Originally Posted by tom139

So today I did LHR-EDI-LHR on Virgin Atlantic 'Little Red' aka Aer Lingus jazzed up flying as Virgin...

I must admit I was expecting what I had always thought when I have travelled with Virgin in the past...style over substance.

Having said that, it was almost a 1/3 cheaper than BA so thought I would give it a go...

LHR T1

Boy oh boy does T5 spoil us...it is better than it was a few years ago but not amazing in any sense. VS flights use the Servisair lounge and, surprisingly, although nothing compared to their Clubhouse in T3 or any of the BA lounges...bacon rolls were offered and the lounge had a good selection of magazines free to take away and an okay drink selection.

BA T5 departures win.

Boarding

Boarding was approximately 25 minutes before departure. Gate staff were dressed in VS uniform although I expect they were too Aer Lingus. Newspapers at the gate. The boarding process was okay, although I did feel the gate staff were pretty patronising. I also didn't like to see the pilot and first officer rock up the gate 2 minutes before boarding started with a coffee and a croissant. I know this isn't anything bad but we wouldn't see this with BA and it made the whole thing seem pretty amateurish.

BA T5 departures win.

Punctuality

BA departures for me lately have always been late. VS left the gate early and arrived 15 minutes early on the outbound and 20 minutes early on the return. Both LHR and LGW BA services back from EDI were showing delays of 45 minutes - 1 hour.

VS wins

Crew

Staff were dressed in VS uniform, although they were Aer Lingus crew. Although they were 'friendly,' I felt this was very false indeed. This was true on both legs of the trip today and the Senior Crew were pretty rude if I'm honest. I was also sat near the front on both legs and both crew members had to read word for word the 'welcome on board' announcement and how 'they really appreciated our business' at the end. Is it too hard to learn?

BA wins

Food offering

I say food 'loosely' as it was a 15g pack of 'plane crisps' on the way out and a cookie on the return. No different to BA I guess but I think the drinks were of a better quality on VS.

Additionally, VS offer love heart sweets before landing. Quirky but quite a nice touch.

VS wins

Aircraft

The aircraft I travelled on was built in 2003 and has flown with Eurofly and Meridiana before it joined Aer Lingus/VS earlier this year. It was been exceptionally maintained/refurbished and it felt like a brand new plane. The purple mood lighting throughout was 'very VS' but worked. The purple leather seats were way more comfortable than BA's leather seats but the pitch felt a little tighter. I also didn't like feeling like I was sat in the galley - the number of rows seems to have been maximised to the likes of FR and EZY levels...

VS wins overall here

Loads

BA domestic flights always seem pretty well loaded. The outbound today had around 50% load and 75% on the return. I don't know if this is just because it was August but I have a feeling VS may struggle to keep this route going if this was consistent with normal!

Has anyone else tried VS Little Red?