My return flight to Los Angeles was scheduled to, again, be on Virgin Atlantic's new 787 Dreamliner. Given that I understood firsthand that Virgin's A340-600 fleet was showing its age, I was excited to try out the new product. However, once again, as I approached the gate I saw that there had been an equipment…
Continue reading: Review: Virgin Atlantic Upper Class A340 London Heathrow To Los Angeles
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I must say, this whole review series has been miles better than any of the other trip reports I've read on this blog in a long time. The fact that they were on time, actually gave a good amount of information about the flight and had decent humour made this a very good read.
Maybe lucky should take lessons from you and improve his trip reports
Catastrophe is sooooooooooo good. As much as I love Ben, its nice to have someone with decent taste in movies/tv on here.
Excellent review. Shame about the last minute equipment swap and bad catering.
I had now idea what "pud" meant in the US! I love it!
Thanks for the series of reviews Nick! Appreciate your humor and putting up with some negativity in the various posts. For every hater there are many more fans who totally get you. Hope you return soon with more Delta love and witty commentary.
Considering the food was being catered out of Britain I would think the Indian food would have been the obvious choice 🙂
I am a bit confused by the drink menu calling a Margarita a "Brazilian" favo(u)rite though.
Thanks for the review, Nick - a definite return to form with this one, preferred it to your outbound one (a bit like you did with the flights!). Glad the on board bar atmosphere was so friendly, now we just need you to start calling champagne+OJ a 'bucks fizz' rather than a 'mimosa' 😉
For those flying into London from New York, I highly recommend the early morning flights (leaving from 7 AM ish) from JFK/Newark. This is also a "day" flight - you land essentially in the late evening in London, can go to the hotel, then straight to dinner. I haven't flown Virgin Upper Class, but I imagine the bar would be a great time on these flights.
We flew the A340 SFO-LHR "dark" and loved it. IMO who cares about the ancient IFE, we bring our own entertainment anyhow. Either iPhone/iPad or talk or SLEEP!
I really like the A340, it's a solid plane and I don't understand the people who deride it as old. Wish we had a shot at the 747, but we were very lucky to find 4 UC seats for only 62,500 SkyRubles. Someday I will ride the Queen of the Skies.
Nice review!
In my opinion, you failed to mention the best part (next to the comfortable bad) of flying Upper Class, namely the darling and easy (and encouraged) to pilfer, the airplane-shaped salt and pepper shakers! In fact, did you notice that on the bottom are engraved the words "pinched from" on one and "Virgin Atlantic" on the other?
@Bgriff: Ha, good catch! I knew they were doing a "margarita mix-up" menu, but to call the Virgin Margarita a mouth-watering take on the "Brazilian favorite" certainly implies a geographic mix-up instead. 😉
tuna, egads... agreed chicken tikka might be a solid option ex-LHR. i always go for pasta on a longhaul. it's harder to screw up and the carbs help knock you out for a good sleep.
Virgin makes very good Indian food in-flight. The Chicken Tikka Masala holds up very well at 35,000 feet. You can also preorder a Hindu Vegetarian meal that is also spicy and also survives well in the air.
Just wanted to say I love your trip reports. Nice to get a Delta/Skyteam view and I for one like that you are little "cheeky" it's make for fun reading.
I guess Star Alliance gets covered by Lucky when he travels Internationally and United is so horrid they aren't worth talking about? I think it would be interesting if one of y'all took a United flight (Transcontinental or maybe NYC-Europe?) who knows you might get lucky and have a free stop over in Goose Bay? Regardless something tells me it would be fun reading.
Nice report, though that tuna looks horrendous. If it's on menu then should bloody have figured out how to serve it without murdering it (I'm an Aussie, we're allowed to say bloody). Mmm now I'm hungry.
I do quite like how you snuck a shot of your shoes in there. Well done on sticking it to the haters 😉
@Alan. I had to look up what a mimosa was. It appears it is slightly different to Buck's fizz as it is 1-1 OJ and champagne. Bucks Fizz is supposed to be 2-1 OJ to Champagne. Mine you i make my Buck's fizz 2-1 Champers to OJ.
@Nick - I think most restaurants in UK now say desert menu not pudding. Just accept what ever you say you can not win!!
@Alex they most certainly do in stores. See http://www.gupuds.com/our-puds/sharing-puds/after-dark-chocolate-pecan-brownie-pud for example...
Oh wow THAT TUNA is terrible. Probably a fault of catering or the FA's overheating (i.e. cooking) it? I doubt any chef in the world (much less a 'celebrity chef') would even consider serving a fully well-done-all-the-way-through tuna steak ...
@Nick - LOL when I saw "Hot Tub Time Machine 2"! Did not realize you are such a film connoisseur 😉 But I guess it is probably healthier than popping a Xanax to fall asleep.
Great post - however, I'm beginning to see a common thread to most of your posts and I've made a determination. You only take 1 pair of shoes when you go on a trip - the pair that you wear - the same disgustingly dirty pair of shoes. Seriously??? Add some variety, and cleanliness to your life!!
@Casey: How about we make a deal? You don't judge my footwear or fashion choices based on a cell phone pic, and I won't judge the fact that, while 99% of the population has better things to do, you specifically logged on here on a workday to criticize a perfect stranger's footwear for being what you consider dirty.
Honestly, they're white canvas Chuck Taylors. This is what happens to them. Move on.
hahaha so even Nick admits that we shouldn't read this blog anymore. or on weekdays at least. totally true. one because he's here and two because there are like no more trip reports. i mean respect your legacy readers. no one wants to do this boot camp and the new readers probs arent gonna stay
@A / Jim / Ariel: Nice to see you back! For someone who doesn't like reading me, you sure like to comment on all my posts and obsess over me. Either way, we welcome the pageviews here at OMAAT.
Enjoyable read. The aspiration to fly Virgin Atlantic UC is why I started this hobby. Haven't flown it yet but it's nice to see it can still impress even with the objectively better products out there.
Really enjoyable trip review - I had forgotten how much i enjoy Virgin Atlantic UC and how much more fun it is to fly than CW on BA and your review was a good reminder
Really late on this one, but I personally like seeing a guy in a pair of not-so-perfectly-clean sneakers. There's something to it.
Wait you enjoyed Horrible Bosses 2 more than Hot Tub 2? I don't think I can respect your opinion anymore!