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Dan, how do you never run out of points? are you always getting new cards for the sign up bonuses? haha I have done that a few times but I stopped as affects your credit score here in australia
@@Ambarthetravellingchef I didn’t know simply having more credit cards affects your credit score in Australia! So long as you pay them off on time and don’t spend too much on them, what’s the big fuss? 🤔
Unbelievable how these airlines do not treat everyone the same. Do we all need to be influencers or ready to pull out a camera so you can get an experience like this when you've been downgraded
I really like the fact that you're reviewing multiple flights/cabins in each video. This gives a much better picture of what we can expect flying on a specific airline. Thumbs up for that new format ! 👍👍
Welcome to Economy Class. Looking forward to a review of a packed Allegiant flight from your sliver of a middle seat, wedged between two walruses. If there aren't enough screaming children, the airline provides the courtesy of piping in recorded screaming, so you're covered there. I'd recommend a few hours on the tarmac in Las Vegas or Mesa without air conditioning. Good times!
Yeah, air travel is such a delicious experience these days. Unless you fly international, you're definitely getting the cattle car treatment, even if you somehow luck into business class, which pretty much gets you only a little bit of extra seat width.
😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄, thank God that these days is all A320 family planes. Remember when it was all recycled antiques MD-80's , FAA was close to closing the airline down due to maintenance issues?
@@arnaldoluisn1 Flying out of a small airport, it's usually a CRJ to the connection at a hub. After last flight I decided that next time I'd rather drive 3 hours to the nearest major hub than the one hour leg on a CRJ. Embraers aren't bad, but I'm not seeing them here anymore.
The d'heathrow curse again (yeah some of us have a nickname for it). I was based as cabin crew from there over 2 decades, I would agree it's usually an unpleasant airport experience for everyone. Thanks for the kind comments on VS cabin crew. Even though they were not my airline, I can confirm to you VS crew are genuinely passionate about their job. It's nice of you to give them the credit they deserve. The VS experience is one of a kind, as you said it's more in the quirky-fun-trendy category than the truly luxurious one. As someone who is more old school for a more classic approach to premium classes and personally doesn't like the VS business cabin at all, I still appreciate that their catering is very good and their staff consistently the most pleasant. I flew with them to Japan and back in Y class and their Japanese tray was amazing (I don't normally like economy meals). Finally, my opinion about your choice of compensation for the downgrade is you should take the return ticket in upper class. It certainly isn't convenient in terms of restrictions, but since you're your own boss, that shouldn't be a big deal, and surely you won't mind the extra flying, right? ;-) That tofu really looked great. Welcome back home, Dan. Well, your 50% home...
Used to fly VA as a kid to Orlando and the rest of the US on the 747s, great memories! The crew also saved my Grans life! (She was told to drink water on the flight to prevent DVT and drank 2 gallons and almost went into organ failure! Crew were excellent, reassuring and got her on oxygen as quickly as they could, she was even fine the next day!)
Flew Virgin Atlantic in economy class in 1996 .We sat at the back and had lots of leg room.We had a great flight.The food was really good too.As we were first time flyers the air hostess took me to meet the captain and crew, they were all very nice except for the captain who was very grumpy and anti social.The food we had was superb.
Virgin Group generally has above average services compared to their competitors. Hats off to Sir Richard Branson for instilling the virtue of outstanding customer service into his staff.
I was given a Virgin Atlantic Pride lanyard from an ex-staff member. I love how Virgin is so inclusive. I’m 15 and I am going on them for the first time in December.
As a former gate agent with TWA, I've issued a number of "denied boarding compensation " passes to those who needed to be reaccommodated. Although we'd tell pax that the ticket was good anywhere TWA flew within the continental US, including Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 What folks weren't aware of was that the ticket was only redeemable in the T class of service which was closer to the end of the fare bucket spectrum. Wendover Productions did a video about 3 years ago explaining how airline ticketing works 🙋🏻
I am a Delta frequent flyer, Delta pulls the same crap by saying they will give you a voucher for thousand of dollars.... but it's a one-time use voucher and you are bound to have balance left over that you cannot use. These days, if I a book premium class, whether premium econ or business, I do screenshot of the pricing screen showing cost of econ seat on the day of booking, so if there is an IROPS and/or I am downgraded, I get the exact difference back, instead of them using insanely inflated last minute economy fare as reference for calculating the difference.
I might be wrong, but they did not discuss all the details on the free travel brochures. Hard to think they got the same kind of Discounted Coach Fare. They had two revenue business. Also with the Virgin Atlantic culture, of wanting to offer the best experience possible. I am fairly sure when it is time to make a res with those Bouchers, they will get the best of the best, more so with the history documented on how they got those Bouchers. Even when Virgin America was operating, excided service of the competition. Jetblue was the second airline to create a luxury business class like a widebody on a A320. Delta Airlines investing in Virgin was a win-to-win situation for all parties. Virgin Priority is the Flight experience, customer service and superb employees. That makes Virgin not as profitable as the competition, since they do invest in the best quality of all and do not come cheap. Like en LHR, exclusive terminal for Upper Class Customer. Every single detail has a higher cost for the airline. There is one thing I do not like about Virgin Atlantic. Has a history of acquiring new equipment, with lack of well thought out planning. Mixing B747-400 with A340-600, to tke the A340 out of service soon, getting the A330, followed by B787, adding the A350. No cost effective, seating arrangement issues due to last-minute aircraft switching. Like the A350 to New York, replaced with an A350 Orlando layout. Too big of a mess, requiring extensive flights preplanning and crew, mechanics, ramp equipment (pushbacks, tow bars) etc training, spare parts and the one that can ruin the airline. Customer Experience. If got a Business Tkt and at the airport I get a downgrade, I will not react as nice as our guy making the video. Causing me to not trust the airline no more. Therefore, will affect Loyalty Customers.
@@arnaldoluisn1 He did discuss the restrictions of the vouchers in latter part of the video. It has to be a RT depart and return to the same city, so he can use them for separate segments. Ive gotten disrupted many times and I have never gotten a travel voucher that can be used as freely as cash, they also have a ton of fine prints. Its a horrible thing to do to the passenger, to force them to make a decision in seconds without full disclosures.
I absolutely hate the reverse herringbone seat. It feels so disconnected from one of the best parts of flying. I guess passengers are becoming too jaded about the experience in general, no longer caring if they can’t even glance out the window. But for me, that view is still pure magic-the kind of thing that reminds you how extraordinary it is to be cruising at 38,000 feet, watching the world pass beneath you. It’s not every day you get to witness those views, and I’ll never get tired of that perspective.
My hot take is that 50/50 I sit in the middle column of seats. It is less noisy and tbh I fly often enough that I don’t really care about the views. But a low altitude flight on a Cessna is beautiful!
Well, you actually got treated to what most of us regular passengers experience frequently , so welcome to that club! I love flying virgin, but it's literally been many many years since I flew down back. I usually opt for Premium Eco and then use Virgin points to upgrade to Upper. Most of the time this works , but recently it did not and I was stuck in Orem Ec on an overnight flight. It wasn't horrible, but because it was not Upper with the flat seat/ bed, I was not happy. I think it's just what we get used to and when we dont get the upgrade then life just sucks no matter how badly the airline will try.
I’m so excited about this that i’m saving it until tonight to watch!🤷🏼♀️😆I’m getting in my PJ’s and popping popcorn after I study and get my chores done…thank you for reviewing Virgin!!
Kudos to Virgin for selecting and training their entire staff to be solution oriented. I learned long ago that spending money to please a customer is cheaper than loosing that customer forever.
I feel like some politicians live in such a transactional bubble, they’ve totally forgotten how to manage life in a totally legit way. Great flight video. Great crews. Loved the way you handled it all. Since you travel so often, you probably have more patience than most of us. My number one travel rule is always try to be courteous to the staff and crews. They can’t control the flight schedules and the weather so don’t take it out on them. One of my worst experiences on Delta was the cancellation of my non-stop flight from NY to KY. A two hour flight turned into a 13 hour tour of the east coast. We visited Philadelphia and DC airports in our attempt to get home. One of my best experiences was getting stuck in Phoenix’s airport and being upgraded to first class for the rest of my flight. I don’t travel much so it was a treat for me.
A free complimentary roundtrip upper class ticket to any destination? That's a no-brainer!! Understandably, a vlogger needs specific flights for reviews, but since I mostly typically fly in low season anyway, I would have no trouble getting a seat when I travel
Hi Dan and Oscar, Great film. We are flying Upper Class to Maldives next month. Sooo looking forward to it. Last time on board the Virgin 787-9 was 2017 from LHR to SFO. The lounge, crew and experience was fantastic. Was at the on-board bar for about 8 hours of the trip with 4 other passengers met on boarding. We had a blast. The crew even set up the bar as a dining table for 2 of us. Later in the flight we were rejoined by fellow travellers to enjoy the flight. Other passengers were complaining about our partying (no profanity, just hilarity). Gotta love the Virgin experience. Sorry to see your downgrade. Hard to accept after Upper Class OMG! Seems like they are focusing on Premium rather than Upper on some planes/routes. The Virgin Club House Lounge at LHR deteriorated greatly once they got invaded by Delta Airlines. Miss the haircuts and massages! Would love to do the A350 in Upper Class. Better luck to you both next time. "Any seat on any flight" award seats are changing 30th October 2024. I got an email from Virgin today. You should be fine.
Who wants to see Dan review economy class more often? I know I do. Especially transatlantic, as that is where I mostly fly. I want to see him suffer like the rest of us! 😂
20:38 I once spent about 3 of my 4 hours in the lounge out there on a bright sunny day. Get to watch planes, sunbathe, and you're right, almost no-one goes out there!
I was a diehard Virgin loyalist for years. Never will I forget, or stop appreciating how they broke the domestic stranglehold in Australia that made it too expensive to fly internally regularly. But. My last Virgin flight was cancelled, less than 12 hours before departure. I lost thousands of dollars on a dive trip and I have so far never gone back to the airline.
Virgin Atlantic A340-600 was the first ever long haul jet I flew on when I was 10 in August 2011, LHR-LAX, First time I flew on a double aisle plane and first ever one to have IFE screens! Economy and then Premium Economy on the way home.
This review comes at a great time! Next month I'm filling my teenage dream of seeing The Corrs live in concert in London. Managed to book DXB-LHR (outbound Air France, return on Virgin Atlantic) in Economy, so it was great to get a glimpse into what to expect. Thanks Dan for taking one for the team ;)
tbh it sounds like they’ve been really accommodating, despite their issues. I’d rather take a punt with an airline that’s accommodating, should something go wrong, compared to someone like BA! Where you’re lucky if they even answer the phone.
I think they were aware of the situation - full cancellation was going to cost Virgin. Not just financially, but the reputation too. The previous cancellation was probably inevitable.
Love love love how you weaved the Eric Adams scandal into the video, bravo !! 🎉 Also I know I’ve said this before but I’m loving the facial hair! You look so good…demure even! 😉 Loved this video so entertaining and informative as well!! 🤗👌🏽
VS crew are awesome. One time the captain found out that I was using points to complete a round the world trip and he invited me to the flight deck after landing. Very special flight for me.
Despite the absolute mess of your second flight I really do love flying VS. It's fun, they are such a great crew always and I feel quite spoilt! Always such great service and fun to chat with at the social spaces. I've flown BA and AF, and Virgin is still my favorite because maybe I am just not a fancy gal and their Upper Class ticks all the boxes! (Though AF's Business class food... YUM!) I flew this in A333 config and really hated it, but whatever, it was better than economy?! The A350 config is really nice and I'll be flying A339 this December, we'll see how it is...
Great video Dan! Despite its shortcomings, Virgin Atlantic 🇬🇧 still seems like a great airline and I am eager to try their Upper Class Business Class product someday soon! Cheers 🥂 mate! Caleb’s Aviation 😊
Also I’d choose the points over the Virgin trip thing as points are usable on every Virgin partner and you can collect them forever it seems. A Virgin trip deal seems to limiting to be worth it at least to me.
I miss virgin Atlantic so so much. They stopped flying to Australia about 15 years ago. One of the best plane breakfasts was flying into London and their bacon sandwiches
I was well compensated when Virgin cancelled my return flight from Boston to Heathrow in May. I was rebooked onto a service that left 1hr 5 mins earlier than the original flight and under some EU legislation that extra 5 mins above the hour meant they had to compensate me and it came to more than the return trip had cost me (I had a voucher to bring the cost down). I even got the same exit row seat I'd prebooked on the original flight. Awesome service as always from the crew.
What a fantastic vlog and review of Virgin Atlantic .. i would definitely take the rewards points after some thought on listening to all the terms and conditions, So refreshing to hear how all the staff where amazing and professional from start to finish , I am ex Caledonian crew and i can honestly say their standard was pretty high on training their staff in the same manner .. Thanks again this was so interesting and enjoyable to watch 🙂
I’ve never flown anything better than premium economy, but I have an upcoming flight with Virgin Atlantic in the upper class. New York to London. I hope to have a good time. Definitely sounds like your complaints are valid.
I have been waiting for you to review virgin for so long, and despite that the overwhelming thought at the end of this video was still that i'm thankful for you r honest reviews.
You just had really bad luck. Virgin Upper Class is really good, and the last time I had a VS flight cancelled under me was in 1994! I was at BOS, our plane was snowed in at JFK...and Virgin journalled all us customers, including coach pax, across to BA and other carriers with capacity.
Dan you are not alone with Heathrow issues. 1964; My mom and I tried in vane for 4 to 5 days with Qantas staff tickets (low priority) to get home to SFO. My dad had to wire money for our Airport hotel stay as my mom did not have that kind of money after a 2 month vacation with relatives in Sweden. All Qantas flights were full so my dad was able to arrange a BOAC flight to Montreal and the Eastern to JFK, where we took Qantas back to SFO. 1972; returning from Nicosia, Cyprus our connecting TWA flight was full and we did not make the flight (again lower priority ticket). My dad then said, “well there goes our luggage” and this young woman on standby heard him. You could see her “deer in the headlights” expression when she muttered something like, do you mean my bags are gone and then came the tears when that was confirmed. For us it was off to a hotel and take the next day’s flight. Of course, that would not happen today as anyone not making a flight has their bags removed. 1976; Returning from vacation in Sweden via CPH-LHR-YYZ-ORD-SFO. British airways flight turns back to Heathrow 2 hours into the flight because of a water pump issue. We were given two coupons to purchase food and await further news. Some hours later we board and land in Toronto with instructions to see the BA representative for assistance. Of course, there was no BA representative and being after midnight everything was closed. So we slept in some chairs until around 6 to 7 am when the check-in counter for our remaining flights opened. So I have not been to LHR in 48 years (which is probably a good thing) and have booked through CPH, AMS, FRA, and ZRH. Full disclosure; I did have a bag go missing transiting AMS. Thinking that AMS got the luggage debacle of 2023 out of their system and I traveling off-peak (Apr-May) I assumed I was safe with KLM but my baggage did not make my flight back to SFO. Fortunately it arrived days later. So other than that one recent problem, I have been just fine using other airports than LHR.
I've booked 7 flights with Virgin this year! Done 2 of them already! I've travelled only Economy class with them and that's what I plan on doing going forward. My experience has overall been good! In my opinion, it's better than the Economy class on the other airlines that fly the same route. In the last year VA have started to charge for selecting seats in Economy which I'm not on board with! But in my last two flights I've asked the agent if I can sit together with my mum and they've been nice enough to do it! I also agree, their call centre is very good! I have called them a couple of times and they have been nothing short of excellent in answering all my questions and adjusting my flights. Sorry you had such a bad experience Dan! Hopefully you'll take the oppourtunity for a round trip on Virgin Upper Class that they offered you!
thanks for sharing your interesting experience and going through it for your fans. The answer is simple: take the free return business class ticket. You still owe Oskar that business class experience on the A350 you were hyping about.
Last time I flew virgin, the seats were broken so had a 3 hour delay to fix them on an overbooked flight and then to add insult to injury they gave my husband a kids meal as had run out of adult meals and didn’t bother to get a meal from another cabin. They didn’t even apologise. NEVER USED THEM AGAIN - truly awful airline. Staff were rude. Dan you were very lucky to get good service.
I was in the upperclass lounge that exact same day, Sept 18th, we were flying VS117 to Miami. Incredible lounge, we had the older upper class on their 787-9 Mystery Girl. Staff were amazing on board and the flight incredible. Not the best business seats though
Nice video. I flew Virgin Upper Class one time from Heathrow to San Francisco. It was the worst travel experience I’ve ever had and it didn’t warrant another try for me to see if they could redeem themselves. I was not seated close to the bar but the noise kept me awake all flight with a bunch of rowdy drunks talking at the top of their voices. The seats were awfully uncomfortable, the food was terrible and the flight attendants, all of them, were surly bordering on rude. It was an awful product that frankly could not compare to their two competing airlines on that route - BA and United. Yes, even United was far superior to Virgin... I’m glad you had success but my full revenue for all future flights on that route went to their competition and I never looked back.
Hey, Dan! I believe you should most definitely try Bulgaria Air business class which can controversially be called the best business class in Europe right now. ❤🎉
Ran into you while you were shooting the virgin intro before taking the train at dxb airport. Never knew who you were but now a big fan including your podcast
Me and my partner were going to be involuntary downgraded but they got us on a Delta flight instead on Orlando to London after they cancelled a flight. Virgin are a really small airline compared with the big players and when things start to go wrong, it really shows with there ability to get back on track.
Virgin have just announced changes to their rewards programme from the end of October. I do not fully understand the changes but it appears there will be a lot more seats opening for rewards but will be on a dynamic price structure, which I think impacts the number of points a flight will cost. Therefore there may be more opportunities to use your compensation ticket going forward. I look forward to seeing that upper class video when it does happen.
One of my favourite things about flying Virgin Upper class is the private Upper class wing at Heathrow T3. You really feel like a super VIP. Virgin is really underrated as an airline. The lounge experience at Heathrow is amazing, the service and soft product on board is great and the ease of booking reward seats and flying club customer service is top notch. I know the old upper class seats are not great, but they're also not nearly as bad as people think. The new Upper class seats are far more competitive.
In terms of first world problems, the Virgin Upper Class cabin looks miserable as sin but Kudos to them for not locking the 787 window shades on your first flight ✈️
Ill never forget the excitement of a London-New York flight on Virgin Atlantic. The only problem is, despite the new fleet, all of their cabins feel the same and outdated. Their business class product is far behind elite business class products of other airlines.
For compenation, since is s for 2 people, i d take one option for each instead of same compensation for both… so one time the voucher and one time the points!! Best of both worlds 🎉🎉
I’ve flown once in business class on this very plane. Notice I stated ‘once’. Never again. The crew were lovely and the food was excellent; however, that didn’t make up for the abysmally uncomfortable seat. At one point I wondered if economy class would be more comfortable.
Great insights and I really appreciate all the fantastic information. I agree that both the airline and you handled the down grade extremely well…however, for me flying business let alone first class would be a rare treat so it would be very difficult to gracefully accept such a major disappointment. I would never be rude or lose my temper, but it does make me fearful that splurging on a better class could so easily be ruined 😮
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Dan, how do you never run out of points? are you always getting new cards for the sign up bonuses? haha I have done that a few times but I stopped as affects your credit score here in australia
@@Ambarthetravellingchef I didn’t know simply having more credit cards affects your credit score in Australia! So long as you pay them off on time and don’t spend too much on them, what’s the big fuss? 🤔
Hey Dan, does the thing about "only Award Flights" still apply with Virgin's changes to redemption this week?
I'd be interested to hear an update on this too
Nice sponsorship!
I was the Delta pilot that ran into you both at JFK after that downgrade. I've been looking forward to this one haha
thank you for your service sir. Being a pilot is one of the most if not the most respectable job anybody can have.
what plane do you fly? if you dont mind me asking
@@PerfectPilot prob the 787 as that is the one in the video
@@rajshah7033 Delta doesnt use the 787, most likely an a330 or 767
It was great to meet you!
Unbelievable how these airlines do not treat everyone the same. Do we all need to be influencers or ready to pull out a camera so you can get an experience like this when you've been downgraded
"So I mainly enjoy the fruit".....as you film yourself devouring the sandwich! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
11:22
I really like the fact that you're reviewing multiple flights/cabins in each video. This gives a much better picture of what we can expect flying on a specific airline. Thumbs up for that new format ! 👍👍
Glad you liked it!
I mean, it would have been double business class if the downgrade didn’t happen!
On the plus side you get to review economy where the rest of us peasants sit.
I am a simple peasant, but I never ever fly cattle class.
@@PinkIsAwesome361 That is not considered peasant anymore
It really was a Econo Plus seat (extra legroom) so not the full economy experience
Plus the food was definitely not economy 😂
@ krenarsopa8354 so you live Ike a peasant in order to fly with the middle class on Business Class ? 🤔
Welcome to Economy Class. Looking forward to a review of a packed Allegiant flight from your sliver of a middle seat, wedged between two walruses. If there aren't enough screaming children, the airline provides the courtesy of piping in recorded screaming, so you're covered there. I'd recommend a few hours on the tarmac in Las Vegas or Mesa without air conditioning. Good times!
Give you economy while taking your points for a business class booking- sound like bait & switch, while stealing all those extra points of yours..
Yeah, air travel is such a delicious experience these days. Unless you fly international, you're definitely getting the cattle car treatment, even if you somehow luck into business class, which pretty much gets you only a little bit of extra seat width.
WALRUSES got me LMFAOing 😂😂😂
😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄, thank God that these days is all A320 family planes. Remember when it was all recycled antiques MD-80's , FAA was close to closing the airline down due to maintenance issues?
@@arnaldoluisn1 Flying out of a small airport, it's usually a CRJ to the connection at a hub. After last flight I decided that next time I'd rather drive 3 hours to the nearest major hub than the one hour leg on a CRJ. Embraers aren't bad, but I'm not seeing them here anymore.
The d'heathrow curse again (yeah some of us have a nickname for it). I was based as cabin crew from there over 2 decades, I would agree it's usually an unpleasant airport experience for everyone. Thanks for the kind comments on VS cabin crew. Even though they were not my airline, I can confirm to you VS crew are genuinely passionate about their job. It's nice of you to give them the credit they deserve. The VS experience is one of a kind, as you said it's more in the quirky-fun-trendy category than the truly luxurious one. As someone who is more old school for a more classic approach to premium classes and personally doesn't like the VS business cabin at all, I still appreciate that their catering is very good and their staff consistently the most pleasant. I flew with them to Japan and back in Y class and their Japanese tray was amazing (I don't normally like economy meals). Finally, my opinion about your choice of compensation for the downgrade is you should take the return ticket in upper class. It certainly isn't convenient in terms of restrictions, but since you're your own boss, that shouldn't be a big deal, and surely you won't mind the extra flying, right? ;-) That tofu really looked great. Welcome back home, Dan. Well, your 50% home...
Love Heathrow never a bad experience numerous times over
Heathrow’s that bad?
Please don’t try any other UK airports then 😬
Using Mayor Adam’s indictment for your points master course is giving “I built my FYP brick by brick” vibes and I love it lol
As a half Italian, that pronunciation of Tiramisu hurts my bones 😂
😂😂😂😂
I was looking for this comment! Dan you may be half British but that's not how us Brits pronounce it!
As a Swede i wonder if you have any opinions about Huel 😅
As an American and a linguist who adores everything Italian, I totally agree. 😊
It was wrong
Used to fly VA as a kid to Orlando and the rest of the US on the 747s, great memories! The crew also saved my Grans life! (She was told to drink water on the flight to prevent DVT and drank 2 gallons and almost went into organ failure! Crew were excellent, reassuring and got her on oxygen as quickly as they could, she was even fine the next day!)
Flew Virgin Atlantic in economy class in 1996 .We sat at the back and had lots of leg room.We had a great flight.The food was really good too.As we were first time flyers the air hostess took me to meet the captain and crew, they were all very nice except for the captain who was very grumpy and anti social.The food we had was superb.
Virgin Group generally has above average services compared to their competitors. Hats off to Sir Richard Branson for instilling the virtue of outstanding customer service into his staff.
I was given a Virgin Atlantic Pride lanyard from an ex-staff member. I love how Virgin is so inclusive. I’m 15 and I am going on them for the first time in December.
As a former gate agent with TWA, I've issued a number of "denied boarding compensation " passes to those who needed to be reaccommodated. Although we'd tell pax that the ticket was good anywhere TWA flew within the continental US, including Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
What folks weren't aware of was that the ticket was only redeemable in the T class of service which was closer to the end of the fare bucket spectrum.
Wendover Productions did a video about 3 years ago explaining how airline ticketing works 🙋🏻
I am a Delta frequent flyer, Delta pulls the same crap by saying they will give you a voucher for thousand of dollars.... but it's a one-time use voucher and you are bound to have balance left over that you cannot use. These days, if I a book premium class, whether premium econ or business, I do screenshot of the pricing screen showing cost of econ seat on the day of booking, so if there is an IROPS and/or I am downgraded, I get the exact difference back, instead of them using insanely inflated last minute economy fare as reference for calculating the difference.
You neglected to mention the (numerous) blackout dates.
I might be wrong, but they did not discuss all the details on the free travel brochures. Hard to think they got the same kind of Discounted Coach Fare. They had two revenue business. Also with the Virgin Atlantic culture, of wanting to offer the best experience possible. I am fairly sure when it is time to make a res with those Bouchers, they will get the best of the best, more so with the history documented on how they got those Bouchers. Even when Virgin America was operating, excided service of the competition. Jetblue was the second airline to create a luxury business class like a widebody on a A320. Delta Airlines investing in Virgin was a win-to-win situation for all parties. Virgin Priority is the Flight experience, customer service and superb employees. That makes Virgin not as profitable as the competition, since they do invest in the best quality of all and do not come cheap. Like en LHR, exclusive terminal for Upper Class Customer. Every single detail has a higher cost for the airline. There is one thing I do not like about Virgin Atlantic. Has a history of acquiring new equipment, with lack of well thought out planning. Mixing B747-400 with A340-600, to tke the A340 out of service soon, getting the A330, followed by B787, adding the A350. No cost effective, seating arrangement issues due to last-minute aircraft switching. Like the A350 to New York, replaced with an A350 Orlando layout. Too big of a mess, requiring extensive flights preplanning and crew, mechanics, ramp equipment (pushbacks, tow bars) etc training, spare parts and the one that can ruin the airline. Customer Experience. If got a Business Tkt and at the airport I get a downgrade, I will not react as nice as our guy making the video. Causing me to not trust the airline no more. Therefore, will affect Loyalty Customers.
@@arnaldoluisn1 He did discuss the restrictions of the vouchers in latter part of the video. It has to be a RT depart and return to the same city, so he can use them for separate segments. Ive gotten disrupted many times and I have never gotten a travel voucher that can be used as freely as cash, they also have a ton of fine prints. Its a horrible thing to do to the passenger, to force them to make a decision in seconds without full disclosures.
Virgin's call center is off the charts. So good. Other airlines should be taking notes.
Seeing Dan sitting in economy class is priceless.
I like your reviews, not only for the products you are reviewing, but also for the kindness and respect you show towards fans and crew.
I absolutely hate the reverse herringbone seat. It feels so disconnected from one of the best parts of flying. I guess passengers are becoming too jaded about the experience in general, no longer caring if they can’t even glance out the window. But for me, that view is still pure magic-the kind of thing that reminds you how extraordinary it is to be cruising at 38,000 feet, watching the world pass beneath you. It’s not every day you get to witness those views, and I’ll never get tired of that perspective.
I absolutely agree about the view! 🤩
My hot take is that 50/50 I sit in the middle column of seats. It is less noisy and tbh I fly often enough that I don’t really care about the views. But a low altitude flight on a Cessna is beautiful!
Well, you actually got treated to what most of us regular passengers experience frequently , so welcome to that club! I love flying virgin, but it's literally been many many years since I flew down back. I usually opt for Premium Eco and then use Virgin points to upgrade to Upper. Most of the time this works , but recently it did not and I was stuck in Orem Ec on an overnight flight. It wasn't horrible, but because it was not Upper with the flat seat/ bed, I was not happy. I think it's just what we get used to and when we dont get the upgrade then life just sucks no matter how badly the airline will try.
I’m so excited about this that i’m saving it until tonight to watch!🤷🏼♀️😆I’m getting in my PJ’s and popping popcorn after I study and get my chores done…thank you for reviewing Virgin!!
I have never flown Virgin Atlantic, but I am glad to see the different cabins as it gives me an idea if I ever want to fly that airline.
Juicy cake? Sir they have a special word for that...... MOIST! Yeah I said it! I'm gonna say it again MOIST!
😂
As soon as you mentioned Adams I knew you were going to say he should have just used points! :)
Kudos to Virgin for selecting and training their entire staff to be solution oriented. I learned long ago that spending money to please a customer is cheaper than loosing that customer forever.
I feel like some politicians live in such a transactional bubble, they’ve totally forgotten how to manage life in a totally legit way.
Great flight video. Great crews. Loved the way you handled it all. Since you travel so often, you probably have more patience than most of us. My number one travel rule is always try to be courteous to the staff and crews. They can’t control the flight schedules and the weather so don’t take it out on them.
One of my worst experiences on Delta was the cancellation of my non-stop flight from NY to KY. A two hour flight turned into a 13 hour tour of the east coast. We visited Philadelphia and DC airports in our attempt to get home. One of my best experiences was getting stuck in Phoenix’s airport and being upgraded to first class for the rest of my flight. I don’t travel much so it was a treat for me.
A free complimentary roundtrip upper class ticket to any destination? That's a no-brainer!!
Understandably, a vlogger needs specific flights for reviews, but since I mostly typically fly in low season anyway, I would have no trouble getting a seat when I travel
What if it was because you wore emarates pajamas
HAHAHA!
I have always found the Virgin Atlantic staff to be fantastic.
I’m sorry you hade a bad experience Dan I always have the best with them that’s why they are my favourite
Hi Dan and Oscar,
Great film. We are flying Upper Class to Maldives next month. Sooo looking forward to it. Last time on board the Virgin 787-9 was 2017 from LHR to SFO. The lounge, crew and experience was fantastic. Was at the on-board bar for about 8 hours of the trip with 4 other passengers met on boarding. We had a blast. The crew even set up the bar as a dining table for 2 of us. Later in the flight we were rejoined by fellow travellers to enjoy the flight. Other passengers were complaining about our partying (no profanity, just hilarity). Gotta love the Virgin experience.
Sorry to see your downgrade. Hard to accept after Upper Class OMG! Seems like they are focusing on Premium rather than Upper on some planes/routes.
The Virgin Club House Lounge at LHR deteriorated greatly once they got invaded by Delta Airlines. Miss the haircuts and massages!
Would love to do the A350 in Upper Class. Better luck to you both next time.
"Any seat on any flight" award seats are changing 30th October 2024. I got an email from Virgin today. You should be fine.
18:08 “…a free shaker worth 40 dollars…” 🤣
Who wants to see Dan review economy class more often? I know I do. Especially transatlantic, as that is where I mostly fly. I want to see him suffer like the rest of us! 😂
20:38 I once spent about 3 of my 4 hours in the lounge out there on a bright sunny day. Get to watch planes, sunbathe, and you're right, almost no-one goes out there!
I was a diehard Virgin loyalist for years.
Never will I forget, or stop appreciating how they broke the domestic stranglehold in Australia that made it too expensive to fly internally regularly. But. My last Virgin flight was cancelled, less than 12 hours before departure. I lost thousands of dollars on a dive trip and I have so far never gone back to the airline.
hate...HATE those horse stall seats
no matter how good the food is or how good the crew is I am not spending money to be a horse in the sky lmao -_-
Virgin Atlantic A340-600 was the first ever long haul jet I flew on when I was 10 in August 2011, LHR-LAX, First time I flew on a double aisle plane and first ever one to have IFE screens! Economy and then Premium Economy on the way home.
First time watching your channel - wow, you guys are so much fun and so chill. This review was full of detail, warmth and empathy. Thank you so much.
This review comes at a great time! Next month I'm filling my teenage dream of seeing The Corrs live in concert in London. Managed to book DXB-LHR (outbound Air France, return on Virgin Atlantic) in Economy, so it was great to get a glimpse into what to expect. Thanks Dan for taking one for the team ;)
Thanks so much! 🙏
British cabin crews are second to none. Polite and helpful
tbh it sounds like they’ve been really accommodating, despite their issues. I’d rather take a punt with an airline that’s accommodating, should something go wrong, compared to someone like BA! Where you’re lucky if they even answer the phone.
Is it just me? I don't love those sideways business seats
This are seats on Cathay Pacific like 20 years ago
This are awful seats!!
I’m not as tall as Dan but I do have very long legs. I would be concerned I’d trip someone.
The whole business cabin looks horrible to me.
While virgin Atlantic is my favourite airline I must say this really was a bit of a shitshow, the advantage being we got an economy review from Dan😭
The seats look absolutely terrible indeed. Thanks for the review
28 people being downgraded is not bad luck , is Virgin Atlantic being worse than BA 🤦😂
Not a chance worse than BA - offering him a free return upper class ticket to anywhere is amazing compensation. BA would never
@@HondaExige1 as brit knowing them they would give you a coupon for a coffee at starbucks or a costa coffee ahaha fml
I think they were aware of the situation - full cancellation was going to cost Virgin. Not just financially, but the reputation too.
The previous cancellation was probably inevitable.
flew Virgin once. Overrated IMO. BA upped their game.
Love love love how you weaved the Eric Adams scandal into the video, bravo !! 🎉 Also I know I’ve said this before but I’m loving the facial hair! You look so good…demure even! 😉 Loved this video so entertaining and informative as well!! 🤗👌🏽
Thanks so much Viv! 🙏
Walking past the luxury stores…The window shopper in me is like wait a sec, go slower! 😂😂. Great vlog as always fellas 😊.
Thanks so much 🙏
VS crew are awesome. One time the captain found out that I was using points to complete a round the world trip and he invited me to the flight deck after landing. Very special flight for me.
Despite the absolute mess of your second flight I really do love flying VS. It's fun, they are such a great crew always and I feel quite spoilt! Always such great service and fun to chat with at the social spaces. I've flown BA and AF, and Virgin is still my favorite because maybe I am just not a fancy gal and their Upper Class ticks all the boxes! (Though AF's Business class food... YUM!) I flew this in A333 config and really hated it, but whatever, it was better than economy?! The A350 config is really nice and I'll be flying A339 this December, we'll see how it is...
Great video Dan! Despite its shortcomings, Virgin Atlantic 🇬🇧 still seems like a great airline and I am eager to try their Upper Class Business Class product someday soon!
Cheers 🥂 mate!
Caleb’s Aviation 😊
Also I’d choose the points over the Virgin trip thing as points are usable on every Virgin partner and you can collect them forever it seems. A Virgin trip deal seems to limiting to be worth it at least to me.
Thank you Dan, for showing us the meals for omnivores.
BTW your chocolate Cake looked great!
I miss virgin Atlantic so so much. They stopped flying to Australia about 15 years ago. One of the best plane breakfasts was flying into London and their bacon sandwiches
I was well compensated when Virgin cancelled my return flight from Boston to Heathrow in May. I was rebooked onto a service that left 1hr 5 mins earlier than the original flight and under some EU legislation that extra 5 mins above the hour meant they had to compensate me and it came to more than the return trip had cost me (I had a voucher to bring the cost down). I even got the same exit row seat I'd prebooked on the original flight. Awesome service as always from the crew.
What a fantastic vlog and review of Virgin Atlantic .. i would definitely take the rewards points after some thought on listening to all the terms and conditions, So refreshing to hear how all the staff where amazing and professional from start to finish , I am ex Caledonian crew and i can honestly say their standard was pretty high on training their staff in the same manner .. Thanks again this was so interesting and enjoyable to watch 🙂
Thanks so much! 🙏
I’ve never flown anything better than premium economy, but I have an upcoming flight with Virgin Atlantic in the upper class. New York to London. I hope to have a good time. Definitely sounds like your complaints are valid.
I love how when Dan was in economy, it reminded me of the white refrigerator clip from RHW.
I have been waiting for you to review virgin for so long, and despite that the overwhelming thought at the end of this video was still that i'm thankful for you r honest reviews.
Thanks Jacob!
This is a fact of flying! There is always a chance you will be downgraded in any airline.
Thank you !this video made this Av geek totally 😃
You just had really bad luck. Virgin Upper Class is really good, and the last time I had a VS flight cancelled under me was in 1994! I was at BOS, our plane was snowed in at JFK...and Virgin journalled all us customers, including coach pax, across to BA and other carriers with capacity.
Dan you are not alone with Heathrow issues. 1964; My mom and I tried in vane for 4 to 5 days with Qantas staff tickets (low priority) to get home to SFO. My dad had to wire money for our Airport hotel stay as my mom did not have that kind of money after a 2 month vacation with relatives in Sweden. All Qantas flights were full so my dad was able to arrange a BOAC flight to Montreal and the Eastern to JFK, where we took Qantas back to SFO.
1972; returning from Nicosia, Cyprus our connecting TWA flight was full and we did not make the flight (again lower priority ticket). My dad then said, “well there goes our luggage” and this young woman on standby heard him. You could see her “deer in the headlights” expression when she muttered something like, do you mean my bags are gone and then came the tears when that was confirmed. For us it was off to a hotel and take the next day’s flight. Of course, that would not happen today as anyone not making a flight has their bags removed.
1976; Returning from vacation in Sweden via CPH-LHR-YYZ-ORD-SFO. British airways flight turns back to Heathrow 2 hours into the flight because of a water pump issue. We were given two coupons to purchase food and await further news. Some hours later we board and land in Toronto with instructions to see the BA representative for assistance. Of course, there was no BA representative and being after midnight everything was closed. So we slept in some chairs until around 6 to 7 am when the check-in counter for our remaining flights opened.
So I have not been to LHR in 48 years (which is probably a good thing) and have booked through CPH, AMS, FRA, and ZRH. Full disclosure; I did have a bag go missing transiting AMS. Thinking that AMS got the luggage debacle of 2023 out of their system and I traveling off-peak (Apr-May) I assumed I was safe with KLM but my baggage did not make my flight back to SFO. Fortunately it arrived days later. So other than that one recent problem, I have been just fine using other airports than LHR.
I've booked 7 flights with Virgin this year! Done 2 of them already! I've travelled only Economy class with them and that's what I plan on doing going forward. My experience has overall been good! In my opinion, it's better than the Economy class on the other airlines that fly the same route. In the last year VA have started to charge for selecting seats in Economy which I'm not on board with! But in my last two flights I've asked the agent if I can sit together with my mum and they've been nice enough to do it! I also agree, their call centre is very good! I have called them a couple of times and they have been nothing short of excellent in answering all my questions and adjusting my flights. Sorry you had such a bad experience Dan! Hopefully you'll take the oppourtunity for a round trip on Virgin Upper Class that they offered you!
Love the knit polos you both wore in this video. Your emerald green one and his blue one with the zipper. 😊
that’s an unfortunate series of events - ugh! 😢 love the private check in entry - wow. Just subscribed- getting close to 1M!
Thanks so much Kara! 🙏
Please keep doing what you’re doing Dan…well done as always.
thanks for sharing your interesting experience and going through it for your fans. The answer is simple: take the free return business class ticket. You still owe Oskar that business class experience on the A350 you were hyping about.
Last time I flew virgin, the seats were broken so had a 3 hour delay to fix them on an overbooked flight and then to add insult to injury they gave my husband a kids meal as had run out of adult meals and didn’t bother to get a meal from another cabin. They didn’t even apologise. NEVER USED THEM AGAIN - truly awful airline. Staff were rude. Dan you were very lucky to get good service.
I’ll be watching this video later when I have lunch and I’m looking forward to it!
I was in the upperclass lounge that exact same day, Sept 18th, we were flying VS117 to Miami. Incredible lounge, we had the older upper class on their 787-9 Mystery Girl. Staff were amazing on board and the flight incredible. Not the best business seats though
Eric Adams would make a great ambassador for your Points Master service, Scared Straight style. 😀
Nice video.
I flew Virgin Upper Class one time from Heathrow to San Francisco. It was the worst travel experience I’ve ever had and it didn’t warrant another try for me to see if they could redeem themselves.
I was not seated close to the bar but the noise kept me awake all flight with a bunch of rowdy drunks talking at the top of their voices. The seats were awfully uncomfortable, the food was terrible and the flight attendants, all of them, were surly bordering on rude. It was an awful product that frankly could not compare to their two competing airlines on that route - BA and United. Yes, even United was far superior to Virgin...
I’m glad you had success but my full revenue for all future flights on that route went to their competition and I never looked back.
Hey, Dan! I believe you should most definitely try Bulgaria Air business class which can controversially be called the best business class in Europe right now. ❤🎉
Virgin staff are so lovley.
You two have FABULOUS shoes 🙌
Ran into you while you were shooting the virgin intro before taking the train at dxb airport. Never knew who you were but now a big fan including your podcast
Thanks so much 🙏
The seats are not great (on old UC) but Virgin Atlantic crew are some of the best in the business.
Me and my partner were going to be involuntary downgraded but they got us on a Delta flight instead on Orlando to London after they cancelled a flight. Virgin are a really small airline compared with the big players and when things start to go wrong, it really shows with there ability to get back on track.
I love an economy review. Sorry this happened but it was fun to watch.
21:35 Clever pro manoeuvre, well done Dan.😎
just flew Virgin Premium Economy from London to NYC, was highly impressed and will look to fly them again over other airlines.
21:18 😂 is the most Dan thing ever
Wow you put so much work in these videos 🤯 from February to now…
Thanks for showing the non-vegan meals. It makes your channel more helpful.
Virgin have just announced changes to their rewards programme from the end of October. I do not fully understand the changes but it appears there will be a lot more seats opening for rewards but will be on a dynamic price structure, which I think impacts the number of points a flight will cost. Therefore there may be more opportunities to use your compensation ticket going forward. I look forward to seeing that upper class video when it does happen.
The banana flavoured Huel is so good. I wish they were in more airports
Awh, Nonstop Dan is human!
News flash🤣
One of my favourite things about flying Virgin Upper class is the private Upper class wing at Heathrow T3. You really feel like a super VIP. Virgin is really underrated as an airline. The lounge experience at Heathrow is amazing, the service and soft product on board is great and the ease of booking reward seats and flying club customer service is top notch. I know the old upper class seats are not great, but they're also not nearly as bad as people think. The new Upper class seats are far more competitive.
Virgin upper class lounge looks better than some first class lounges 😍
In terms of first world problems, the Virgin Upper Class cabin looks miserable as sin but Kudos to them for not locking the 787 window shades on your first flight ✈️
Award seats have been expanded to every seat on every plane literally today. So your vouchers are now VERY valuable. I hope you follow up on this.
Ill never forget the excitement of a London-New York flight on Virgin Atlantic. The only problem is, despite the new fleet, all of their cabins feel the same and outdated. Their business class product is far behind elite business class products of other airlines.
For compenation, since is s for 2 people, i d take one option for each instead of same compensation for both… so one time the voucher and one time the points!! Best of both worlds 🎉🎉
I’ve flown once in business class on this very plane. Notice I stated ‘once’. Never again. The crew were lovely and the food was excellent; however, that didn’t make up for the abysmally uncomfortable seat. At one point I wondered if economy class would be more comfortable.
Food ? I say feast ! I ate my way across the Atlantic best advice ? Elastic waistband 😂
Virgin Atlantic do have a great call centre. always helpful
Great insights and I really appreciate all the fantastic information. I agree that both the airline and you handled the down grade extremely well…however, for me flying business let alone first class would be a rare treat so it would be very difficult to gracefully accept such a major disappointment. I would never be rude or lose my temper, but it does make me fearful that splurging on a better class could so easily be ruined 😮
A free business class return ticket as compensation. Seems like a great deal
Do you notify crew of minor maintenance issues? The video screen can't be repaired unless someone knows it is wobbly
Nice segue with the Mayor Adams thing to your points thing. I think I'm gonna check it out.
How an airline can cancel and downgrade from business to ecco , , I personally would never ever fly with them!