Traveling on Virgin Atlantic's flagship, review upper class flight from London to New York

The London-New York route is the busiest route between the two sides of the ocean and also the one where the fiercest competition is present, since it is covered by as many as six companies: four American and two British. These include two of the most interesting carriers operating at the moment: Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue.

Specifications

Aircraft:

A350/1000

Class:

Upper Class

Treat:

LHR - JFK

Price:

620€

Book

Virgin Atlantic has permanently retired its 747s and today the Airbus A350/1000 is its new flagship. It currently has six such planes and as many more are coming in the next few years. I have already flown the larger version of the A350 right with the number one competitor of the company founded by Sir Richard Branson, or British Airways. So I was curious to be able to compare Upper Class, that's what business class is called on Virgin, with CLub World Suite, the biz class on board BA.

Reservation

During the pandemic, with closed borders and travel bans, companies repeatedly launched offers, combined with flexible refund policies. Hoping that sooner or later the borders would open again, I bet on a number of flights, this was one of them.

The fee, just over €1,200 per ticket, was too tempting to pass up, since normally an upper class ticket is never less than £2,500. Ever since Virgin Atlantic had announced the new business class cabin, called Upper Class, I had been looking forward to trying it out.

You can't easily accumulate Virgin Atlantic's loyalty program points in Italy, however you can book a ticket with this company using Flying Blue points, or the currency of Air France and KLM's frequent flyer program, or SkyMiles points of Delta's loyalty program by also taking advantage of the partnership with Membership Rewards points.

The only change I made was to move theaccumulation of points and miles from the Flying Club program, Virgin's frequent flyer, toward Flying Blue the program of Air France/KLM. The whole to reach the Gold level and thus be able to book La Premiere, Air France's first class using Membership Rewards points.

And today I I find at only two XP points from my first goal of 2022.

In Paris Airport

Our journey began in Paris, unfortunately when you take certain fares you have to take into account that the flight does not always leave at the airport close to home. In this case for us it was necessary to take a flight from Nice to the French capital at less than 100€ each, an ultra low-cost fare.

The first flight was operated by Air France. The French airline is a member of the joint venture with Delta, Virgin and KLM, a kind of alliance within the SkyTeam alliance. This JV, which came into being in 2019 and from which the other companies (Alitalia first and foremost) were left out, created a very close relationship between the four carriers.

Upon our arrival at the airport we immediately breathed in the air of the "former world" compared to the desert we had seen on our previous flights with ghost airports and very few passengers: the T2 at Charles De Gaulle was alive, noisy, and full of people.

Fortunately, the SkyPriority desks were operational and our queue was short-lived, although nowadays with all the checking that has to be done by the check-in counter attendants, operations can take up to more than 15 minutes per passenger.

Not in our case. We had already uploaded all the documents and received the "verified to fly," so the person in charge just did a quick check of the vaccination certificate, swab and ESTA.

Security checks also passed quickly thanks to fast track.

While waiting for our flight, we stopped for coffee and a visit to the bathroom in the Air France lounge from the K gates of the Parisian airport, definitely the worst of all those present at the CDG.

If your flight departs from this area of terminal 2. and you don't have enough time to visit the other lounges, I recommend that when you enter, you turn to the right and use this part of the lounge as opposed to the other.

It does not have a view of the runway, but it is much more spacious and on one floor, so much more comfortable.

Breakfast on board the Paris/London flight

The business flight passed quickly, without infamy or praise. The classic A320 with the seat in the middle vacant.

At the airport in London

Just landed we headed towards the Centurion Lounge. I had visited it recently, but Marika had not yet seen it. I confirm all the good impressions I had of this new hall in T3 at the London airport.

I am well aware that I do not represent "the typical traveler". I always try to find the perfect ticket: the fare is important, but more so are the stopovers, the points I will accumulate, the lounges I will have a chance to visit, and especially the plane I will fly on.

Here was a classic example of a wise choice: the flight would be aboard Virgin Atlantic's flagship, in the brand new upper class and I would have had 6 hours to spend at the airport, enough time to fully enjoy the Centurion Lounge and especially Virgin Atlantic's Clubhouse, considered one of the best lounges in the world.

Virgin Atlantic's lounges are called Clubhouses and are different from all others. They are so because of the décor, the atmosphere, the service, and the quality of food and drink offered.

Access to the one in London is only possible if you fly business with VA or Delta, if you have Gold status with the British airline or the American airline. Stop.

The lounge offers everything: great food with gourmet dishes prepared on the spot.

A superbly stocked wine list and bar. We dedicated a review river to find out all about this waiting room, which is always in the Top 5 best lounges around the world.

We moved to the departure gate well in advance, the reason being simple: I like to be able to be among the first to board, take a few photos with the plane still empty, and browse around.

When we arrived at the gate the A350/1000, less than two years old., it seemed to be parked inside the terminal, it was so close that we could almost see the color of the pilots' eyes.

On board

That Virgin Atlantic is not a company like any other, you can tell even when you get on board: welcoming passengers there is no classical background music, there is beautiful music. Yes, I know, I'm sick, but I like to notice the small/big differences. And this is one of them.

Boarding was only through the second door, so we entered through the lounge called "The loft" a space where passengers can socialize during the flight.

Being an evening flight, the cabin lighting was very relaxing, though not the best for photos.

The cabin is very nice, the 1-2-1 configuration is similar to many other airlines, but the choice of materials and finishes are not similar to any other carrier.

The 1-2-1 configuration also allows all passengers to have direct aisle access.

All the seats are oriented outward from the fuselage, with the leg space carved out of the seat structure of the passenger seated in the previous row. The space is very generous and one does not feel "trapped" as is the case on other configurations.

With this seating configuration, therefore, there is no provision for honeymoon seats, or the ability to travel closer together when traveling as a couple. This configuration reaches its peak in the Qatar QSuite, where the two middle seats can become almost a double.

The plus of this configuration is to give greater privacy to all passengers, even those in seats not near the window.

All the chairs are then equipped with a small extendable partition. It is not a door as in the British Airways' new Club World Suite, but it is still an aid to further isolating oneself from the aisle and having less chance of being disturbed during the flight.

Which place to choose. The seats are all the same; the first row has the advantage of having more legroom, not having the tunnel of the seat in front where you can tuck them in. I would only avoid the last row because of the proximity to the lounge, if it is busy people chatting might disturb.

The small table, hidden in the back of the seat in front, opens via a button. Placed on a rail, it allows it to be oriented in different positions. It is spacious enough, but unfortunately it does not adjust for height, and most importantly, it is virtually impossible to get up with the side table open.

Instead, applause must be given to VS for choosing to install air vents, incredibly this is not a matter of course. Many airlines have chosen to configure their business class cabins without giving passengers the ability to manage their seat temperature.

The chair also has a light for reading, as well as two lights on the hat rack. A universal power outlet and two USB outlets, all of which are very convenient to reach and use.

What is lacking are spaces to store one's belongings, there is a small and practically useless open space in the structure of the chair, there is the hidden space behind the coffee table, and finally the space where the magazines are stored.

For passengers in the rows near the window, the space available is even smaller, just enough to put down a tablet or 13″ laptop. This is a real flaw since you have nowhere to safely, and easily accessible, leave your cell phone or a book.

The seat in the bed position is comfortable, and space for the upper body is generous. A tad bit sacrificed is that for feet and legs, which, as mentioned, tuck into the tunnel under the seat in front.

Seat management is through the button panel in the armrest of the coffee table. I don't know if I was unlucky, but I must say that the buttons were not responsive at all and in some ways not intuitive either.

On the other hand, Virgin Atlantic's choice to include everything needed to make the bed in a special bag is excellent.

In addition to the classic blanket, a very nice quilt, a mattress pad is provided to fit over the seat. This choice makes the chair very comfortable in bed version. The cushion was also one of the best I have found in the skies lately.

Special mention finally for the bathroom. The two front toilets are not very large, but they both have a window. Of course, this does not count as an aerated bathroom, but it is nice to be able to look out the window and enjoy the view at certain times.

The Loft

This section has replaced the bar found on board all other aircraft in Virgin Atlantic's fleet. The idea is nice: to create a space where upper class passengers can socialize; if you're traveling with friends, it's perfect for a chat. Usually similar spaces are on board only the A380, where so much space has allowed companies to come up with such solutions.

We met a nice couple on our honeymoon and spent a different half hour than usual. The only downside, but it could be a restriction due to Covid, is that no alcohol is allowed in the Loft. Very strange since on the rest of the fleet, instead of a lounge, there is an actual bar counter.

The service

As soon as we took our seats, we were brought a welcome drink. Since it was dinner time, we chose to continue with the excellent champagne also served in the lounge.

In the chair were the small beauty and an envelope with the anti covid kit.

VS's "goodie bag" is all about eco-sustainability, the case is not made of leather but recycled paper, and the products inside are also environmentally sustainable. Sure, there are still some small plastic jars but the toothbrush is 100% biodegradable as is the pen and earplugs and the products are of excellent quality. Well done. All passengers are also given a bag containing masks, hand sanitizing gel and wipes to clean the station. The socks are of superior quality to those of almost any other airline, so much so that I use them even in everyday life.

Maybe it was because it was an evening flight, but I have to say that the cabin crew was not up to the standard of the staff in the lounge.

IFE

From a company that was founded by a visionary like Sir Richard Branson one expects the best even from a technological point of view. Unfortunately, I have to say that I had mixed feelings.

The first thing I appreciated is the presence of the webcams to see what is happening outside the plane, but especially that FINALLY, TV can be used from the first to the last moment. In fact, many airlines that have a similar configuration ask passengers to close the TV during takeoff and landing for safety reasons. In this case Virgin Atlantic has designed the seats so that passengers can enjoy the entertainment system safely and without any limitations, a significant step forward from before.

Of course, they don't have the same output in a night flight as they do in a daytime flight, but I absolutely love being able to see what is happening outside from both the camera installed at the tip of the tail and the one positioned at the bottom that shows what is happening "underneath."

The headphones, packed in a recycled paper case, were of good quality although, when possible, I prefer to take advantage of mine by connecting them directly via Bluetooth or cable.

The 18.5″ screen comes out of the seat back, is touch and very smooth in response. The range of movies was sufficient, with even the ability to choose content according to the available language, but unfortunately live TV channels were completely absent.

The navigation interface is also not the most intuitive and occasionally forces one to have to restart from the home, when a "go back" button would suffice.

Interesting is the feature that allows you to connect your cell phone to the IFE, by doing so our device becomes the remote control of the entertainment system, allowing you to manage everything without having to touch the screen.

Very convenient, for example, when lying down in bed mode.

Unmissable in-flight wi-fi, with three types of offerings: for as little as £3 you can have access to messaging apps throughout the flight, with £6.99 you get 60 minutes of surfing, to be able to stay connected the entire flight the cost is £20.99. It is expensive, but being charged by time and not by traffic is definitely better.

Food & Beverage

This is where I was most disappointed with this flight. The first thing is that no passenger was distributed the menu. Nor was it available in digital form on the personal screen. Shortly after takeoff, a stewardess went through the cabin to take orders explaining the menu verbally. Ditto for the wine list, impossible to know what was available.

The quality of the dishes offered was sufficient, but again considerably lower than the quality of the cuisine in the lounge.

About 90 minutes after landing, a light dinner was served; I opted for a sandwich. Nothing exceptional.

A little trivia. One of the most stolen items aboard airplanes are provisions. In the case of VS to disappear are salt and pepper, which have the original shape of two small airplanes, the company knows this very well and jokes about it.

In conclusion

Certainly the pandemic still has an impact on the service, and that is something to take into account when evaluating this experience. On board, I missed what many people refer to as the "virgin mood" that is generally aboard this company's flights.

The A350/1000 is really a stunning machine in all aspects. My advice is to try this company at least once in your life, thanks to the possibility of booking a ticket using Membership Rewards points, even starting from Italy.

This is just one of many reviews you can read on our site. Covid and restrictions permitting, Every Wednesday we publish a review of a lounge airport, while every Friday you can read the review of one of our flights or a hotel where we stayed.

The verdict

My expectations were high and I must say that I was almost totally satisfied with the plane, a little less so with the in-flight service. The direct competitor of this upper class is BA's club world suite and I must say that British's seat is better. Here it lacks space for one's belongings and legs are sacrificed in the tunnel when the seat becomes a bed. The Loft is original, especially if you are not flying alone, too bad you cannot consume alcohol inside. The lack of a menu and wine list, however, was a very serious absence at this level.

6.8

Service

6

IFE

8

F&B

6

Cabin and Armchair

7

Pro

• The setting up of the booth
• The Loft
• The armchair and sleeping mat are really top
• The webcams

Against

• Lack of container spaces
• Neither the menu nor the wine list was distributed
• Little legroom in "bed" version