Have just had my first flight in Virgin Atlantic. Have been wanting to try the airline for a while but had not had used them before as had always managed to get better deals on other airlines. This xmas however a last minute trip to the states came up and since it was such short notice there was very little choice of price or airline left especially since I wanted to fly direct. Virgin was one of the options available and since I had wanted to fly with them for a while I though why not try them.
I booked my ticket on the internet which was quick and painless. You receive an e-ticket which you take with your credit card when you check in. If you book on the web you even get a small discount.
I flew a round-trip from London Heathrow to LA with them. Virgin requires that you check in atleast 3 hours prior to departure and believe me you need that time. The queues at Heathrow are long and quite torturous. I travel a lot by BA and am used to using a terminal solely dedicated to one airline and you can also check in at Paddington when using the Heathrow Express. This makes check-in quite quick compared to the long snake like queues for economy.
On the way out the flight was delayed by two hours as the plane arrived late followed by a technical hitch. The ground staff were however friendly and helpful when asked.
The journey to LA was pleasant. The seats are not particularly big as per most economy seats. The inflight service is however better than most other airlines. The staff are attentive and polite. They actually dome around when you hit the service button. I had hit mine accidentally and they were surprisingly quite prompt in their arrival.
The goody bags that we received were very nice and contained all the usual stuff but also included a pen which made filling out all the landing forms a lot easier.
The inflight entertainment system is one of the best that I have seen. There are about 8 movie channels which have a good mix of mainstream films and about 6-7 other TV channels each dedicated to a particular type of program such as comedy. Each program cycle is around 2.5 hours long and they repeat them throughout the flight so on a 10 hour flight you get around 4 complete cycles. There is also an excellent radio network which even has a gay music channel which played some funky Disco tunes. There is also a good selection of Nintendo games. Virgin atlantic also play music videos on take off and landing when the main entertainment system is switched off this is nice as it takes your mind of the ear-popping.
The food is okay. I had booked a vegetarian mean and was a little upset that it was Indian food. I personally prefer western food when I fly as I find it lighter. There is a wide selection of drinks however almost all the aerated drinks and the generic spirits are Virgins own brand. Although the trolley only goes through a few times the air stewards were more than happy to come around and provide refills etc.
The staff were very helpful in assisting people in filling out their landing and custom cards for the US. This is the first airline I have seen do this.
On landing they appeared to be very good in ensuring that people made their connecting flights where they had them. As the flight was late this was all the more important.
The return journey was of a similar standard overall except that the check-in and baggage reclaim was much faster where as the inflight standard was not as good. The entertainment system didn’t work on the return flight and the food was really bad.
As an airline they are good and I would travel with them again. Since however they are in the same price range as BA with whom you can check in in several locations across London and who have dedicated terminals in London I would more likely than not choose BA over Virgin.