Virgin Trans atlantic, any good ?

Scottydogg

Has anyone travelled with Virgin Trans Atlantic recently , and are they any good ?

I'm looking to book flights to Florida for September 2014 for a wedding , the wedding party is travelling with Virgin so i have been looking into flights , Its only early but Virgin flights do seem a little bit more expensive than others , are they worth teh extra money ? I will be flying with a 5 and a 3 year old , i was always under the impression that Virgin were very good with kids but i have read on a travel forum today that Virgin are not as good as they used to be and that that their standards had slipped in recent years ?

Any body found this ? Or does anyone have any reccommendations of who is good to fly with ?

thanks

virtuallyfree

Went to New York last Easter, they were very good.
Only gripe was queues and chaos at baggage drop off but this prob with most airlines just though virgin would be a bit better than the budget ones.
They give you a good travel pack with toothbrush, paste, eye mask, pen, socks in cute bag, movies great, very nice staff.

jackieblack

Scottydogg wrote: »

Has anyone travelled with Virgin Trans Atlantic recently , and are they any good ?

I'm looking to book flights to Florida for September 2014 for a wedding , the wedding party is travelling with Virgin so i have been looking into flights , Its only early but Virgin flights do seem a little bit more expensive than others , are they worth teh extra money ? I will be flying with a 5 and a 3 year old , i was always under the impression that Virgin were very good with kids but i have read on a travel forum today that Virgin are not as good as they used to be and that that their standards had slipped in recent years ?

Any body found this ? Or does anyone have any reccommendations of who is good to fly with ?

thanks

I'd say that's pretty spot on.
IMO they used to be better than, now about on a par with, BA (apart from their cabin baggage allowance which, despite a recent increase in kg, is pitiful compared to BA)

I wouldn't pay extra for Virgin flights unless they were going to be much more convenient (more convenient airport/better times etc)

db21111

I travelled quite a lot with Virgin Trans between 2009 and 2010 in every class and they were all recommendable!

I think out of 4 return trips I had zero problems that I can remember.

KarenG

They are OK, but no better than other carriers - if you want to fly direct to FL you aren't spoilt for choice in terms of who to fly with. Personally I'd just go with the cheapest; VA are not worth paying extra. This is based on us flying with them and others- as a family - quite a few times over the last ten years or so, most recently last month.

peachyprice

If you can get them for the same price as other carriers it's a good choice with children, but not worth paying any extra for IMO.

KarenG

peachyprice wrote: »

If you can get them for the same price as other carriers it's a good choice with children, but not worth paying any extra for IMO.

I used to think that, but actually suspect I just believed the VA marketing hype. The only difference I've ever seen is the (very lame) backpack that gets given out. The IFE is much better now, but the likes of BA and United had far better IFE than VA years earlier.

Doshwaster

In the cheap seats the transatlantic airlines are all much of a muchness so I'm base my choice mainly on cost. It's at the pointy end of the plane where the differences are more significant and a matter of personal taste (and ability to pay)

debsy42

When we went last year we paid about half the price of the Virgin flights by going with American Airlines and having a stopover in New York. Might be more difficult with little ones but something to consider.

Voyager2002

Do be aware that Virgin flights to Florida use aircraft whose seats provide less leg-room than is usual on other routes.

Alan_Bowen

I would recommend direct flights for anyone with young children, it may be cheaper to fly indirect but you add at least four hours to an already long journey. I would never pay more to fly Virgin, I think the hype exceeds the reality, if they were a lot cheaper I might put up with them but if they were both the same price, I would choose BA every time