Athena

We recently flew Virgin Atlantic Upper Class from Orlando to Gatwick, and I was very disappointed to discover that a) there is no Virgin Atlantic lounge at Orlando, b) that the seats do not recline to flat, and c) there are no special services, such as massage, available on the flights. What a ripoff! In fact, the Upper Class section is really just like Business/First on Continental. Definitely not worth it.

AA

What did you expect? Upper class is business class. No airline that I know has flat bed seats in business class.

xxxx

Upper class is not the same as business class. Premium economy is their version of business depending on the route. For long haul flights west coast Upper Class has the reclining seats, bar, and massage, etc. It's best to check out the fleet info before cashing in all those miles = )

Gregory

Hi Athena,<BR>Sorry you had a disapointing Upper Class flight from MCO-LGW.<BR>Did VS give you an alternative lounge at MCO?-At LAX they gave us access to the Air Canada lounge.<BR>All Gatwick (LGW) flights have the older style UC seats that do not go flat but are still a lot better than Premium econonmy or economy. They also do not have the beauty therapist or bar ( although they did have a small area in the nose section of the aircraft when I flew to Las Vegas with a small selection of drinks but not as good as the full bar.<BR>The LGW Clubhouse is very good.<BR>For the full UC experience you need to fly on the Heathrow aircraft with the flat beds, beauty therapist and bar.<BR>I think that VA are going to upgrade the LGW aircraft to have the same seats as LHR but it will take some time given the economic climate. <BR><BR>If you have any questions, drop me an email.<BR><BR>Regards<BR>Gregory(VS frequent flyer)<BR>

Gregory

Hi,<BR><BR>Athena- On some routes (not orlando) VS and Continenal codeshare so you can book a Continental B/F ticket and travel in UC so they are ticketed as Business but VS UC on heathrow aircraft are better than CO<BR><BR>AA- BS do also have flat seats in Club World (business class)<BR><BR>xxx- Premium economy is NOT marketed as business by VS. As the name implies it is an enhanced economy service with separate check in, priority boarding, champagne, wider seats with more leg room, headrests, foot rests, separate section( on the Upper deck on the 747-400), priority baggage handling etc.<BR>Upper Class is VS's business class( better than most in my opinion)<BR><BR>Regards<BR>Gregory

lisa

I'm surprised that you didn't check out the lounge situation on the web before you went if it was so important to you. Isn't the other stuff on the web as well? Or perhaps the airline itself would have known?

Dave

I too flew MCO-LGW about a month ago in Upper Class. My only prior experience in Upper Class was on a LHR-LAX flight, so I was expecting a bit more than we actually received. The flight attendant told us that the services offered on LGW flights are not the same as the LHR flights - something VA doesn't bother mentioning when you are booking. The planes aren't as nice either - I could tell our plane was a converted Alitalia as all the signs on the aircraft had English and Italian. Sure, it wasn't as nice as the LHR-LAX flight was but it was still better than most other airlines' transatlantic flights. I think VA should offer the same service on all of their flights, but you won't find me complaining too loudly - they still spoil you rotten.