NEW: Secure Virgin Atlantic’s Retreat Suite at the time of booking

The Retreat Suite is a brand new concept from Virgin Atlantic on its new A330neo aircraft. It comprises two enlarged Upper Class suites in the centre of row 1.

Virgin Atlantic says it is its “most spacious suite yet” with a 6’7″ (2m) fully flat bed, an expansive 27″ touch screen with Bluetooth connectivity and wireless charging.

Here is my full review of flying the Virgin Atlantic Retreat Suite.

Virgin Atlantic has made the most of the extra legroom afforded in the bulkhead row. It opened up the seat footwell – no foot cubby holes here – with the leg rest also acting as an ottoman for buddy dining.

The Retreat Suites also benefit from a huge amount of storage space, with lids from the side consoles popping open to reveal deep storage areas.

Interestingly, the Retreat Suite is only available in the centre pair so you won’t be able to sit next to a window if you want the additional space. The window seats in row 1 feature the standard Upper Class seat.

Booking the Retreat Suite was tricky

Virgin Atlantic made it difficult to book the Retreat Suite. It’s not clear if this was because of concerns over last minute aircraft swaps (which would require refunds) or because it wanted to create an air of excitement.

You could only book the Retreat Suite from 14 days before departure. They opened up at 14 days, to the minute, before take-off.

The price was initially £200 per seat, one way, to New York JFK but has now risen to £300. The price may vary on longer routes.

(Virgin Atlantic does not charge for Upper Class seat selection for its standard seats, but you do need to pay for the Retreat Suite. There are no discounts for elite members.)

If not booked, the seats were meant to be offered to the highest ranking members of Virgin Flying Club at check in. This didn’t always seem to happen given that they were often empty.

The rules have changed

Quietly – and this is not currently reflected on the Virgin Atlantic website – the rules have changed.

You can now lock in the Retreat Suite at the time of booking or at any point afterwards.

Here is a screenshot for a dummy booking in Upper Class from Heathrow to New York JFK for April, so well outside the 14-day window:

I had no trouble selecting the Retreat Suite for both legs. As you can see below, the £600 fee was added to the cost of my ticket:

I think this is a sensible move by Virgin Atlantic. If nothing else, there will be a fair number of people who want to try this seat but hadn’t booked because they wanted 100% certainty that they could grab it. You can now guarantee you get it at the time of booking.

Whether Virgin Atlantic would take pity on you if you paid for the Retreat Suite, there was an aircraft swap and you wanted to switch your flight is a different question …..

PS. This change also means that if you have an A330neo Upper Class flight already booked, you should be able to select the Retreat Suite now. There is no need to wait until 14 days before departure.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points. 

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)