are narrow causing more disturbance to passengers and some people are allocated seats in 3s with the loss of privacy for couples. However the lighting and the entertainment were a big improvement and the food was good so overall the PE experience was acceptable. The return in upper class was poor value. Similarly cramped compared with the jumbo and it is no longer feasible to share a meal with your partner as the aisles are too narrow. There is some personal privacy at night and the beds were OK although you are quite near to the seats opposite the herringbone pattern works. Service disturbs sleepers due to the narrow aisles as stewards constantly knock into feet or the ends of beds. During the day it would be impossible to talk to you partner unless you got up as the screens do not fold down so you are very much in your own space which is probably good for business passengers. The upper class meal was truly dreadful. It was impossible to eat the steak so I exchanged it for chicken which was also dry and tough. The stewardess suggested the only decent meal was vegetarian and several people were sending their food back but by that time I had lost interest. Why do they serve lumps of meat which have to be re-heated? Food was much nicer in PE. Overall the service in upper class has deteriorated with reduced costs evident and we were very disappointed.

I flew LHR-DEL 20 Jan returning 30 Jan both times on Champagne Belle (A330-300) this aircraft is the best VS one I have travelled on with good seats and it seemed more leg room than usual. The cabin crew were superb providing me with braille safety cards (a first!). Two truly fantastic flights without the above and beyond we received.

Flight VS355 from Mumbai to Heathrow on January 31 2014. Baggage checking staff were very unfriendly. They kept chatting amongst themselves rather than speed up the process of checking in. They were rude because I had an extra bag and the payment for the extra weight of the bag took 15 minutes. Boarding gate was changed 3 times and with no announcement of the same. A lot of passengers were seen rushing from gate to gate. At time of boarding though the seat #s were announced the lady checking the boarding pass was too busy talking on her cell phone to see whether the seat # announced was followed or not.

LHR-CPT-LHR. Upper Class. The T3 Heathrow 'wing' is a fantastic perk and enabled us to step out of the car get through check in and security and to the Clubhouse in under 10 minutes - a minor miracle at Heathrow! Clubhouse is as good as ever. A346 out was quite full. Food is as ordinary as ever but I liked the choice of wines on offer. The 'bed' is ok. IFE has a wide range of things to watch or listen to although I went to sleep. Breakfast was horrid - but it always is on every airline. Staff all very nice and worked hard all through the flight. Return - the lounge in CPT isn't a Virgin lounge and is pretty rubbish. It also got full although we had seats some didn't. Return equipment was A343. Tablets handed out as there's no on-demand on the old VERA system. Didn't bother me as I slept for 10 hours. Overall Virgin Upper still successfully manages to differentiate itself from other airlines quite well. Some elements of it though are getting tired.

London Gatwick to Tobago via St Lucia. Online check in was faultless. Boarding card sent electronically to iPhone Passbook successfully. Baggage drop was fast and efficient. No queue at all and friendly service. Boarding was fine and electronic boarding card on iPhone worked without any issues. Plane was a modern A330-300. Very nice mood lighting comfortable seats adequate leg room And good in flight entertainment. Departed pretty much on time. Drinks service with pretzels followed by lunch. Menu was distributed prior to lunch. Food was quite reasonable. Dessert was served separately which is a nice touch and tea/coffee followed. Ice cream was also served later on. Drinks were served throughout. Afternoon tea (sandwich) was served with tea/coffee before landing in st. Lucia. However bar service was closed 2 hours before landing. Officially it should not close until 45 mins prior to landing. Stop off in St Lucia for 2 hours before departing for Tobago. Drinks were served during stop over. 30 min flight included drinks service and snack (crisps) before arriving slightly ahead of schedule in Tobago. Overall very good aircraft and pretty good service.

Miami - London - Manchester in Upper Class. Having read previous reviews we were apprehensive as this was our first flight with Virgin but our experience was mainly good. The lounge at Miami was grim but once on board we found our seats comfortable when both seated and reclined. We were in the front cabin of the lower deck of a 747 which is quite wide and so did not suffer the problem of our feet being constantly knocked. However I would not have wanted to be in another cabin or aircraft as we could clearly see why many others complain about this problem. The food we had was good as was the red wine and the cabin crew were friendly and attentive and made and unmade our beds immediately on request. The video on demand did not look exciting but as we wanted to sleep this was not a problem to us. The arrivals lounge food and facilities at Heathrow were excellent. The Little Red connection to Manchester was nothing special but our luggage did arrive quickly so we can have no complaints about our experience the Miami lounge apart. Virgin would not be our first choice for the future but equally we would use them again if appropriate.

I was really looking forward to flying with Virgin but as most things these days the adverts are nothing like the real thing. I booked a Premium Economy seat from London to Johannesburg as I was told it had more leg room I am 6 ft 3 tall so why were my knees jammed against the seat in front for 11 hours? My seat was broken and kept reclining by itself. I was advised by a member of the crew to email in to ask for a better seat for my return flight I did this 9 days ago and I still haven't had a reply. On the return flight I had a seat with a TV screen that was so bad I could hardly see the picture the staff kept leaving the galley curtain open so the lights kept waking me up I mentioned this but was given a look as if to say "are you mad?" no apology and no effort to close the curtain.