Virgin flying club - UC experience

Im flying for the first time Upper class to NY with my wife for Christmas and New Year and I'm really looking forward to the experience but the more I read up on this the more worried I get. whenever I read about other peoples experiences in this, I seem to get more and more negative vibes, like the food on board is not up to standard and the way the FA's treat you are not up to scratch, I hope some of you here can put my mind at ease and give some positive feed back on the whole Upper Class experience. Its really for my wife to say a big thanks for helping me get through a very tough year after losing my Mother and I really want it to be special for her. Any comments are most appreciated.

Hi,

I flew VS Upper Class to San Francisco in July and had a very good experience with no problems.

Check in and security was great, the LHR clubhouse was fantastic ( prebook a treatment), the food on board was good ( may have declined in amount and quality from previous years but still very good)- By the time you have the soup as a starter, main course and dessert you should be full.
The overnight flight back to the UK was good ( sleep suits were handed out ,breakfast was very good) UC bags were amongst the first off and the Revivals lounge was very good.

Enjoy Upper class.

Regards

TBS

Virgin has one of the best business class products available. I've always enjoyed the service offered both onboard and at the airport. You're flying on a route where you will have access to excellent lounges so I'm sure it will be most enjoyable! If you're worried about the food, have something substantial to eat in the lounges. ^

I just did a trip report with pictures on that route -

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1000233-virgin-atlantic-upper-class-photo-report-jfk-lhr.html.

It is a nice product with an excellent bed, but the food onboard is standard business class food. It's not first class. But it's nice.

Do eat in the lounges as the food is excellent and well done. Then perhaps watch some movies and have a few drinks, then sleep onboard.

Please be aware that it will be difficult for you to converse with your wife due to the construction of the seats.

The bar is a bit of a gimmick, I think.

Two things to remember:

- most people tell a bad tale to ten other people and a good tale to one, so you will always see the good stories drowned
- VS Upper Class is not first class, but business class and one of the best in its class

I fly VS long haul about four times a month and do so for many reasons - I always find the in flight cabin crew excellent, love the suite, enjoy the bar and find the gound facilities superb. OK, the food isn't that exciting and if you can, eat in the lounges before flying and snack on board. But do look forward to it, and compared to many other choices, it's pretty damned good.

I would definitely agree with what others have said - in terms of a business class product, it is one of the best in my opinion, although it (like all products) has a few short comings.

First, I've always had great crew onboard - remember Virgin is one of the few choices you have from the US to UK that doesn't also have substantial domestic routes - meaning you don't run into the senority issue onboard (ie. grand mother FA's) on the international flights like you do with a US based airline. I'm not trying to be rude in that statement, but let's be honest - it is nice to board a plane where the FA's are well groomed, chipper, energetic and pleasant.

As far as the seat goes, it remains one of the best (for me) in terms of sleeping, particularly upper deck on a 747 since those seats are a few inches longer. Sure, they're not ideal for chatting with the person you're traveling with, but then again neither are most first class seats either.

The Clubhouse at LHR remains one of my favorite lounges - and most other Virgin run lounges in the network are pretty good (unless you end up flying out of an airport like MIA which use a locally run shared lounge - ugh, horrible.)

Regarding onboard catering, well as per my previous post the other day, I personally think it could use a little upgrade but it's not horrible. Just keep in mind that Virgin's presentation (especially British comfort food options like fish pie) isn't exactly pretty but if that's the worst bit of the product, it's a lot better than some of the alternatives.

Without doubt when flying to LHR, Virgin Upper Class is my first choice in a business class product from the states - just remember it could be a lot worse, you could be flying coach on a US based airline. Oh and as others have said remember, is business not first. Not to worry, I'm sure you'll have a great trip!

I just did a trip report with pictures on that route -

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/1000233-virgin-atlantic-upper-class-photo-report-jfk-lhr.html.

It is a nice product with an excellent bed, but the food onboard is standard business class food. It's not first class. But it's nice.

Do eat in the lounges as the food is excellent and well done. Then perhaps watch some movies and have a few drinks, then sleep onboard.

Please be aware that it will be difficult for you to converse with your wife due to the construction of the seats.

The bar is a bit of a gimmick, I think.

Picture are great thanks, cant wait.

Thanks all ^ really looking forward to it, cant wait to see the the wifes face when we get to LHR, especially when we're going to take our place in the economy queue then thats where I'm going to give her the tickets.;)

Im flying for the first time Upper class to NY with my wife for Christmas and New Year and I'm really looking forward to the experience but the more I read up on this the more worried I get. whenever I read about other peoples experiences in this, I seem to get more and more negative vibes, like the food on board is not up to standard and the way the FA's treat you are not up to scratch, I hope some of you here can put my mind at ease and give some positive feed back on the whole Upper Class experience. Its really for my wife to say a big thanks for helping me get through a very tough year after losing my Mother and I really want it to be special for her. Any comments are most appreciated.

My wife and I have flown Virgin (almost exclusively UC) to the States about twice a year since 2004. During that time we have only ever had one substandard experience - and that with a single individual - the rest of the crew were no problem. All other times have been great. Make the most of the lounges especially in LHR (assuming you are flying out from there) and the JFK lounge is pretty good too. Food onboard has dropped in quality a little (your mileage may vary) over the past 12 month in my opinion, so probably best to take your main meals in a lounge before boarding.

I usually find it a joke on most airlines when they tell you to "enjoy your flight" - sure - cramped seats, disgusting food, surly staff, screaming kids and then throw in a bit of turbulence for kicks. However we actually *do* enjoy the flights in UC with Virgin. When flying out from LHR we allow extra time to enjoy the lounge too. If you're flying out from there don't forget to pre-book your treatments from the Cowshed!

Hi JF,

I've flown in nearly all bus class products, and just did a Virgin one a couple of weeks ago for the first time to JFK. My comments:

- AV is starting to get a **little** dated - its still great, but as things move on these systems are now getting a little old compared to the Emirates ICE etc. But, great still
- The seat, doesn't recline as much as most, but then you do have the great experience of changing into UC 'jamas whilst someone sorts you out a comfy bed...! For my two flights, I was more than happy to be tucked in by any of the female stewardesses! Average age must be half that of other airlines, which is nice... Its starting to feel like BA/United etc only hire pensioners now... (this will get me in trouble on FT!)
- Food - onboard, not **AWESOME** but not bad either. Eat in the clubhouse beforehand though - wonderful.
- Lounges - bloody fantastic, no questions. Makes most other airlines look like they don't care about the lounges. I got my hair cut, had a massage, a waitress served breakfast and then a couple of martinis served by uber-efficient waiters etc. Played a game of pool etc, but was gutted I forgot to put my swimmers in my bag so I couldn't use the tub. DO book a treatment or two, they're great.
- Arrivals lounge - top form also - staff are clearly far more polite than any other in Heathrow, and its a great place. Listen to the radio in the shower, have a massage and a cooked breakfast and hit the day properly. Top stuff.

Overall - i'd give the staff top marks, the planes - well, they're getting a little long in the tooth now, but far better than most still, and everything else was well over par.

Enjoy it!

STS

"The bar is a bit of a gimmick, I think."

I can confirm after significant testing on my flight, that the bar isn't a gimmick... I've got the girls' email and phone number to prove it... :p

"The bar is a bit of a gimmick, I think."

I can confirm after significant testing on my flight, that the bar isn't a gimmick... I've got the girls' email and phone number to prove it... :p

Lucky (maybe unlucky?) you!

But a "bar" (on the A340-600, at least) with 4 seats, no one minding it, and situated with lovely views (and smells) of the toilets on either side is what I call a gimmick!

Lucky (maybe unlucky?) you!

But a "bar" (on the A340-600, at least) with 4 seats, no one minding it, and situated with lovely views (and smells) of the toilets on either side is what I call a gimmick!

Admittedly, the bar on the 747 is much better - I can recall when it had a leather sofa in front of it, with seat belts so you could stay slurping during turbulance! However, the bar on a 340 can still be pretty good fun!