Originally Posted by
Raindeer
Had I bought a Coach ticket, then you would have a point. But I bought a First Class ticket. The VX website spends a lot of time detailing how differentiated the IFE and Seat are. When you pay for a First Class seat, and it doesn't recline, that is terrible. If all I can expect from First Class is transportation, why bother with paying over 4x the price of coach. I am not some upgrader. I am someone who regularly purchases First Class tickets. If VX wants to behave in this fashion, then fine, so be it. I will happily take my dollars elsewhere.
The sad thing is that this experience negatively tarnishes the Virgin brand, and I am now hestitant to fly Virgin Atlantic again knowing that this is how Virgin takes care of its customers.
I'm with the OP on this. VX heavily promotes its IFE and other features as differentiating it from the other carriers. Flying a plane that doesn't feature what was promised and then offering a pittance of a voucher in response makes VX look no different than the competition on this route. Moreover, no airline that promotes its IFE and massage seat as much as VX does should ever fall back on the old line of "you bought and received transportation between X and Y." WN offers transportation between X and Y. VX is selling transportation plus a decent experience.