I have given up on the F experience on VX, due to the same issues brought up here. After the 4th paid upgrade with the fast, furious, and disappearing service, I found myself happier in MCS, where I see the FA's more often. I have given much of my UA business to VX, but I have seen an improvement on the UA side regarding attitude and service. I hope VX FA's can learn that "better than the competition" customer service, especially in F, wins customer loyalty.

Wow, I thought maybe I had an "off" FA, but it looks like this is epidemic. My last F experience with VX was PVR to SFO, same issue. FA made a guest appearance and then took off somewhere for most of the flight. I did use the call button and she was very sweet and accommodating, but it was not what I usually experienced in F on VX.

I have to agree as well. I have given up on them. We had a flight where the FA spent the entire time refilling his bag with stuff (snacks & min booze bottles) from the cart, he couldn't bother to attend to the four of us in first! Seems to me they get the throwbacks form the other US carriers! Sorry, VX, tried to be a fan, but after many flights I give up.

This used to be an issue over at the Eskimo for awhile (to the point of frequent complaints) - I don't know what the internal initiative was to shake things up, but it is rare for an F FA over there not to make cabin pass-thrus with an acceptable frequency. It sounds like the same thing needs to occur at VX, i.e., minimum standards of cabin pass-thrus on flights of x length, etc.

Hmmm. Sounds like some of my United international flights.

VX is reaching a point in its existance where there will be some employees that are becoming 'comfortably numb' (Pink Floyd reference). There are a number of ways to correct this; some better in the long term than others.

For those that don't remember, JetBlue had a Valentines Day 2007 meltdown that cost the CEO his job. That occurred about the same point in JetBlue's existance as where VX is at today. http://www.businessweek.com/stories/...ble-at-jetblue

Follow Up
 

I shared my experience with VX through the website. About two days later I was emailed the following:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Please accept our sincere apology for the unsatisfactory service you received on your recent flight.

We want you to know that our main goal is to be an airline you love. We fell short of our goals when you traveled with us, and we're truly sorry for the lack of quality guest service demonstrated by our team members. We can assure you that this is not how we normally fly. Your letter will be shared with our Inflight Management team for internal follow up with the flight crew.

It is through guest feedback that we are able to continually improve the quality of our service. As a token of of sincere apology, I have issued a $100.00 credit to your Travel Bank


I will give them another shot in F and appreciated the credit. Share your experiences with them - they seem receptive.

That turned out to be good in some way.

Question

I was thinking of flying VX from LAX-ORD,do you recommend F/Main Cabin/Express for my first travel with them?

Fired AA
 

I have fired AA for all of my West coast travel and "hired" VX. I am EXP but buy first class so am anxious to try it out next week. For what it's worth, the bar is low to beat AA. I wish VX had more flights DFW.

Main Cabin Select. The first time you get to order whatever you want through the touch screen is kind of fun.

If you have really fired AA, you are going to wish VX had a lot more flights to a lot more places...

My flight today SFO-SEA was excellent. Gold Match (from UA 1K), so free MCS, and I decided to spend the additional $39 for F.

Seat pitch (and seats in general) in VX F can't be beat - domestically anyway.

IFE is good, not the biggest screen in the world, but it is not too far from your eyes.

WiFi. Can get overwhelmed by users.

Some kind of vegetable / cold / garbanzo(?) / sauce thing wrapped in a green tortilla for a snack. Truly underwhelming.

Constant, attentive service.

For this flight though (<2 hours), the free upgrade to MCS is probably good enough.

Working to earn 5,000 points by 4/30 to maintain Gold.

Thanks,hopefully try them when I am heading back to Chicago.

I really hope Virgin America can also activate the touchscreen order system for first class too. If I am flying Asian airlines, I have no issues using the call button, but for most US carriers I refrain from using it for service-related issues. I really think VX needs to allow F passengers to order snacks and beverages using the PTV. Since it is already all set up for MCS, I don't think it is that difficult to set it up for F too. This will allow the F/A to hang out in the back, while being able to provide service in F if needed. I know the front galley especially A319 is smaller than the mainline airline and does not have space for F/A to really sit and rest.

Carfield