V-Flyer

Hi all,

Firstly hi, myself and X5 others will be travelling to vegas in last week of July for a weeks stay in Vegas, first time for everything!

I've flown with virgin many many years ago when I was a kid mostly Orlando etc,

Not flown with virgin in over 10+ years! since that time I've mostly gone European with sleazy jet or Ryan air! apart from a Thomas Cook flight to cancun it will be first time back on a Big plane for many years.

I've read up on the flight and a pattern seems to emerge that unless your premium economy or higher the drinks stop halfway over the atlantic,
I'll assume as its destination is vegas they are prob used to people getting trollied obv not the most sensible thing to do on a plane, nether there's for the sensible among us that seems a trifle unfair,

Now I'm aware 200+ people or however many are aboard there's only so much drink that one can have but is this true (I'm not overly worried as I don't do being drunk on flights anyway)

Coupe, questions really then, is the drinks situation true and are they forthcoming,

I hear the inflight entertainment has recently been overhauled on that route - is it any good

And will it be the 747 doing that route or luck of the draw?


Thanks in advance!

Thfc1234 wrote:Hi all,

Firstly hi, myself and X5 others will be travelling to vegas in last week of July for a weeks stay in Vegas, first time for everything!

Hello and welcome.

Thfc1234 wrote:Coupe, questions really then, is the drinks situation true and are they forthcoming,

At the risk of falling at the first fence, I don't really know, though I have heard the same stories as yourself. When you get back, put a TR together and let us know whether it's true or not...

Thfc1234 wrote: I hear the inflight entertainment has recently been overhauled on that route - is it any good

Yes and yes, though opinions vary about the content...

Thfc1234 wrote:And will it be the 747 doing that route or luck of the draw?

747 all the way I think, though "Which Aircraft" in the "Toolbox" section will be a better guide than my thoughts..

edited to add: just checked and it's 100% 747 in the past few months, the only variant being that on occasion an LHR configured 747 has done the route in which case the IFE is Vera On Demand rather than Touch (same basic content, slightly different delivery system)

Lovely thanks for that,

I will do a write up upon return (if I return lol)

I'm hoping its like most forums and based on matter of opinion rather than fact! I'm not too worried if they do stop drinks service over the atlantic, I just hope can get at least 4-5 drinks seeing as we've paid decent money for the experience, and I was insistent on VA rather than the cheaper BA ticket

I'm flying to vegas next week - minus the husband and child 8D Excited is an understatement! I normally fly premium but wanted to save some money for shows/clothes so am going economy for the first time and am also concerned about reports of the lack of drinks service. In premium the drinks service seems to run non stop on the outbound flight (hit and miss on the return night flight)but I have read it can get very dry in economy. I'm the same as you - don't particularly want to get trollied but would enjoy a pre and post dinner drink along with a glass of wine with my meal but sounds like it just depends on the behaviour of the fellow passangers. I've noticed at duty free you can buy mini bottles of wine. As long as you've gone through security would it be possible to sneak one on board v( ):

ps forgot to say that the new vera entertainment is fantastic. Great choice of movies and other stuff to watch - makes the journey go so quickly. Very occasionally someone posts that theirs wasn't working but they give you a portable dvd player instead. I'm taking a good book and loading my I touch with a few movies just incase. Enjoy !

The VS43 has, unfortunately, become somewhat notorious for rowdiness and it's true that, on occasions, drinks service is stopped or rationed.

They only carry so much alcohol on board, and if it's a thirsty flight it can run out. But more importantly the crew are responsible for the safety of everyone on board. We all know how violent and unpredictable some people can be when they drink too much which is unpleasant enough in your local town centre at 2.00 on a Saturday morning, but in a confined space at 40,000 feet with nowhere to go it's downright dangerous so the crew are right to err on the side of caution, even if it seems unfair to the majority who are sensible. I believe BA have similar issues on their LAS flights so it's not just a VS thing.

@lovevegas - only alcohol served by the crew is allowed to be drunk on board so technically you may not drink alcohol you've bought at duty free.

I normally don't drink at all on the flight as I have my 11 year old son with me but this time I'm going with my sister and it would be nice to have a drink or two - but I know what you mean - I feel so sorry for the crew when they have to deal with drunken passangers so I probably won't risk taking my one miniture bottle of merlot with me! What I would advise Thfc1234 is you take lots of water with you...especially on the night flight as even in Premium the attendants can disappear for several hours. It's just easier to have your own bottle rather than having to press the button for a tiny cup of water...or have to wake up a sleeping passenger next to you to get to the galley

Yeah I know all bout drunken idiots and how much of a pain they can be contained in a town, an aircraft diff story!

Were all banging on 30 years old door so profiling pax we prob at a glance fall into the rowdy pile, truth is were very well behaved, that aside I'm not one for getting wasted on an aircraft, let's hope everyone else behaves themselves so we can all get a few ourselves!

Relief about the vera system, I've got my iPad too but 9-10 hours plus can be boring!

Write up a review when your back about the flight if you could, give me something to look forward to!!!

Enjoy

The other thing to remember is that the alcohol loaded at LHR has to cover both the outbound and the return flight and so it is necessary to ensure there is enough for the passengers flying back to the UK. Alcohol cannot be loaded in the US because of customs and bonding issues.

Yes...will write review when/if I return :0 Paid for extra legroom so will also report if it was worth it. Hoping the weather is o.k as a bit hit and miss in April/May. Normally go in August when it's WAY too hot so might be refreshing to have some cooler weather and walk the strip. Just waiting for May's movies to be released so can see what the latest movies are http://virginatlantic.mymovies.net/

Hopefully it will be alright and the rumours are just that...rumours!


Either way it's merely our carraige to vegas so I'm not too fussed

We have flown to Vegas about 8 times with Virgin. Over the last couple of years the drink service has stopped on most of the flights but not before we have had three or four drinks. We last flew end of March and was in economy, in the bubble.
The drinks did not run out but my husband had to swap from beer to wine but this was after his fourth one! The flight was not full.

I flew with VA to Vegas on a Friday the first time, was a full flight and run out drinks after 90 minutes (except soft drinks)...

This time, we go on a Monday real soon, so I am hoping that its a bit different for Monday flights

lovevegas wrote: especially on the night flight as even in Premium the attendants can disappear for several hours.

My idea of several hours is in excess of 2, and if the crew are disappearing for this long then I'd love to know where they've gone, and it would be a really big safety breach if no crew had ventured into the cabin for several hours.
In the years I've worked at virgin I can safely say that the cabins have never been deserted for that long. Even if crew aren't in the cabin offering water/juice on a night flight, they will be walking round from galley to galley, to the toilets so they would be visible even if at that moment they aren't offering something.

I had a few anxieties when I went to Vegas for the first time in economy, I normally fly premium to Orlando and this was the first time since 2008 that I flew economy.

The drinks ran throughout majority of the flight - please see my vegas trip report out and back.

They did serve alcohol on the way back too but was restricted due to a night flight.

It will definitely be a 747 unless there is an operational issue and they replace with an A333 but it is highly unlikely you would get an A333 as these are used on LHR routes and the carribean routes from LGW. Therefore you would most likely get a 747 if your aircraft did go tech and they couldn't fix.

The entertainment system is excellent in economy not as many features as premium e.g. the controller mainly, but the entertainment is great, on board games, interactive maps, news, etc.

I expect you will receive a great flight and look forward to the trip report on return.

Hi Thfc1234 - just got back from my vegas trip. Drinks service was as bad as I expected. Shortly after take off came the one and only drinks service with alchohol. No drunken or rowdy passengers or stag/hen parties. No explaination given as to why this was the one and only drink allowed. After dinner a choice of soft drinks but no tea of coffee (grrr) Half way through the flight an offer of a small cup of water (that's it!) and then tea/coffee with afternoon snack just one hour before we landed. Luckily I had taken my own drinks on board as I do get thirsty. Asked for a coffee from attendent in gallay and she snapped "why can't you wait...we're coming out soon". 90 mins later I finally got my caffeine fix ! Coming back we had 2 drinks service (alchohol available) and a tea/coffee after dinner and with b'fast so much better. Films were gr8...spoiled for choice and made the journey go so quickly

You'd think a company as big/successful as virgin would go back to the customer focus as appose to quickly becoming a Ryanair type of service - don't get me wrong I have no intention on getting destroyed on a flight far from it, but to snap at someone who asked for a coffee is disgraceful....especially as we are paying customers, it's not a free flight after all.

Hoping it was a case of tired staff on that occasion and isn't a pattern of things to come.

Virgins marketing seems to be a million miles from what customers experiences are saying.

I realise staff put up with rude and obnoxious customers at times - as do all of us in public services and public and private sector jobs - I personally would not accept a member of staff saying "Can't you wait?" After paying in excess of £1000 for a flight.....I wonder if laying for PE or UC you'd have been spoken to like that.

honey lamb wrote:Alcohol cannot be loaded in the US because of customs and bonding issues.

It can but is very expensive, 8 cans of coca cola in the USA is a minimum of £50 with some airports charging more to airlines, Let alone booze.

My wife and I flew to vegas in premium economy at the end of March. We were met with drinks but after that unless you were dining we were never offered drinks, I had to go hunting for the staff to assist me with my request. To add insult to injury, looking through the curtain to upper class you see 4-5 people sat at the bar all getting on one. No service issues there. You would think with the 40 people in premium economy, getting a decent drinks service would be achievable, unfortunately not. This could be however just one flight, I can't comment on others. Return flight wasn't great either to be honest. Stay away from galley entrance seat as it resembles a London train station at rush hour.