V-Flyer

I’m just wondering if anyone has any concrete news about when the refits will go ahead? I’m flying in September to ORD Upper Class. Any news would greatly be appreciated.

Welcome to V-Flyer.

VS cancelled its direct service to ORD last year so could you clarify which flight you’re booked on?

I’m on VS109 MAN-ATL

Welcome to V-Flyer

There are no confirmed dates as to when the refits start as far as I’m aware.

It’s doubtful any will be done before September though as I suspect VS will probably wait until the Winter season starts before pulling aircraft out of service as there’s less demand on aircraft during the Winter.

Indeed. October seems to be the best guess for the first one but that could slip and even if it doesn’t it’ll be well into next year before all four are done.

I’m afraid you should work on the assumption that your A332 will be unrefurbished.

Thanks so much for all your quick responses, looks like I’m going to have to grin and bear the A332 Upper Class if you can call it that. I suppose on the bright side I won’t be sat down the back.

I have just flown uc from man-sfo on the 332 and in my humble opinion you certainly won’t have to grin and bare it. Ok there is no bar but the crew were very attentive and to be honest didn’t really miss it. Yes I did / do use it normally. The seats next to the windows are very private and liked the idea you are travelling forward and the seat I was in 5a had three windows which you didn’t have to strain to look out of. The Vera system worked well and was not clunky at all. Alright it wasn’t touch screen but the remote was more then adequate. The seats are narrower but they seem to be in good condition. The other main advantage is they are fully automated so you can recline as far as you like and don’t have to have a totally lie flat bed. Which is ideal for a day time flight. The cabin is very private and the layout is very similar to business class upstairs on the Emirates A380 but doesn’t have as much bling! I certainly wouldn’t be avoiding any route that this plane is operating. Only one thing was the padding was not as good on the seat but I just sat on a pillar . Mind I do have the return flight on Sunday Night!!

Thanks for that detailed review of the Upper Class cabin, it’s greatly appreciated and has put my mind at ease. I’ve travelled UC a few times and loved the cabin, but it sounds like the A332 cabin may just be as nice.

Kevshev wrote:I have just flown uc from man-sfo on the 332 and in my humble opinion you certainly won’t have to grin and bare it. Ok there is no bar but the crew were very attentive and to be honest didn’t really miss it. Yes I did / do use it normally. The seats next to the windows are very private and liked the idea you are travelling forward and the seat I was in 5a had three windows which you didn’t have to strain to look out of. The Vera system worked well and was not clunky at all. Alright it wasn’t touch screen but the remote was more then adequate. The seats are narrower but they seem to be in good condition. The other main advantage is they are fully automated so you can recline as far as you like and don’t have to have a totally lie flat bed. Which is ideal for a day time flight. The cabin is very private and the layout is very similar to business class upstairs on the Emirates A380 but doesn’t have as much bling! I certainly wouldn’t be avoiding any route that this plane is operating. Only one thing was the padding was not as good on the seat but I just sat on a pillar . Mind I do have the return flight on Sunday Night!!

I have also just flown MAN-SFO in UC, maybe on the same flight. As a couple my wife and I had the first row "Love" seats. We found them a bit cramped, also the entrance was quite narrow, so you had to have the seat upright to enter and exit the seat. In fact we have switched our return seats to aisle ones apart from each other as we felt that sleep would have been difficult in those "Love" seats. Also from the front row you had no view of any windows as they seat shell is pretty high. A guy behind us was giving the FSM some stick over not getting a full virgin UC seat.

My view on this situation is that virgin were painted into a corner by the Rolls Royce engine issue, and getting the A332s was probably the best they could do. Then of course they had to decide what routes to use them, and MAN is always going to lose out to LON when a commercial decision is taken. I do feel that Virgin could offer some compensatory miles pro-actively for not giving the full UC experience. After all I would assume they are getting compensated themselves by RR over this. Think I will do a complaint letter when I get home.