I was not impressed with Virgin
Written: Jun 29 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: good fares, convenient schedules, helpful ground staff
Cons: tiny seats, problems with entertainment systems, didn't love the flight attendants
The Bottom Line: Everything up to the actual flight was smooth and friendly. It was the flight that left me with a bad opinion of Virgin.
|
|
|
| Minstrelette's Full Review: Virgin Atlantic |
I notice I'm only the second person to write a negative Epinion on Virgin Atlantic. Why is that? I don't understand why everyone has such a high opinion of this airline.
I fly often. The airlines I use the most are US Air, American, and British Airways. When I was looking for a flight from London to Hong Kong, Virgin offered the best fares and schedules. I have heard nothing but positive things about Virgin- "Oh, the seats are so much more comfortable than most airlines." "I love the little things they give you, like socks and lotion." "Their entertainment system is better than anyone else." Well, I was really looking forward to my flights with Virgin.
Booking the flight
I normally book flights online since it's quicker and easier. With Virgin, I booked the flight over the phone since I was booking from a departure city not in my own country and you can't do that online. I called a US toll free number and was helped immediately. This was a nice change from the usual waiting I do when on the phone with other airlines. I booked the flight quickly and they gave me a price of $750. This was definitely the least expensive- I saw other prices online for as much as $1400. I was also able to sign up for their frequent flier programme. Even if I never fly with Virgin again, with the flights from London to Hong Kong, I would accumulate 12,000+ miles and could transfer that to Hilton Honors points.
Checking in
The line to check in at Heathrow was long. Fortunately, I got there early. I think it took about an hour to check my bag and get a boarding card. The person at the desk was extremely friendly and made sure my frequent flier number was entered for both the flight going and returning.
Checking in at Hong Kong on my return flight was a piece of cake. It was 10:00 PM and (my flight left at midnight) there were very few people in the airport. I didn't have to wait in line at all to check my bag and the woman checking my bag was super-fast!
The Seats
There are 3 seating sections, Upper Class, Premium Economy, and Economy. I was sitting in economy. When walking through to my seat, I saw the other 2 sections. I was not impressed with Premium Economy and was glad I didn't pay extra for that. I think the price was $2200 instead of $750. The seats in Premium Economy were not noticeably bigger than regular economy and I didn't see any more leg room either. The seating pattern in economy was 2-3-2, and I was on an aisle on one of the "2"s. My seat was tiny and with absolutely no leg room. To get comfortable, I tried lifting up the armrest on the aisle so I could put my leg up on the seat and have my knee hang out slightly. The aisles are so narrow, even though my knee was only sticking out a few millimeters, everyone knocked into it when walking by (which they did VERY OFTEN on this 12 hour flight). So I decided on using the seat pocket in front of me as a place to stick my feet. At the end of the flight, my right leg was numb, and it took an hour to get the feeling back (which made it very difficult to walk through the airport).
On the way back I had an aisle but before the flight took off, my seat recliner button broke. I really wanted an aisle, but I wanted to recline my seat even more, so I took the only other seat available- a middle seat in a 2-4-2 pattern. To make matters worse, I seemed to be sitting in the nursery. There were 2 babies behind me and one in front of me. The one in front screamed at the top of his lungs for the entire 13 hours (minus a few minutes here and there). I didn't know it was possible to scream that long without losing your voice. But that's just a personal complaint- nothing against Virgin, obviously. I just wanted to vent.
The service
Everyone loves the little goodie bag they give you. I think people built it up too much in my mind, and I was expecting more. In the bag was a pad of paper and a pen, eye shades, and socks. Where were the earplugs? Where was the lotion?
The flight attendants walked by with beverages (tea, water, wine, brandy) quite often. The trick was getting their attention before they moved on. It was like they didn't expect anyone to actually WANT something to drink, they were just supposed to walk by to show people what it was possible to have. When I was sitting on the aisle, it was slightly easier to get their attention. When sitting in the middle seat, I couldn't get their attention at all. They walked by 4 times before I could get their attention. I had to shout quite loudly, "COULD I GET SOME WATER PLEASE?" When I got the water, it was so small, I finished it in one sip. The next time I got their attention (I could only get their attention twice in the 13 hour trip), I asked for 5 waters. The flight attendant looked rather irritated but did it anyway. I tried putting my flight attendant call button on a few times, but that didn't seem to work at all.
The food
The food was fine- no better or worse than other airlines. I really don't know what else to say about it. Do people really think some airline food is better than others? It all comes from Sky Chef, doesn't it? I was, however, looking forward to the ice cream bars that I've heard about often and read about in their flight magazine. Well, they didn't serve them on either flight. I meant to ask if they were just out of them both times or if they don't serve them anymore, but I forgot.
The entertainment
After flying US Air and British Airways on International flights and enjoying their entertainment systems, I was wondering what Virgin did differently to make it better. Everyone said Virgin had the best entertainment systems. I don't think so. The only thing I liked better about Virgin was the map that you can watch to see where you are flying over. On the flight to Hong Kong, we had a bigger screen than on the way back to London. On the way back to London, the screen was so tiny, it didn't really show anything. They had 3 movies in English and one in Chinese that you could watch at the times that they were showing. On US Air, you pick a movie and watch it whenever you want. US Air also had about 10 movies from which to choose. Virgin had a few television channels, but that part of their system wasn't working on the flight to Hong Kong. I figured I could try it on the way back to London. No, it wasn't working then either. They also had several video games that were not working on the flight back to London.
If all prices are the same, British Airways would be my first choice with US Air coming in second. The only way I would fly Virgin again is if the price was significantly lower (say, around $300 or less). I've been back for 2 weeks, and I'm still trying to figure out what all the hype about Virgin is about. Oh well, at least I flew enough miles to convert them into Hilton Honors points.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Minstrelette
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: J Bennett
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 110
Trusted by: 241 members
About Me:
I'm back!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.