A Review: The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Cabin On the A350-1000
So, we went to New York back in May and we flew, for the first time ever, Upper Class with Virgin Atlantic. It was a brilliant experience and I feel so lucky and grateful to have flown in style this time around, but there are both pros and cons to the experience, both of which need to be touched upon.
It's important that you look at both sides of the experience, both the good and the bad, so that you can make the right decision about whether to spend your hard-earned cash on an Upper Class seat with Virgin Atlantic. Especially when it costs so much for a seat.
In this blog post, I'm going to give you my full and honest review of the experience from start to finish. I won't say any more because I don't want to give the game away with regards to what I really thought about the experience. So, let me be truly honest with you...
The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class drop-off & security experience
The drop off experience was absolutely amazing, in all honesty. You do have to get a taxi into the drop off area, which is the only downside, but you drive through to the dedicated zone and the taxi driver will say through a speaker who you are and where you're flying to.
The driver is then buzzed in and you drive around a little roundabout where you're dropped off in front of two double doors. Someone from Virgin Atlantic cabin crew then comes out, takes your bags, wheels them in and you can check in.
You're allowed to check in around four hours before your flight time, which is great because you can spend as much time as possible in their Upper Class lounge. You're then checked in, without having to queue, and you then go around the corner to your own dedicated security.
When we went, there was myself and Tom and one other person going through security. It really does take the stress out of the experience, which is a great thing for those who are scared of flying. The only downside?
The Upper Class bubble bursts quite quickly as you're chucked out at Duty Free. You can browse the shops and do a bit of shopping if you want to, but then it's time to head to the Upper Class lounge, which is an experience in itself.
The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Lounge
The Upper Class lounge with Virgin Atlantic was incredible. We went during a morning slot, so they were ding breakfast. There's unlimited continental breakfast options available, as well as "free", unlimited amounts of cooked breakfast meals that you can order using a barcode at the table.
You can also order drinks to the table, so you don't even need to get up to go and get anything to eat or drink. Everything is done via table service, which is excellent really. Also, no matter how busy it gets, you'll always manage to get a seat.
We found a seat by the window looking out over the planes, and stayed there for the entirety of our time there. To top it off? You can go upstairs and go outside to see the planes, which is rare for people to do these days.
Anyway, let me tell you what we had! I went for a glass of champagne, while Tom had a coffee to start with. We then had a second round of drinks where I had the same again and Tom had an old fashioned. At this time, we were ready for some food as we were getting a little tipsy.
So we slowed it down with a plate of eggs Benedict and Tom had a full English breakfast. This is all included in the price of your Upper Class ticket, by the way! I must say, the food was just delicious. They definitely didn't skimp on the quality of the food here, let me tell you.
We had been there for a few hours by this point, but we were both getting hungry, so Tom ordered a sausage cob while I made my way up to the continental breakfast bit just to have a look at what they had, and I chose a blueberry muffin and a bowl of orange segments for good measure!
I then ordered a cranberry juice and, of course, an espresso martini - why not eh?! But before we knew it, it was time for us to head down to our gate, and that's where my review of Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class experience begins to change...
The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class seat & its functions
The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class seat on the A350-1000...what can I say about it? Well, first things first, it's incredibly comfortable, that's a given. I could have stayed in that seat for a few more hours after we landed, in all fairness. It was comfortable in a sit-up configuration and also as a lie-flat bed, because I did try that as well, of course, haha.
The only problem? Not all the buttons worked. For me to put the seat in a comfortable position, I had to hold the flat bed button down to get it to the right position, rather than using the button solely for the leg rest or for the back rest, both of which didn't work. That's the only issue, really, with the functionality of the thing.
However, the seat and the surrounding cabin was quite worn. It was a little rough around the edges, with some plastic wearing, cracking and some fabric that needs to be replaced. While it's not detrimental, it's not what I expect from an Upper Class seat that cost a significant amount of money to sit in for hours at a time.
Some sugar to sweeten the bitterness is an amenity kit. It used to be provided by REN skincare, and now it isn't. It's from a brand called VOTARY. It comes with a toothbrush, ear plugs, toothpaste, a hand cream, a lip cream and a face mist.
However, none of those minis that are provided in your recycled paper pouch are available on their website as a full sized product, so it's sort of pointless really having samples of something that I can't buy full-sized versions of. But I digress!
There's also a pair of socks in there (which are so big they'd work well for me as a pair of stockings) and an eye mask. All of that you can bring home with you. Mine is still in a drawer at home because I didn't really need any of it on the plane and I still don't need to use any of it now. It would have been nice if the brand was more well known for the price you pay for the seat, but you can't have it all!
The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class food & drink
Just like with any flight you have with Virgin, whether it be Economy, Premium or Upper Class, you're given an arrival drink. In this case, you're given a glass of bubbly, which is no different to what you get in Premium Economy, having flown that as well. It's a nice little drink to start you off, but it's not revolutionary or anything to shout about.
Before your in-flight evening meal, you're given another drink. You can choose which one you have based on a special drinks menu that's handed to you upon intial boarding. You can get anything from a whiskey on the rocks to a glass of Diet Coke, and nothing is poured out in front of you, not at this stage anyway.
You're also given a pre-meal snack, which is a bowl of crisps. They were nice, and the red wine was delicious. In Premium Economy the wine is given to you in a can, but in Upper, it's poured directly from a bottle, which is an appreciated touch from a wine lover.
There was a small selection for the evening meal, with a starter, a main and a pudding on offer. That's understandable though because you are on a plane after all. Someone comes around, takes your order for all three courses and then they go away and cook it all up for you.
They'll then come back, lay your table and then do a bread service before the hot food comes out. You will be waiting a while for it because it seems as though it's all heated up individually. I went for a plain white crusty roll, but there was rye, wholemeal, white and olive to choose from.
There was then a starter of arancini in a roasted tomato and red pepper sauce on a bed of roasted Mediterranean vegetables. It was OK as a starter, but not Upper Class quality, to be honest. However, it was then time for the main course.
I went for a fillet of salmon and some tenderstem broccoli, which I must say was delicious. So that more than made up for the starter I had. The salmon was nice and meaty and very tasty, which was surprising because I was a bit dubious about ordering the fish. But it really did surprise me. And it was extremely filling. I don't have anything bad to say about the main to be honest.
For pudding, I had a frangipan tart and that, although it doesn't look like much, was absolutely bloomin' lovely. My only criticism? It would have been a bit dry if it wasn't for the cream, and there definitely wasn't enough of it, haha.
Now, this is where the food and drink service begins to slip. Once the main evening meal has been eaten and tidied away, then everything goes quiet. The staff disappear and they only reappeared with a drinks trolley once in between the main food service and the afternoon tea that's delivered 90 minutes before landing.
They didn't keep us very well watered, to the point where I had to bing an air steward just to get a class of Diet Coke. This part of the food and drink service wasn't entirely what I expected from an Upper Class experience, but hey ho.
We'll be comparing it against British Airways later in the year, so we'll see how that goes. But anyway, onto the afternoon tea, which may have pulled some, not all, of the inadequate drink service back. If you've never flown Virgin Atlantic long haul before, then what you won't know is that they serve an afternoon tea 90 minutes before landing.
You get it no matter which class you fly, it's just presented a little differently. In Upper Class, it's laid out on a plate for you, is really the only difference. Even in Premium Economy, the afternoon tea is somewhat packaged up and you have to open it up yourself, which is fair enough.
Also, in Premium, you get a choice of EITHER a sweet or a savoury afternoon team, where one comes with a tea or coffee, sandwiches a scone, jam and cream and a few cakes, and the other comes with all of that, but a mini quiche instead of a selection of cakes.
The only difference with Upper Class afternoon tea is that it's taken out of the packaging, presented to you on a plate and you get a mini quiche as well as the cakes. It's a nice little addition, but it's nothing special when you compare it to the cheaper Premium Economy seats. I think I could do without a mini quiche if it meant saving a couple of grand.
Our Premium Economy Experience
In summary
I've touched on this briefly earlier on in this blog post. but the service wasn't as top notch as I thought it was going to be for an Upper Class experience. I don't think the staff were very attentive, being a little dismissive and put-out if I asked for something when they weren't around.
The food, other than the main course and the pudding, was really no different in quality to Premium Economy. In addition, not all of the buttons on my seat worked and the suite itself was run down and worn, which is disappointing when you consider the plane is only about seven years old.
The best bit? The drop off, the security experience and the lounge. The salmon was great, the pudding was amazing and it was nice to have a lie-flat bed. The TV screen was nice and big and all of the features worked on that. But is it really work the cash?
Would I fly Upper Class with Virgin Atlantic again?
No. Unless a really good jaw-dropping deal came up, I wouldn't fly Upper Class with Virgin Atlantic again, for a number of reasons, really, all of which have been outlined in this blog post.
I know, I should be grateful to have flown Upper Class, and I most definitely am, it was still an incredible experience, but it just didn't blow me away enough to warrant spending thousands of pounds on an Upper Class ticket again.
Not even the lie flat bed could have saved this one. I think you get more bang for your buck in a basic Economy class seat, in all honesty. Save your cash on an Upper Class ticket and use it as spending money for your next long-haul trip!
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I hope you found this blog post useful and that it's made you think twice about paying good money for a Virgin Atlantic Upper Class seat. Let me know in the comments below whether you've flown Upper Class with Virgin Atlantic before and what you thought to it all and I'll see you all again soon with some brand new content!
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