Virgin Atlantic

We flew Upper Class from Grenada on 21st November. There isn't a Virgin lounge at the airport which was annoying. The actual flight back was really poor and the staff seemed to be just going through the motions. I was offered only one glass of wine with dinner and it was clearly a hassle when I asked for a second. Everything was done at great speed and we had the feeling that the staff just wanted to get it over and done with so that they could to sleep. For business class it was dreadful. An experience to be avoided. I walked away with the feeling that Virgin Atlantic has brilliant marketing but it's all style over substance.

We always fly Virgin Atlantic long haul (last flights were May 2013 and next flights are April 2014) usually LGW to MCO and either Premium Economy or Economy with extra legroom and every time every single time we have had superb flights with wonderful staff. I cant say we have never been delayed or the flight wasn't bumpy at all but that's air travel and on the whole we have been on time having had a smooth and comfortable flight. The Virgin Atlantic cabin crew are always helpful nothing is too much trouble. For on board food and entertainment you always have a good choice and the seats are comfortable enough for 9 hours or so but anyone gets fidgety after a while and LAX is a bit of a drag the last few hours but again that's air travel! Very good value for money.

Gatwick to St. Lucia. Ability to check in night before great. Following morning quickly through security and to the Virgin Lounge. Lovely service and great fresh food on the lounge. On board staff super introducing themselves and explaining the service. One of the staff spent additional time with our group of four explaining what to do in St Lucia. Drinks service excellent. The bar can only accommodate a small number of people and certain passengers hogged the bar area preventing others from full use. The food was very good in fact one of the best airline meals we have had. We had contact with Virgin Atlantic customer services prior to the flight about the food. They were totally brilliant. Our specific needs were meet on board. The only problem is the new business class seat and the seating plan. The seats are the most uncomfortable business class seats and the seating plan is not suited to people travelling in groups. Virgin service with Emirates A380 seats would be perfect. What you have to remember is the business model is different to BA and a more rock star approach. This suited us totally for this flight and holiday. Would I fly with Virgin Atlantic again - yes.

Just arrived back from Barbados on a Virgin 747 cattle truck seating was tight customer service poor the girls spent more time talking and doing their hair than looking after people. The food was tasteless and small portions. My wife's touch screen did not work nor could it be fixed. Will not be travelling with Virgin again for the same money I can travel premium with Thomson.

LHR-BOS-LHR in Premium Economy on A330 aircraft. Took Virgin Atlantic as equivalent BA Premium Economy fare was £ £300 more. Was concerned having read reviews on here but both flights were good. Outbound check in at LHR was immediate security was fast and we took off on time. The cabin was only half full but the service could not be faulted. Main meal was OK afternoon tea was very poor indeed (2 finger sandwiches and a muffin of dubious provenance). On this leg we had a stand-out flight attendant really professional. On return again check in was fast security relatively painless (for the USA) and we boarded on time and landed early. This time the cabin was packed full. Given it is a short red eye overnight flight speed of service is key and Virgin did let us down here. They took about 2 hours to serve dinner and clear away. Both Economy and Club had been fed and bedded down before Premium. However dinner was good and a full cooked breakfast was served prior to landing. On both legs wine and spirits were freely available. We landed early immigration at LHR was quite speedy and we were on our way within 45 minutes of landing. The new A330s are great with a wide range of inflight entertainment. One of the things I like about Virgin is they include films that no other airlines would show (in this case 'Filth'). If you don't like that kind of thing then you don't have to watch it but it's nice to have the choice and be treated like an adult!

Travelled from London Gatwick to Las Vegas and return. Asked for extra room travelling out which was agreed to and we paid for extra leg room on our return. The problem is the awful food/drinks service. For a ten hour flight we had one meal - small amount for main course very small inedible salad as starter. The dessert was Gu so good quality but again small more of a child portion. In the past you would be given a small bottle of wine - now you are given three quarters of a plastic cup full. We were then given an ice lolly after a few hours followed by a small sausage roll. We had tea which was two tiny cheese and pickle sandwiches and a poor quality muffin. Drinks offered twice in 10 hours! Last time I travelled with Virgin I was really impressed. This all felt very budget and cattle class!

LHR-BOS on A330. Check-in was not busy but really slow. Security fast. LHR lounge great as usual. New Upper Class seat cramped. Food terrible. Seafood starter came in small plastic supermarket style container. Tasteless. Main course mushroom stroganoff also tasteless. No freedom menu and graze menu was plain crisps and drumsticks (sweets on sticks) - nothing else. New style on board bar is bland cold uncomfortable and dirty looking. Bar seats tiny & almost impossible to get on and off. Obviously first step in deleting this feature from the service just like the freedom menu and massage and amenity bag and crew were very nice. Virgin used to be the best the standard setters in business travel now I find them barely average.

Extremely over hyped and over priced. Took a return trip in premium economy to Orlando and wont be rushing back again. The seats which I believe are the newly fitted purple design were comfortable and the extra space in between really makes a difference until the person in front reclines - these seats recline rather a lot and to the point that not even the seatback TV can twist enough to be viewed correctly on the seat behind. Crew were pleasant enough they just don't appear to do much one full drink service offered on a 8.5 hour flight. All other drink services consisted of water or juice only although I did get another alcoholic drink when asked. Duty free consisted of a crew member whizzing past with a magazine in her hand actually had to call her over to get her attention to buy something and when the crew looking after our section decided to pass through the cabin with a trolley they were overheard bitching about having to do twice the work as the previous crew member wasn't doing her job properly - very unprofessional. The meal service really lets Virgin down - worst plane food ever! Despite being offered a menu card stating 3 options (chicken beef fish) we were later told the chicken option hadn't been loaded so we had the option of (fish beef fish) the starter was also fish no other option. It was also noted the children in this section had received the same meals as the adults so I am guessing there was a lot of waste that day incidentally the food on the return once again had a fish starter and really was the worst of the worst airline meal! This airlines only saving grace is the entertainment which whilst not as much choice as previous trips there was something for everyone and it was nice to catch up on corrie during the flight home. Will really have to think about booking Virgin again as could have had the same flight half the price with a charter company - granted the seat wont be as comfy or the movie choice as good at least I'd know the food would be edible and drinks available.

This was my first and definitely my last flight with Virgin. I recently flew from Orlando to Manchester and my experience was probably the worst that I have ever had on any plane with regards to service etc. To be fair check- in was really good boarding (apart from the idiots who always congregate around the boarding area to try and get on the plane ahead of everyone else ) was fine. The flight took off on time so no complaint there. To be honest I was dreading the flight because of the kids that might be on it. The kids were no problem whatsoever even the young one sat behind me was great. My problems were as follows - Virgin make a big deal of presenting you with a food menu from which you can take you're pick - that is until they reach you and you have no choice but to have what they have left. The meal itself was a disgrace it was dry and tasteless - worse than an overdone microwave meal the drinks service was atrocious they even completely missed us out on their much vaunted hot chocolate service. The touchscreen television was fine if you wanted to watch a film (good choices) however if you wanted to play a game the touchscreen was slow unresponsive to touch and really awful to use. This brings me on to the cabin crew - I found the cabin crew very abrupt and flippant. Basically it was a case we are here to cater for 1st and premium class passengers and if you don't like it tough. In summary Virgin Atlantic strives to be something that it is not it is the very poor mans British Airways and as far as I am concerned ranks below Easyjet and Ryanair in airlines that I would next travel on.

Travelled from LHR to PVG on 16/11/13 a fairly standard 10 hour flight I have taken many times but now it comes with a complimentary 1990 entertainment system. So miss the start and that's you for 2 hours go the loo and you miss 25% of the film as there are too few lavatories on the flight (none in premium at all!). I have travelled many times on this route with a number of carriers. And until now VS250/1 have been the most frequent I have used until now. The level of service has become more and more appalling on this flight they had squalid inflight customer care and service this was exemplified by one customer on my row who complained to the purser who after half an hour basically paid him lip service and gave him a form to fill in. The sooner this long haul version of easy jet gets swallowed up by a larger American or Middle eastern carrier the better from now on Emirates or Lufthansa for me.