Upper Class Dream Suite

I finally got to try this for myself the other day on VS40. My first impression was really positive - it looks really nice and when you sit down I really like the new design and layout of the seat and buttons. So I started to wonder why there was so much negativity towards it....

Then the cracks started to appear. First of all I thought it would be nice to join my fellow passenger for dinner, however unless you're no more than 6 years old the ottoman is totally useless as you just end up sitting on the raised bit at the side. Then during dinner I started to get really annoyed by the fact that every time a passenger or crew member goes past they bump into you, and there didn't seem to be any way to move out of their way. Just after the main was served we got a bit of turbulance - Imagine how surprised I was when I couldn't find a seat belt, so ended up having to leave my dinner and return to my seat for twenty minutes.

The final straw was when I got into bed and immediately realised how much smaller the bed was, and was faced the choice of with either dangling my feet off the edge so everyone can bump into them, or trying to curl up into a very narrow space.

Bottom line - not very keen at all. Such a shame though as I really do like the look of it and so badly wanted to like it when I tried it.

I can see now why other passengers are not very keen on it.

Final comment about VS40 - The meal was one of the best I've had on board a flight, the crew was pretty much the complete opposite.

Thankfully it will soon be gone!

Thankfully it will soon be gone!

Shame really as they clearly put in a fair bit of effort (and no doubt a lot of cash!) into designing the new suite. Probably woud have been fine had they not try to cram in so many seats.

Whose brilliant TR was it where the UCDS was called the "sorry bus" because the crew so often had to apologise for bumping into the seats?

Whose brilliant TR was it where the UCDS was called the "sorry bus" because the crew so often had to apologise for bumping into the seats?

Might have been me.

I still maintain this product was fine for the mid haul routes intended for the A330. No matter, it'll shortly be gone.

Weren't Virgin in a legal dispute with the company that created the original UC Suite before the A330 deliveries were due & the company would not supply Virgin with any more UC Suites? If so, then Virgin had no choice but to look elsewhere & design a new seat - which combined with the bean counters desire to cram in a few extra UC seats led to UCDS on the A330.

At least Virgin have listened to feedback and decided to refit the A330's with new Upper Class seats - this must be costing them a fair bit of money too.

I always quite liked the seat but simply felt they went wrong in putting so many into the cabin.

I always quite liked the seat but simply felt they went wrong in putting so many into the cabin.

Yeah I agree.I only tried for the first time last month. As the OP said, it does look very swish, with some great lighting and materials all adding to the effect. However, it's too narrow both in terms of seat and isle width, the cabin is too cramped and there are a few niggles such as only one armrest, inadequate places for drinks/nibbles etc... It's a shame as it could have been a great product with a few changes.

Am i the only one to think that the cabin as a whole looked swish and modern, but when sat down in the seat, the materials looked cheap and tatty?