I had the opportunity to fly VX for the first time this last week and here are my impressions.

SFO/SEA; 10/9, VX 740; main cabin. Checked in online and easily cleared security without any delays. Boarding started on time and we pushed backed a few minutes early. The plane was clean and ready to go. It was nice to see blankets and pillows since they are a rare commodity on other airlines these days. As many others have said, the IFE , Red, is simply awesome and makes the flight go so much more quickly. It makes the IFE over at UA look primitive. In-flight service was a beverage service. The FA’s seemed friendly, although they disappeared right after the service and weren’t seen again until just before landing. From other posts, it sounds like this is an unfortunate trend. One reason many folks are deserting airlines like UA is because of the indifferent treatment by disgruntled employees. VX should be trying to set a new service standard rather than having their FA’s adopt the UA way of running a flight. Overall, I thought that VX’s Y product was a step above other airlines.

SEA/SFO; 10/13 VX 757; First Class. I was interested in trying VX’s F product after hearing a lot about it. When I went to check in online 24 hours ahead of my flight, I was offered the chance to upgrade for $50. I selected the option and went through the purchasing process only to get an error message that said that they couldn’t process it and to call reservations. (Via FT, I learned that VX is having a lot of problems with its software for the upgrades.) The biggest hassle wasn’t that the website couldn’t process the upgrade but that when I called reservations it took 2 calls and speaking to 4 different agents and supervisors before they acknowledged that they could process the upgrade at reservations like several FT’ers had mentioned on this forum. Several agents insisted the upgrade could be done only online or at the airport. I’ll give them that they’re a new airline and there no doubt will be kinks in the system, but they didn’t handle this situation very well.

Anyway, with my upgrade now in hand, boarding of the flight commenced on time. The F cabin FA offered us a pre-departure drink before we pushed back. As others have described, the F seat is awesome; very comfortable and roomy. That combined with Red, makes for a great way to fly. However, the service was mediocre. Having flown most of my life on UA, I think I have a good feeling about what is or is not a good level of service in F and Y. On this VX flight, the FA was friendly enough, but not really engaged. Drinks came with a light dinner and refills weren’t offered when the trays were picked up. After dinner, the FA disappeared to the rear of the plane and wasn’t seen again until right before landing. No refills were offered even though several folks had empty wine glasses for over 20 minutes. As for the dinner, the choice was pasta or BBQ chicken salad. I opted for the pasta. It was basically a small amount of pasta with a teaspoon of tasteless red sauce poured over it. It was virtually inedible. The chicken salad looked a bit better. I realize that this flight was reasonably short, but if VX is going to serve dinner, it should be decent or otherwise they should just stick to warm nuts and drinks. As for the service and food, I would rank this flight in the bottom 50% of my F flights based on my experience on UA (and believe me, I’m not a big supporter of UA these days since they have degraded their product so much.)

Overall conclusion: I think VX has a good product and in many ways is superior to airlines like UA. However, they definitely need improvement in some areas if they really want to shine. Perhaps I caught them on a bad day, but the hassles over the upgrade, the lack of knowledge by the res staff, the indifferent treatment by the FA’s, and lousy meal service are things that need to be improved.