Virgin Atlantic » A340-300 » User reviews

anderson_stephen flew Virgin Atlantic Upper Class, on a A340-300 (24/10/2011 18:26)

The flight from Montego Bay was extremely good, and the service provided was outstanding, with nothing too much trouble for the crew. A little let down with the food, when it came to our pre-ordered 'Gluten-free' meal!

anderson_stephen flew Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy, on a A340-300 (24/10/2011 18:21)

This was an extremely good,albeit long, flight. The service was excellent - as was everything else about it.

MaxwellB flew Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy, on a A340-300 (17/09/2011 21:08)

Sydney to London via Hongkong forward on 15/8/11, return on 15/9/11.

VA delivered on seat comfort, legroom, cabin service, baggage reclaimand a high ratio of toilets to passengers in PE.
Priority embarkation only worked at Sydney. At Hong Kong two separate gates funnel everyone into the same hallway, so Economy and PE passengers lined up in a long queue at the aircraft door.

Meals are apparently identical with Economy, but PE get first pick, so selected choice was always available. The stainless steel cutlery was sometimes provided with the meal listed on the menu, other meals were identical with what is served in Economy.

The last meal was tiny and horrible. It looked and tasted like reheated leftovers. The fruit bowl appeared on two out of 4 flights, shortly before landing, much too late to be useful, also on the last occasion the choice was pears or pears.

Someone has commented about the fruit bowl being leftovers from Upper Class. My experience causes me to suspect this may be true.

The finishing touch was a handout of small packets of Love Hearts lollies, endorsed "For Ever", "Don't Cry" etc. just prior to landing. Initial amusement quickly changed to a feeling of insult.

As for the IFE, it was over 2 hours before it was persuaded to work, when it became apparent that the screen was way past its use-by date, and so badly burned that text was difficult to read.

Buy PE to get extra leg room, because that is about the only advantage ov er economy. Overall it represents extremely poor value for money.

flyhighburnavgas flew Virgin Atlantic Upper Class, on a A340-300 (08/08/2011 16:18)

Penelopops flew Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy, on a A340-300 (23/07/2011 17:35)

We flew out on the 10th July from Manchester on the new A340-300. Absolutely impressed with the service from start to finish.Priority boarding was quick and well organised and it is a nice touch to get a little glass of fizzy pre-flight. The new seats are comfortable ,wide and recline further than economy.The new entertainment system is superb esp the fact that everything is on demand and the quality and variety of music was phenomenal. The meal was fine,a good selection ( though one meat course ran out before it got to us) and the after dinner brandy was cute. The staff were fabulous though.I will challenge anyone that says different.They have a hard enough job for 9 hrs serving 50-odd people in our cabin and to be so attentive ,pleasant and helpful all the time made our journey all that more special.We have been flying Virgin Atlantic for over 10 yrs now and have no plans to change this. So all in all,the new Premium Economy experience is impressive but oh so about time .

JRankin flew Virgin Atlantic Economy, on a A340-300 (11/04/2011 12:56)

Flew out and back to new York JFK in March, on the A340. The outward journey was fine, uneventful and unspectacular. We were allocated an extra legroom seat because of a mix-up with the booking. One bag had both wheels ripped of it into new York.

On the return journey, however, it was slightly different. The flight departed at 6-15pm. there was no pre dinner drink at all. The dinner took about an hour to begin service, and we received our drink after we had finished eating dinner. When we did receive the drink, the white wine was at room temperature. When this was brought to the crew members attention, they shrugged and carried on with the service.

The breakfast consisted of a hard and stale top of a muffin. No juice or anything else was offered. My partner had a coffee which was served after she had eaten her food and I wanted a tea which was eventually brought around 15 minutes after the food.

The seats were very comfortable when upright. However, being six feet four inches tall (193cm) I need a bit of space. When you recline the seat, Virgin have some new gizzmo to try to gain more recline - the base of the seat lifts up and slides forward at the same time as the back reclines. However, this takes your knees straight into the seat in from, and makes it extremely uncomfortable to sleep. Normally I can get four or five hours on these flights, but I only managed about 15 minutes on this one. Not at all comfortable.

IFE was excellent - so much better on Virgin's ex-Heathrow flights than on the ex-Gatwick aircraft.

Funnily enough, I always enjoy my outward daytime flights on Virgin to the US, but rarely do I find them enjoyable on night-time return flights. Maybe its me, or maybe its the crew rushing to get home!

LindaCrowfoot flew Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy, on a A340-300 (11/12/2009 11:46)

I had the honour and privilege of flying Virgin to Boston on the 3rd December. I chose to pay double the economy price and fly premium economy. I expected something a bit better than economy but I was under no illusion it would be anywhere near Upper Class. I was very wrong in expecting anything to be different.

On reflection I should have kept the extra money I spent on the PE fare and flown economy which would have given me more money to spend in Boston. The flight out was ok, a nice glass of champagne of bucks fizz when you board which was most welcoming. I can honestly say that having chose two seats at the back the only difference to being in economy was the fact that our food came with proper knives and forkes and we had glasses to drink out of.

The food on the flight out was ok, nothing to shout about. The service was ok too, again nothing to shout about.

The flight back was the worst I have ever experienced - worse than any economy flight I have ever taken. As I said I thought flying PE would be much better than economy but it wasn't. There were no packs on the seat when we boarded so I had to ask for one so I could take off my boots, the food on offer (bearing in mind it was an overnight flight was BBQ chicken or a curry - who wants a curry just before they go to sleep? There was supposed to be cheese and biscuits on the tray I had both, my sister had the biscuits but no cheese. People around us also had a carton of water but we didn't. When we asked the steward he said he would get some for us - obviously he didn't. Then my sister asked for decaf coffee and it was like she had asked for Cristal Champagne - he said he would get it but it was with reluctance.

Breakfast was a joke, orange juice and a sponge cake - oh I almost forgot the steward came round with some fresh fruit (probably leftovers from upper class).

The tv screen was too small to watch and flickered and flashed the whole way through every film.

My lasting memory was about four hours into the flight, everyone asleep, I got out to allow my sister to go to the toilet and stood by my seat - a stewardess barged passed me - although I was attempting to move behind my seat to let her pass - not a thank you or excuse me - nothing. Little did I know that she did exactly the same to my sister who was returning to the toilet - no way do I think stewards/stewardesses should be treated as royalty - why do we have to step aside and let them pass - my sister was met with the same blank look and no comment for being allowed to pass. They were awful.

I know Sir Richard Branson is proud of his airline, well he wouldn't have been on this particular flight! I was given a questionnaire to fill in which I did openly and honestly - I doubt that reached Sir Richard, they probably put it straight in the bin.

The Virgin webside advertises Premium Economy as having fine dining - wrong, served on china dinner ware - wrong - the food was just the same as economy, heated up in plastic trays with the foil on top.

peoplesonrules flew Virgin Atlantic Economy, on a A340-300 (12/08/2009 23:54)

the only time we fly virgin we get the odyssey IFE and the old style seats, still could be worse. The meal was pretty good for economy and even though we got the odyssey IFE it was still leaps and bounds better than United's economy IFE. However the legroom came as a bit of a shock as we'd just flown united's eco. plus. Overall though, a decent flight.

frustratedflyer flew Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy, on a A340-300 (06/02/2009 07:49)

Was in 18C which had the advantage of extra legroom. IFE was not great and some channels did not work, food was average and service was not the best. I had to request a newspaper which you are supposed to get in PE and was the only person to get one. I sat with an empty glass at my seat from the first drinks service until just before we landed (about 9 hrs!). On a positive note the seat is better than BA's and the decent arm rest means that you do not nudge your next door neighbour. Row 18 does not have a built in foor rest and soft 'wedges' are available in the overhead locker to rest you feet on instead.