If you are flying with Virgin Atlantic in Premium Economy,
there's one really important thing to know. Some of their flights are operated by partner
airline Delta with a Premium Select cabin. The prices might be the same,
but the onboard service is very different.
In this review I m going to compare the Virgin and Delta Premium Economy products.
I'll score each service based on a range of criteria to conclude which scores higher.
I've flown with both airlines in the past couple of months.
With Delta I flew Premium Select from London to New York on a Boeing 767-400 aircraft.
With Virgin Atlantic I flew Premium Economy from New York to London
on an Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.
Delta Premium Select passengers check-in at Sky Priority desks,
alongside business class passengers and those with loyalty programme status.
There were long queues for the three open counters at Heathrow.
I waited about thirty minutes to check-in.
With Virgin Atlantic at JFK there were dedicated Premium Economy check-in desks,
separate from business class. Here I only queued for a couple of minutes.
So on check-in experience Virgin has the upper hand.
With Delta, at the gate you wait to be called forward to board.
Boarding was by group, with business and those with loyalty
programme status called forward first. Sadly that loyalty status didn't extend
to Virgin gold cards, so I boarded with the rest of Premium Select.
With Virgin, you were also called forward to board.
Although lines had formed for premium cabins,
these were ignored by the staff, with boarding becoming a free-for-all.
Neither experience stands out as particularly good.
The Delta cabin was small with only twenty seats in a 2-2-2 configuration.
On other aircraft the seat confirmation is either 2-3-2 or 2-4-2 with more seats.
The seat was 19.5 inches wide with a pitch of 38 inches between each
row. Although the newer A350 aircraft has a narrow seat 18.5 inches wide.
There was a decent space between seats and plenty of floor space.
The Virgin cabin was larger with fifty six seats in a 2-4-2 confirmation.
On other aircraft the seat confirmation is 2-3-2 with fewer seats.
The seat was 18.5 inches wide with a pitch of 38 inches between each row.
The same measurements as the Delta A350 cabin. On other aircraft the seat width is 21 inches.
The space between seats was ok and there was plenty of floor space.
The seats are pretty similar, with newer, larger aircraft having a higher density.
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Both airlines have large entertainment screens.
The systems feature a range of movies and box sets.
The Delta system did stall at times, which was irritating.
But they did offer good quality headphones.
Wi-Fi was pretty pricey at $29 for the flight.
Both systems had touch screens and were easy to use.
The headphones on Virgin weren't particularly good quality.
And Wi-Fi was even heftier at £30 for the flight.
On balance both offerings had faults, including the really expensive Wi-Fi offerings.
On Delta, Premium Select passengers shared bathrooms with Economy
so there was a bit of a walk to the washroom.
It was pretty compact, but well maintained throughout the flight.
On Virgin, there were two dedicated Premium Economy bathrooms at the front of the cabin.
Again, it was pretty compact, but also well maintained throughout the flight.
Virgin scores the upper hand by having dedicated washrooms.
The Delta food and drink offering was the same as economy.
It wasn't anything special, with wooden cutlery and plastic cups.
The first drinks were served alongside the meal.
Juice and water were offered throughout the flight.
The portions weren't particularly large, and the quality wasn't that great.
The Virgin food and drink offering was in stark contrast.
You were handed a menu to start, followed by a drinks service,
with glasses rather than plastic cups.
The meal was better presented.
The portion sizes were better too.
Drinks and snacks were available in the galley throughout the flight.
On a longer flight, a lolly was offered mid-way through the journey.
And afternoon tea was served prior to landing.
The Virgin food and drink offering was far better than that on Delta.
On overall service, I was disappointed with Delta.
Premium Select was just an extension of Economy, with exactly the same service.
It wasn't anything special, with the cabin crew treating you like an Economy passenger.
Virgin, on the other hand, had an enhanced service, with cabin crew coming through the
cabin to check on people every so often. The cabin crew were more friendly.
With Virgin there was more of an experience to the flight, rather than the A to B approach of Delta.
Adding up the scores for each of these criteria, Delta scores 58% compared to Virgin's 74%.
Having experienced both services, Virgin does stand out,
primarily because of the onboard service.
I'd recommend taking the Virgin flight rather than the Delta code-share.
Comment below and let me know what you think of both services. Do you agree with my analysis?