Virgin Atlantic's Declining Standards?

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
Just wondering what those who have travelled with VA recently think about the standard of service. We have been using them for at least 10 years and think that standards have declined. I know an airline shouldn't be judged on one flight but our opions were reinforced today when we heard from friends who have just returned. They were due to return on VS16 but they were told at check in (Downtown Disney) that this had been cancelled and they would be flying on VS28 and would need to be at the airport an hour earlier. They paid for exit seats as one of them is over six feet tall and all seemed well. When they got to the boarding gate later there were hundreds of people waiting to board, when they got onboard they found that the seats they had been allocated were not exit seats although they had paid extra. They asked a member of the Cabin Crew to sort it but were told "there was nothing they could do and would have to have the seats allocated." Reluctantly they did this and the flight departed at 8pm almost 2 hours late and 20 minutes later than the departure time of the original flight they booked.
To cut an already long post shorter the only spirts available were Vodka and Bacardi (not even Champagne for Premium or UC) Dinner was served late and only one choice offered. When they asked the crew about how to complain they were encouraged to do so has they were not happy about the standards either.
Keen to hear others opinions.

Mick.

 

[penlanspice]

Have to agree, the last 2 years they have started to go down hill for us and we've had quite a few issues with them. Next trip we sacrificed flying into MCO and are flying with Thomsonfly into Sanford. We don't plan on using them in November either if we can help it.

 

[wayneg]

Unfortunately have to agree, last plane we went on we very tired, couldn't use entertainment system, and really gruby. Flew with them 3 times last year food was really bad every trip.
But who else can we use from Manchester direct for 24 nights?

 

[Revtel]

Unfortunately have to agree, last plane we went on we very tired, couldn't use entertainment system, and really gruby. Flew with them 3 times last year food was really bad every trip.
But who else can we use from Manchester direct for 24 nights?

I think that's a major part of the problem. They have a monopoly on the route, so they are not to worried about standards, as most passengers have no choice.

We always fly indirect nowadays. It's often cheaper, though slightly more hassle.

But we get to fly with BMI.

If only they could be allowed a route to MCO, Virgin would be soon out of business!

 

[Claire L]

Well at least they haven't resorted, yet, to going up and down the plane every half hour trying to sell crisps, sweets, meals, drinks etc etc like the charters do

Claire

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

After a number of years flying Virgin I swapped to BA last year and also this year, but I have decided to give Virgin another go, so 2009 is back with them, hope they sort this all out.

Must say BA have done a lot to catch up.

 

[paulh]

virgin,over rated and over priced.lot of virgin snobs out there imho.just get me there on time and cheap.Be it TCD or first class i just want to get there. my holiday starts when we land,
Paulh

 

[mikki.young]

The only thing that keeps me flying with Virgin for now is the flying club as for the last few years we have usually done the one pay PE and one fly free. Had equally bad service from BA and Virgin in the past and equally good. I still prefer flying direct but may look at other options in the future.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

We've been loyal VA flyers for 9 years now. Really wanted to ditch them this trip to try BA, but VA came in cheaper

We flew American Airlines last October, our first indirect flight to Florida. Would have been more than happy using them again this August, but the prices were even more horrendous than VA/BA. The plane was clean, the crew very helpful and the food pretty ok for airline food.

I remember our first flight with VA, thought we were treated like royalty - it was absolutely tremendous. Now it's pretty non-descript, but I really do prefer scheduled to chartered, mainly because of the dates/days we want to travel.

We've travelled PE a few times and once in UC (free upgrade ), but we cannot and will not justify the extra money now.

 

[Shooby doo]

On our last trip on the way out we were seated near the wings,so not at the back,all the way down I could hear "Beef or chicken?" until they got to us we had a choice of veggie pasta or.........veggie pasta? The flight back thou' was worse,the plane was only half full,which came in handy as only half the seat back TV's worked & no "games console thing" also guess what my choice for dinner was on the way back?.......Veggie pasta! Ther price is going to have to be good for us to use them again!
SD

 

[daipp]

I've had cause to complain about the last three flights and they were always resolved to an acceptable level. However, I will still use Virgin Atlabtic as I'm an avid collector of their miles and enjoy the free flights and upgrades I get.

David

 

[wayneg]

I think that's a major part of the problem. They have a monopoly on the route, so they are not to worried about standards, as most passengers have no choice.

We always fly indirect nowadays. It's often cheaper, though slightly more hassle.

But we get to fly with BMI.

If only they could be allowed a route to MCO, Virgin would be soon out of business!

Exactly the same as I was going to post last night if I had not been too tired. They need some good competition and hope one day its BMI, they are the best transatlantic carrier we have been with.

We flew American Airlines last October, our first indirect flight to Florida. Would have been more than happy using them again this August, but the prices were even more horrendous than VA/BA.

I think we have used every transatlantic carrier now, BA MAN-NYC was the worst BMI have been the best recently(Virgin was best 10 years ago) I would use anyone at the right price, even easyjet if they ever cover the route. Like you say the indirect is not always cheaper especially with Virgin miles.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We use them because they fly direct to MCO from Manchester.

I do agree their standards have dropped especially on the customer service side.
We recently moved a holiday to this coming August and have since had 3 invoices sent, every one of them has been wrong.

I rang them up "erm please ignore it" each time sent...so why send it?

I still feel generally they are more 'clued up' on Florida that other airlines but since they introduced the call centre's phoning up
has become hard work to say the least.

 

[UKDEB]

I've got no real allegiance with Virgin. If another carrier could give me exactly what I get from Virgin at a cheaper price, I'd happily use them. Every time we book, we look at the other options. BA is the only direct comparable and, thanks to the discounts we receive through the Flying Club, they can never come anywhere near the price we get with Virgin. I'd love to fly with one of the charters from Bristol, Cardiff or Birmingham (Gatwick is such a pain to get to for us), but none of them seems to offer daily flights. There's nothing I can think of which would tempt me to fly indirect.

Do I think Virgin's standards have declined? Yes, I guess I do, but that's possibly because we demand such cheap prices. It amazes me that it's still possible to fly 9000 miles for under £300, especially as half that is taxes! The price of the underlying fares doesn't seem to have increased much in years.

 

[Goofyish]

We have flown with Virgin (LGW to MCO) three times now. The first was in 2001 and looking back all three flights were pretty much identical from a service point of view - which to be honest is part of the problem with VA - they have stayed static; relying on their reputation to get new passengers and 'trapping' existing passengers in with the Flying Club. The planes are pretty much the same and the entertainment system is now looking very outdated and unreliable.

The charter companies on the otherhand have continually improved their services. New planes, more legroom, better entertainment systems. I certainly would fly with Thomsons or one of the other charter companies if the price was comparible with using Flying Club points with VA.

 

[wils]

I am currently on the phone to them (again) as they still haven't managed to send me an invoice for the booking I made in November despite repeated phonecalls. I am informed that the printer has been down (for 3 months?!)

So far not impressed (used them in 2004 no problem)

 

[oceanscape]

I am informed that the printer has been down (for 3 months?!)

LOL!!! They only have one printer?! Sounds like a bad excuse to me!!

 

[barnaby1]

We have been using them for 10 years (1 or 2 times a year) and to be honest we have never really had a problem. I know lots of other people have horror stories so maybe we have always been lucky.
Just about to book with them over Qantas to fly to Mebourne (always been a qantas girl). I agree the flying club points are a bonus.
For the last few years we have also only used PE or UC so I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

 

[Old Swan]

Just done a work trip to LA with Virgin.

Still IMHO streets ahead of BA. Been subjected to the most unfriendly crews with BA over the last two years - and still not forgiven them for a (highly avoidable) 10 hour delay in Frankfurt on the way back from Sydney last year.

Crew on the way to LA were frankly superb. Good fun, great service and a real pleasure to fly with.

Fingers crossed for the same in July to Orlando!

 

[UKDEB]

Welcome to the DIS, Old Swan. Look forward to sharing some trip planning with you.