Which Upper Class?
Mar 24, 2013, 3:09 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 32
Which Upper Class?
Hello,
I'm planning on flying from London Heathrow to New York and then back from Los Angeles to Heathrow and I was wondering which Virgin Atlantic plane had the best Upper Class seats. I know that Virgin has a new Upper Class on some of its planes (mainly the A330). Virgin's website states that all 747 are now fitted with the New Upper Class, but then it says "flying out from London Gatwick, etc" but nothing about London Heathrow. So my question is this: if I do book the flights on the 747, will I get the Upper Class seats?
For travelers who fly Business all the time this might sound like a silly question but I've never flown Business and this will probably my first and last time flying Business so yeah, I'd rather get the best.
I was supposed to be flying on Air France but I've heard that their Business Seats are horrible.
Thank you!
CC.
I'm planning on flying from London Heathrow to New York and then back from Los Angeles to Heathrow and I was wondering which Virgin Atlantic plane had the best Upper Class seats. I know that Virgin has a new Upper Class on some of its planes (mainly the A330). Virgin's website states that all 747 are now fitted with the New Upper Class, but then it says "flying out from London Gatwick, etc" but nothing about London Heathrow. So my question is this: if I do book the flights on the 747, will I get the Upper Class seats?
For travelers who fly Business all the time this might sound like a silly question but I've never flown Business and this will probably my first and last time flying Business so yeah, I'd rather get the best.
I was supposed to be flying on Air France but I've heard that their Business Seats are horrible.
Thank you!
CC.
Mar 24, 2013, 4:07 pm
#2
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 632
All the 747s have the Upper Class Suite, which until last year was the newest UC product. The LHR A333s have the Upper Class Dream Suite, which was unveiled last year and has had a mixed reception.
You can sample the new product to New York, and then the old one on the return from LAX -- and see which you prefer!
You can sample the new product to New York, and then the old one on the return from LAX -- and see which you prefer!
Mar 24, 2013, 4:23 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 32
All the 747s have the Upper Class Suite, which until last year was the newest UC product. The LHR A333s have the Upper Class Dream Suite, which was unveiled last year and has had a mixed reception.
You can sample the new product to New York, and then the old one on the return from LAX -- and see which you prefer!
You can sample the new product to New York, and then the old one on the return from LAX -- and see which you prefer!
Thank you!
Mar 25, 2013, 1:26 am
#4
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: VS Au, Skywards Au, BA Exec Ag, HH Diamond, Taj Au
Posts: 1,389
Mar 25, 2013, 3:39 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 32
There aren't any new UC seats on 747s as at240 said above ... basically the nose of a 747 in UC is the best place to be. The new UC seat is smaller, less comfortable, squeezed into the cabin like sardines, narrower aisles, limited storage ... not good in comparison.
Mar 25, 2013, 5:21 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 32
All the 747s have the Upper Class Suite, which until last year was the newest UC product. The LHR A333s have the Upper Class Dream Suite, which was unveiled last year and has had a mixed reception.
You can sample the new product to New York, and then the old one on the return from LAX -- and see which you prefer!
You can sample the new product to New York, and then the old one on the return from LAX -- and see which you prefer!
The reason I'm asking is that ultimately the A340 is my favorite plane but I've heard that the A340 Upper Class is getting very old (the seats have scratches and cracks, the entertainment screens are very old, etc). I've flown Virgin's A340 JFK-LHR in Economy and it was great (2007 I believe it was)
Thank you again for your insights!
Mar 25, 2013, 9:54 am
#7
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 632
Oh, do you know if the A340-600 have been re-fitted as well? In a Svenblogt.de trip report he states that Virgin is planning to re-fit all their A340 in the next months (which sounds weird as I've heard they were going to retire its entire A340 fleet to make room for the new 787s and 380s coming soon). The article is about 6 months old.
The reason I'm asking is that ultimately the A340 is my favorite plane but I've heard that the A340 Upper Class is getting very old (the seats have scratches and cracks, the entertainment screens are very old, etc). I've flown Virgin's A340 JFK-LHR in Economy and it was great (2007 I believe it was)
The reason I'm asking is that ultimately the A340 is my favorite plane but I've heard that the A340 Upper Class is getting very old (the seats have scratches and cracks, the entertainment screens are very old, etc). I've flown Virgin's A340 JFK-LHR in Economy and it was great (2007 I believe it was)
The A346s I've travelled on have been in good condition. They are not old aircraft and I'd say the UC suite is generally in much better condition on the 346s than on the LHR 747s. The LGW 747s have just been refreshed so they should be in good shape.
The A333s based at LHR are the aircraft with the new UCDS (Upper Class Dream Suite). They seem to be replacing the 346 on some of its old routes.
Note that there are still some older A343s at LHR. These have got a bit of criticism for their internal state, but I haven't travelled on one so can't comment.
Just in response to something you said upthread to slinky, bear in mind that the original UC suite does not date from 2011 -- it was introduced quite a while ago, but I'm not sure exactly when. The new product, the UCDS, was introduced last year.
Hope this helps.
Mar 25, 2013, 1:17 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 32
The A346 is not being refitted, so far as I know. I believe they will leave the fleet (and many have already done so).
The A346s I've travelled on have been in good condition. They are not old aircraft and I'd say the UC suite is generally in much better condition on the 346s than on the LHR 747s. The LGW 747s have just been refreshed so they should be in good shape.
The A333s based at LHR are the aircraft with the new UCDS (Upper Class Dream Suite). They seem to be replacing the 346 on some of its old routes.
Note that there are still some older A343s at LHR. These have got a bit of criticism for their internal state, but I haven't travelled on one so can't comment.
Just in response to something you said upthread to slinky, bear in mind that the original UC suite does not date from 2011 -- it was introduced quite a while ago, but I'm not sure exactly when. The new product, the UCDS, was introduced last year.
Hope this helps.
The A346s I've travelled on have been in good condition. They are not old aircraft and I'd say the UC suite is generally in much better condition on the 346s than on the LHR 747s. The LGW 747s have just been refreshed so they should be in good shape.
The A333s based at LHR are the aircraft with the new UCDS (Upper Class Dream Suite). They seem to be replacing the 346 on some of its old routes.
Note that there are still some older A343s at LHR. These have got a bit of criticism for their internal state, but I haven't travelled on one so can't comment.
Just in response to something you said upthread to slinky, bear in mind that the original UC suite does not date from 2011 -- it was introduced quite a while ago, but I'm not sure exactly when. The new product, the UCDS, was introduced last year.
Hope this helps.
Pardon my ignorance but you said earlier that all 747s have been re-fitted (like it states on Virgin's website)? If that is correct, the UC on all 747 (LGW and LHR) should be relatively new?!
I believe the review was about a flight on a A346. I've only found A346s on that route anyway (apart from the A333 and the B744)
"Given the choice, I'd go for a 747 in the nose. Otherwise a -600."
If the 747 is in fact a re-fitted version, it does look pretty good to me (same as seen on the picture above). I think I might even just stick with the B744 for the flight back as well, even though I like the idea of having a bar on the plane (I don't think the B744 has that).
Mar 25, 2013, 2:00 pm
#10
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: VS Au, Skywards Au, BA Exec Ag, HH Diamond, Taj Au
Posts: 1,389
As to the 747 refits it's only those 747s that are based at LGW that have been refitted, and even though the UCDS was introduced last year the LGW refits meant a refresh of the original UCS not the new so called 'dream' suite. Frankly, it's fantastic. Consider this - BA fits 14 First class seats in the same space in the nose of a 747, VS fits the same number of upper class suites.
At LHR you have four planes:
A343 - original upper class suite
A346 - original upper class suite but generally newer aircraft and the suites are still in very good nick (and these are my faves)
A333 - with 'dream' suite
B747 - original upper class suite but because these were the first fitted they tend to be the most 'used'
All VS planes with upper class have a bar on them.
Mar 25, 2013, 2:03 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 32
I didn't say anything about when UC was introduced, which BTW was in 2004 IIRC.
As to the 747 refits it's only those 747s that are based at LGW that have been refitted, and even though the UCDS was introduced last year the LGW refits meant a refresh of the original UCS not the new so called 'dream' suite. Frankly, it's fantastic. Consider this - BA fits 14 First class seats in the same space in the nose of a 747, VS fits the same number of upper class suites.
At LHR you have four planes:
A343 - original upper class suite
A346 - original upper class suite but generally newer aircraft and the suites are still in very good nick (and these are my faves)
A333 - with 'dream' suite
B747 - original upper class suite but because these were the first fitted they tend to be the most 'used'
All VS planes with upper class have a bar on them.
As to the 747 refits it's only those 747s that are based at LGW that have been refitted, and even though the UCDS was introduced last year the LGW refits meant a refresh of the original UCS not the new so called 'dream' suite. Frankly, it's fantastic. Consider this - BA fits 14 First class seats in the same space in the nose of a 747, VS fits the same number of upper class suites.
At LHR you have four planes:
A343 - original upper class suite
A346 - original upper class suite but generally newer aircraft and the suites are still in very good nick (and these are my faves)
A333 - with 'dream' suite
B747 - original upper class suite but because these were the first fitted they tend to be the most 'used'
All VS planes with upper class have a bar on them.
Thanks again!
Mar 25, 2013, 2:51 pm
#12
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 632
They just did the LGW ones because they were refitting the other cabins on the LGW fleet at the same time, and so they took the opportunity to refresh the suites and install the latest IFE.
Mar 25, 2013, 2:56 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 632
Mar 26, 2013, 5:22 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 32
Anyway, I booked it. VS045 (747-400) at the end of August. Maybe by then they'll have re-fitted those as well :> I haven't been on a 747 since 2000...
Back from LAX on VS24 (A340-600). I looked at a video of the A346 upper class
and it does look pretty good.
I've also booked a Virgin America flight from JFK to SFO, but in economy this time. I'm a bit surprised that Virgin Atlantic does not offer some kind of package that would include any Virgin America flight like most airlines do. For instance, I could have booked a package with Star Alliance that included a Brussels Airlines direct flight from Brussels to JFK, a United 757-200 flight from JFK to SFO and a Lufthansa flight (A340 or A380) from LAX to Munich and then Munich to Brussels, all on business class just for $120 more and with checked in baggages included (which aren't on Virgin America, so it's gonna be $20 more / person - we're 4!). But the schedules weren't convenient enough for me. I sent an email to Virgin Atlantic about my complaint.
Thanks again for your comments!