Virgin Atlantic

[AdamC]

Just scrapped my flights with XL to SFB, more trouble than it's worth!

I've now just booked flights with Virgin from Manchester to Orlando, also giving myself an extra week in Orlando! :D

However, what concerns me is I've just read reviews on VA and they appear to be very umm poor! - Whats the Virgin service actually like?

Flights are set to be operated on a 747-400.

Manchester - Orlando 10th January
Orlando - Manchester 31st January

[amanoffewwords]

Mrs Words + kids are due to come back from Havana with VS tomorrow - they all said the trip out was excellent and are looking forward to the return leg. Would recommend you check-in online + saved some hassle at the airport.

Orlando airport, now that's another kettle of fish. :ugh:

[gdiphil]

Miss junior gdiphil aged 14 flew Virgin to St. Lucia and back with her friend and family in July and thought "they were fine". She often accompanies me to Sydney on other carriers and thinks we should use VS via HK on some future occasion. However she does not think the seating is up to Qantas standards, more like Continental in pitch. She says the food was good and speaks enthusiastically about having Chicken Tikka Masala. IFE was ok she says but not on demand and therefore prefers US Airways or Qantas or SIA. She is a well travelled young lady and knows what she likes for long haul. I also have the distinct impression some of the male cabin crew were also of interest to her, but maybe that is a father's suspicious mind!

[AdamC]

Actually looking forward to the VS experience now! - One thing that I am impressed with is being able to choose my seat online now, when the flight is still along time away! (Im used to flying budget airlines, so all this to me is like living in the year 3000!)

Thanks for the help, really put my mind at rest! :)

Words, is Orlando Airport really that bad? - I flew to Sanford in January and that was perfect, 10 minutes at immigration, few minutes at baggage reclaim and we was in our car! - Literally, 20 minutes after getting off the aircraft we was driving out of the airport carpark!

[amanoffewwords]

When Mrs Words and I were last herded through ORD the plane we came on had already left for LGW and was probably somewhere over Canada by the time we left the airport to drive to Tampa, some 2.5 hours later. Delays included having to collect our luggage from two different carousels, queuing for ages for customs/passport control along with loads of other 747 SLFs+ being taken on a magical mistery tour to the rental car area (we later discovered this was a delaying tactic by airport staff as there were [in their opinion] too many people crammed in that area. The final straw was when they said we had to wait for a rental car guy to drive our car 20 yards to us because it would have been unsafe for us to cross the car park on our own. Unfortunately there were probably over 50 pax waiting for their cars - at the end we all rebelled, picked up our bags and walked to our cars. The return journey through ORD wasn't bad as I recall so maybe we were unlucky.

[NWSRG]

Only good things to say about VS and Orlando International!

The airline experience was A1 with genuinely helpful staff, good food, and good entertainment. Before you choose your seats, make sure to check out v-flyer.com. This site has a seat map, complete with ratings for each seat, and a comprehensive guide to IFE.

As for the airports, I've never flown to Sanford, but MCO is an example of what a modern airport should be like. Imigration was quick (and friendly) and the airport is very easy to transit quickly. You will have to collect your bags in the satellite terminal to take them through security, but then you lose them again until you take the train to the main terminal...strange but effective!

Finally, make use of the Downtown Disney check-in. You can check-in at the Virgin desk (just outside the Cirque du Soleil) and leave your bags there...definitely makes things less stressful!

[derekl]

My regular "commute" is LHR-SFO, these days usually with Virgin, and usually in the back of the plane. My experience of VA is good. The CC are nice folks and render good to very good service, keeping you fed and watered throughout the ten hour flight. The IFE systems are excellent (once you work out how to navigate all the options).

I flew with them two weeks ago, and I'm flying with them again next week.

If you get a chance/can afford their Premium Economy service (I occasionally do), it is really good, equivalent to international business class on most carriers. Recommended.

Have a great trip!

Derek
--

[PAXboy]

Disclaimer: I do not work for any airline and never have

gdiphilHowever she does not think the seating is up to Qantas standards, more like Continental in pitch.SeatGuru lists three seating arrangements for VS 744 and all show the Y seating at 32" pitch. Their Qantas listing shows 31".

Continental are not listed as having the 747 any more so I checked: 764 shown at 32" and 772 at 31" pitch.

I did not check seat width and of course other a/c may have had other fittings. But it occurred to me that, Miss junior gdiphil, might have grown :ooh: since she last travelled on CO/QA and so the VS seat just seemed to be smaller? Her proud father may be too busy repelling cabin crew (and other pax) to notice this ... ;)

[ryansf]

Virgin are ace! Best flight I've ever had...I was on a LHR 747 though from New York to London though, I don't know what the Manchester crews/747 are like. Compared to say, BA, they are a fun, cheeky airline!

[av8boy]

Whats the Virgin service actually like?

Most excellent. At least on the 74 between KSFO and Heathrow. I've been in "Upper Class" and econ and both were better than the competition.

Dave

[AdamC]

:ok: - Don't know what other people have been talking about but from what I've heared nobody had anything good to say about VS!

Really looking forward to my flights now, my holiday starts on the plane!

We've rented a car with Dollar and on VS website when we booked it said the car had to be returned to the airport at 12:00 when we don't fly until 18:30, is this a strict rule, or can we turn up at 16:00 with our car? :P

[PAXboy]

There will always be those with bad experiences. I have no doubt that you could have two (unrelated) pax sitting side by side and they will report different levels of service for the trip.

This is because, of course, we all bring something different to the trip ... Us! Our personal background, upbringing, history of travel and - most important - cultural understanding of service, will have a far greater effect on the perceived service, than the service itself.

Cabin crew tell stories of the pax who simply cannot be satisfied. There is no kind of service or food that will make them happy. I dare say we have all met people like that in our daily lives and every company has at least one client that will not be satisfied.

Lastly, there is the well known human reaction that a dissatisfied customer tells (I think it is) 10 people, whilst the happy customer tells 2. The web sites that invite pax to report their experience of a carrier inevitably collect all the junk. But these are not in any way qualified or put into perspective by with the personal history of the person writing the report.

My view? I first flew on VS 21 years ago and have been in all the cabins at different times. They are my first choice for long haul in any cabin. Have I had poor service from them? Sometimes it has been less good than on other trips but we are all human. Are other carriers as good? Certainly.

[afterdark]

check also that you put the correct date of return in for your car hire, you have the option to select date and time of car return it automatically only lists it for one week and make sure you have chosen the relevant insurance package.

IMHO Orlando v Sanford ........ you will not get lost or delayed so much at Sanford and you dont feel you have to keep your eyes wide open at all around you ohhhh they sell Morgans Spiced at Sanford too .... big plus.

[speeddial]

Have flown with VA from LHR to SFO twice in the last two years, good customer service, until you get on the aircraft. Very condescending and "your just the passenger" attitudes from the CC, even worse on the flight back from the US, got the impression it was "eat up, shut up, get to sleep" as we all want to get to sleep.

Flying with BA this time.

[22/04]

Flown with VS many times but mainly to S Africa Japan and India. All classes. Never had a terrible experience but Cabin crew, like any airline are variable. Some are very very good, (getting me a window seat in economy by carefully suggesting moves to others who wanted to make them). Others can be indifferent - but never been igonred or refused any reasonable request. *cf. BA who I aovid after asking for a drink and being told "you'll have to wait".

Aircraft are usually in good condition (although I am not sure you'll have on demand enetertainment on the route you are flying).

Still like VS though less so than a few years ago.

For more on Virgin take a look at www.v-flyer.com

[10secondsurvey]

Having experienced both BA and VS, I've actually experienced this 'eatup, shutup, go to sleep' on both. I think it varies with the crew.

In particular, on one occasion in BA club returning from East coast USA to LHR, the meal and drinks were rushed, and I was told by CC that most of the others had already eaten in the lounge. Clearly, my mistake, thinking a club ticket allowed a pax to CHOOSE to eat on board.

I truly despise the 'shut up' and 'go to sleep' attitude that seems very prevalent in a lot of airlines now.

Overall, I used to prefer VS to BA, especially in prem econ, but there's not much in it. The VS 'new' prem econ. seats have plenty legroom,but not much footroom, as there are big boxes under most seats, which unlike most airlines, actually take up the entire width of the area under the seat in front. With BA, most seats don't have such boxes, and those that do only take up around half the width, so you can usually still stretch your legs. In my mind, the new VS prem seats are kind of self defeating because of this problem.

[PAXboy]

I was in the new VS PE to JNB and back in April/May and did not find the footroom thus restricted. I contend that the loss of footroom inflicted by the carriers is not sufficiently offset by the AVOD systems, mainly because they fail far too frequently but that is another thread.

It is impossible to know what 'sets' a crew at the start of a sector that might lead them to be poor. Was it a bad layover? Is that days' CC chief honcho (too many fancy titles to remember) particularly ruthless? Did some unpleasant memor get curculated? I wonder if there is something that happens in the crew room, or as they are walking to the a/c that suddenly 'sets' the mood.

Of course, the mood is not always the whole crew but if the two or three that you see are poor, then that is the whole operation.

[TSR2]

Bit of a long drive from Chicago to Tampa. Assume you mean MCO not ORD.

[derekl]

PAXboy:

Could the footroom difference be explained by different aircraft type? As I recall, JNB is served by A340, whereas US West Coast is B744.

Derek

[The Real Slim Shady]

Travelled twice this year with VS in PE: once to Las Vegas and once to the Caribbean. Found the service excellent, both on the ground and in the air.

Top deck of the 744 is very comfy indeed.

[10secondsurvey]

Paxboy,

Yeah I kind of was on a rant about the new PE VS seats, which was kind of off topic. On the A340 600, the most middle seat in the centrall block, seat F is extremely restricted. In addition, the window seats, A and K are pretty poor too. The D seat is the one to go for, as there is little or no junk under these seats.

It irritates me, as in my mind, the basic underlying point of Prem econ on any airline is more legroom. On my last VS flight, I had to sit with my legs out to the side. This is not due to a lack of kneeroom, so you can sit fine with your legs at right angles, but you cannot (if you are tall), stretch your legs out under the seat in front. You can with BA, even in seats which have the boxes, as they only take up half the width, so you can get your feet down one side. It isn't perfect, but better than the new VS seats.

I actually experienced the new VS prem seats before they were launched, and thought they were ace, but of course purely by chance, I was sitiing in a D seat.

I'd actually prefer the old VS prem seats, as it wasn't such a problem with underseat junk previously. If you don't have long legs you may not actually notice (apart from the F seat, which even a colleague of mine who is quite short thought was ridiculous).

[PAXboy]

Yes, derekl, you are correct: The JNB route is on the 346. Outbound I was in the B and return in the K and found no problems. I am of average height and so seat size is not the same issue for me as it is for others.

I have said in many other threads that I consider the AVOD systems of today to be marketing driven and, with their low reliability, a marketing failure. The under seat boxes are a plague but - my guess - airframe manufacturers cannot build them in as they do not know what the client is going to specify and change. It requires the different manufacturers of the IFE systems to agree a standard physical enclosure, in the same way that was done for motor car radio/sound systems.

The boxes cannot be put under the floor, as they would then impact the cargo space and they cannot be put into the ceiling as - my guess - they would weigh too much and move the CofG. If the units were built into the seats that would be very expensive when changing the systems or the seats. Probably, we have to wait for the electronics to be reduced in size. Except that, then the kids in marketing will think up something else and realise that there is all this 'empty' space under the seats ... :mad:

[merlinxx]

As this has been historically a "carry-on" storage area, now the carry-on limits are reduced, wow, hey we can use that space for stuff. The fact the stuff does not work too well, and takes away a comfort zone, who in the carrier gives a stuff. I'm in the industry and hate this intrusion as I have to fly pax as well, not as much now, but still want my underseat storage for my brain bag!

[silverelise]

I love Virgin - never flown them to Orlando but use them a lot LHR-JFK and always found the service very good end to end.
Can't agree with the positive comments about Orlando International. I try and get flights to Sandford if I can - Orlando Int is a hell hole. Queueing for hours to collect your luggage from a belt only to put it on another belt and have to go on a transit to another terminal and then queue up at a belt to collect luggage again? What a faff.
Dare I suggest the "shut up and go to sleep" attitude from crew on Orlando flights might be down to the type of passengers who pile over to see Mickey Mouse. Seven hours in a sealed tube with a load of screaming kids? Can't be a fun job :ok:

[warkman]

Can't agree with the positive comments about Orlando International. I try and get flights to Sandford if I can - Orlando Int is a hell hole. Queueing for hours to collect your luggage from a belt only to put it on another belt and have to go on a transit to another terminal and then queue up at a belt to collect luggage again? What a faff.


Now changed.

You can haul your luggage onto the train and down the other side if you wish and not use the second luggage drop.
If you have children, plus three or four suitcases, hand luggage and pushchairs, perhaps the second bag drop is still a bonus to these people. Also, less people using it should mean that bags come off quicker.
I would also think that there will be less space for pax on the train filled with suitcases

[speeddial]

Just to follow up on my earlier post about flying with BA instead of VS for my San Fran flight I have the following conclusion:

On the ground (check-in, boarding etc) : VS miles better than BA
In the air : BA miles better than VS

BA's cabin crew to me were in a totally different class. I am sure VS's still do their job professionally but my view is that once on-board everyone from the pilot giving his introduction to the crew giving coffee is far better at it.

[VS-LHRCSA]

AdamC

One thing you have to realise about seat pre-selection is that Virgin treat it as a "request". It is not set in stone. The amount of people that I had checked in only to find that their selected seats had been changed was incredible. I won't go into the reasons why but my advice to you is to check-in online the day before to make sure you get your preferred seats.

BTW, I no longer work for Virgin, so will not be in a position to address any feedback, sorry. I'm sure you'll have a great flight though.