<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kqf3143:
Ack. I flew two CO tickets on VS metal last year, one LAX-LHR roundtrip and one LHR-EWR. Miserable, miserable experience. Things to know:
1. VS does not in any way, shape, or form honor CO elite status. Meaning no dodging check-in lines -- and this is HUGE, as I stood in line to check in at LHR for 2+ hours each time I flew them. Also no pre-board, which is a smaller deal, but annoying nonetheless for someone who has gotten spoiled by that! 
2. VS and LHR have major line issues, at check-in (see above), at security, and at the gate. Both trips last year, I arrived at LHR 3 hours in advance of my flight, and used every minute of those 3 hours standing in lines in order to get on the plane. If you fly on CO metal, you're more likely to be flying out of LGW, which is infinitely better, line-wise.
3. Perhaps I just had a bit of bad luck, but both of my flights out of LHR were 2+ hours late departing. This became a SERIOUS issue on the LHR-EWR flight, when CO.com gave me an itinerary that allowed only 90 min to deplane, get through immigration and customs, and get to my connecting flight. Needless to say, I didn't make it -- and it was the last flight out of EWR that night. To their credit, VS did put me up at a (fairly icky, airport) hotel, but I was greatly relieved to be on CO metal the next morning.
4. The few seats CO buys on VS flights are WAY in the back of the plane. VS has a mid-tier class of seats (premium economy, I think), but CO pax cannot upgrade to those seats, period.
Yes, the service is pretty good once you're airborne. Yes, the IFE is nice. But my feeling, after these two experiences, is that a VS flight would have to be MUCH cheaper than a CO flight for it to be worth it to me to do it again.</font>
This post is laden with misinformation.
1. While VS will not let you use Upper Class checkin lines, they will let you use Premium Economy lines (which are short or non-existant). They did this for us in SFO and LHR. In LHR, we asked where to go, flashed the Elite card, they smiled and directed us to the PE line.
2. See above. Flash the Elite card.
4. The deal is no longer a "hard block" arrangement. It's a pure codeshare. Buy your ticket from CO, then call VS and get any seat that's available.