This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
For perspective, this is the second time I've used Virgin Atlantic, but the first time I've flown economy (first trip to US in Dec 2011 was premium economy). I am a Flying Club Red member.
Had checked in online and didn't have any bags to drop, so went straight through security and on to No. 1 lounge. After a G&T and light snack, headed down to gate (16 I think), arriving at 21:35. Most people had already had their ticket's checked, so I breezed through and took a seat.
Upper and then Premium were called, but there only seemed to be around five people in each of these classes. Then rear of economy was called at around 21:40 - I'd only had to wait five minutes.
On boarding the plane I was greeted by name, which was a nice touch, and directed to my seat: 62G. I'd chosen this seat from the limited selection at the time of booking. Good news is it's only a block of three and aisle is wider than normal. Bad news (not mentioned in other seat reviews) is that there is a bracket blocking the luggage space under the seat in front.
By the time we were ready to depart, economy was full (at least in the parts of the cabin I could see). Unless there was a late rush of PE and UC passengers then it must have been very empty up front.
Pushback was at 22:30 and takeoff around 22:40. On time at Heathrow! But then again it's pretty quiet at that time of day.
I've not been vegetarian for years, but still usually order vegetarian meals when flying. You generally get your food sooner and it's usually fresher and less stodgy in my experience. When I checked the menu for economy I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. I guessed I'd therefore just get what was on the menu, but with the vegetarian main. This was indeed the case, but I got my food right at the start of economy service, about twenty minutes before they got to my neighbours. This was great, but alas the drinks were far behind, so I didn't get anything to drink until long after my meal (though I didn't call for one, to be fair).
When the drinks did arrive I thought I'd give the new cocktail that Virgin have been mentioning in their marketing. It was fine, if not as exciting as I'd hope, but no swizzle stick! It would have been nice to have the cocktail before my meal. Everyone else seemed to be getting their cocktail some time after their meal, so it wasn't just because I'd got my meal early. Why didn't they just bring the drinks trolly out before the meal one?
The trays were cleared a while later and I had tucked into the Gu dessert and jasmine tea. They were both excellent. Makes a change not to be served crappy cake or fruit salad. I also approve of being offered hot chocolate instead of coffee on a night flight. Overall I'd have given the food & drink excellent if it wasn't for the lack of drinks before the meal.
The hot breakfast was OK, but I was very happy to see Moma oatie breakfast. A step up from anything I'd had for breakfast in economy before.
I didn't use the entertainment system much. V-Port is OK, but it's always tempting to press the info button when you should press OK. I think the design could be more intuitive.
Finally I should mention the FSM announcements. They were excellent. It was nice to have a FSM with a sense of humour. When telling us about dimming the lights due to night takeoff he said (I paraphrase) "If you'd like to continue reading or are afraid of the dark, you might like to turn on your overhead light." There were several other littler humorous touches and I thought they were cool. Maybe not standup material, but makes a change from the soulless safety and informational announcements you get on flights these days.
We landed at 17:30 Hong Kong time, a good 20 minutes early.
Overall a good flight in economy.
PS. I note my flight was always referred to as VS200, rather than VS238 as indicated in the dropdown.
