Virgin Atlantic

I booked my flight to Singapore with Virgin in March as they were a code share partner with Singapore Airlines. Never again! Their customer service was bordering on rude and were very unhelpful and failed to let me know of a schedule change they had been aware of since July until 8 days before my trip. This caused hasty re arranged travel plans and extra expense. I couldn't check in online because it was code share and was given probably the worst seats on the plane despite arriving at check in before it opened on both flights. Despite assurances from customer services at the time of booking I was refused entry to their Club House at Heathrow. I was so disappointed stressed and upset at the service I received from Virgin. I would not recommend them or use again on code share.

I flew JFK to London in Upper Class on a business trip. Firstly I must say that every staff member I encountered was absolutely fantastic. I've never met a nicer group so I must say "Well done Virgin." My disappointment came when I got onboard and saw the upper class seating. They were so tight and cramped. Once you get into your seat there is very little room on either side of the seat. There is no privacy either with a clear partition separating the seats. In my opinion it was an economy-sized seat. I could not really get comfortable. I have flown business class on other airlines and the seating was roomy comfortable much like a Lazy-Boy. The Upper Class seats on Virgin are not worth the ridiculously-high price. Not in the least.

Flew Manchester to Las Vegas in August this year. Could not fault the flight out. Very rapid check in. Plane clean service impeccable IFE very good lots of choice and all working. Flight home was not as good but that's because the cabin crew around our section were only interested in entertaining off duty cabin crew sat in front of us. Was a night flight and had to tell them on more than one occasion to keep the noise down as passengers were trying to sleep. Also the cabin guy on this flight sat himself in the aisle to chat to his friend which was very unprofessional and annoying. Apart from that was an emptyish flight so plenty of room to spread out and took under 9 hours to get back to Manchester after being stuck on the runway in Vegas because of a storm which was a bonus. Would definitely fly with Virgin again.

Flew VS 20 from San Francisco to London on Friday October 4 2013 the flight crew were superb one of the best flights to London I have had and I have done a lot! Lounge in San Francisco was exceptional great service and really good food which is more than can be said for the food on the flight it was the only down side. The pea and risotto starter was dry and starchy and the chicken was still pink inside unable to eat it. The cheese course though was excellent. Will fly Virgin Atlantic again when I go back to England next June wish I had tried you earlier it really was a great flight. Keep up the great work.

LHR-ORD return. Outbound flight on A330-300. Excellent IFE with many options. Food average and drinks service adequate. Inbound on A340-300. IFE poor with no AVOD although a night flight so not too noticeable. Seats reasonably comfortable but plane showing its age. Staff on both sectors perfunctory at best. Overall a reasonable experience which doesn't quite match the professionalism/sophistication of similar flights on BA/Air France.

On Sep 18 and Oct 7 2013 I flew with Virgin Atlantic (flights VS23 and VS24 to and from London Heathrow from Los Angeles both Airbus A340-600). I was looking forward to flying with them because I previously flew with Virgin America and loved the experience. Well it wasn't quite like that. Although the onboard staff was great the food very decent and flights smooth my seat was not comfortable at all. Not only I didn't have enough legroom (when compared with the much shorter BA flights I took internally in Europe) but on top of that the magazine compartment in front of me (made of a rigid metal frame covered in fabric) had a really bad design which made it hang loose in front of my knees so I spent my flight fighting with it trying to stretch my legs somehow. Additionally the in-flight entertainment had a nice variety of shows and movies which unfortunately couldn't really be enjoyed because the image and sound kept freezing every few seconds (I noticed this was pretty much everyone's problem) even after it had been reset by an attendant. Not a great experience overall.

Premium Economy London to New York 1st June 2013. This is a clever concept by Virgin it is marketed as business its not but the next step up is hugely more expensive. So you are getting a little more than economy but paying nearly business class fares. If you were unlucky as I was and get seats near the barrier they do not give you the legroom as the other premium economy seats do so you lose out just that little bit more. The food and seat comfort were ok but nothing special the entertainment was adequate. What really prompts me to write this review is the service. A passenger who having made a perfectly polite request for a diet coke who has to make it again after ten minutes because it still has not arrived should get attitude form the cabin staff. I don't expect sulking and glaring and flouncing off from professional air crew! Worse on the return flight five days later one of the male members of aircrew who clearly loved his own voice far too much was never off the public address system. It seemed to be used as a platform for his self promotion and to show off to passengers who just want to be left alone. If the Captain could hear what was going on I was disappointed he or she did not put a stop to it. Its not entertaining and most of all annoying when one is trying to watch a film. I won't fly with Virgin again.

We travelled last week to Las Vegas. We were an hour stuck on the plane whilst they sorted an issue with the cargo hold! This made our plane arrive into LV over an hour late. The outward trip was the most horrible experience small cramped seats rubbish not taken away enough times so you had to sit with tray open until they decided to remove it. The inflight entertainment was great if you were make and wanted to watch action and gory films! As I am not a male the only other choice was a chick flick and some awful comedy. On the return we boarded the plane 30 mins late and were told this was due to the crew arriving late! Mind you they had a 2 day stay to get over the flight there! We were again in cramped small seats the service a bit better but no change in movies! We would never fly by Virgin again and would not recommend them to anyone. Last time we went by BA and they were far superior.

Flew out on Airbus A340-600 from LHR to JFK and although the seats were a bit tight in economy and the plane felt full up and slightly claustrophobic. It was a good flight - all the crew were efficient and everything went smoothly from beginning to end - really pleased by the experience. Coming back from JFK to LHR it was a night flight - plane had quite a few empty seats so it didn't feel so full which was nice and again all went very smoothly and crew were friendly and efficient.

I recently flew from LAX (Los Angeles) to LHR (London). The crew going were very upbeat and nice. The food was disgusting to say the least. Coming home checking in was not available online. My first thought should have been this won't be good because the girl at the check in desk was very unfriendly. The crew on the flight had no personality to speak of. The food was so gross they actually served a diet ice cream bar. We were in our seats like sardines. There was no leg room to speak of. I would never fly this airline again.