Which is better: Virgin Atlantic or British Airways?
 

Will be flying Los Angeles/London in coach. Which airline does a better job -- Virgin or British Airways? Which one has the more comfortable seats?

My vote is for Virgin Atlantic. Better planes, better food!!!, better service, better everything.

I believe American and Air New Zealand have the best legroom in coach from LAX to LHR (for now - AA is adding rows back into their planes, but the 777s won't get done until next winter.) NZ has a pretty decent coach product. However both Virgin and BA offer "premium coach" products that (for a significant bump in cost) offer much more comfort than steerage. Frequent flyer loyalties aside, I would probably choose NZ over the others if prices were comparable. I find BA's coach comfort is pretty poor, and that's a long flight.

I've never flown Virgin, since it doesn't fly out of my home airport, but we fly BA to London all the time. I can't compare it to Virgin, but BA is better than any US carrier I've ever flown. Food is better than average and service is very nice. Coach is pretty much, well, coach.

An upgrade to premium economy is a nice option if it's not too much more. I wouldn't pay, say, double the coach price for premium economy - it's not that much better. But if an upgrade isn't too much more, I'd go for it.

My parents have recently flown long hall with both BA and Virgin within a month. Whilst the Virgin aircraft was a bit older, they said that Virgin beat BA hands down in every other category.

I enjoyed (that's the wrong word) a journey from hell with BA last May - if I can avoid them I do.

My review of my flight from Hong KOng is here

http://www.epinions.com/content_144495709828

The cost of upgrading to Economy Plus or whatever they call themselves quickly adds up and you get precious little except a slightly better seat and little bit more space. Its usually about £250 a leg, so for 2 that adds about £1000 onto the trip.

I'd say Virgin possibly edges it on overall but I don't really think there's much in it at all, particularly in economy.

My decision over which of the two airlines you asked about would be based on price and which flight times suited me better.

Both are good but both are very cramped in standard coach. Both have an upgraded coach product - at a substantial premium. As Gardyloo says, if legroom is what you want, then AA is probably your best bet, but I'd rank AA's service several steps below BA and way below VS (Virgin).

But between BA and VS, I'd choose VS because of the better service, amenity kits, good food, friendly staff, etc.

I do fly BA - but usually because they have a sale fare I can't refuse.

One other consideration - if mileage is important to you - you can't even join the BA frequent flyer program if you are on a coach ticket. And if you do join you don't get full mileage credit. VS, on the other hand gives you full mileage even on discounted coach tickets.

Virgin for us. The entertainment system seems vastly superior in terms of more options, more games, more movies (usually about 15 to choose from)and you can start the movies anytime you want to during the entire flight.

Virgin is our choice.
Coach seats and comfortable rarely go together anymore :(
But the service is always excellent on Virgin, the movies etc are better than some others ..I remember being charmed the first time we ever flew them ( my first trip to London) when the flight attendants went around offering a "sweet"...Werthers hard candies..
and I loved the little socks they gave us with our little kit. ((F))

I hear Virgon is more fun and offer better service but..

I agrre with the above poster, look into Air New Zealand. They are really a great airline and have good services and more legroom. My last trip om ANZ from LAXS to LHR was probably the best I ever took.

You will often find that they are also cheaper than the others also.

wow! I think BA is so much better than virgin! I have taken one flight (in economy) with virgin and will never fly them again! The plane was dirty, the food terrible, the service horrid. The FAs were surly. Two of the six coach bathroom were closed off for the entire Miami-London flight causing rather long lines. When we were waiting to get off the plane my son started to get sick and I asked for help. The "working" bathrooms were occupied so the FA unseals the "broken" bathroom. And it was fine. Never broken!

Check on the price of the premuim economy with BA it's worth the jump up!

I am British, and British Airways is a national disgrace. I refuse to fly them. Ride the Virgin, sweetie, istead of an old slag like BA.

Cheers.

Whose idea was it to make the female flight attendants on BA wear those goofy-looking, Eloise-at-the-Plaza, lollipop-sucking hats? Otherwise, we've experienced aloof treatment by BA
personnel, right from check-in to baggage claim. Try Virgin? Any time you say.

I love the hats! They wear them on BMI too!

Sometimes when people say things like BA is better than any US carrier, I'm curious if they're comparing to US domestic flights or US international flights. There's usually a huge difference. I've flown British Airways Business Class only once across the Atlantic, but American's Business Class many times. There is no comparison. I'll never fly BA if I can help it.

I liked the BA hats-cute. But with the new uniforms they are probably gone now. We loved the food and leg room on NZ. Don't think that Virgin is our cup of tea. Didn't they used to buy BA's old planes?

Flew Virgin a year ago and don't think I'll ever fly them again. Plane seemed a bit tired, all of the flight attendants were in a bad mood, and the legroom was just awful, worse than any other carrier I've ever flown. Met my mother at Heathrow, she having flown in on Virgin as well. The first thing out of her mouth was what a terrible flight she had. Never flown BA so I can't compare...

I've flown BA many, many times. Usually in coach, but a couple of times in World Plus and once in business. I've seen the customer service go WAY down hill over the past ten years in too many ways to mention. However, I still fly them when they run great sales--and they often do.

Took my first flight on Virgin in November, flying Premium Economy. Seemed exactly like BA's WTP but the food was better and the attendents were more visible (and friendly). The amenity kits were definitely better. I'd fly them again if the price were the best out there.

To the person who asked about comparing US carriers on transatlantic flights to British carriers, I've also flown Delta and USAirways overseas. Admittedly the Delta flight was many years ago so I wouldn't do a comparison, but the USAir flight was on an Airbus 320--new at the time--and a really pleasant flight. I just don't like landing at Gatwick.

Bottom line: Among the top carriers, I'd chose price over carrier--coach is coach is coach.

My reference about comparing US carriers to international ones like BA, is that I think sometimes these people have only flown US carriers on domestic flights within the US. Then they get on an International place, be it BA, Lufthansa, whomever, and because it is an international plane start raving how much better those carriers are than the US ones. Meanwhile there is the same comparison you could make between a Delta or American plane flying between Boston and Atlanta and one flying between JFK and Paris for example. Interntional planes are configured differently, generally with much better seating, and often with the more experiences flight crews.

That is absolutely true, Patrick. Many times the short-haul experience on foreign flag carriers is way worse than comparable short-haul flights in the US. This is changing slowly in both continents as the LCCs are eating the legacy carriers' lunches. (Lunch? Ha ha ha). Sadly, the change is uniformly downward as the "a plane is a bus" mentality grips passengers and airline executives alike.

Virgin. BA is, in a word, awful. They used to be my favorite airline, but have gone swiftly downhill in the past 5 years or so. Bad customer service (both in the air and on the ground), dirty bathrooms, etc. Although, Virgin does have that nasty Virgin cola they serve on board...

As far as comfortable seats, it's a toss up. Virgin seats seem a little narrow, but they could be exactly the same size as BA's, for all I know.

I loooove Virgin Atlantic, but never flown on BA. However if I had the chance to fly them again, hands down I'd fly Virgin.

I've flown both and would always prefer Virgin. I just don't like BA much at all for about every reason. However, I do agree I would mainly choose on schedule and price, as they aren't that different.

Both have cramped seating, just like about every other carrier nowadays. I don't think there's any difference in that regard -- I believe they are both 31" pitch, about 17" width seats. If you can afford a better class than lowest fare, that would be great, of course. Even though, Virgin just seemed nicer, newer, better service, etc. I particularly dislike British Airways' headrest on their seats, but I'm sure some people like them. They give me a crick in the neck because they force your head to be at an angle, and can't be removed. I don't remember Virgin having that problem, but might be wrong.

Have you considered United? I f you can land a seat in "economy Plus" you get extra legroom which makes all the difference in the world!

I looked up Air New Zealand, but couldnt' find any flights going out of any airports in Florida... and no way to find out WHICH airports they service, other than hit and miss -- keep entering cities in hoping one will catch.

Anyone know where I can get this info? Thanks!

I like Virgin better than BA!

If comfort is a consideration, look into the premium economy classes of both airlines. The times that I've priced it, BA's WT+ was about $200 additional each way from LAX to LHR versus standard economy. To me it would be worth it because I'm absolutely miserable in long haul coach. VS PE usually prices out higher than BA WT+ but once in a while, you can find a comparable fare. If fares are the same, I would choose VS and the earlier flights (007/008). The premium economy product on VS has a few extra perks over BA's, but I wouldn't pay much more for it.

<i> I looked up Air New Zealand, but couldnt' find any flights going out of any airports in Florida... and no way to find out WHICH airports they service, other than hit and miss -- keep entering cities in hoping one will catch.

Anyone know where I can get this info? Thanks!</i>

Uh... they don't fly to Florida. Their only US station is LAX, from which they fly to London and, of course, to the South Pacific, being that they are called, after all, Air <i>New Zealand...</i>

www.airnewzealand.com

Once again my snidery got the best of me and I misspoke. I must find someone to blame for this habit.

ANZ also maintain stations in SFO and HNL.

Patty, I think you'll find that $200 is either a special promotional fare or that is a fare quoted in &pound; .

The current sector upgrade to World traveller plus is about &pound;240 per person.

US$200 each way (i.e., $400 RT, i.e. &pound;220) is about right for the additional cost of WT+ in most US markets (less from JFK/BOS.)

Walter, I'm assuming you're pricing it ex-UK. Apparently, it's cheaper for us to upgrade to WT+ ex-US. And yes the USD200 is one way. I guess this is one of the few instances where parity between the dollar and the pound works to our favor :)

There are several posts on this thread about very cramped seats on VS. I've been on one, a very old and tired 747-200 that's seen better times. WORST flight I've ever had in my life.

However, these days they use newer 747 and 340-600 for the US routes, so I don't think that should be an issue anymore. Keep in mind when you read the comments.

Patty, it's probably another example of what we call over here in the UK as &quot;rip off britain&quot;.

You think it's expensived to travel to the UK you should try living here.

Additionally, Virgin are still using their 747-200 series on flights to the US, Manchester-Orlando for example.

On page 38 of the January 10th New Yorker is an excellent one page article about one airline emerging from bankruptcy. They have adopted some policies which, I'm sure, you will all approve. I quote some of the features:
-------
Lavatory Class. a low-cost alternative featuring aisle-free seating and almost unrestricted rest-room privileges.

Accordinly new profit requirements dictate that children under five be carried in the overhead compartments on all flights. Remember: deposit ten dollars in nickels and set the time lock before bolting the compartment door shut.
----------
There are a number of others just as innovative.