Ba Club or Virgin Upper

chalky_bertie

BA's Club is fab, the lounges in T5 are brilliant and spacious. Staff are really helpful and the upperdeck on the 747 is really personal and quiet.

omelette451

Virgin wins hands down.

Aidenr

LHR777 wrote: »

Depends on what your priorities are:-

From my experience, BA has better in flight service, booze and meals. T5 is miles better than T3 as a terminal.

VS Club house is impressive, and novel and a bit more fun.

VS seat is slightly bigger, but I enjoy the Upper Deck on a BA747 much more private.

Chauffer service is restricted so check it is available.

Coming back, BA has it's own terminal at JFK, pre flight dining is also handy.

I would buy BA due to staff, meals & booze, but not a lot to choose between them.

In relation to B747, we do operate this aircraft type on a JFK. Mid afternoon flight VS045 daily with Upper Class also on the uppper deck (bubble). with some variations on other daily flights

T3 for me is better than T5. Upper Class passengers have the "upper Class wing" even if you do not have/choose to use the chauffer service. private security channel. You will be from the check-in desk to the "Clubhouse" in minutes !

Upper Class in my opinion is a more personal service. Freedom menu onboard, better IFE and an onboard bar. herringbone style seat layout so more of a private space -no smelling of feet
First class service in a business/club cabin.

I am however biased as that is where I work :rolleyes:
I have travelled both first and club on BA and believe that VA delivers more than BA club.

Own terminal at JFK. is that really that important ? VA have a clubhouse at JFK, self serve checkin as well as desks, fast track security line for upper/first class passengers.

In relation to onboard service / food quality...... it has been said many times that it depends on the day. I dont personally believe that. I cant speak for the entire workforce, but I always treat each passenger as an individual and attempt to ensure a great flight experience.
At a time of the big "R" scary word - you can not afford to loose business but not providing a service that is worth every penny!

But, like I said - I am biased !

A

duchy

If you work for them I'd have thought you'd have known it's VS !!
Both have their merits VS is a more casual style and the staff are younger-I'm still gobsmacked by the clueless fa on my last VS to NYC who asked the dog collar wearing vicar next to me "are you the hindu meal" ! Duh.
Service is usualy more experienced and the food is definitely better on ba -seating is fine on both so if the llounge is important to you VS may have the edge but overall ba has the edge for a classier experience but it's al subjective.

Aidenr

Story's of other FA's still always make me smile ! I do agree that it is ridiculous!

Indeed VS is our CARRIER code, not everyone knows that so thought easier to put VA.
Also agree that BA crew are more experienced with around 3yrs before working on long haul routes in economy and then a further upto 5yrs before working in club/first
At Virgin, crew working in Upper Class would have been crew for also around 2yrs plus and has had additional training on service delivery.

But with competition rife between most long haul carriers in terms of seat and additional extras, there is not much in it.
Like Duchy said it's all subjective! personaly I thought Air New Zealand were amazing from LHR-LAX hee hee hee

WiseInvestor_2

neilbond007 wrote: »

Virgin lounge is awesome .... Pool table

My Local has a pool table, usually crowded with yobs making a nuisance of themselves ruining everyone else's peace and quiet. I'd definitely opt for the BA lounge.

GH wrote: »

if you're only going to New York it's probably not worth spending the money on Club/UC anyway as it's such a short flight , at least according to a friend of mine who's a pilot with Virgin!

Of course it's short for a Pilot who's more used to flying to Australia. New York isn't exactly a hop-skip-and-jump.

neilbond007

WiseInvestor wrote: »

My Local has a pool table, usually crowded with yobs making a nuisance of themselves ruining everyone else's peace and quiet. I'd definitely opt for the BA lounge.

The Virgin lounge also has the spa, where amongst other things you can get a hair cut.
My local hairdressers is full of old women gossiping about the price of bread. This'll make the place a little noisier too.. :rolleyes:

WiseInvestor_2

Precisely. If I want to be entertained I'll go to Butlins.

What I want is to get away from the hoardes of people milling around Wetherspoons and tannoy annoucements going off all the time. I want to be comfortable and relaxed for the whole of my journey, both on the ground and in the air.

I can't imagine anything worse than trying to get some sleep on an overnight flight only to have a party going on at the in-cabin bar right next to my seat. And worse still, to be sat at that bar having a chat to a fellow passenger to have a dozen angry businessmen glaring at me for keeping them awake.

inspector_monkfish

Has anyone ever been Upper Virgin recently ?

lawrenson

Hi,

thanks for the replies.

I have to admit, I looked at the Cab layout for Virgin and thought "oh dear, if you're anywhere near the bar its going to be a bit noisy and light", and for that reason will probably choose BA.

Cheers,
Karen