Virgin Atlantic Avis 2 215

Having not flown with Virgin Atlantic for some time, I booked with them and have come to regret this decision. The convenience of the flight timing and departure airport (London Heathrow) did not outweigh the really poor service my group received when it came to seating. Before I go into that I feel that I should point out that the cabin staff on both flights were friendly and efficient and none of this review reflects poor service on the customer facing roles, it's more the companies attitude which has resulted in me deciding, once again, that I'll never fly with Virgin Atlantic again.
On the outbound flight my group had issues with online check in, meaning it was not possible for us to select seats close to each other. The automatically assigned seats were not in a group however we had assumed that we would be able to correct upon doing online check-in. This was not the case and as a result my group were split up for the outbound flight. On the return leg the seat selections were even worse, and although online check-in worked fine, it was not possible to choose seats. I assume that even if online check-in hadn't been riddled with errors we still would not have been able to get seats together.
On any other airline I’ve found that you have a reasonable chance to get seats in a group as everyone moves around at online check-in aside from those who have paid for seats. Often the automatically allocated seats are in a group, even if the configuration or location is not exactly what you would want. At online check-in it looked like *every single other passenger* had paid for their seats. I doubt this to be the case. After talking to customer service and being palmed off with the excuse ("we prioritise putting families with children together" even though there were at most 5 children on the flight) the only conclusion I could come to is that a) the ability to select seats upon online check-in is a myth and b) the allocated seats are spaced out initially to encourage groups to pay for seats. It feels like often as a consumer we often have to pay extra for something that was a given only a few years ago and this feels like a prime example of that. Other groups were clearly split up given that people on both flights were moving around the cabin to check in with other family members and so the only conclusion is that poor seating allocation at flight purchase is used as an incentive to upsell paid-for seats.
I understand that there is no guarantee when it comes to seats on long haul flights, and that certainty about seats can be bought for £70+ per person, but what I do disagree with is when it feels like a company is putting you at a disadvantage from the start in order to upsell you on an already expensive product (a long-haul, international flight.) This is the kind of behaviour that completely puts me off a brand and drives me directly to their competitor. If you are booking as a group of 2+ people I would seriously suggest you avoid Virgin Atlantic for this reason. Being able to sit with your family/friends/colleagues should be a given and not another opportunity for a company to squeeze more money out of you.

This was our first time travelling with Virgin Atlantic economy from Manchester to New York, and sadly will be our last. The flight out seemed chaotic with teenagers misbehaving, whilst their parents were in Club. Many of the TV screens were broken so the cabin crew were trying their best to move people around. The crew themselves were doing their best, the one thing I did not like was the fact that they did not advertise the ‘wander wall’ which should have been open to all classes, this was not available to economy passengers at time of booking, but this never materialised on the flight. Also the crew did many service of drinks but when announcing this they would only refer to soft drinks, tea/coffee and water which made it sound like any passenger wanting an alcoholic beverage could not have one, maybe this is a cost saving exercise on behalf of Virgin Atlantic?

The meals were not to a standard expected on a long haul flight, very cheap ingredients and when another passenger asked for the allergy warning on the food the crew were unable to read the crew meal manuals. The other thing to mention is the aircraft look very tired and worn, a big difference from their TV adverts!! I will continue to use Aer Lingus and British Airways moving forward for our transatlantic flights.

Overall the cabin crew and pilots were very professional, consistent and informative throughout the flight. However I do feel that Virgin Atlantic we’re putting them to a disadvantage and letting them down in terms of the service they offered because of the airlines reduction in service and cost cutting from what we saw on the flights we took. It was very disappointing as we had high hopes of Virgin Atlantic but we were extremely disappointed in their offering and again their cost cutting and poor food offering from their competitors like Aer Lingus, BA and even budget airlines where we have seen a better offering (even with a fee) with the quality of food and drink. Virgin Atlantic is certainly not in line with other Atlantic/long haul carriers when it comes to food and drink, entertainment and watered down drinks service.

I would like to thank Gavin and his team at Heathrow Airport. They were on duty on the evening of the 18th of September. They went above and beyond in helping my husband and I. It was our own fault for not checking the travel requirements and there was a risk of the trip being cancelled, but they sorted it out for us. Once again, thank you and thank you

Virgin Atlantic stole items out of my bag and returned only returned my medication. I will never fly with Virgin ever again!!! They even stole my holiday souvenirs which makes no sense!!! Another party I was traveling with flight was suspended which little to no notification prior to arriving at the airport in a foreign country. Terrible, terrible service!

Virgin atlantic flights are the worst flight ive been on.once they take your money you cant contact whilst abroad company more than abusive they lie and greedy for money they leave the sisabled to fend for them selfs theyre a dangerous xompany .

I am so annoyed I didn’t read these reviews.. as a BA Silver member, I thought id convert to Virgin after the BA changes to tier points… spent £3600 on upper class return MIA-LHR.. absolute disappointment.. I’m so annoyed , I could have spent the same on BA return but I was annoyed with their changes so gave Virgin a chance.. I’m going to go and spend with BA to retain silver. Upper class was SO BAD, no hot towels, meals were abysmal, entertainment - what entertainment?! AVOID.

I had booked myself on the MUM-LHR flight scheduled for 10th Sept at 4:05am. At the nth hour when it was time to board the flight at the gate, the ground staff called all the passengers seated in rows 21 to 49 to come to the service desk. A whole group of people thinking it was time to board made their way to the desk. The ground staff then asked everyone to line up in 4 rows, again no clue on what was happening and then the truth came out - the staff read from his phone about the passengers being off boarded from the flight due to an issue with the emergency door. As can imagine, things became chaotic and the staff had just no answers - passengers having their onward flights, what are the options, what are the measures of safety for the rest who were ok'd to board the flight - no clear answers. The young man facing the crowd asked for sometime to get the answers, but nothing came out of it. No senior manager or anyone was ready to go on record to confirm the safety of rest of the passengers on flight. Then one of the staff members changed the story and said that there were issues with the seats. Passengers kept waiting for answers but none came in clearly. Surprisingly the business class passengers who were also closer to the non functional door were onboarded, which meant that there was now only 1 function exit door for them instead of 2. We were then asked to head to the immigration and reverse the immigration stamped as we had to exit the airport. Only when forced they gave us a paper detailing on what the next steps are to get to the next flight where it was stated that we need to contact the customer service - this again created an uproar as till that time we were being told that they are arranging hotel for us and were trying with the partner airlines to book us on new flights

Luckily for me, something changed and I was asked to board the flight. Post boarding, we were made to sit in the flight for about 1.5-2hrs till the ground staff off loaded the bags of the passengers who were left behind. The captain while being apologetic made poor communication with the passengers and thankfully the passengers were well behaved in this situation.

On reaching LHR , I waited for 25-30 mins for the luggage to arrive only to realize that one of my bags was off loaded in all this commotion. I soon realized that I was not the only passenger facing this problem, but there were couple of other passengers as well who were in the same boat. There were also many unclaimed bags at the belt making me think that these would be from the passengers who were off boarded. There was no one at the belt to guide to take care and i had to figure out where the baggage desk was. I now have a tracking number for my delayed bag and eagerly waiting for it as i have a function to attend and all my clothes i need are in there.

I would now think twice before I book with Virgin.

Terrible at responding to emails.

This was the first time we had ever flown with Virgin Atlantic. The food was lovely and the drinks were superb. Our staff member was Amirah. We flew to Atlanta on the 1st September. She went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of. Happy jolly and a joy to be around.
Unfortunately I couldn't say the same about the staff on the return flight on 8th September.

Booked ahead and all sorted. Confirmed and booked my relevant extras e.g. hire car one way and a taxi the other way, car parking at LHR.
Then 5 months before a change of flight time, the email sent was confusing and unclear - I’m a competent person with my own business and know IT well - this was not a ‘me’ problem. Ah well not a dealbreaker, i called up and waited a long time to speak to someone. Flight changed? No - no other options available. I canceled and was stumped. Waited a few days and looked around - hang on there is now another flight on the same day at a slightly different time - booked that. Rearranged all my extras.

Then I get another confusing email 2 months before…flight change due the return. Called up, more waiting. After much discussion it turns out both the outbound and inbound are changing. I accepted the different times meaning an extra layover delay…but I accepted them.

Changed all my extras again.

Lo and behold I then get a call to say - no, that’s full so you can’t fly that day. You can fly the day before or after. So I have options - cut short my holiday (no!), extend my holiday - it’s an option that involves another night’s accommodation. I asked “will you cover the extra cost?” - “No, as it’s still a long way off you have time to sort…”?! I then asked what else they could do - offer another refund but I’m then without a flight I purposely booked 9 months in advance to get the best price!

At the moment I don’t know what’s happening. I’m furious and of course told all my friends and family which will impact Virgin’s reputation. Will they care? I doubt it.

Went onto their web site to price a flight to Florida using their points/airmiles for two people. They wanted one million four hundred thousand points to fly upper class plus over £2100 in taxes. Obviously collecting Virgin Atlantic points thru their credit card or Tesco is a waste of time. It would take me a life time to collect that number of points

I missed my flight due to an accident on the road and accidentally went to the wrong terminal. Sandra from the ticket office helped me out and rebooked my flight for me with no hassle or problems and reassured me at times of distress. Thank you so much!

We were promised wheelchair support to our plane, they took me to breakfast room where food was nice, but when we gave our vouchers for free champagne and asked for alcohol free option they seemed shocked and just pointed us to juices on food table. The food was nice, but wheelchair staff nearly made me miss our plane. We were supposed to be 1st on plane, but they nade us last. Staff were friendly on plabe, understood my epilepsy, but nearly gave me food with nuts in despite us telling them i was vegetarian and allergic to nuts. I felt cold on the plane. Food was sorted in the end. Wheelchair support after landing in California was disappointed too as we were just given a wheelchair and husband told to push me around a maze of an airport we had never been to before. We were really disappointed.

Impossible to contact them.

No email for customer services, only a form that requires a booking and flight number... but I don't have a booking???

or an 0345 number that racks up charges against my phone bill....

I was thinking of flying with them later this year, but now I'll fly with Qatar Airways instead.

Arrived for my UK>NYC journey, having paid for an upper class seat only to be told my infotainment was broken and the flight was full so no seat change was available. An initial credit of £100 in vouchers was only increased to £125. For an upper class seat. While it's not obligatory to provide infotainment, the description by VA's offering made up a big part of my decision to pay for upper class with them. Considering next steps

Worst experience ever. Left my mother without her luggage. 76 year old diabled woman. Then tried to fog it off on the connecting flight company. Then wouldn't organise for it to be reunited with her. My mother had to do a 3 hour round trip a week later to collect her luggage at her expense. No recourse for virgin Atlantic. Will not be using them again. Booked them because they're supposed to be a superior company and at my mothers age I paid extra for a reputable company.
I won't be making that mistake again. No compensation. No remorse other than hollow and empty words.
Worse still on her way home her flight was cancelled and she would have missed her flight to the uk. It was only after shouting and screaming she managed to get a flight which would allow her enough time for the connection. We were not informed of this cancellation at any point.
This is abhorrent and disgusting behaviour from an airline you should trust. I wouldn't recommend sending an elderly person to india with them as they are fraught with issues and will not take accountability for problems they have caused and then try and pass it on to the last leg of the journey which they know is not them.

✈️❤️ On the 24/08 we flew out of Manchester on flight VS85 with Virgin Atlantic… and WOW, what can I say about the staff and hospitality – absolutely amazing!! 🙌✨

We were greeted by the wonderful Tom, who we first met on our Vegas flight last year. To our surprise (and delight!) he remembered us straight away and came over to make our journey extra special right from the start 🥰👏.

Alongside Tom, we had the fabulous Holly, Janey, and a lovely young air hostess who looked after us throughout the entire flight 💁‍♀️💖. Their friendliness, warmth, and care made us feel so valued and comfortable the whole way through. 🌟💯

This level of excellent, compassionate, and friendly customer service is exactly why we always choose Virgin Holidays & Virgin Atlantic for our travels. 🛫💼🌍

Thank you for making our journey one to remember! ❤️🙌

#VirginAtlantic #VirginHolidays #FlyingInStyle #CustomerServiceExcellence #VS85 #AboveAndBeyond #TravelWithVirgin #SkyHighService ✈️🌟

Synchrony Bank is by far the worst bank that I have had the displeasure to deal with. When Virgin Atlantic Airlines switched their credit card from BOA to Synchrony my credit limit was reduced from 60k to 20k. I just talked to a supervisor at Synchrony Bank about this issue and I was informed that Synchrony's maximum credit limit is $20,000. I questioned this amount and was told that it was established to make it "fair" for all customers. I have strived to be a preferred customer with all my financial business and being told that I am being penalized in the name of "fairness" is ludicrous. Synchrony's credit policies have had a major negative impact on my credit rating, even though I pay off the balance monthly. Virgin Atlantic's poor business decision negatively effects it's most loyal customers.

Took payment despite not booking flight takes 3 days to credit, they need to sort their website out

Wow.
I thought choosing VA was going to be a joy. It has been everything but.
Rude customer services. Gave me duff information, and withheld information.
They basically took my money, forced me to take a travel voucher over a refund then cancelled the travel voucher. £1000 stolen.
CEO office have flatly refused to help hiding behind "its a travel voucher " as a reason why they can't do anything. A voucher they created.