V-Flyer

This November I'm flying on VS900 (LHR-NRT) & VS901 (NRT-LHR) in premium economy.

Originally it said my flights would be on the a340-600 however these have since changed to the a340-300 which I know is one of Virgin Atlantic's older planes.

One of my main concerns is the IFE and I've read that the 300 uses the older Odyssey system which shows the movies on a loop.
I know that the planes were going through a refit so I'm just curious as to whether or not the IFE has been upgraded to the newer IFE that uses V-Port?

Thank you for reading my concerns and I would be grateful for any responses that would be helpful.

One aircraft G-VSUN has what was V-Port. (VERA)

The other three have Odyssey (VERA Reel).

Believe Tablets for PE and UC on some flights.

tugpilot wrote:One aircraft G-VSUN has what was V-Port. (VERA)

The other three have Odyssey (VERA Reel).

Believe Tablets for PE and UC on some flights.

Thank you.

So I'm pretty much guaranteed the Odyssey system then.

What are these tablets for PE though?

Kari wrote:So I'm pretty much guaranteed the Odyssey system then.

What are these tablets for PE though?

Not necessarily. It's difficult to predict which route gets G-VSUN and you might be lucky y)

The Tablets are iPads or equivalent pre-loaded with presumably that months IFE.

Alternatively bring your own iPad or laptop suitably loaded - or a good book!

I thought the tablets had been removed due to problems with powering them?

When did that happen Darren?

Hi Kari
Yes I noticed the AC type has somehow changed to 343
Flightstats is showing 346 though hmm

I flew back from NRT in march on a 343 in UC with REEL but we weren't offered tablets so guessing that service has also finished ?

PS if it is to be a 343 then my advice would be to load up your mobile or tablet
Or bring a good book

Reel is disappointing but not the end of the world I guess. PE seat and service will be just as good and after a recent flight with projector style/ single screen feature films (yes some us airlines still operate flights like this) reel can be a picnic. Although, the thought of reel on LONG distance flights would not be a happy one. Bring a book or two!

How does Reel generally work?

Sadly my next flight with VS has this terrible system.

Its a 9 hour flight - I'm going to take an ipad with some stuff on but I'd like to catch at least a few current movies. Is the selection generally the same as the on-demand system only delivered in a less flexible way?

Virgin are very quiet about it on the website, its almost as if it doesn't exist until you find out about it on here..

Reel is just like TV at home used to be - it's broadcast and you can flick through the channels, - it's not on demand, so the film keeps playing whether you are watching or not. You can't pause it etc. There are about 20 channels

It's not all bad - 35 Nintendo games to choose from!

I just wish they were more open and honest about it on the website - I've flown with VS since 2005 and always loved the IFE having never used anything other than V-Port.

It seems odd that the planes they have left with V-REEL are the ones typically used on one of VS's longer routes? The outward flight is scheduled for almost 10 hours. I'm sure they could palm it off on those flying to BOS in 6.5 hours instead

Presumably the moving map is all there with time to destination etc?

Goatflyer wrote:It seems odd that the planes they have left with V-REEL are the ones typically used on one of VS's longer routes? The outward flight is scheduled for almost 10 hours. I'm sure they could palm it off on those flying to BOS in 6.5 hours instead

I agree on this

To be fair, the 3 x 340 with Reel seem to spend most of their time on the Dubai run, with occasional trips to Accra and Chicago.

Darren Wheeler wrote:To be fair, the 3 x 340 with Reel seem to spend most of their time on the Dubai run, with occasional trips to Accra and Chicago.

Yes that's true
It seems though that according to MMB the 343 might be on NRT this winter even though flightstats is showing 346. Fingers crossed @Kari hey.

Darren Wheeler wrote:To be fair, the 3 x 340 with Reel seem to spend most of their time on the Dubai run, with occasional trips to Accra and Chicago.

Don't they do YVR as well?

Yep. Today it's G-VSUN, with On-Demand.

Fingers crossed!

Goatflyer wrote:

Darren Wheeler wrote:To be fair, the 3 x 340 with Reel seem to spend most of their time on the Dubai run, with occasional trips to Accra and Chicago.

Don't they do YVR as well?

Yes, they do and it has been on an A343 ever since the route was inaugurated last year with the exception of a couple of occasions when a 346 was used but the point that Darren was making was that the 3 aircraft with Vera-Reel spend most of the time on the Dubai, Accra and Chicago runs with the occasional foray to Newark on the VS17/18 run. The YVR run tends generally to be either G-VSUN with On Demand or G-VFAR with Reel (although the other two Reel aircraft are occasionally pressed into service)

If you look on the Schedules tab, it will give to an historic overview of which aircraft flew each route

Darren Wheeler wrote:I thought the tablets had been removed due to problems with powering them?

Is this confirmed to be true? The tablets were the one thing keeping me hopefully about the UC to Vancouver in August/September.

When I booked it I asked if the route had the new IFE, and the agent went off for a few minutes and came back and said all planes had it now. I didn't believe this a bit, but the tablet idea was my real fallback, and while I wouldn't change a flight because of the IFE, it does hurt a little.

As for the VPORT one (ex LHR), its been dogged with problems in the few flights I've been on, like being down for 1.5 hours on one and being non existant on another. I guess the torrents will have to be hit before I go (I don't usually download films from torrents).

It's not as if YVR is a cheap route either - it's pretty much the most expensive place to fly to direct from the UK in North America. I know that makes little difference but it makes getting the worst planes a bit more annoying :p

It depends what criteria you judge a plane to be the worst I guess.

In terms of IFE then yes, the A343 is definitely worst. But I rank IFE very low on my list of priorities as I hardly use it - for me space and comfort are much more important and in that regard the A343 is streets ahead of the cramped A333.

Each to their own I guess. But if I want decent IFE, I take an iPad - far better than any aircraft system.

This winter the 340-300s will operate certain days on CPT NRT and PVG. DXB will be back on the 330. I believe G-VSUN is scheduled to leave the fleet in January when her lease expires

virginboy747 wrote:This winter the 340-300s will operate certain days on CPT NRT and PVG. DXB will be back on the 330. I believe G-VSUN is scheduled to leave the fleet in January when her lease expires

thanks for that virginboy747. I will pray to the G-VSUN god if we have to have a 343 on our day otherwise hoping for a random 346. But as Gumshoe has said better to just load up a mobile device with IFE. and as joeyc said maybe good excuse to sit at the bar. Actually on our last UC flight back from NRT I experienced my first 343 with REEL and DID sit at the bar for a while chatting to a salaryman and a cabin attendant. It was interesting so maybe the 343 doesnt have to be so bad

From what I remember, the reel stuff made the flight a bit more social, as the films ended and people drifted back to the bar for a bit, and then noticed the films restarted and headed back to them if they felt like another one.