Virgin Atlantic

VS007 and 008 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow and back. Overall very impressed. Service is excellent. Staff keep you well fed and hydrated even in economy. Obviously it's still airplane food. However the entrees were hot the salads were cold and everything they gave us was filling and edible. Seats are a mixed bag. On the way to London (on board an A340-600) I had a bulkhead seat. The extra legroom was nice but the seat was extremely narrow because it had the tray table and TV in the armrest. In addition to that the seatbelt (for some inexplicable reason) was extremely thick and padded. Between the thick armrests and the thick seatbelt I easily lost 3 inches of seat width. Spent the whole flight with my knees jammed together it was miserable. However on the flight back I was on a 747-400. I sat in the back of the plane where there are fewer seats per row giving more room overall. On top of that my seat had extra legroom for some reason (I'm not exactly sure why...) - I just know that it was one of the first flights I've ever been on that my knees weren't touching the seat in front of me. Entertainment was very good. The only problem I had was that on the flight out (in the bulkhead seat) the TV was stowed on the floor and the extended up in front of me. The screen had been repeatedly kicked and flickered in and out and the remote stopped working halfway through the flight. In the end I highly recommend Virgin. My recommendation is that if you choose to fly Virgin avoid the bulkhead seats. The extra legroom is not worth it.

VS200 from Hong Kong to Sydney. Sat just behind the first row of PE cabin there are quite a few babies crying and screaming didn't bother me. Staff very efficient and helpful proactive. Seat very comfortable great legroom. Welcome drinks are juices or champagnes the glasses used for the champagne are the smallest I have ever seen on a flight. FA kept doing more rounds of welcome drinks so can have more juices or champagnes if you want. PE cabin totally full but didn't feel cramped toilets wait time are acceptable even though some Economy passengers are using them. Main meal is very tasty and served on china and proper cutlery. The pre-landing breakfast is more Economy feel plastic cutlery is used and minimal food but quite tasty and surprisingly juice is not available which is disappointing. All in all a very good and comfortable trip.

VS201 from Sydney to Hong Kong. Boarding very smooth. Interiors look fine. Old fashioned entertainment system navigation is not that easy touch screen function is not available. Seat width is a little bit narrow but legroom is good. Food portion is small especially the snacks before landing. Wines available are fine. FA are robotic didn't display much enthusiasm in helping and dealing with passengers they are efficient in doing the meal services. Toilets are clean all the time. A very smooth ride.

VS200 LHR-SYD in Y+. I was advised at the gate in HKG that my IFE was not working so was given 20GBP vouchers for in sky shopping. The IFE eventually worked and the voucher was honoured! Again pleasant crew but poor quality food and very limited drinks choice. I am in 2 minds about VS. I think they need to lift their game a bit. Flight left HKG late so we would not get to SYD before the curfew lifted. That could be planned better.

Flight VS095 LHR-YVR July 4 2013. Seats 61-63 A-C. Six people. Flight left and arrived on time. Flight entertainment good but no AVOD. The c seats bad screen and sound. Food small portions. Seats narrow and short seatbelts much longer on a short haul Boeing between ARN-LHR. Alcoholic drinks and pretzels that you can go and get in the galley when you want incl. gin and whisky. According to their website kids should get a backpack but when I asked they said they don't supply it anymore.

Flown with Virgin Atlantic for the last 13 years and most of the time enjoyed it. My last flight was 2 years ago and they have lost the magic touch. Upgraded to premium economy last minute (Manchester-Orlando and New York-Heathrow) and staff was good enough but obviously short staffed. Anyone noticed they have stopped giving out bags with pens flight socks toothbrushes ear muffs and so on in different colours?

VS019 from Heathrow to SFO on 7/6/13 we had one of the worst customer service experiences. We were two adults and two children 12 and under. After arriving at Heathrow right on the hour before departure the check in desk told us the flight was closed the worst part of this is that the flight was delayed another hour and 20 minutes before it even boarded. We re-booked after talking with 4 different employee's only getting us to JFK and with having to pay an extra booking fee of $250 a piece. Now in JFK with few flights to get us home. Thinking that Virgin America would help us out with the cost of getting home was completely out of the question. We had to pay for the next two days of hotels and travel.

Manchester to Orlando and back. Economy seats are the most uncomfortable I have encountered. Food was also the worst that my husband and I have ever had on an airline. The portions were small and you got the feeling that this was the cheapest meal that Virgin could order. The 'breakfast' coming back was 'muffin tops' granola bar and a small bit of juice. So basically sugar sugar and more sugar. I don't expect bacon and eggs in economy but even a good quality croissant with some butter would have been better. Served no tea and coffee as they said there was a 'problem' out of Manchester. This flight left Orlando so not sure why they couldn't order supplies out of Orlando. The only thing good I can say was that I thought the inflight entertainment was good and that the crew were attentive. It's not their fault that they were serving the cheapest of cheap catering. I thought on both legs that they regularly came around with water/juice during the flight. I would only fly Virgin again if there were no other choice.