VS044 LAS-LGW 30 Nov 06 (Econ)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

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I arrived at LAS terminal two about 3 hours before flight time. I am partially disabled but do my best to make it around without assistance. I had all my baggage packed quite well and to published standard. The first thing that happened was having to deal with a very surely employee who insisted that a very small camera bag with my meds had to be packed in my carry-on bag. After tearing everything apart and putting it back together, the checkin agent said that that was un-necessary, oh well. Then he proceeded to throw my main bag 2 meters up in the air, that it fell on the conveyor so hard that it bounced back up into the air and landed on its' back. I didn't know that in the process that a very expensive bottle of hand blended rum got shattered inside my bag (which was wrapped in bubble wrap for protection) and all the contents of the bag got soaked. I didn't discover this until well after arriving at my destination in the UK.

I choose and aisle seat because I could stretch it just a little more, and getting in and out of the seat would be easier. Meals were served fairly shortly after takeoff. I ordered the beef but was told they were all out (I was one of the first to be served). When I asked why the FA rudely said they didn't have it (so much for a menu) and told me to make a choice between the vegan or chicken. Well, during the entire flight this same attendant would swing her hips into my shoulder as she walked past without so much as an excuse me. Trying to get any water on the flight was a hassle. I just went to the galley and was given a half full small plastic cup. Other that one glass of wine and a cup of coffee, that was all the liquids I had on the flight. The headphones jack was constantly falling out of its seat jack. I pitied the people who paid extra for the emergency row seats because they were constantly get their legs trampled on by the crowds waiting to use the loos.

We arrived 20 minutes early at Gatwick because of a good jet stream tail wind, only to have to stand for 30 minutes before they allowed anyone to deplane and the announcement that was given every 5 minutes was unintelligiable that we all just shrugged our shoulders.

I fly quite often on Southwest Airlines in the States and their seats are far more comfortable than the longhaul economy seats on VS. I shall be flying back to the States in early January and I am not looking forward to it. (Last year the outbound flight was delayed for almost 3 hours because the toilets were stopped up.)

I've used Virgin twice before and have noticed a steady decrease in service to the point of total rudeness. My return flight to the States shall be my last with VS, and in the future I shall rather have to put up with plane changes and layovers than to have to fly in a packed VS torture chamber with a 31 inch seat pitch (like Ryan Air). AA gives economy 34 inches and even their indifferent FA's are a ray of sunshine in comparison.[n]

P.S. Sir Richard, no, you may have once had it right, but no longer.

Hi Dennis and welcome to V:flyer

It seems you had a particularly bad flight with VS there, lets hope the return will be an improvement.

I'd certainly agree that VS should look at the 31' pitch and improve the offer to the PAX. ANZ also offer 34' pitch and it does make all the difference!. I guess though that this will only happen if VS see a decline in paying PAX in economy.

I flew this route back in the summer and have to say the crew were great on our flight. Again, lets hope the return leg is an improvement for you

Jon B

Hi

Sorry you had a bad flight - sadly when VS are bad, they're really bad, and when they're good, they're very good. It annoys me how inconsistent they can be and how crews and experiences like this let them down and ruin customers perceptions of the company and brand

Originally posted by AndyK
Hi

Sorry you had a bad flight - sadly when VS are bad, they're really bad, and when they're good, they're very good. It annoys me how inconsistent they can be and how crews and experiences like this let them down and ruin customers perceptions of the company and brand

I know that Y class passengers are not on the top of the priority lists with most airlines, but we form the bulk of the industry. I'm not expecting gourmet food and such, but I do expect a certain level of performance, such as, proper baggage handling, proper respect of the individual, and a staff that is working for their company and not just punching the clock. A 31' pitch in a long haul airline is just profit squeezing, and the squeezed vote with their money and take it else where. Most of the flights I've had with VS have been completely full, so I'd rather take and inferior airline that is empty so I can at least have some room to stretch out in. I am only 5'8' tall and wonder how taller people can even sit down without discomfort, and very tall people without their knees around their ears. As it is I can't pay extra for the emergency exit seats because disabled passengers are not allowed to sit there should they be needed to assist during an emergency situation, oh well.[:#]

I really hate to see a highly thought of service business go bad, but I think that someone at the top is standing on their laurels while they can't see the forest for the trees. The CFO must be in charge.

Dennis Peters

Sorry you had such a bad experience Dennis [:)] Perhaps you are right and people need to vote with their feet before improvements come about. It is just sad that such action is necessary.

Hope your flight home is better.

I have to admit that I've seen only one or two other really total in-the-dumpster TRs like yours this year; both lately. [:0]

What really made me cringe was the comparison to Southwest. (Southwest: You are now free to develop DVT - bing!) For medical reasons I no longer go Y on long-hauls, but if I had to I certainly wouldn't want the situation you've described so baldly in your TR.

Ten years ago (heck, 5) I would have felt my jaw drop to the floor and been shocked as all h*** to read a TR like this one. Sadly, I'm hearing portions of yours every third TR, it seems - and, like I mentioned, all of them this winter.

I'd tell you to complain, but from what others like easygoinggeezer have reported, that won't do much good, for even he can't get an answer from Customer Service, and he was traveling in Upper!

I do wish VS would remember one customer service adage: if a customer is happy, they'll tell their friends. If a customer is unhappy, they'll tell everyone and those people will tell their friends! Bad news travels fast.

I only hope someone starts doing damage control and fixes the escalating problems, or there won't be any good news, at all! [:(]

The only way for a company to improve their service is to give feedback, both poor and good. Most Airlines don't care about bad press, because in reality it does n't really make any difference. If you want to feedback, and tel them you expect a better experience in January, I would drop them an email.

I was on that flight [n]

The delay at the gate was the lack of anyone to operate the jetbridge, seems they'd gone on a break.

There was also a long delay for the baggage, as the aircraft door would not open and we had to wait for engineers to come and fix it. I think we waited the the baggage reclaim for about 1 1/2 hours. Not the fault of VS I guess.

I'm returning to LAS on VS44 on 04/01/07. I had a family issue which made me call VA (UK) to request an flight change to 03/01/07 instead of my scheduled flight and I was more than willing to pay for the change. OK, no available seats on the earlier flight, fair enough, that's life. So I requested to know if there were any PE seats available and I was told yes, there were. I asked how much more it would cost to upgrade my ticket and I was informed that they could not do that on the phone, but that I would have to appear at the airport in person to find out how much it would cost with my baggage in tow, but without a confirmed ticket. For crying out loud, give me a break, is this anyway to run a business.

And BTW, I usually make it a habit to compliment service and not write complaints, but this is getting ridiculus.[^]