Midnight cruiser
Thats not been my experience of GSS since joining a few months back. The pay is less than you might get at VS but you work a lot less and there is an element of extra pay as S44 mentions. After year 2 it starts going up at a reasonable clip.
Positioned down the back once to the ME but also positioned back from the US in first class which sort of makes up for it. Most of the positioning on my latest roster is to Europe.
There are 4 or 5 guys from VS here and a good number of BA retirees.
Even with BA seconded Captains, time to command is likely to be a lot less than the oft quoted 15 years plus at Virgin or BA, mainly due to the demographic at GSS (lots of guys in their late 50's and early 60's). Any expansion will only make things better.
Of all the outfits I have flown for, this has got to be the easiest and most relaxed. That is worth a lot more than an extra few quid at the end of the month, half of which is stolen by HMRC anyhow.