VS251 PVG-LHR 15 JAN 12 (Upper Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

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Prawn starter with just three small prawns

Having just flown back from Shanghai I felt I had to write a trip report as I was really disappointed by the experience. I've only flown Virgin twice before, both times Upper Class to Narita, Tokyo and was impressed by the product. But on the experience of my flight back from Shanghai things have really changed. Check in was quick, as there was no queue for the upper class desk, but the lady checking us in wasn't particularly charming or friendly. We received a card giving us access to Shanghai Airline's business class lounge. The lounge was really shocking- dirty, lots of broken fixtures and fittings, dire food, coffee cups but no saucers... quite honestly we would have been better waiting by the gate- at least it would have been cleaner. In Virgin's defence other well known international airlines were using the same lounge for their customers, but this really was the pits. So we were delighted when we finally got to board the flight. We were directed to our seats, and offered a quick run through of all the controls. As ever staff were friendly and keen to help, and we were offered a drink as soon as we sat down which was a nice touch. However, I was surprised that the UC suite hasn't been upgraded at all since I last flew UC 5 years ago, and quite frankly its starting to look pretty tired. My suite was quite badly scuffed, the bezel for the screen was loose, the cubby hole wasn't 'popping up and down' smoothly and the table needed a jolly good thump to work (the flight attendant even struggled with it!). But worst of all, both our suites were grubby with wine stains, built up dust and dirt in corners etc. Being a clean freak I dampened a few napkins and cleaned the worst of it off myself. After taking off we were offered further drinks and crisps or nuts, and our dinner order was taken. I opted for oriental prawn salad and fillet of beef. Unfortunately the food was dismal. The prawn salad consisted of three smallish prawns on slices of cucumber. Even the flight attendants looked a bit embarrassed serving it. The only other starter option was tomato soup, which my travelling companion had and enjoyed. The beef was dire. The fillet arrived very well done, with insipid roast vegetables and a pretty awful sauce (apparently thyme jus) which both myself and my travelling companion concluded tasted of bisto. We thought the ginger and toffee pudding might redeem the meal but it didn't- a tiny portion with hardly any sauce. Cheese was mediocre too with unripe brie, a single dried out piece of celery and carrot and grapes with seeds in. Really why any airline serves fruit with pips and seeds in on a flight I do not know- surely, one of the fundamentals of airline food is that its easy and not messy to eat. So overall the food was without doubt the worst business class meal I have ever eaten, and worse than the last economy meal I had on Singapore air. Wines were passable but nothing special, and I really struggled to get a glass of red with my main course. One of my salt and pepper cellars were dirty but I didn't bother to ask for a replacement. After dinner, we moved to the bar. The bar was in a terrible state and nothing like our experience of the last time we flew virgin. The shelves behind the bar were full of soft drink bottles rather than attractively lined up bottles of liquor, and there was general rubbish on the bar itself- e.g. someone's duty free, some flight related paperwork etc. Just a mess and in no way a pleasant place to spend time. We both requested a jack daniels on the rocks. Amazingly, they only had one minature bottle left, which we asked them to split into two glasses. At least the attendant saw the funny side of it. We just took it as another indication of the decline in standards. I didn't bother with the afternoon tea service, but my travelling companion was complimentary about the cakes. So in summary a really disappointing experience. The seats are still comfortable and the flat bed reasonable, but all the other bells and whistles that I have enjoyed previously travelling UC seem to have been abandoned. No lip balm was offered, or polo mints or pens. The magazine selection was miserly. Massage was got rid of years ago. Garlic bread seems to have been scrapped too. No ice cream was offered at any point, and the food offering was lamentable and far worse than the business class meal we had on Lufthansa flying out. They also managed to run out of chopsticks, much to the annoyance of some fellow asian passengers who were far from delighted having to eat sushi using knifes and forks- unbelievable! Neither of us plan to fly Virgin again, until they introduce a major overhaul and restore service standards. My travelling companion was particularly disappointed as he has flown Virgin for years when it was his airline of choice for many years when he worked in California. I hope our experience was an exception to the norm.

Ouch, that dried out nuclearized pudding says it all for me ... it is just so weird this disparity in standard. I don't recall a bad VS flight, yes niggles, yes keen to see the next gen. UCS, but none to your level of badness.

Ouch, that dried out nuclearized pudding says it all for me ... it is just so weird this disparity in standard. I don't recall a bad VS flight, yes niggles, yes keen to see the next gen. UCS, but none to your level of badness.

Agreed Slinky...this flight sounded outrageously poor and would put me off VS if I experienced this level of hopelessness

I hope our experience was an exception to the norm.

I think the norm is still pretty good but some of your observations (food, cleanliness) are quite familiar. I guess the product has slipped a bit -- and I look forward to the new one very much.

Thanks for the TR, btw -- good to have one on a less familiar route.

Thanks for the TR - sadly this flight was wildly off the mark in terms of the quality experience VS promote. I hope you give them another chance and they deliver next time.

either of us plan to fly Virgin again, until they introduce a major overhaul and restore service standards. My travelling companion was particularly disappointed as he has flown Virgin for years when it was his airline of choice for many years when he worked in California. I hope our experience was an exception to the norm.

That's a real shame. From my own trips I'd say that your experience was the exception.

Look on the bright side though - old style salt and pepper shakers still in evidence.

Thanks for the sympathy! What got me most was the terrible starter... three tiny prawns! I was also surprised that the IFE was identical to the system from 5 years ago... and it felt pretty slow and clunky to me, and there were no nice features like live news or cameras for take off and landing etc... which pretty much every flight I've been on in recent years seem to have. Glad others are also pinning for the cowshed lip balm and polo mints! Its the small touches like that that made me always recall my first few flights on Virgin UC with such fondness.

[Decker]

Sorry you had a bad expereience Jay but you might want to temper your expectations of how frequently airlines can be expected to install new IFEs etc in cabins. Things like cameras are the exception ather than the norm - in all of my recent flights I've only had them on a couple of aircraft (and this is across multiple carriers).

The food sounds dire and there is no excuse for a cluttered untidy bar. Duty Free is obviously down to fellow pax but crew paperwork has not place there. (Well tbh I've seen it there a bit but normally unobtrusively).

Finaly cleanliness - no real excuse there. Sounds like this flight fell well below expected levels .

I flew UC to PVG and back sometime ago, and I recall that one way the service was not so great - think it was PVG-LHR - worst experience on VS and very unusual. After about an hour my stewardess could barely force a smile for the remainder of the flight, and the rest of the cc weren't that happy either.

[buns]

Oh dear

When the staff you encounter give the impression that they are going through the motions, then it is time to change

buns

Thank you for the TR, shame it was a poor experience.

What an absolute stinker--be sure to send a letter to vs im sure in some way even a response regards poor standards from Virgin would help to perhaps restore a tiny bit of confidence back in the brand.

It has been well said that Virgin's standards are slipping rapidly off a cliff and whilst this continues then don't forget there are many other carriers to try.

cheers

alex

Thanks jay doesn't sound good at all!

I recognise those three prawns from my last UC flight to Washington - not great

[Decker]

Alex - I don't know WHO has said that Virgin's standards are slipping but it is not borne out by http://v-flyer.com/the-toolbox/flyer-ratings which shows that in the majority of cases the past three month's ratings have been the same or better than overall.

Alex - I don't know WHO has said that Virgin's standards are slipping but it is not borne out by http://v-flyer.com/the-toolbox/flyer-ratings which shows that in the majority of cases the past three month's ratings have been the same or better than overall.

Good for you Decker! I can't add anything to that. You're always so right

Alex

[Decker]

<mod hat off>Well, I have been known to prefer solid empirical evidence to random emotional conjecture BUT that may just be me so please don't let my prejudices get in the way of your right to post alternate opinions - just don't feel obliged to dress them up as fact</mod hat off>

I don't think VS's standards are slipping off a cliff at all - there have been many recent TRs with high marks and a look at the ratings shows in many cases the three month average rankings are higher than the all time rankings - as Decker shows.

There are odd occasions, such as this one, when things are not so good, and I think it is good to let VS know.

I was speaking with someone at VS towers yesterday about the next round of improvements in UC dining, and they sound good, lots of thought and new items coming through and generally a higher standard (and cost) of food and drink. February should see further changes ...

I agree with Slinky, whilst there is every sympathy when a flight goes wrong and it clearly has happened in this case, it is reassuring that the majority of feedback lately has been positive.

[Darren Wheeler]

I would guarantee that that if there was a BA-flyer you would see occasions where the flight isn't anywhere what it should be. No doubt there are poor TR's on SQTalk.

I've certainly not seen any drop in standards.

What a poor flight experience and the food looks pretty grim. I would certainly let VS know and those photos speak a thousand words, so send those along too.....a response is required from them.

In terms of general standards, I would disagree they have falling off a cliff, indeed things do go wrong and we have all seen recently a few TRs where things were not perfect....but looking forward to the further changes coming to UC dining.

Jon

[Scrooge]

I would guarantee that that if there was a BA-flyer you would see occasions where the flight isn't anywhere what it should be. No doubt there are poor TR's on SQTalk.

I've certainly not seen any drop in standards.

As a reminder, there is a www.BA-Flyer.com