After a fantastic week in TPG’s New York office, I headed back to London.Having experienced Virgin Atlantic’s newer Airbus A330 premium economy class on the outbound flight, I purposely booked an A340 service home on one of their oldest aircraft to see if the experience would differ.. Booking. Positioned to the right were two windows, both of which were electrochromic, as is the case on all 787s. I eventually found a way to swing myself over my seatmate into the aisle, though that only worked while he was sleeping. She obliged, and I made my way and started snapping photos. Virgin Atlantic Airways | Flying Club - Free Alcohol in Premium Economy? The seat was also well-stocked with amenities that would be of good use during the flight. However the Business class on Virgin Atlantic is a very high end premium product way out of the reach of most. While there were other people coming from Hong Kong, they were all on Cathay Pacific, so we met each other there. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Footrest. While Virgin’s Premium Economy seat seats have 7-8 inches of recline vs Virgin’s Economy and Economy Delight recline of 4-6 inches, it is much harder to work out the seat recline on British Airways without getting out your tape measure onboard. What's the real story, and if it's available, is it freely offered, or do i always find that VS crews are more friendly and fun than crews on British Airways or the American carriers on this route. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I slept for another three hours and found myself over Copenhagen with around 80 minutes left before our descent into London. Which is the best Premium Economy Transatlantic Airline? Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Hot Towel. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Wonder Wall Inflight. It’s worth noting that no matter which level of three economy class fares you buy, the food is the same for each one. 38″ of seat pitch isn’t enough for the person in the window seat to clamber over the aisle seat without disturbing the passenger, and I move around the cabin a whole lot, so…. There are two good reasons – one relating to comfort and one relating to miles. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, as this sunrise was probably the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world. This is an EXCEPTIONALLY good deal and you’d be mad to turn it down. I was curious to see how today’s experience would measure up. I asked the purser if I could take a picture of the Upper Class bar, as no one was using it. Overall the food was fine, though nothing special. A search for a round-trip premium economy flight via Google Flights for the same time this year shows that you can book for about $1,160.As I mentioned before, when I arrived at LHR’s mostly deserted Terminal 3, I inquired about getting a paid upgrade to premium economy. I really liked seat 25K, as it was nestled right in the corner of the cabin. They didn't when we flew to Antigua last month. Our taxi was short, and we made our way to runway 25L behind a Cathay Pacific 777. The cabin wasn’t too warm throughout the flight, which helped with sleeping. This was followed by a hot towel, which was more like a steamed antiseptic. The blanket was no duvet, but I found it substantial. food was good and entertainment although i did not use it on this flight there was a good choice available. Bid & win a luxury hotel stay or travel item for your next vacation. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Entertainment System. - See 15,156 traveller reviews, 2,724 candid photos, and great deals for Virgin Atlantic Airways, at Tripadvisor. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Evian Water. Our takeoff roll was smooth, and we passed the road near HAECO where I normally like to planespot. We landed into London Heathrow at 5 AM, and started making our way to Terminal 3. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Economy Class. You can also read my listing of the world’s top 10 Premium Economy Airlines. The seatbelt sign stayed on for an unusually long time considering how steady the takeoff was. The Virgin Atlantic Economy food is of a much lower caliber and is not noteworthy so Premium Economy definitely provides a much nicer dining experience. Virgin’s Premium Economy seat dimensions are 18-21 inches seat width, 38 inches legroom, while Virgin’s Economy offers a “generous” width of up to 17 inches, with seat pitch or legroom of up to 31 inches. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Singapore Airlines premium economy, whch also features a leather seat, my flight in Singapore Airlines’ premium economy, where I had to wait an hour on a four-hour flight for my tray to be cleared, As much as I love the window seat at the last row of the cabin, my tray table was broken during my last flight in Virgin Atlantic premium economy, and I was instructed to eat at the bar instead, I asked another flight attendant if I could take pictures of Upper Class after landing. Virgin Atlantic A330-300 premium economy 30 Sep 2014 by Jenny Southan BACKGROUND Virgin Atlantic operates a daily seasonal summer route to … At around 11:15 boarding was called starting with Upper Class, though premium economy followed within a minute and I was on my way quickly. This is a valuable feature of Premium Economy and means you can sit where you want in the cabin (within reason), which is a valuable feature if you want to sit with your family or partner. From the mood lighting, to the boarding music, to the safety video, to the Wonder Wall concept, to the little touches on the seat, I felt the feeling that Virgin Atlantic wanted its passengers to experience. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Hong Kong Airport. So even if the price IS your biggest factor, Premium Economy can mean that you avoid wasting a day of your holiday which may ultimately be worth more than the price difference. I have no complaints about the sides, though. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Main Meal – Braised Chicken in a Creamy White Sauce with Pumpkin and Potato Mash, Green Beans and Onion. They call this snack bar the Wanderwall. Travel tips for the luxury traveler featuring guides comparisons & more. The purser was working opposite the Wonder Wall when I asked if I could take a picture, and he also offered to clear it up for me so I would get a better picture. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Cabin. Economy class consisted of seats in a 3-3-3 configuration – while that’s the industry standard on a 787, it also meant that each seat was only 17 inches wide, which is a tight fit. Virgin Atlantic’s premium economy tray table folds nicely in half, and is sturdy, so I had no problems using it throughout the flight. Their economy seats have a maximum recline of … My seatmate and I both had water, which was accompanied with sour cream and onion pretzels. Change ). The Wonder Wall was cleared after breakfast, in preparation for landing. Unfortunately it certainly could’ve started out better, as I had quite the dilemma during customs at the airport that night. They’re also not “premium seats”, in that you don’t have to pay to select them, so I would aim for these seats if sitting in economy. I didn’t have a problem with that for most of the flight, though. Back at my seat, I was presented with a menu. Headphones were provided at each seat. Mandarin Oriental Munich I decided to go for an orange juice (while I’m at the legal drinking age in some countries, neither Hong Kong or the UK are part of those countries). You can… Read More. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Main Meal – Braised Chicken in a Creamy White Sauce with Pumpkin and Potato Mash, Green Beans and Onion. While it wasn’t served with cream as the menu detailed, I have no complaints otherwise. I have flown in Premium Economy and would not hesitate to fly it again. A delicious meal including a cold starter, choice of three hot main dishes, warm breads, pudding and cheese and biscuits. That’s in stark contrast to my flight in Singapore Airlines’ premium economy, where I had to wait an hour on a four-hour flight for my tray to be cleared. ( Log Out /  It’s worth noting that some of Hong Kong Airport’s gates are now redesigned and have bigger screens – these are only gates 23 and 24, but I’m interested to see if other gates will get this refit in the near future. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Upper Class Cabin. So purely on seat dimensions, Virgin’s Premium Economy gives you much more room, but a halfway house is Virgin’s Delight class, and if you are a large person, this is worth considering. At this point there were newspapers on display. Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy has a 21″ seat width, 38″ leg room, free drinks and free food. British Airways or Virgin Atlantic? A choice of tea or coffee/ hot chocolate* to round things off. I appreciated that they tried to spruce up the appetiser salad with bell peppers and jade beans, but it’s hard to make vegetables exciting when they are left unseasoned and undressed. I assigned myself seat 25K, which was the window seat on the right side at the back row. Virgin enables you to select your Premium Economy seat for free. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Pillow. We taxied past a bunch of interesting aircraft, including a British Airways A380, a Qatar Airways A320 (as British Airways wet leased Qatar Airways planes to help them during their strike) and a HiFly A340. However, I love the mugs Virgin Atlantic’s hot beverages are served in – does anyone know where I can get one of these mugs? My guess is that we went pretty far north, where the sun stays up for basically 24 hours a day. The aircraft operating the route was G-VFAN, which was a bit over a year old. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Bathroom. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Wonder Wall Empty. As I outlined during the introduction post, the roundtrip between Hong Kong and London in premium economy ended up costing a substantial amount, so I was looking to be wowed on this flight. This was in Premium Economy. We offer free upgrades, free breakfasts and free perks at hotels including Four Seasons, Park Hyatt, Ritz Carlton, InterContinental and many more. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Seats 24H and 24K. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Meal Dessert – Chocolate Brownie Note: Benefits offered correct at the time of writing but may be amended at discretion of the vendor. During pushback I briefly browsed the extensive entertainment system. The breakfast was served with a croissant and jam, fruit and yoghurt, along with our choice of coffee or tea – I had tea, which I ordered with a little milk. Virgin Atlantic’s brand consistency continues into the words provided at the seat, with the “handset must be stowed” messages all displayed in lowercase. It’s worth noting that when I asked the flight attendant if I could photograph the wall, she said “it looks very messy…let me clean it up a bit for you first”. We get 'snacky' food from Marks and Spencer and take it onboard as hand luggage - their roast nut selection goes down a treat with the G&T's as does their sandwiches and pork pies as a more substantial snack! This wasn’t bad news, as I could focus on the sunrise that was happening outside my window. When comparing Virgin Vs British Airways Vs Norwegian, the seat pitch is particularly average in Virgin’s Premium Economy. She frantically moved around the newspapers on display for a while, and said “I guess it still looks messy, but go ahead”. For this particular flight there was quite a queue for economy, but premium check in took no more than 10 minutes from queueing to boarding pass. Immigration took a while, though by 5:30 AM I was out at the arrivals area typing up blog posts. Virgin Atlantic’s first B787-9 entered the fleet in 2014. Going back to premium economy, the seats are very well padded (much more so than Singapore Airlines premium economy, whch also features a leather seat), and have a decent amount of legroom. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy USB Port. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Wonder Wall Corkers Chips. Premium Economy Wine - Virgin Atlantic inflight drinks In Premium Economy you get a slightly better wine selection: but there is only one type of red, and one of white on offer. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Blanket. Virgin Atlantic has one of my favourite safety videos, as it fits swimmingly with Virgin Atlantic’s branding without being too tacky. This means that you are potentially ruining the first day of your trip because you have not spent the extra on upgrading your flight. After some searching, I found a sub-$1000 round-trip Virgin Atlantic premium economy fare from London Heathrow to Newark. It's the little touches here and there that help you truly enjoy your time in the air. I said that I was just here for a few photos – I don’t know if the reaction was a laugh, a snarl, or just a startled “? The Virgin Atlantic Economy food is of a much lower caliber and is not noteworthy so Premium Economy definitely provides a much nicer dining experience. A very plush pillow was provided. Destination: London Heathrow (LHR) Gate: 15 Arr: 05:30 (05:10) The Wonder Wall is, in my opinion, a smart concept, since hungry passengers can just grab whatever they need. While that was good news for anyone planespotting that night, it meant that our takeoff views were limited to the dark ocean. Sometimes you suspect they aren't really trying too … Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Wonder Wall Newspapers. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Tray Table. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Meal Dessert – Yuzu Orange Mousse Cake. Depending where you’re flying from, those travelling with a Virgin Atlantic Economy Delight ticket will either benefit from a dedicated desk or will be able to use the Premium facilities. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Window Controls. It is selected for Virgin Altantic by Berry Bros. & Rudd, the London wine merchants. Al Maha Lounge Doha Airport Virgin Atlantic have 3 Class types, Economy, Premium Economy and First Class. We parked at gate 15 at 5:10 AM, which seems to be part of Virgin Atlantic’s own wing at Terminal 3 (all my flights on Virgin Atlantic have departed from one of those gates at Heathrow). Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Reg: G-VFAN This flight flew out of London Heathrow Terminal Terminal 3. The service, however, was one of the reasons that made this flight great. Having said that, particularly for overnight flights, being stuffed in a sardine-tin, with little space to move and next-to-no recline, means that sleep is difficult. Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Premium Economy Meal Main Course – Spinach and Mushroom Gnocchi. I was the first person in the cabin, so I was able to grab quite a few cabin photos. Treat yourself to Premium. Taxiing out of Hong Kong is fun at night, but pictures are less fun, even when the lights are dimmed. Featuring Lie flat beds, premium drinks, lounge access, they even send a car to pick you up! You know what it feels like schlepping into economy — like you’re in grade school, being shuffled into a que one-by-one to board an overcrowded bus with zero personal space and extra germs. I arrived in Europe 9 days earlier via SWISS’ solid business class throne seat. Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse London Heathrow Airport It had a variety of different positions and I found it more comfortable than a traditional “bike pedal” footrest. The menu offering is enhanced, the food is decent, but nothing spectacular and is served on china with stainless steel cutlery. 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