Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy: Affordable Luxury or Major Letdown?

[@betsysumner1870]

Recently returned from a trip from SFO to LHR and return. Flight crew on both flights were fantastic, comfortable seats in Premium, check in at SFO was fantastic, but check in at Heathrow was horrible. Agent was mad at us for checking in early and continued to berate us the whole time. Ruined my opinion of good service at Virgin Atlantic.

[@HDjeff]

All it takes is one shitty crew member to ruin the whole experience, I’m sorry that happened to you, especially because everyone I’ve dealt with at Heathrow has been amazing. On our first long haul first class flight many years ago the flight attendant was so rude to my wife at the beginning of the flight and we endured 15 hours of terrible service after spending all our miles on one flight.

[@LS-tj2ho]

Yeah, the check-in at LHR for me wasn’t great either. Not rude but definitely didn’t exhibit any politeness. Not sure if it was a bad day but the difference between ground staff and flight staff was tremendous.

[@Mr.Hooter702]

Another outstanding video. Have you thought about doing city/food tours?

[@HDjeff]

Thank you so much, I have thought about other types of videos I could do and would love to do something like that!

[@patriciarocha2412]

Great video!! Qq - were you able to recline properly or the wall behind didn’t allow it? (I’m flying on the same seat next week 😃)

[@HDjeff]

Thank you! It seemed to have the same recline as the other seats, and I love sitting in the back row because you don’t have to worry about disturbing the person behind you.

[@patriciarocha2412]

Fantastic news!!! Thank you so much for responding 🙌 nice travels

[@HDjeff]

My pleasure, enjoy your flight! ✈️

[@LS-tj2ho]

Flew VA last May in economy delight. Great crew and flight. Nice legroom and even more rewards points than premium at the time. Only thing I would have changed was avoiding JFK. lol

[@HDjeff]

JFK is usually pretty awful! 🤣 Virgin has always been great in my experience, they have become one of my favorites to fly with.

[@gunvaldsandhaland7757]

I Like The Product,Great Video And Info

[@HDjeff]

Thank you!

[@SamFrostDigitalMarketing]

Good video thanks. Looking forward to trying this out when I fly home from UK to NZ via LAX later this month.

[@HDjeff]

That’s a long journey, I loved New Zealand and hope you enjoy your adventure as well!

[@andythegreat2909]

Flying from SFO to LHR next week in premium economy. Thanks for the review!! Sad that there’s no free WiFi.

[@HDjeff]

That’ll be a nice long flight, enjoy! Even in upper class you still have to pay for WiFi.

[@Fat_Cat_747]

Your love of it or otherwise will partly depend on which type it is. The newer PE seats are 2.5 inches less wide and have less padding. New : on A350 and A330-900neo. Old : 787 and A330-300.

[@sjnix7044]

I booked Prem Econ from LAX to LRH the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. I'm taking the whole family (4 adults) to the UK for two weeks. I bid on the Upper Class upgrade and still waiting to see if I get it for the outbound flight. If I do, I'll get to try both PE and Upper on this trip so that should be interesting. The outbound is on a A350-1000 and the return is on a 787-900.

[@HDjeff]

That’s fantastic, I hope you and your family have a great time and good luck with the upgrade! 🤞

[@salromeri192]

would you suggest taking an A350 over the 787-900? or are they both solid products? Flying from LHR to JFK next year on premium!

[@HDjeff]

@salromeri192 I would go with the 787, it has wider seats in premium. If it was upper class it would be the opposite. Enjoy your flight!

[@sjnix7044]

@@salromeri192 I’m not a small guy. I wear a 38” waist pant, 6’0” and about 220. The A350 was fine at 18.5” wide but I also just few 1st class domestic in a 21” seat and it was very nice. I’ll be on the 787 in two weeks. I’m typing this from my room just outside Hyde Park! It’s cold but we’ve been enjoying our stay.

[@salromeri192]

@@sjnix7044 beautiful! Hope it goes well

[@RichieAustinMagician]

Flown on virgin Premium several times and heading out again next week on premium, just cant fault it food is always great and service is great with virgin no matter what class you sit in !

[@HDjeff]

I agree, great service in every cabin! Enjoy your flight in premium!

[@Ventjock]

Any leg rests on PE in this aircraft?

[@HDjeff]

Yes, they’re pretty standard and unfortunately not very useful for my long legs.

[@Ventjock]

@@HDjeff thanks! I'm 5'10" so i find the leg rests more helpful than the foot rests haha

[@martamartinez2727]

I noticed a wall behind you did that affect the recline on the seat?

[@HDjeff]

Great question, I was able to recline all the way.

[@Fat_Cat_747]

You might find it a let down after your experience on this flight, if you are later on one of the newer PE configurations with Virgin. See, the newer aircraft - the A350 and A330-900 - have PE seats that have two and a half inches less room between arm rests, smaller arm rests and less padding. The seat you show here can still be had on the 787 Dreamliner and the older A330 i.e. A330-300. The newer seats look more modern obviously and have bigger, better IFE systems. However the loss of two and a half inches width is the most egregious downgrade I have ever seen. The spaciousness of the older seats was a u.s.p. for Virgin but they have chucked it away on their newer aircraft. A point I'd make about the newer A330 , the 900neo ( not the one in the video ), is that of all the aircraft in the Virgin fleet, there is the least point in paying for PE. Whereas in PE you have the newer type seat of 18.5 inches width, in economy you have the best width of all economy seats, plus the configuration is arguably the best of all too, being 2-4-2. Conversely, on a 787, the economy experience is the worst of all, whereas the PE seats are of the old school wide variety. Thus it is aircraft dependent as well as on price, whether it is a good idea to pay for PE. On a 787 its a no brainer - do it, unless its really too much more. On a A330-900neo, probably not. On an A330-300 probably yes but then bear in mind the seats behind are the best there is for econ. On an A350, maybe maybe - the PE seats are new narrower type but also the economy ones aren't as good as Airbus allowed for i.e. if my understanding of the seat sizes there are correct for some reason Virgin have fitted narrower seats than they had space for ( this is the one thing I'm not sure of but if correct its worth knowing ).

[@HDjeff]

I guess it’s a good thing I flew upper class on the A330neo! I’ll definitely keep this all in mind, thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge on the subject!

[@Fat_Cat_747]

@@HDjeff I know everything and I'm always right. Being a cat, this is natural. b.t.w. the design of the new UC seats on the 330-900neo is good, albeit a bit narrow, as they often are on 330's. There are two extra spacious ones at the front, centre two, sold at a premium. b.t.w. again, I've noticed reviewers state that with Delta, their best Delta One seat is on their 330-900neo

[@leonarddavies288]

That’s some good information I’m due to fly Manchester to jfk on the 330-300 PE and it was only £150 extra for the round trip so it was a no brainer and I always go economy

[@Fat_Cat_747]

@@leonarddavies288 Absolutely. So cheap !! For such a low upgrade costs it is indeed a no-brainer. I think you'll love it. Remember what I said about the 787 being the meanest in Econ. If you on another occasion get one of those then really try to get a PE seat somehow, Depends how big you are though, as some really need it whereas others are slim/little.

[@dorianchristensen9096]

I have watched six different videos on virgin and Delta pre-economy only one has mentioned seat, dimensions, and pitch. if I’m making a review of a seat, that would priority information

[@HDjeff]

That’s a great idea and you should definitely make your own reviews, if you do please send me the link and I will be sure to like & subscribe!

[@RichieAustinMagician]

its something that is available on the airlines website Seat pitch up to 38 inches Extra large leather seat

[@Ian-vx2xg]

Great video! Guess now to compare the BA Premium Economy against the Virgin Atlantic one.

[@HDjeff]

Thanks Ian, it was a lot of fun! That would be great, I’d love to try that at some point. Next video is the new upper class in the a330neo!

[@JustJack80]

Nice video. Flying direct to Maldives in Premium with Virgin. Haven't flown with them for over 15 years ( Wife is BA cabin crew)

[@HDjeff]

That’s awesome, the Maldives is pretty high on my bucket list - enjoy!

[@HDjeff]

Also I’m flying BA tonight from Boston - I hope your wife is off for Christmas and not on my flight! 🤣

[@AgentBoobimus]

How tall are you? I'm flying virgin premium next year with my son who's nearly six foot two!

[@HDjeff]

I’m 6’1” and I had plenty of room!

[@AgentBoobimus]

@@HDjeff Marvelous! Thanks for the reply.

[@funny2thag]

Great video. I took advantage of Amex 30% transfer bonus too. I think Premium is the best value of the 3 classes, technically 4. I got some good sleep flying from JFK to LHR last year.

[@HDjeff]

I agree, it is definitely the best value! I can hardly ever sleep on a plane, but a couple years ago I slept for more than half of the world's longest flight and that was wonderful.

[@switchbladeromance1466]

I always fly Virgin... Always a pleasure ❤

[@HDjeff]

It really is a pleasure! My wife and her sister just booked premium on Virgin flying home after Christmas, so excited for them to have this experience as well!

[@michaelorr9107]

Didn't you get access to the executive lounge to relax before your flight. I must say that your seat etc doesn't look any better than Singapore Airlines economy IAH to MAN....... just an observation.

[@HDjeff]

Not in premium, I could’ve used the Air France lounge with priority pass but it isn’t great. I’ve spent a lot of time in the SQ Premium economy on the A350 and the Virgin seat is wider, it’s 2” wider than most premium economy seats and even wider than some business class seats. Singapore Airlines has better IFE and screens, and they are my favorite airline to fly with.

[@michaelorr9107]

@HDjeff Iets keep it a secret 😉

[@slushpuppyninja]

Flying from Manchester to Orlando in a few weeks, got enoguh points for me and my partner to go return on points alone, but looking at using a free reward voucher from Virgin to upgrade our tickets on one leg of the journey - would you say its worthwhile?

[@HDjeff]

Yes, you won’t regret it if you can use the voucher to upgrade! The quality of service is better than almost every other airline I’ve flown, it’s a more memorable experience. I’ve really enjoyed flying with them in every cabin, including economy.

[@AlejandroPerez-ef5ez]

Redemptions got way better. Especially the taxes and fees 🙌🙌

[@HDjeff]

YES!!! 🥳✈️ They’ve got some of the best flight deals now with points, you’ve just got to find the right dates.

[@salromeri192]

@@HDjeff i found 2 premium tickets from LHR to JFK for 33000 points.... 16.5 each!!! thats gotta be a mistake no? haha cash rates for my dates were like 3100 Euros each....

[@HDjeff]

@@salromeri192 that's amazing, they went to a flexible pricing model for points so sometimes you can get a really great deal like that! My wife just booked a couple PE tickets right around Christmas for 27.5k points in PE which I thought was pretty good, but 33k points for 2 tickets is amazing!

[@annettescott4843]

You missed out leg room one of the most important things you missed out. This made this video not good

[@HDjeff]

I have no idea what you mean that I missed out on leg room, it has the standard 38” seat pitch like just about every premium economy cabin.

[@salromeri192]

thats enough out of you Annette, you can use logic to know the legroom with a simple google search... and you and I both know its comparable to every other premium economy airline... stop making it seem like it isn't.

[@belayvisual6633]

KLM Premium economy is 10 times better

[@HDjeff]

How so? KLM’s seat is 2.5” smaller in width and the in-flight service definitely isn’t as good as Virgin in my experience. I was supposed to fly KLM in business on Saturday but they cancelled my flight and put me on Delta One the next day.

[@belayvisual6633]

@@HDjeff HAPPY NEW YEAR Virgin has one of the best service, I'm not knocking them for that, I'm just saying the new Seats on KLM are better plus the tv screen bigger the Virgin screens