I mostly fly longhaul with US carriers these days and am repeatedly underwhelmed. Flew Virgin from LHR to LAX on 15-Sep, first time with said airline for 10 years. My findings...
Check-in: Took far too long but queue was well managed & supervised. Heathrow's depressing at the best of times so it wasn't entirely VS's fault.
Plane: A340-300, few years old but very clean, stylishly presented, v. comfortable.
FAs: Babes!
IFE: Excellent. Great to see movies in near-entirety, rather than sanitised to trailer-length. Computer games dated but appreciated.
Catering: Best in class - Chicken Tikka Massala, mmm. I'd have paid cash for seconds. Was miffed about the wine tho'
Overall, as close to being enjoyable as any flight I've had. Very sorry to hear this isn't always the case.