Are standards falling?

Its been a couple of years since I last flew with Virgin Atlantic. My recent return trip to Boston left me a little dissapointed. Where has the high quality service with a smile dissapeared to. I have never seen such a fed up looking cabin crew (both ways). Is it something to do with code sharing? Come on Virgin. Lets get back to the way it used to be - fun to fly with Virgin

Wonderful

We have only ever flown Virgin once to Hong Kong, (The old Airport) and it was my wife's first ever flight. The staff were excellent and very nice and accommodating, If We had the money we would certainly fly with them again

extremely disappointed

we recently found ourselves having to return from a much needed holiday to St Lucia due to a family bereavement. we had saved all year for this holiday and unfortunately we only got one day as we had to return home as said due to a family bereavement (my mother) our holiday rep had said to us that most airlines wave any charges under these circumstances. he had managed to look at the seats and there were vacant seats on the plane from St Lucia to Gatwick, we then had to get a connecting flight from British airways to glasgow. They were aware of our circumstances and british airways took no charge at all and sat us at the very front of the plane away from anyone else. Virgin atlantic on the other hand charged us an extra £1000 and had my husband at the back of the plane and myself at the front not ideal under the circumstances. so therefore the hotel advised us to go to the airport and try to get the seats changed which we did, but again we had to pay to do this i have found this service to be extremely stressful given the circumstances we were under and not what you would expect from a company who claim to be very family orientated. i would like to say on the way out to St Lucia we did go for exit seats which cost £80 and this is what i went for on the way back but they cost £150 not sure why they would charge differently as we were sitting in exactly the same seats on the way back but at an extra cost of £70 and guess what no receipt was issued, very disappointed and not what i expected at all from virgin.

Economy Class doesn't feel like the 'cheap seats'

I love Virgin...& they are always my 1st port of call these days when booking flights, if they fly to my particular destination.
Having flown many times longhaul...I appreciate that Virgin's economy section is amongst the most spacious & comfortable; the food & drink is of a great standard; service is always with a smile & the stewards are attentive - even if we are in the 'cheap seats'!
Online booking is easy...& you can prebook your seats online at no extra cost. Information provided is simple & clear.
In my experience, flights are generally at convenient times - & rarely delayed...& in flight entertainment usually more than sufficient to keep me entertained for the whole jourmey.

Best Airline

We travel with these guys on holiday twice a year, they're generally on time, comfortable seats, courteous and helpful cabin crew, wouldn't fly with anyone else. Don't know whether more or less expensive than other airlines but you get what you pay for these days. We get air miles as registered and every 3 years we can get a free flight, we pay airport taxes, but still a good saving. Went to Dubai last year, upper class, and it cost us about £650, a saving of at least £3000.

Broken seats and no entertainment system

Flew to Las Vegas earlier in December 2011 as a party of 4 in economy. We had one broken seat on both outward and inward flights. The return journey had no entertainment system working. this was bad enough but we were also told that the Manchester flight had taken our 'plane so that the defective one could get back to Gatwick for repairs. Probably better if we hadn't been told that. crew were good both flights. Shame on Mr. Branson for keeping these aircraft in a poor state of repair. Not good for passenger confidence in the rest of the mechanics and electrics.

Just brilliant

My compliments to Virgin Atlantic who have managed to make long distance flying a pleasure again.
The service is excellent, you will find me and family in the cheap seats but worry not because the crew spoil you rotten and make you feel valued.
The entertainment was marvellous too, so much choice never got bored.
Very retro, takes me back to 1970 something when flying was a pleasure and not an ordeal.Don't use anybody else!

Superb in an emergency

My wife and I flew with Virgin Atlantic on a long weekend to New York. Unfortunately my wife had a seizure during the return flight in the night which was very unexpected and frightening.

The on board crew were extremely helpful and extremely caring (so were the two paramedics who happened to be on the same flight). They not only took care of my wife but also they were considerate to me as I was quite shaken by the experience. They were in contact with their medical advisory service to determine if the flight should be diverted and did everything they could to aid my wifes recovery.

This is obviously a bit one-sided as we've not had a similar experience on any other airline and hope never to do so but we couldn't fault them for their efforts to ensure we were properly taken care of. Thanks Virgin Atlantic

YET AGAIN A FLIGHT VERY WELL ENJOYED

3rd time we have used Virgin and they carry on making it a very pleasant and relaxing time ,nothing is to much trouble the staff are always great ,will be booking again in a few days for next year ,and the new look Virgin looks even better ...Thank you Richard Branson

Brilliant pre and during flight sevice

We flew to Florida in 2010. We checked in the luggage the night before we were flying there and were also able to check luggage in before flying back - this service was brilliant and saved us all carrying bags around the airport and queuing on the day of the flights.

I had special needs and the staff were approachable and helpful. I would definitely use them again.

Virgin Premuim...Well worth it...

i went to Las Vegas this year with Virgin (direct) and we all went economy class there and back but my brother went premium class on the way back only...
i hate flying...very nervous flyer...so being stuck in a plane for 9-10 hrs in the most uncomfortable seats was not fun...i would recommend save the money and travel in premium class all the way...
my brother felt the difference and even offered to let me sit in premium class for a bit to charm my nerves...
the Virgin flight staff are lovely and helpful...but the space i found was not good enough for the price we paid for our flight...GO PREMIUM CLASS...well worth it...x

Absolutely Fabulous

My first Virgin flight was to Florida from Glasgow in August.
I can honestly say it was the best flight i've EVER been on. The touchscreen entertainment in the back of every headrest meant that the journey literally flew over (excuse the pun). The choice of games, movies, sit coms, cartoons...everything was great. And upon arriving at Orlando, as a Virgin passenger you feel really special, they really look after you, even the fly-drive arrangements were seamless.

ON CLOUD 9

Flew to Boston and returned from San Francisco. Great airline, friendly crew, and left on time. Food choice is really good. Would recommend

Very average

I always used to fly Virgin. I even have a Virgin air miles card. But the last flight to Hong Kong was very ordinary. The stewardesses were hassled really and not as freindly as I remember, maybe there aren't enough of them for the workload, I don't know. But the worst thing was the food. The beef pie was rubbish and the breakfast was not nice. I miss the old cheese and biscuits. They used to be a breath of fresh air. Maybe it was just a bad flight.

Decent long haul flights at reasonable prices

Having been disappointed with the competitiors including American Airways and even BA these days we always fly Virgin Atlantic and to be honest we haven't been disappointed despite being stuck in one of their planes for a total of 17.5 hours on our last flight from Vegas because a dust storm trapped us on the runway for 7 hours.
The prices are usually competitive, we get air miles and so far our seating has been comfortable and just about provides enough leg room for hubby who is 5.11 despite the fact that we travel cattle class. Like most airlines the food can leave something to be desired and they don't always remember special requirements you order in advance but I have always found the staff polite and relatively courteous and we enjoy the flights so will continue to use them.

Fair value

We fly premium economy and feel the level of service has deterioated over the last few years

Virgin holiday in USA California

Flight was very cramped with reduced leg room between rows of seats.

Car hire - through Alamo was traumatic. Virgin advised us we had all the necessary insurance in place; no more was required. When the car hire keys were misplaced (we later recovered them) Alamo informed us there was nothing they could do to help! their attitude at the time left us feeling extremely vulnerable.

Still scarred a year later

A faulty table tray dumped a cup of scalding coffee into my wife's lap, leaving a scar that is still visible over a year later. Virgin offered a £100 voucher as compensation. Disappointing but not altogether unexpected. A shame as otherwise the holiday was excellent.

watch them.

We had to change our travel plans because my Mother died.
Whilst Virgin changed the flights at no cost to us they charged us an
extra $Aus 1,800.00 above the flights (2 persons) we had originally booked. It was in the fine print but it doesn't stop them stinking.

Good Staff, Legroom Poor, Food Dreadful

Staff are brilliant but the reduction to one suitcase per passenger recently is poor as this was the reason we flew with them several times a year. Legroom in Economy is dreadful definitely cattle class. Food is poor quality and no many drinks during flights. They also move you on to another flight later flight without your permission, just send you an email saying they have cancelled a flight. Premium is better leg room but over priced as you get the same food as economy and if a passenger tilts their seat back you may as well be in economy. Stopped paying extra as service was not worth it.

It starts with the journey

Had a great experience with Virgin whenever I use their services. Really feel looked afer.

Great Flight

I traveled from London to Washington, amazing experience. Excellent Customer Service. Kudos!!!!

365socialmedia.co.uk

Very good services

excellent

best airline to the caribean good service and entertainment plenty of food i wont fly with another airline

It'll do.

Cattle class (like me) are tolerated. Virgin will get you there on time and on budget, and sometimes you get service with a smile.

Excellent service and highly professional

I always fly virgin, that is unless they don't fly to where i am heading... they are an excellent air line. Always highly professional and just generally very good. Without doubt the top of the tree when it comes to main stream commercial air travel.

Would never fly with Virgin again.

Myself and a friend flew with virgin for the first time on 03/09/11. The flight was to Las Vegas. I was extremely disappointed with the whole experience. The following are a list of reasons why:

1. When I purchased our flights online I was given the option of choosing our seats. I did this straight away so we could have the seats we wanted. When we went to check in at the desk at the airport we were told that there was no record of our seat selection on the computer. The girl at the desk said that we would not even be able to sit together on the flight. This was very upsetting seeing as myself and my friend purposely chose virgin atlantic over all other airlines because we believed we would be getting a great flying experience. I have a virgin mobile, broadband and tv and the quality of those services is excellent so I assumed that flying with virgin would be the same. I was wrong.

After about 15 minutes of begging and pleading with the girl at the desk she somehow 'found' us two seats together at the very back of the plane but the stress of that 15 minutes is not what anyone needs before embarking on a long haul flight.

2. Once on board the plane I found my in-flight entertainment screen wasn't working. After over 1 hour of fumbling around with it, the crew brought me a portable dvd player with a very poor selection of dvd's to choose from. I chose one and began to watch it. I had to put the dvd player on my pull down table and it was very sore on my neck due to the awkward angle I had to put my head at to watch the dvd player. After about 20 minutes the battery in the dvd player went dead. The crew brought me another one which also died after about 30 mins. My neck was so sore at that stage that I didn't bother asking for another one. Instead I looked forward to having something to eat, which was also very, very disappointing.

3. The food served on board was absolutely terrible. If I had known beforehand what it would be like I would have brought my own sandwiches.

4. I drink a lot of water on planes to stay hydrated but I only like sparkling water. When I requested some from the bar I was told that they had none. I find that quite unacceptable especially from Virgin and especially on a long haul flight.

5. About half way through the flight I decided to have drink. I asked if I could have a beer but I was told there was none left! I was told that the only alcohol left was vodka and wine. I also find that quite unacceptable. I don't drink either of those. So much for the virgin complimentary bar!

6. The seats were beyond uncomfortable. No leg room whatsoever. I spent at least half of the flight standing at different areas in the plane because it was just too uncomfortable to sit down for any long periods. I find that quite unacceptable that I had to do that. I am 5ft 8in tall and only weigh 12 stone so it's not as if I am too big for the seats.

7. The staff on broad simply didn't give a damn. The level of customer service from them was disgraceful. All in all this was a horrendous first experience flying with virgin atlantic.

8. Our flight back from the US was from San Francisco. Yet again the staff on board were very ignorant, almost tutting at people when they asked for an extra drink or a glass of water. I don't know where these people were trained, or if they were trained, but they had no idea how to deal with people.

9. On the flight back from San Francisco we were sitting behind the first class passengers in the upper deck. The flight attendant looking after the first class passengers were very over weight. She walked by us about 50 times throughout that flight to attend to the passengers in first class. I cannot describe how irritating this was. Myself and my friend just wanted to relax and get some rest but having that attendant bounding up and down and up and down constantly throughout the flight made this absolutely impossible. It was beyond a joke at that stage. Yet again, another horrendous, torturous and uncomfortable flight with virgin atlantic. I simply do not know how they score so highly in reviews.

The only positive comment I have about virgin atlantic is about their American staff. When we landed in Las Vegas my bag went missing and the staff were so unbelievably nice and helpful in retrieving it for me. The staff at the check in at San Francisco airport on our way home were also very polite and courteous. However, this ended as soon as we boarded the plane to deal with the ignorant staff virgin had on board.

I contacted virgin about this on two separate occasions and I have never received as much as an acknowledgement, let alone a reply.

Lesson learnt. Never again.

Always great service

Always use Virgin for my annual Las Vegas pilgrimage! Premium Economy is superb value if you use your miles from previous trips.

Matthew found this review useful

Flight on time and staff excellent.

The flights were on time and the staff excellent. We were flying Upper Class as I am very disabled and unable to sit in an ordinary aircraft seat for longer than 10 mins. However, the cabin was grubby and there was considerable debris down the sides of my bed chair, crisps, sweet wrappers and something unpleasantly sticky. Goodness only knows when it had had a decent and thorough clean. The other downer was that my husband left a very expensive hat in the cabin, and despite letting the staff know very quickly, it was never returned to him. As the total cost of the 2 flights was about £4,500, we felt that it could have been a lot better. Also the 'goodie bag' was terrible compared to many airlines.

Poor Legroom

Service is same as many airlines but legroom very poor - a tight 31 inch seat pitch compared to many far east carriers 34 inches. Would only fly with them of the price was right!

Bad service to Montego Bay

Very average performance, day flight to Jamica was better but service from the more senior staff was terrible with lots of bad attitude. Night flight was dreadful with terrible customer service. It was like a long haul no frills cheap flight without being cheap. One senior staff member scolded me for having my leg sticking out into the aisle and told me I nearly kicked her despite the fact that I am disabled and she had seen me coming to the plane in a wheelchair. The younger staff appeared to be more interested in what they had to do.

Important to remember if you are paying a premium for a Virgin Holiday which I would not recommend you do. Deal direct with your resort! Much better value

Less than average

Half the tv in the seats didnt work, no vegan option for food, a 13 hour flight with no food.......Come on...it dont take much to cater for veggies and vegans these days

Fabulous

Great .... Customer Service fantastic. Cabin Crew helpful and not patronising. Good films, games etc.
Nice little giveaways on outward and inward flights.
Refreshments the best had on flights.

A note about purchase transaction

The purchasing system is fine and polished - all went well. But then my dates had to shift forwards by a couple of weeks. I knew that was a big loss, because it says everywhere, and everyone knows, that advance tickets at cheap rates are not capable of being altered...

Call them. It seems that if they can help, they will. What a pleasant surprise, what nice people to do business with!

No longer a Virgin and will come with a friend next time!

Just enjoyed the experience so much that I cant wait to repeat it with a close friend of mine. Just blew me away!

Truly annoying marketing

Was chased by Virgin's cold callers for abut a year, despite repeated pleads to be left alone (including trying to email people higher up the food chain, to no avail). Left a total sour taste for this company.

First class service as always

This was my fifth flight with Virgin and as on previous occasions the service was excellent from start to finish. Can't fault them!

excellent service

good food friendly staff and a free goodie bag not to mention the best onboard entertainment available will only fly with virgin from now on

FAB

We went on Virgin with our little ones, was very scared as didnt want to be THAT mum with the screaming kids. Virgin were great, they have TVs and kids films and games. They also offered us some great kids snacks and food, the staff were realy friendly. Only bad thing was couldnt see the pilot but apparently thats a new thing :(

Whole process worked as it should

Flew from LHR to JFK, Ticket prices were good.
You are able to choose your seat after booking for no additional cost which was very useful if more than one of you is travelling together.
Online checking was easy, email reminders were a welcome touch, bag drop-off was quick.

Flight was good, more than enough food and drink and a very good choice of in-flight entertainment (Movies /TV programmes in multiple languages) .

I fly again tomorrow and are actually looking forward to it which is a good sign.