V-Flyer

Hello, first trip report ever, after loving and being a complete loyal customer of VS for the last 8 years (gold for 7), it is time to share some rather severe concerns, and start thinking about alternative carriers.

Dont get me wrong, ground services are still one of the best in existence ever, and we all know about it, so let me focus on the not-so-good stuff, stuff that makes us like VS less and less.

It all started when boarding commenced - an absolute choas, incompetent ground crew full of atitude. Let alone the fact that there is no more personal greeting these days, which I am already used to, the aircraft was such a scum. It was either not cleaned, or someone must have just messed it all up seconds before the boarding call was made. Bathrooms were scruffy, my ottoman had bisciut crumbs all over. CC was so busy getting the aircraft ready at the bar area that I wasnt offered a drink until I walked up and asked for it, which felt like I was the inconvenience.

Anyway, the worst was yet to come; the food was extremely poor on this leg (I mean, OMG, I don't cook, but I bet I could have pulled something together and still better than what I was offered) and on my previous 2 flights in Upper Class (one to Shanghai, one to Orlando); the entertainment system was faulty and given the flight was full, I was eventually given a DVD player after several attempts of reboot, and guess what, none of the physical DVDs matched up in-flight movies! This was all okay, as I was trying to get some work done on my way there anyway.

Oh I am sure many of you have already known this for a while now, but what is up with the amenity kit these days??? The sleep packs are so poor that I start to wonder why the hell paying 2.5 grand for simply a bus ride (my lips were dried and all I wanted was a little lip balm, how come BA and Air Newzealand can happily accomodate that and VS just cant???).

Oh and also, there is no laptop power, we have to purchase a lead now apparently:(:( well, fine, I will buy one, but hey,was told that they are hardly never in stock. so spent 10 hours unable to work or entertain myself thanks to broken IFE.

All in all, it was bad, but the worst bit still, was the food, oh wow, the food was shockingly bad, white wine was warm, and the so-called afternoon tea - 2 out of the 5 items were out - fine, had a banana instead and did the job. Apparently there was a colleague of the CC travelling 2 seats away from me, how do I know?? Staff congregated and chatted to her at her seat as well as at the bar so seat 15k was a nightmare of party noise and clanking plates (by the way, that was where I sat).

Return was held up by the ash clouds, and VS oversold loads of their UC seats. I was offered a Club World seat on British Airways, jumped at this opportunity straight away. Guys, I know how we all feel about BA, but they do provide a solid product, and hey, not bad at all especially during strike time.

This Virgin experience was so far behind other airlines (even BA, dont get me started when comparing VS to Air Newzealand), and I seriously think it is probably time to give other airlines a go with some faith, because there is still some wonderful stuff out there outside my beloved red & purple.

Jimmy - welcome to V-Flyer.

As this TR was posted in Itineraries, rather than trip reports, so it doesn't have the usual star rankings - though I suspect they would be low.

I have moved it so that it appears in active topics.

Nick

Thank you for the the TR, sorry to hear about your bad flight experience.

Thanks for the TR.

Interesting what you say about the food, most of the recent UC TR's have all been very positive about the latest menu and the actual food itself.

The removal of the laptop power leads was quite a while ago now, and it was mentioned on the VS site. Most of us on here have bought something in advance of the flight, because like you have found out, the stocks on the a/c are very low.

A letter to VS would be my next step, detailing all the issues you have had.

Neil

It freaks me out when I read a bad trip report. I'm flying this route soon and takes a lot of hard work to save the money required for a couple of upper class fares. I would be devastated if a flight turned out to be bad!

Just have to reassure myself that the generally trend is one of improvement and that most trip reports are very positive.

Justinraff wrote:It freaks me out when I read a bad trip report. I'm flying this route soon and takes a lot of hard work to save the money required for a couple of upper class fares. I would be devastated if a flight turned out to be bad!

Justinraff I have just taken two UC flights in quick succession (arriving in SYD yesterday).Having had a stinker of a journey back from CPT on my last jaunt in UC, I am pleased to report that these two rank with my best trips ever in UC and have re-affirmed my faith in VS .
DL

Justinraff wrote:It freaks me out when I read a bad trip report....

I hear what you are saying Justin. There are a lot of us on here who pay for their own flights, and for whom the flying experience is part of the trip.

I have read thousands of TRs, on here and other boards, and there is no doubt that a small minority of passengers have had shocking flights with VS.

It has been said on here many, many times that the crew, and especially the FSM, can make a or break the flying experience. Fortunately, the vast majority of VS crew are spot on and are what make the airline great -despite the cut backs. There are some bad apples but not many.

V-Flyer is proud to be an independent site, so we will publish the bad and the good reports without censorship (unless the reports break site rules).

It is human nature that people are more likely to post about very bad, or very good experiences. I have now taken over 90 Virgin Atlantic flights,and have to say that, although I have had some mediocre flights - I have never experienced a really bad one, so hopefully you will be okay.

Nick

My onward flight from HKG -SYD yesterday was fabulous and the FSM simply amazing (leading from the front makes all the difference) . I got his permission to name him (Pete) -he was well aware of v- flyer's presence- and of the feedback generated by the board - and genuinely concerned about passenger feedback.
A full TR will follow but my thanks to him again Just to reiterate what Nick has said -my travel is generally self funded and for me the role of the FSM is crucial.
A full TR will follow but VS will be receiving a complimentary mail about him

Neil wrote:Interesting what you say about the food, most of the recent UC TR's have all been very positive about the latest menu and the actual food itself.

The thing about the food, I have come to the conclusion, is that two things make it good or bad, the food itself and then the preparation. On two recent flights with the summer menu one time it was terrible, the other excellent. I can only put that down to what was going on in the galley ...

JimmyC, your TR mentioned several things that crop up time and time again - the quality of the cleaning, boarding process, CC on staff travel, food. These are mentioned a sufficient number of times to warrant VS action.

However, since you are frequent flier, you could remember lip balm!

Cheers Nick for moving my TR, I did want to do it myself but couldnt figure out how.

Guys, I absolutely agree with you - a wonderful FSM and a cheerful crew make all the difference in the world, at most times even sufficient to make up the shortfall of a solid onboard product. One of the reasons VS is different is the friendly, yet non-intrusive crew, made up of charming attractive young boys and girls who love their jobs flying us around. And to be quite honest, I hardly ever want to eat while in the air, nor do I want to get the lip balm freebie per se; my point is simply trying to stress the fact that for premium prices like these, I would expect all the essentials to be available should passengers require them. They have already taken away so many features off the product, the inflight therapists, the good old wash bag, the complimentary cowshed spa treatments, now all the onboard goodies are gone - I wonder what is next, and whether there is anything else VS can strip away....

With all other competitors catching up on their latest technological fleet upgrades, enhanced inflight entertainment system, coupled with chefs onboard, award-winning first class lounges, do we really think VS is the pioneer of the industry any more?

I have wanted to ask such very question for a while now, now I think I should see how you all feel about the deteriorating standard of our beloved airline.