Virgin Atlantic Airlines

Flying out of Newark, they lost my daughter’s bag and now tell me that they cannot do anything for me or locate it for me since they THINK they transferred it to Swiss Air!!!
To their credit, at least they answer me when I write/​call. Swiss Air is much worse.

When I first flew Virgin over 12 years ago, even though I had no status with VS, the service was top-​notch, and the Upper Class in-​flight masseuse was what I was looking forward to on each flight.
Fast forward a dozen years, and since Delta has bought a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic, there’s now supposed to be elite treatment for Delta’s Diamond and Platinum Medallions, but it just feels like everything has slid here. Check-​in was good and fast, alongside Delta’s DeltaOne/​Sky Priority check-​in counters. The club was nice, and will be reviewed separately, but the treatment onboard by dismissive staff more interested in chatting amongst themselves than serving customers was a rude awakening to the new Virgin. Flight Attendants were also unwilling to give out Fast Pass chits to elite passengers, even though that is a stated benefit for flying in to Heathrow.
Worst of all had been baggage service upon returning to JFK. Over an hour and a half wait until even the first bags came out, and those were the crew suitcases. Upper Class and «priority» bags took even longer. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the new customer service of Delta, Lufthansa’s always-​great service, or Royal Thai’s sumptuous offerings, but I think Virgin has fallen off the pedestal that they used to occupy and is currently trading heavily on faded glory.

Unlike several other reviewers, I have nothing but good things to say about my Virgin Atlantic experience.
I booked a round-​trip from JFK to LHR in Premium Economy. I received nothing but excellent service from all VA personnel whom I dealt with, from gate agents, to flight attendants.
The Premium Economy experience itself was superior to the First Class experiences I’ve had with US domestic carriers — the only difference was slightly less seat pitch, however the in-​flight meals and entertainment more than made up for this in my opinion.

This airline is okay. I flew from New York to London via Virgin. I have to admit that the service is a lot better than some of the ‘other’ leading airlines. The sky food was adequate and the hostesses were civil and calm, unlike some other airlines I have flown with namely British airways. I have no complaints with Virgin so I will offer 3 stars. The female hostesses are heavily made up though, it reminded me of being in a west-​end theater a opposed to on a plane. All was okay.

Hope you guys fry in hell and go through what u put me thought today.
Two different states. And planes taking off 25 minutes before departure. Fuck you and your airlines. Assholes.

Rudest stewardesses ever! I’m shocked. I really thought that with flying Virgin that they’d treat you a little better than other airlines but at a minimum equal. Boy was that a poor assumption. The stewardesses spent all of pre-​boarding complaining about their jobs and how they have no incentive to work hard and just do everything they can to do as little as possible and then spent the rest of the time being unnecessarily rude to customers. I just don’t understand. I hate to say this, but I’ve had much much better service with Delta and United.

Beware! These bloodsuckers will charge you $ 40 to choose a seat and if you change flights or airlines due to «code sharing» they keep your hard earned money! Instead of refunding the charges for a service you are no longer using, they respond with the classic «read the fine print…» Nice! Thanks Mr. Branson, no wonder you have billions. You will never get another single cent from me or my family!

Where to begin? In many ways, when we flew this airline for the first time (from JFK-​LHR) a couple of years ago, we thought this was the airline to beat. The plane’s upper class cabin was showing some wear, but the overall experience was great. The lounges were relatively amazing, the service was always delivered with a smile, and the food was excellent, among others.
Fast forward two years and the plane’s upper class cabin is even more worn (and downright dirty in some areas), the lounges are overcrowded and showing myriad signs of wear, the service was delivered with a glaring face as often as it was delivered with a smile and the food – while still relatively excellent – seems to be more limited (option-​wise, at very least on the plane).
I’m not sure what happened where the lounges are concerned. Maybe all this code-​sharing and partner usage is simply too much. When we first visited the lounge a couple of years ago (both in JFK and particularly in LHR) it was a haven. Many seats were available, the lounge was seemingly immaculate, there was no waiting for anything, service was affable and plentiful, and the environment was serene and calming. Exactly what you’d expect from an «upper class» experience.
Now, the lounge is overcrowded, you have to circle to find seats, there are numerous signs of use/​wear (many of which illustrate poor cleaning/​maintenance), there are lines for the bathrooms and the food bar (and seemingly everything else), service was scarce and hit-​or-​miss when you received it, and the environment was overly loud and enervating. Exactly what you wouldn’t expect from an «upper class» experience.
Even the «upper class» specific check-​ins and security lines were unnerving in their own ways. Smiles were essentially nonexistent, tempers were short, lines were slow (we could have gone through the regular security line in LHR in less time), and nothing seemed polished. Far from what we experiences just two short years ago (which was an all around enjoyable experience from curb to lounge and beyond).
Given our less than stellar experience on the ground, we expected all the more in the air. Both our outbound and inbound flights were delayed even though the planes were on time. Seems that the staff wasn’t (on time). Even when we boarded the plane for our outbound flight (JFK-​LHR) things were awry from the get-​go (the crew seemed frazzled, amenity kits were not immediately available, and the atmosphere was not meaningfully welcoming or calming, among others). Our inbound flight (LHR-​JFK) had similar issues.
All told, our present trip with Virgin Atlantic was a real let down given our enjoyment of our previous flights with this airline.
BOTTOM LINE: I don’t know that any airline is «doing it right,» but Virgin Atlantic seems to be moving in the wrong direction. Both the planes and the crew are showing signs of wear and tear and customers are being negatively impacted along the way. We’ve flown this airline’s «upper class» twice now and likely won’t fly Virgin Atlantic again.

First flight with Virgin! Excellent prices, new plane, very comfortable! Comfortable seating! Take that united, bam!

As we are taxing on the runway for almost an hour I’m wondering where did I go wrong. I thought Virgin was an ideal airline to travel but it’s not panning out to be such. During baggage check I greeted an attendant who flatly ignored me. Okay. While boarding I saw bottled water and O.J. being handed out and instantly perked up. I had a liquid lunch and needed some water in my life. I sat down, waiting for my juice and water. Thirty minutes later we pull off. So are you seriously going to hand out liquids to every class but economy? Water is a privilege now?! Okay. Now we are on the runway, about 50 minutes into the departure time. I have no idea WTF the pilot is saying! Nah, this can’t be life. Review to be updated if anything changes.

Worst airline ever. Flight from LHR JFK delayed by 2 hours because of sick passenger. Duh! You shouldn’t have let the idiot on in the first place!!! Then they had go back gate and look for his bag. Upper Class cabin dirty as hell. Flight attendants weren’t professional, they were chewing and serving us at the same time WTF. Full of old has been flight attendants. Branson should be shot. VA worst travel experience ever. Never flying VA again.