Don't think I'll be flying with Virgin for a while

[TigerMom]

Well we flew with them to Miami yesterday and we have no complaints apart from the Skittles replacing the ice cream. There were no birthday announcements and the cabin crew were both friendly and efficient. The IFE was good as was the food especially the cream tea.

[ontwofronts]

Get on a Ryanair flight and then come back and tell me Virgin is budget!

[Spike1911]

That sounds a bit weird. Was it a proper virgin flight or an operated by Delta flight?

[Sandra & co]

I think it’s a means to a end, flown with loads of different airlines over the years. Had good virgin flights and bad ones, had good BA flights and had a dirty plane coming back last year. We went to Kefalonia this year with Easy Jet and they were great!

[Guest]

It’s disappointing when something falls short of your expectations, especially when it feels like a consistently downward trend.
We like Virgin, we’ve had exceptional customer service from them on a couple of occasions.
We’ve taken our own food/drink/entertainment on planes for years. DH has a diagnosed wheat intolerance and doesn’t eat fruit so is used to self catering on planes. He used to order the gluten free alternative meals and said he’s never had a good one, regardless of class of travel.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by ontwofronts

Get on a Ryanair flight and then come back and tell me Virgin is budget!

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Apples and oranges but I happily fly Ryanair to Dublin ... clean planes, a great on time record and pleasant staff. I never book seats or check luggage . They meet my expectations. I had to fly a mix of BA business and Aer Lingus last time I flew to Dublin as I booked very late for a funeral and BA lounge Access apart there's very little difference. (For a 45 minute flight leg room isn't an issue for me though)

Virgin on the other hand come bottom of my list for transatlantic carriers mainly down to the older equipment they fly and the snarky attitude I've seen displayed by some of their cabin crew to other passengers. BA, Delta, AA, United and Norwegian have all been overall better experiences for me.

[EssexSue]

I have no brand loyalty at all, we are total rate tarts but all things being reasonably equal we will always choose TUI premium, it's far better (and cheaper) than Virgin PE. I would however choose Virgin over BA all things being equal.
I am not a fussy eater and I would say I have had some nice food on the plane,no crew member has ever been rude or even unfriendly and I have heard very few birthday or anniversary announcements. I certainly would not want one. I think the people tell the crew themselves if they want it made public (or their family members do regardless of whether they do or not).

[Kpzorse]

A lot of people of asked why I chose virgin in the first place and yes, it's was always down to price. We booked with Virgin Holidays for our first three trips and honestly never had a problem with virgin and always thought the flights were great. But after having a couple of years away from them, flying with BA last year, I just found them sub-par on this occasion.

TBH my rant was mainly about the cleanliness, my gluten free meal and the announcements. I'm not moaning about not having the free socks etc, I was just bringing it up in passing.

And to those who suggested I fly premium economy if I don't like it- I just wish I could afford it! How do you all manage? The only way I can afford to go to Orlando once a year is to pay economy prices.

I'm just gonna try BA next time is all. I just wanted to vent.

[mitch-fishguard]

Originally Posted by Kpzorse

Just got back on Wednesday and I think myself and my husband have both decided we won't fly with Virgin again for some time.

We've flown with Virgin 4 out of 5 trips to Orlando now and this time we felt it all a bit lacking and were quite disappointed with it all.

First of all, on the flight out the staff we're all a bit haphazard, more interested in entertaining than helping.
Although I didn't want to be difficult, I asked for some hot water instead of tea and coffee and said I didn't mind waiting, but I never got any. I politely asked for some again a bit later and again they forgot. I finally got some about 6 hours in, right when we were experiencing some turbulence and had it spilt on my hand, so in the end asked if it could be taken away. Lucky I'd brought a bottle of water.
The movies kept being loudly interrupted by cabin crew announcing various birthdays and anniversaries.
No fab lollys, only a bag of skittles were given out. And no sweets for landing.
My seat front and tray were visibly dirty, and my husband had two pairs of headphones that didn't work.

On the way home, we didn't get the little pack we used to get (with the socks, little toothpaste, mask) I remember us getting a couple of years ago when we flew economy with them. Guessing these are now reserved for Premium Econ and above?
Again the staff were a little forgetful, not clearing away our row's trays at mealtimes etc, until we had to flag someone down and ask, only to be huffed at.

But the worst thing about the whole flight was the special meal I requested. I pre-requested a gluten free meal , and although I know the meals are always destined to be poor (and so brought some food of our own for the way out) it was breakfast on the way back that upset me the most, where I was given a pot of mandarins (which I had already had for 'pudding' with my evening meal) and a single gf bread roll, with no spread or jam or anything. I just felt like I was being sort of punished for requesting a different meal with no real care from virgin what meals they are putting together.

Sorry for the rant, but the entire thing just got me feeling really down on virgin as a whole. I think we'll try BA again next year, as although the prices seem to be a bit higher, I think you do generally get a better service and flight.

I don't know what it is about Virgin. We've flown with them in 2015, 2016 and 2018 and have only seen a decline in their standards through our trips. I feel like it was more a party plane on the way out than anything else. And although I know I probably sound really grumpy, ~I just want to sit and watch a movie and not have to sing happy birthday to someone four rows in front of me every half hour.

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Not disagreeing or contradicting you one bit.
I flew the day after you on VS1403 Rescue flight. The staff were amazing and so, so professional. My last 13 flights to the USA were with Virgin and I tried TC because of the price. Never discard again, for me. Virgin from now on.
But I do take and respect your point

[Ellelledee]

We flew Virgin this year which I was glad of with what happened with TC while we were there. In the past Dh has booked TC for price but I’ve always preferred virgin - glad I got my way this year.
We pre booked meals - dh vegan mine vegetarian. Going out everything was smooth they brought the meals - mine was awful and I didn’t eat much but I had got a meal deal from WHS so I wasn’t that bothered.
On the return trip they brought dds vegan meal but no sign of mine. When they brought the regular meals she said “anything to eat?” I said @well I’ve actually ordered a vegetarian meal but it hasn’t come. She looked a bit vacant and then said “do you want this vegetarian option? It’s inky the same” (which I’m not sure it was because what I got as my vegetarian meal going out was not the same as the veggie option. Anyway I took it it was gnocchi and it was ok. Dd said her vegan meal was delish and cleared the lot!
The breakfast - dd was given a pack with a cereal bar and a yoghurt and some fruit I think - yoghurt containing milk - not vegan. Ours was pan au chocolate 🤮🤮🤮.
The IFE wasn’t working at first but it was ok when it did towards the end we were getting a lot of interruptions but I couldn’t hear them - just stopping my film but I couldn’t hear what they were saying 😡