Aircraft Type Moan

Ok so I have been chatting to a lot of my travelling friends whom have been writing reports of there trips from London airports and us further up north.
I asked the question of aircraft type: what answers I got where. London get all the new 787/9 350 etc. and now the rest of us get the horrible 200 rubbish Loved our 747 and would always want these over the 200.
But the main gripe was the Las Vegas and LA craft, they are disgusted that Virgin are using these, and said for the money you may as well fly thomas Cook. They use Virgin not to fly on these smaller craft, and where bitterly disappointed when they had booked and paid. Do they think this will change within the next 3 years. NO
The 747 may start to go but the 200 will haunt us for a while longer.

I am travelling LAS-MAN on a A332 in October. First time in one of these frames in Premium. I'm interested to see how it goes, there's very few reviews of the Premium cabin available. I'd be surprised if it mirrors the somewhat hysterical responses you got...

The "smaller" argument doesn't really stand up. The difference in onboard product however is another matter.

The onboard product in Economy & Premium Economy is pretty consistent across the entire fleet. Of course, there are newer / older aircraft, so some cabins will be newer, but the hard-product is consistent. It's worth nothing that the LGW/MAN based 747 fleet (bar G-VBIG) has better IFE than the few remaining A346's.

Upper Class is where the hard product differs, as the A332's still have the old Air Berlin seats - albeit re-upholstered into VS colours. Then, of course there is the "new" Upper Class on the A350's that are entering the fleet. Virgin have, I believe, said they do not plan to re-fit the new Upper Class onto existing aircraft.

Flew to Havana in June Premium Economy on the A332 and would avoid the first two seats either side as they have no window. The food was excellent both ways but the seats tend to get uncomfortable after a while. The cabin feels cramped with only one toilet. Had to use Upper due to an incident and even that cabin and layout was cramped. Hope the A350 is better?

We use PE for our jaunts to Miami and the Caribbean and have done for several years. We have flown on the full range of the fleet, and there is very little difference (in PE anyway) between them. So I do think that their reactions are somewhat over the top.

Size doesn't always matter!

Nothing new really and it has always been like that with newer aircraft based in LHR. It is understandable though why VS does it, at the end of the day LHR is VS main hub and where the main business is.

It's all about the revenue

[mitchja]

the A332's still have the old Air Berlin seats - albeit re-upholstered into VS colours.

They are all brand new seats from top to bottom.

Other than the soon to enter service A350 the A332 is the newest plane in the fleet and they were all given a refurbishment so to describe them as 'rubbish' is hyperbole.

The seats in upper were given more than a new cover. There was no way a normal UC suite could have been installed due to the time it would have taken to get it certificated for use on the A332 so VS did the best it could given the need to cover the the 787 issue.

Are you sure your friends actually travelled on a refurbished one?

https://www.businesstraveller.com/busin ... -a330-200/

[mitchja]

The A332's do also fly out of LGW.

It's also down to A/C availability as well. VS simply don't have enough A333's to cover all the LHR and MAN routes.

Another factor is staff as I would also hazard a guess that none of the MAN VS crews (both cabin and flight deck) are trained/certified to work on the B789's?


VS have today just announced an A/C change for the MAN>ATL for Summer 2020. It's going back to an A333:

Virgin Atlantic in recent schedule update filed aircraft changes for Manchester – Atlanta service, during summer 2020 season. From 16MAY20, the carrier plans to operate this route with Airbus A330-300, replacing a mix of A330-200 and 747-400.

VS109 MAN1105 – 1455ATL 333 D
VS110 ATL1750 – 0650+1MAN 333 D

MAN>ATL is also switching to an A333 for quite a few flights over the winter as well:

Manchester – Atlanta Service operates 4 weekly. A330-300 replaces 747-400 during following period: 30NOV19 – 07DEC19, 13JAN20 – 08FEB20 (Earlier this year this route was initially listed up to 5 weekly in Nov/Dec 2019)

We just need MAN>JFK flights to go back to an A333 now as well

Your rant has absolutely no foundation what so ever.

The 332 has been fully refurbished with all new seats installed. The UC product is far superior to the 747/340/787/330. The seats are almost private suites and face forward so you don't have to strain your neck to look out the window. The seats are comfortable and are everything Virgin stand for. I for one can't wait to fly it to MCO in November from GLA . The only thing not on the 332 is a bar which I for one am really not fussed about. I can have a drink in my seat. I would prefer the 350 but I know that will not happen.

The 340 will retire by year end and the 747 to follow along in the next year or so. The 330 neo will be the replacement for the 747 and the 332 will retire also. The 787 and 351 have extremely high UC and premium seating due to revenue as they fly the premium routes

I would also say that Virgin is far superior to Thomas Cook in every single way. From crew, ground staff and seating the overall experience is miles better.

I really do think you need to research the seats and product in depth before ranting.

If after reviewing and you still feel the same then maybe old bland outdated BA is for you.

Feedback from passengers on the A332 is actually pretty good, the IFE screen size in premium and Upper in particular is a massive improvement. As stated above the Upper seat is brand new, not reupholstered. The A332 are perfectly good aircraft and are at VS standard and will do a great job until the 330neo arrives.

the A332's still have the old Air Berlin seats - albeit re-upholstered into VS colours.

They are all brand new seats from top to bottom.

And extremely comfortable too. I actually prefer the seat both as a seat and a bed. The tv screen is stunning and although the cabin may appear cramped compared to UC on a 747 it offers a far more private experience and no need to view bare feet of other passengers

I like the A332

the A332's still have the old Air Berlin seats - albeit re-upholstered into VS colours.

They are all brand new seats from top to bottom.

And extremely comfortable too. I actually prefer the seat both as a seat and a bed. The tv screen is stunning and although the cabin may appear cramped compared to UC on a 747 it offers a far more private experience and no need to view bare feet of other passengers

I like the A332

Completely agree. Recently flew Upper on the A332 and was very pleasantly surprised. The TV screen is great but what I really loved was the bed and the ability to recline it from seat to bed at the touch of a button. I found this a lot more comfortable than having to lay completely flat and having to make up the bed. Great for daytime flights when you keep switching from sitting to reclining to full sleep mode. Also good for privacy especially in window seats. Would try to avoid aisle seats though if possible.

Don't shoot me please flyers, I am just passing on the comments of aircraft. Regards staff and meals etc, these were all good ratings. The gripe is why do up North we never get the chance to try out the new aircraft. We don't all live near London so feel Left out. I did find most of the pub collection ie 100 travellers liked the 330 on the whole, but felt that when changes are made such as now Man/Atlanta route from 747 too 330 0r 200 its sucks. I am sure the lucky people up North that can fly London have flown upper on the 787 and soon 350, but I speak for the people who fly econ/prem. I fly premium and I like the space on the 330 but love the bubble on the 747, as yet I have not used the 200, done tui and Thomas cook not keen felt cramped. The moan is from all is lets try the products so we can comment from our airports. I have been lucky enough to fly upper a few times loved it but from the 3 of us the food was only ok I don't like fancy food but eat before I fly and take snacks fruit on board with me. Also after asking in the V Room some sandwich bags to take a cake or two onboard. This is acceptable for all of us who use the V Room. Happy Flying everybody.

The flagship business routes (ex-LHR) are bound to get the best of the best. That's why they have the best Clubhouse, the drive through check-in, the private security lane, the arrivals lounge etc. That's just simple economics.

That being said, the VS "leisure fleet" is still a cut above the BA equivalent.

Whilst I'd probably disagree with most people liking the 332 in Upper, it seems the OP is more concerned with economy and premium.

Outside of Upper, LHR doesn't have all the best aircraft imho. It's not all about aircraft age. You could argue that the 789's have the tightest seating in economy and premium. This might even be the case with the A350 in premium too. The IFE on the 346's is the worst in the fleet. Personally I find the best premium seat to be on the 744, especially in the bubble. And the best economy seat on the A330 (either 333 or 332). But as already mentioned, these are mostly niggles, the economy/premium experience really is pretty consistent across the whole fleet.

The downsides to VS' MAN operation compared to LHR (and in some cases vs LGW too) for me are:
- Lack of clubhouse
- 332 in Upper. I just don't like it at all. With the exception of the window seats, which are fine for a day flight. You get knocked in the aisle seats and are very cosy with your neighbour (hence the name) in the love suites. The cabin feels very cramped. The seat undulates between back, seat etc in bed mode. No bar (or 'social space')
- Lack of Upper seats on routes served by the 744 means cheaper fare buckets (Z's in particular, but I fares often too) are sold out
- Priority security is a bit of a joke at times, although I doubt this is in VS' hands
- No Upper wing, but again I very much doubt VS could do anything about it. The infrastructure just isn't there and even if it were, there just aren't enough Upper pax to justify the cost

I just want to say I love the responses on the A332 here...great

Would i rather fly VS on the A332 over a TC flight - hellllllll yes!

I’d go as far as saying if VS decided to swap out the 789 outbound and A333 inbound for my UC trip to Miami in October I’d have no issue whatsoever

Wow Rainbowpantsjay calm down a bit, on this forum we chat and discuss trips and likes and dislikes. No I don't wish to fly BA as having tried there product, it was not for me. I have only reported findings that people have commented on. We all have different tastes and I just passed on there comments for you to chat about and get your views. We on this forum respect each other and like to pass on any tips or reviews that we hear. You cannot please everybody so we discuss our own views and our experiences to help and inform other travellers. I don't wish to offend any of my fellow passengers. I like to report back to my fellow Virgin travellers, who use these flights also, they like the comments and find them very helpful. There are a lot of people though not on this forum take in the information and pass it on through work were they have to fly a lot. Happy Flying everybody.