desi

I just took my first roundtrip on VX and had some other ticketting/award experience with them.

If this is the best airline in US, I wonder how bad others are.

First for positive:
- in my small sample size, flights departed and landed early
- IFE was great to kill time
- Mostly staff seem to be professional

But for negatives:
- ran into some unusally rude FA (Crystal) on flight from SFO - very surprising for any FA to be so bad on any airline (but lets ignore it as all businesses have bad apples)

- unbelievably difficult time trying to get VS and VX to coordinate for award tickets (points were there, seats were thers - just two sister companies couldnt coordinate - had to give up)

- BIGGEST NEGATIVE it takes few minutes (or hours) to show charge for full fare ticket to show up on credit card but why does refund takes 5+ weeks?

VXCabinCrew

"- ran into some unusally rude FA (Crystal) on flight from SFO - very surprising for any FA to be so bad on any airline (but lets ignore it as all businesses have bad apples)

- unbelievably difficult time trying to get VS and VX to coordinate for award tickets (points were there, seats were thers - just two sister companies couldnt coordinate - had to give up)"





Please contact the company about this....venting on here won't fix the issue. It's important to let them know your experience.

dhuey

Sorry to see your negative experience with the FA, OP. I think the very strong consensus among us VX regulars is that VX FAs are among the friendliest and most helpful in the world.

cringle

You're right, the process of redeeming points for flights on other airlines is a nightmare, since the other airlines release so few seats for these types of bookings. In my experience, the agents are really helpful, however, in trying to make your flight work by checking other cities and dates that could work.

As far as the credit card refunds, that's mostly dependent on your credit card company or your bank. Virgin releases the credit information to them within 24 hours but they all have different processes for adding back a refund. Some even wait for the end of your billing cycle, which can draw it out. I use Amex mostly and haven't had it take any more than 5 days at most.

Horchata

^ def true re: refunds, it's usually the bank/credit card company's policy that gets in the way. Never any issue with Amex or Citi.

But I must say, after all the hype I've heard about Virgin from friends etc, I wasn't blown away after my 1st trans-con flight with them recently.
I did appreciate their timeliness, nice GA, comfy seats, and mood lighting.

BUT, IFE was pricey ($8 a movie, seriously!?) unless less you wanted to watch CNN or sitcom reruns, Wifi wasn't free (then again whose is?) the onscreen drink ordering system didn't seem to work (I ended up just having to ask a FA), and worse (at least for me) no snacks a la Jetblue!

I'll still give them another try tho if the opportunity comes up =)

some dude

Also very small sample size, but ...

Positives --
in-air first class service was excellent
food very good.
Seat comfortable though a bit hard.
Mood lighting great.

Negatives --
* Unable to modify secure flight profile online to add known traveler number, needed to call, and unknown if it was actually added correctly (did not get TSA-PRE).
* Ground staff seemed very untrained, not pre-boarding handicapped pax, leaving wheelchair in middle of line, etc ...
* No closet to hang up garment bag with suit -- every other first class cabin I have ever been in has had one.
* Required phone call to upgrade to first class -- why can't this be done online?

tonywestsider

FC upgrades become available online six hours before departure.

Eastbay1K

If you have previously checked in, I don't think that function functions.

tonywestsider

If you've already checked-in online in Main Cabin, you can always inquire if there are any upgrades available for a fee at the airport gate before departure.

some dude

I specifically did not check in at the 24 hour mark (my normal procedure on other airlines) to allow for this upgrade, after reading the FAQ. Since the flight was at 9AM, that meant the 6 hour window was 3AM (highly inconvenient timing -- to be customer friendly, it really should be at least 10 red/ 20 silver / 30 gold or something like that, rather than 6/12/24). Fortunately, a friend with insomnia promised that he would be awake at that hour anyway, so I provided him with my reservation number (booked through a corporate travel agent), as well as a separate reservation number for my Fiancé (booked from virginamerica.com).
Neither upgrade was successful online (unknown exact reason as I didn't do it myself), and he had to call.

The reservation was not checked in until I woke up at 6AM to do it myself. At that point, the first class cabin was booked solid. At the time I went to sleep, there were still 4 seats available in FC, suggesting that calling in at 3AM is probably the only way to get that upgrade.

SocalApproach

Are you serious.... 10,20, and 30 hours prior?? Pretty sure this suggestion will not be considered anywhere. That is ludicrous. Changing to those times wont do any good, sure maybe for your flight at 9AM THIS TIME but NEXT time it may be at 10PM. All this will do is make people have a headache trying to crunch times in their head.

Pi7473000

Thanks for this post! I was going to buy a ticket to try them out from LAX to JFK as the new United is not the best choice anymore service wise. Virgin America sounds just as mediocre though as United, but still better than Delta. I will just abet a business class ticket on American's new A321 instead. Good to hear your flights were ontime, but it is not good to read about the negative service from the FA.

hub-captive

I had several trips planned where VX was the most appealing option even though I don't have status with them. However their limited schedule led me to choose AA/UA (both of which I have status on) because I was afraid of being a whole day waiting for the next flight in case of IROPS.

Actually, same thing goes for VS ORD-LHR too.

tonywestsider

Comment deleted.

bcj1949

I'd give DL a try. Service better than ever and an airline that seems to be in real service oriented mode. Also really doing well financially reflecting great management and customer satisfaction. Different airlines than 5 years ago.