Review: NEW Virgin Atlantic A350 Upper Class

Ben,
I'm booked on VS flight 9 from TLV-LHR-JFK in July 2020. I've never flown VA before or been to their clubhouse in LHR. My flight from LHR-JFK is operated by an A330. The earlier flight is operated by the A350 and the last flight of the day had no points availability. Do you happen to know when VA will be using more A350s on this route, LHR-JFK? I would love to enjoy the clubhouse and the A350.
Thanks, M

I've been waiting for this review and I'm glad it doesn't disappoint. The seat design flaws are frustrating, but fixable, so I hope they iterate on it quickly (it sounds like they are). Can't wait to fly VS 19 from NYC to London later this week. Will be great to try the bedding out.

Great review. Not sure amenity kits are new for VS tho! I got a Herschel one when flying the standard (annoying) seat on the Dreamliner.

You two should have tried the middle seats together. These are the main difference to other similar seats.

@Ben all else being equal, which would you recommend for a translation flight - Turkish 787 or virgin 350?

I’m a bit mystified by this review. If, as Lucky always maintains, business class is “all about the seat”, my take is that *in all respects except the seat* Virgin’s new J Class is great.

So that’s a Big Fat Fail, right?

Luckily for them they’re mainly competing against BA, so they don’t have to try very hard at the moment. But I’m intrigued to see the comparison between this and the new BA Club Suite — which looks better on paper, although of course experience is everything.

But the previous post pointing out all the problems with the new Virgin seat — especially including the problem
If noise pollution from the “lounge” — is enough to have put me off.

Why did you book a return in economy? Are you going to use it or was the cost of the business ticket cheaper that way?

If there isn't any food available in the lounge, I struggle to see the point. I guess it means that unlike the current bar set-up people won't be there getting drunk? Which might explain no need for a curtain.

@Omer
I have a tough time imagining he is going to use an economy ticket unless you can upgrade it.

@The nice Paul - completely agree. I loved everything on VA's A350 except the seat - the crew were great, the amenities definitely v cool being sustainable, the bedding was great, the food great, TV/entertainment/screen great and so on.

But the seat was meh. Poor controls, difficult to get to the position you wanted, the privacy slider that's somewhat pointless, the tray table issues, no storage.

Very surprised by Lucky's review... and wonder how much he was (naturally of course!) influenced by all the great stuff to forget the bad!

Which is kind of a shady way to score a cheap ticket...

@ JDS
Which is a nice thought, but Lucky wrote in his previous piece:
“... being seated in the last row meant that I could hear the loud conversation of the people in the lounge even with headphones on.”

Even with headphones on.

How is that a sensible design choice? The last VS flight I took I had a “choice” of exactly one seat — right next to the damn bar. I didn’t sleep at all because of the drunk loud-mouths at the bar, who the lovely crew just ignored (still, I guess the noise didn’t affect the crew sleeping quarters).

VS is a party airline, infested by large numbers of Narcissistic people who don’t know how to behave in shared spaces. If they can’t or won’t design for everyone, then they’ll get punters who want to party. Good luck to them.

@ Aaron

How is it “shady” (if that’s what Lucky is going to do)?

In what other commercial transaction will the seller claim to have the right to insist you use all the product or service you’ve bought?

“You bought two bottles of gin with our BOGOF offer? You may not throw away the second bottle but you *must* drink it...”

Really?

I can’t think of any court that would accept an airline’s claim for damages against someone who threw away the last bit of a ticket.

Well, that says a lot about your character to me then, The nice Paul.

That pink lighting definitely doesn't make the food look particularly appetising!

@The nice Paul - Agree with you completely about drunk louts making noise. For me, the whole point of flying business class is about getting sleep, and having a QUEIT restful space to relax in. It seems Virgin Atlantic is exactly what you say it is:

"VS is a party airline, infested by large numbers of Narcissistic people who don’t know how to behave in shared spaces. If they can’t or won’t design for everyone, then they’ll get punters who want to party. Good luck to them."

Well said. Being stuck trying to sleep in what is essentially a flying bar for many hours sounds like my idea of hell. I don't care how much pink lighting they install or how much popcorn they bring. No way I would ever subject myself to that kind of annoyance. I'll be steering clear of VS.

Your Tarom and Virgin flight numbers had 1 3 and 9.. just jumbled up... What a coincidence.

I had trouble taking this review very seriously because it was pre-ordained - the wet kiss in the first paragraph made me gag.

It is all about the seat - except w VS I guess

Any chance we can see a Virgin A350 Economy review coming up 🙂

Or you can give the ticket to me...

If you read the review, he never says that the seat was bad or uncomfortable, only that there are some things he'd have done differently. Otherwise, he says the seats are comfortable, there is good foot space and they are good for sleeping. Seems pretty good to me.

Great review. I thought the seat looked nice but if you are traveling with a family, like I would be, I have no notion how I'd sit near and help my 5 year old in these kinds of seats. Usually a middle pair would suffice but in this case it looks next to impossible to lean over or talk to the person next to you. For work travel as a solo flyer it looks perfect and the food (with lots of choices I'd like) looks great! Bedding is key to a comfortable seat/bed and I agree that looks lovely. I traveled in coach on VA for one of my first overseas flights ages ago and was wowed by their coach service, looks like I should give them another go.

I wonder, as a side note, why the top of the menu page with coffee/tea says "Change Please Coffee". Looks like a bizarre typo on their part.

Can you order drinks in the lounge from a flight attendant?

A lot of people are complaining about the Virgin Atlantic bar, and it does seem kind of late 1990s / early 2000s instead of modern, but at least it is unique. I hope they keep some kind of bar option going forward. It is good to be able to chat with fellow passengers instead of just being cooped up in your business class coffin

"CHANGE PLEASE COFFEE" on the drinks menu?

I get those that say that in J it is all about the seat. However, I think the calculus changes a bit particularly for daytime transatlantic flights when you likely won't be sleeping and other factors of J service take higher precedence.

For more details on Change Please Coffee read the below

https://www.changeplease.org/

FWIW our work place voted to replace our coffee supplier from $tarbuck$ to Change Please. I suspect partly for ethical reasons, but from my point of view, the coffee is much better too

I'm surprised more airlines haven't invested in noise canceling curtains.

Lucky I think the reason for the herringbone seats in the center section is that airlines can save a bit of space, since you don't have to create the extra space to access the seat (since the seat points outwards into the aisle to begin with) that you need in a reverse herringbone seat.

The same would apply for the window seats but there you'd end up with a loss of a window view in the process.

Talking of configurations, whatever happened to the odd criss-crossing 1 x 2 x 1 configuration that they introduced on the A330? Seems to have gone by the wayside as the A330s I've flown in all have the standard 1 x 1 x 1 herringbone seating.

I flew VS10, the A350 route from JFK to LHR this past Thursday in Premium Economy, tried but failed to get a mileage upgrade. The Upper Class “lounge” still offers thé anytime good on request, and drinks on request. (I asked the crew.) The PE seat was comfortable enough for pitch and recline. The tray tables are (still) between the seats, so on one hand you can’t spread out as much if you have an empty seat next to you However, it also limits encroachment of your hip-space. The new style footrest only has a centre support (old style was left and right side brackets), which makes me question the durability. Time will tell. The “middle of the middle” PE seats have oddly centered under-seat supports, which may restrict storage of larger bags. The AV system is a BIG improvement over older planes. Brilliant screen size and resolution, and the “pilot cam” and “tail cam” plus side camera feeds are great if you aren’t in a window seat. Service was excellent as always.

I can see the main screen being used when a group of drunk Brits want to watch a football (if I must soccer) match on a flight from Manchester to Orlando or Barbados

Any clues how long the bed is when fully flat?

What's with that belt coming out in the middle of the headrest? That would drive me batty!

I've flown Virgin four times; three times in Upper Class and once in Economy. On all my flights the cabin crew seemed to just be going through the motions. No one was ever rude, but smiles were hard to come by. I used to train flight attendants for a U.S. airline, so of course I closely observe cabin crews whenever I fly. After my fourth disappointing Atlantic crossing with Virgin I've never felt motivated to fly them again.

While I haven't flown the A350 J yet, I do fully agree on the X-Factor vibe. It just feels good.

Used to fly VS all the time LHR-JFK/EWR and to SYD when they had that route.

Haven't flown so much lately but will do on the 350 at Xmas. Looking forward to it as the old UC is now very dated.

What about pajamas?

The seat matters less on these very short daylight sectors; it would be far more problematic on a LHR-HKG or BKK, 12 hours or so.
I like the fact that they serve (relatively) simple dishes, without trying to ‘tart them up’ with pretentious ingredients and descriptions for the faux-uppity set. It’s a good move ( as is the sparking wine offering rather than snob value champagne)
In some regards it looks superior ( minus the seat) to the recent AF F experience.

We really need Tiffany to chime in for a couple of paragraphs on what *she* thought of the experience

Never take Virgin. They don't go all the way.

Great report. Looks like a nice trip with Virgin. I'd like to fly them again, but I've never been as impressed with the food options on Virgin in Upper Class. It always looks a bit stingy it seems in what is being offered in the way of food, for the price it seems. I guess the beautiful cabin and seats makes up for everything, along with the awesome service. That is hard to beat.

Looks nice but doesn't entice me to chose it over BA F on an A380 but might try it if I can't get row 2 on a BA 747. It just feels so "busy" to me. But looks like it would be nice.

My one comment re the A350-1000 is that the business class section between door 1 and 2 is massive. Virgin has 44 seats, Cathay around 46. That takes away some of the privacy and seems to slow down service (I say slower service completely anecdotally). I prefer the -900, wherein J is typically divided between two smaller sections.

Thank you for the informative review- those Salt 'n Peppa shakers are fabulous:)

Two follow ups to Q's asked. Yes, they do have PJ's - though weird sizes. Not, S, M and L... but S to M and M to L

The "belt coming out of the headrest" is a belt you have to clip on to the lap belt for take off and landing. Not sure if it's specific to the type of seat or to an A350... as Iberia has the same shoulder belt on its new A350 planes. It never got in my way on that or my Virgin flight.

@Lucky - any insight on why these new shoulder belts are showing up?

Thanks for a good review, Ben. I agree to most of it.

The primary reason I fly Virgin like mad is because of their crews and ground staff. I will say that 70% are truly exceptional, 20% are somewhat average - and then you have about 10% that are rather terrible. And, yes, bad crews do exist also at VL - I have had some crazy experiences over the years such as prioritizing non-rev family members over Virgin Golds (e.g. serving drinks to the former, not the latter), loud night fights between crew members etc.

And you are absolutely right about that small note re wear and tear. I flew only a couple of weeks after their inaugural A350 flight - and the screens and panels already had scratches and cracks.

Also, Virgin needs to improve their cheese platter soon; that same selection has been running for years - and it is so disappointing with its mediocre pieces when you can source incredible dairy products both in the U.K. and the U.S.

Again, new seat is a clear improvement, but design process seems rushed - and we have ended up with something that not quite meets my expectations as for functionality and innovation. I think BA might take substantial business from VL on those lucrative LON-NYC flights, but then again a lot of Virgin customers are diehard loyalists to the brand.

I used to be NYC based, and flew VS all the time. Enough that I was asked to be on a “test” flight of a mock cabin in a design hangar...the now previous configuration. That was an interesting experience...they even piped in jet noise to mimic the flight.

I commented during the survey ending that I thought the white finishings to be unpractical, and also unappealing. I probably got a misdirected email, as the design team shared the survey feedback, and made fun of my comments about the finishings. Ooops on their part!

The design team is endlessly clever, sometimes too much.

That said, it’s an overall great experience in J, and the crew are regularly exceptional.

I did once book a JFK-LHR flight on day of departure, and only Econ was available. Econ turned out to be a surprising treat, despite the fact that I wasn’t happy to be in a middle seat. The service in Econ was also great.

I’m now LA-based, and fly all the Asian/Australian airlines. AA trans-Pac has been pleasing, CX/Vietnam Airlines/Japan Airlines/Thai...etc. Qantas is extraordinary. Their cabins are impressive...and their crews/meals/etc are fantastic...world best.

Yes, I’ve also flown the Qatar QSuites this year, which made me giddy with excitement and satisfaction.

But, aside from the QSuite design, Qantas actually beats them in service and food.

Beautiful plane and very friendly crew, but the most agonizingly slow meal service ever. I fell asleep twice while waiting for the next course. I just gave up and went to sleep. Crew were running up and down aisles, seemingly disorganized and confused.

Where you booked for this paid flight?

I flew upper class to Orlando, the first time for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and the staff were outstanding. Will always fly Virgin to USA. Thank you Virgin.