Has anybody flown recently with Virgin Atlantic?
I am about to book my flights to Orlando from Manchester airport and would like to know what they are like yo fly with as they are the company I am leaning to booking with!
I have no past experience with them.
There are many threads discussing them in this forum. Try doing a search and you can pull them right up.
Do a search for v-flyer and read trip reports from regular travellers.
Just to add. VA is refitting all their old 747s that fly their 'leisure roots' (I think with one exception which is being phased out) and this is expected to be completed by the end of October.
Have flown with Virgin 4 times and no complaints
I have flown with Virgin to Las Vegas (twice), Jamaica and Kenya. I personally think they’re great. People complain about poor service IFE not working, limited drinks etc. But I have never had a problem, even been upgraded from PE to UC on more than one occasion.
I am flying with them to Vegas and LA later this year and will be flying with them to Mumbai and Jamaica next year.
I am a disabled passenger and feel they look after me much better then BA ever did.
by the way I always fly PE so I have no experiance of economy.
Edited: 1:58 pm, August 13, 2012I flew Manchester to Orlando in July this year on one of their new A330s. It was fine. We flew economy but I could actually stretch my legs out under the seat in front (I'm 6' 2"). There was a good choice of entertainment and the service was very good. You could pick flies with the food but unless you fly business class what on earth do people expect. I was impressed and would happily fly Virgin again. I've flown to Florida before with others including Thomas Cook (that was the most horrendous flight I've ever had and I've flown with some bad airlines) Compared to the likes of them flying with Virgin is luxurious.
Just returned with virgin from Orlando, and flew with them to Vegas and LA last year, never had a problem until our return flight from Orlando, we flew PE on both our outbound and inbound flights but the service and quality we received were worlds apart. Outbound newish airbus excellent seats, food and inflight entertainment. Different story on way back had a very very old 747 and sat upstairs in the bubble it was dreadful, cabin was grubby and tired, seats broken and didn't recline properly, the tray you eat off was broken, no drinks service, cabin crew clearly couldn't be bothered and the screen for the tv crackled and flickered every 30 seconds, it was a really poor reflection of virgin Atlantic I have heard the standards have been dropping but this is the first time I've seen it for myself, very disappointed
I flew out to Orlando with BA and home with Virgin, both ways flew traveller plus/ premium economy.
Have to say seats, IFE were very similar, food on BA was much much better, service amazing with BA, so professional and attentive, cannot fault BA, for the same or similar price I'd go BA anytime over Virgin.
On that route it all depends on whether you get an old plane or one of the newly refurbished ones - and there's no way of telling at the moment as the refurbishment project is ongoing throughout 2012. The old ones on the Orlando route have been looking old and tired for many years now and have outdated IFE. The new ones are much, much nicer and have IVOD. The only complaint I've heard is that the new PE seats offer less legroom than the old ones did. Still more than economy of course, but less than they used to. Can't corroborate that though - a friend who isn't a particularly frequent flyer told me.
