COME BACK AT 7pm: Join us for the launch of the new Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Suite

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• Jim says:

  8 Apr8 April 07:30

  A few clues from the Times interview with Shai Weiss yesterday..
  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/interview-shai-weiss-the-pilot-keen-to-fly-virgin-atlantic-out-of-the-red-j9pqkcnlr

  Forward-facing suites,
  bar replaced by 8 seat lounge which is also a lobby style entrance for all passengers
  Bigger seats and large screens
  Economy 36 of 335 seats have 34 inch legroom

  Apparently the new cabin will be eventually installed across the fleet but no hint on timing.

  • Rob says:

    8 Apr8 April 08:53

    Don’t put your money on that in a hurry.

    • Jon says:

      8 Apr8 April 11:46

      I’ve always found the Virgin bar a bit of an oddity as I have never seen it used as a bar. More of a place for cabin crew to sit and store things.

      • Jim says:

        8 Apr8 April 17:35

        The new smaller bar on the Airbus aircraft is indeed less inviting.
        However, the previous larger incarnation, with 5 seats, was a terrific place to hang out and make new friends. I’ve had many flights over the years spending a few hours at the bar, being far too noisy for the nearby pax trying to sleep. Back in the day, it was consistently tended too (if only to stop us helping ourselves to the drink).

• TripRep says:

  8 Apr8 April 07:35

  Rob, exclusive live feed from Crawley Towers?

  • Rob says:

    8 Apr8 April 08:52

    I’ve asked Rhys to shoot a bit of video, because I know what he’s going to see and it is quite cool, which we can hopefully edit for Wednesday.

    • Lady London says:

      8 Apr8 April 09:56

      Well done on getting Rhys to do it.
      Such a pity he wants a real job instead.
      🙂

      • David says:

        8 Apr8 April 10:40

        Can’t you do a live Instagram video? That’s what all the cool kidz do these days, don’t you know…?

      • Owl says:

        8 Apr8 April 13:59

        What happened the new employee, when £40K role was advertised last year?

        • Rob says:

          8 Apr8 April 18:21

          Update coming very soon.

    • the_real_a says:

      8 Apr8 April 12:49

      Instagram / yourtube stories – come on 🙂

• ankomonkey says:

  8 Apr8 April 08:27

  Better than BA’s new Club Suite?

  • Rob says:

    8 Apr8 April 08:49

    Different to BA’s new Club Suite. Some will prefer BA, some Virgin. I have sat in the Virgin seat but I’ve only seen the BA seat via VR, so it is not a fair comparison so far.

    Also worth flagging that VS is changing all three cabins.

    • Lev441 says:

      8 Apr8 April 09:02

      Interesting as I still think their premium economy seat is one of the best on the market…

      • TripRep says:

        8 Apr8 April 09:06

        Agreed, their PE is a great product for a daytime flight 6-9 hours.

      • The Savage Squirrel says:

        8 Apr8 April 13:40

        +1 … apart from typical tech upgrades due to the march of time and technology, literally the only thing I’d change is the option to lift the armrests so that small childern can sleep horizontal with their head on you or you can take better advantage of a sparsely populated cabin.

      • Jon says:

        8 Apr8 April 14:48

        Virgin PE upstairs on the 747. Very peaceful. Get to say hello to the pilot as he nips to the loo or downstairs for snacks.

• mel says:

  8 Apr8 April 08:53

  Sorry this is OT – for the BA double avios promo, is it only valid for BA flights booked on BA.com or can I use expedia and still receive double avios?

  • Stu N says:

    8 Apr8 April 09:00

    Should work for travel agents. I’ve had bonus miles from flights booked via work agents in the past.

    • Lady London says:

      8 Apr8 April 10:01

      Work agents are corporate travel agents mostly.
      this is different from OTA’s such as expedia, opodo etc.

      Often OTA’s are excluded from promos (eg especially for hotels, can be flights too).
      The airlines need corporate travel agents so if anything, bookings through those get more privileges not less and defo not excluded from offers.

      I would like to know if OTA’s are excluded from the double avios offer – I didn;t see anything in the t’c and c’s but as it’s hard for me to commit to travel dates ATM so I didn’t really think I could use the offer with its booking deadline, I hadn;t really taken a closer look yet.

      • mel says:

        8 Apr8 April 13:48

        I tweeted BA and they replied that only direct bookings count :/ the flights i want are a good £200 more expensive on BA’s website….

      • David says:

        8 Apr8 April 15:08

        Book it on BA.com and use the Best Price Guarantee then! They’ll send you a voucher for £200 after you’ve booked. (Check full T&Cs on BA.com just to make sure you’re covered.)

      • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

        8 Apr8 April 15:59

        Nothing in the T&Cs to exclude travel agent bookings, indeed they explicitly mention the possibility of using one: ‘Please contact your travel agent / travel partner for any applicable service fees when purchasing a ticket from them and requesting the specific booking date and flight details.’

      • David says:

        8 Apr8 April 17:33

        You mean the BA Twitter team doesn’t have a clue? Surely not…

• Rob mc says:

  8 Apr8 April 12:21

  OT
  Took my first Iberia business flight yesterday as part of the promo. Madrid to LAX. Plane was nice and seat was actually really nice. Food and service however were absolutely terrible. Seemed to be an inconvenience to the crew everytime you asked for anything and only saw them when it was time for food. The one staff member who was there was sat in the galley reading a book and having a drink . Would never pay to fly with them.

  • Graeme says:

    8 Apr8 April 19:00

    Funny. We flew Madrid-New York last year and loved it.

  • RIccatti says:

    8 Apr8 April 19:05

    Exactly the same experience.

    Iberia also thinks that several pieces of sweet bread can represent A MAIN COURSE for breakfast. That’s on JFK – MAD.

  • RIccatti says:

    8 Apr8 April 19:08

    I would seriously think before bothering to fly out of Madrid for that “business” on IB.

    Yes, the seat but travel time direct from the UK will be much shorter and doable, I evaluate IB business experience on transatlantic the same as front of Eco cabin AA (extra room seats) or Virgin PE.

• Paul says:

  8 Apr8 April 12:32

  Only a half door (closes half way) for the new UC seat

• William says:

  8 Apr8 April 15:18

  Slightly off-topic, but has anyone heard anything about the imminent launch of the Virgin Group Loyalty Company? I think Rob mentioned in a previous discussion that (amusingly) 01 April was a date being talked about.

  There’s been a few VS press announcements of late (and Virgin Group announcements- Virgin Train USA updates), I’m assuming that VGLC will be a separate announcement to today’s new cabin reveal (unless they pull an Apple-style ‘One more thing’)

  • Rob says:

    8 Apr8 April 18:20

    Still on track, I am seeing them this month

• Bee says:

  8 Apr8 April 15:59

  OT – I have a Platinum card, i was wondering, can I self refer for any other card to get the referral points.

  And is self refer simply just using the link I would have sent to friends. And can i self refer for more than one card?

  • Alan says:

    8 Apr8 April 16:00

    Yes and Yes – although given credit checks I personally wouldn’t try applying for two in quick succession!

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