Virgin Atlantic - 25 Years and Still Red Hot
 

Saw this advert on TV last night - 80's tastic!!

YouTube - Virgin Atlantic: 25 Years, Still Red Hot

:D

Reminds me of Leo di Caprio in a certain film.

jesus that brought back some memories i had one of dem lunch box phones i think it was a motorola or a nec always managed to steer clear of the braces though!

Very good. Nice to be reminded of the old Solari "moving flaps" departures boards, which could be read from so much further away than the current generation of FIDS screens.

However, for one who pleasantly recalls Virgin in its early days, both Upper Class and Economy, what a shame they have let their standards slip, right across the board, to be beaten longhaul in many areas by BA and others, even in things like seat standards or cabin service. Upper Class in particular is not a patch on what it once was.

True words WHBM.

Isn't it funny how "what goes around, comes around..?"

I think VS are rapidly approaching the sub-standard product BA achieved around 2003/4. VS have just chipped away at the offering over the last few years hoping we wouldn't notice.

I do like the advert though and find it hard to believe that when I started having to fly for a living in the mid-eighties, we all looked and dressed like that!

I don't know, nostalgia just ain't what it used to be.....

Lunch box phone?

I once had a Motorola phone that also came with a docking / recharge unit.

The whole thing was the size of a small toaster!

If you dropped the handset on your foot you would definitley break something - Ouch!

I flew Virgin from Newark to Gatwick in August, 1984 - the onboard service was so poor I have not used them since.

FWIW I love Virgin Upper and would use that any day over BA Club World. But I didn't intend this to be a "A vs B" thread I wanted to share the great 80's memories. Our Price! Space Invaders! The big phone! :D

I've tried looking at detail of the commercial to see if they have used old footage, or shot it currently. I think it is all-new. Must have cost a bit.

The vehicles (including the bus) outside the terminal, are spot on for the period. The interior "signage" of the terminal is also accurate in appearance but the actual text, and building itself, looks a bit non-airport.

Our Price, one of the few items picked out in colour, was owned at Virgin Atlantic startup time by Virgin Group, was it not ?

The entries on the Solari departures indicator are false, probably done by someone with a knowledge of US aviation as the flight prefixes are from long-gone US airlines (Braniff, People Express, etc).

Brilliant Advertising, what a stroll down memory lane:ok: only flew with them once down back in Y on the old 747/200 LGW/MCO in 1999 we had a blast, great flight, great crew. My daughter who was seven at the time disappeared for nearly half an hour before returning to tell me she'd been sat up on the flightdeck she'd been fascinated by the stairs and had gone up to have a look, cheeky! the cabin crew intercepted her and asked her if she'd like to visit the flightdeck, don't ya just miss the good old days:cool:

Seeing the CC outside QB often of late I can assure you there are very few of the girls that even go close to those on the advert. Very impressed with the T/3 First Class lounges.

Seat 62K I am surprised to hear that. I have used them since Oct 86 and never looked back. They are my first choice for long haul - in any class. I have had occasions with less than their best service but never bad. Likewise BA, some not so good but never bad.

I would guess the commercial is mostly new with some bits customised into the background by computer in post-production. I thought that it was clever that the walking of the CC and their appearance seemed to echo the women 'band' in that staggering video of Robert Palmer 'Addicted to Love' released at the end of 1985. But maybe it's just my over wrought memory ... [is there a smiley for 'sweating'??] :}

PAXboy,
My main criticism was the lack of a meal service out of EWR allied to the cabin staff's condescending/ignorant attitude ("all airlines are the same, don't you know that none of them serve meals on evening departures from the US?"). I had been crossing the Atlantic regularly since 1970 and knew that she was spouting rubbish.
I put it down, to some extent, to the fact that airline operations were at that point new to Virgin, but I take the view that I will not fly again with airlines which have given me poor customer service (unless I absolutely have to).

Have only flown them four sectors. Outbound once got upgraded at checkin which was very nice compared to plain economy but not a very good commercial decision for them as I would expect an airline to upgrade their frequent fliers first.

Returning in the back 'just another airline', though did notice one time the crew were saying things in a loud voice which they really shouldn't.

Haven't flown them since as their frequent flier programme isn't very good compared to their competition. Prices usually higher than competition for equivalent service (from my three economy sectors, admittedly, but experience of transatlantic airlines in general is they are much the same in the back).

I suspect their marketing department has propagated the idea that they are special so they get more bookings therefore prices go higher sooner.

I've only ever flown them once and will never do so by choice again...

They have totally fallen for their own image as the "funky" alternative - they're worse than BA now - and that's not where they want to be.

I like the VS service; the PE cabin is great value for money.

The ad is garbage though.

I like the ad, and I like VS. I've found that I have gotten more personal service with them than any other airline (other than BA, regionally).

Unless VS really disappoints me, they'll always be my airline of choice.

S.

Whilst Virgin does offer a good product and they deserve to do well - describing them as 'Red Hot' is perhaps slightly enthusiastic. Before the economic downturn, many in Virgin described their company as having no real direction or vision for the future!

TS

No, you are not in a minority of one.

Thus my comment about Leonardo de Caprio and "Catch me if you can", a movie about a con-man.

I've only flown VS a few times, but all the experiences were of an okay airline, nothing more.

This ad is spinning an image that doesn't reflect the reality, IMHO.