What’s the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class experience like in 2022?
Today I’m heading to Heathrow Airport to fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class to New York
JFK on an Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.
Upper Class passenger get to arrive at the exclusive Virgin Upper Class Wing, a private
entrance away from the main terminal.
The check-in agent greeted us curb side, as a porter took our cases from the car.
After check-in it was a short walk to the private security channel.
From there we re-joined the main terminal to walk through duty free and the main departure
lounge, before arriving at the Virgin Clubhouse.
On the way through, the departure lounge was fairly busy as it was near the start of the
UK school holidays.
In the Clubhouse a range of breakfast options were available, together with pink champagne.
The staff discovered it was my birthday and brought me some cake, which was a great touch.
The Clubhouse features an outdoor space with views out across the airport apron.
The flight departed from gate three which was a five minute walk from the lounge.
The aircraft was an Airbus A350-1000 registration G-VPRD called ‘Rain Bow’.
It came into service in 2019.
Long queues had formed to access the gate, even on the priority lane.
Upper Class seating was located in the front cabin of the aircraft, with forty-four seats
in a 1-2-1 configuration.
I was in seat 10A.
The seat has a width of 20 inches and reclined to form a fully flat bed.
On the table beside the seat was a USB port with a power socket lower down.
An armrest could be raised on one side of the seat.
Pre-take-off champagne, juice and water were offered.
We pushed back over an hour later.
With the entertainment screens showing external cameras you could watch the tug manoeuvrer
the plane.
We taxied around the airfield to runway 2 7 right.
Despite the late take-off, with a flight time on seven hours and fifteen minutes we were
expected to land at JFK roughly on schedule.
A screen beside the seat pulled forward to provide some privacy.
The entertainment system had a good selection of films and TV shows.
Good quality noise cancelling headphones were provided.
Wi-Fi was available, but it was expensive at £21 for the entire flight.
It provided a download speed of eight megabits per second.
The drinks trolley came around after take-off.
It was slow as the service started on the other aisle first.
Then orders were taken for lunch.
A select of champagne, two red and two white wines and a rosé were available.
To start I had the hot smoked salmon with beetroot tartare.
The other option was grilled asparagus and artichoke.
For main course I chose the breaded chicken breast.
Which arrived about five minutes before the cutlery.
Another option, not on the onboard menu, but available to pre-order was meatballs with
pasta.
For dessert I opted for the warm apple and blackberry crumble.
Unfortunately the cheese and biscuits didn’t materialise.
There were three washrooms for the cabin.
Two at the front and one at the rear.
They were in good condition, with the front washrooms featuring windows.
At the rear of the cabin was ‘The Loft’, a social space.
Unfortunately on my flight a couple with a baby decided to set up their pushchair here,
meaning other passengers couldn’t even get across the aisle, let alone enjoy the space.
The crew weren’t happy about people standing in the doorways, so I had to enjoy my drink
alone at my seat.
The Virgin amenity kit isn’t that impressive, with cheap socks and eye mask, bamboo toothbrush
and miniscule toothpaste, a pen and some creams.
About ninety minutes prior to landing, a second meal was served.
I opted for the barbecue pulled pork which was good.
Overall the food tasted better than it looked but was nothing special.
As we started our descent there were good views over Long Island.
We came into land on runway 3 1 right then taxied to terminal four.
The onboard service was ok.
I’ve had better service on previous Virgin flights.
The food and drink were also nothing special to write home about.
Considering the fare from London to New York, returning from Los Angeles back to London,
cost £2,800 I was expecting a bit more Virgin buzz.