Virgin Atlantic Upper Class – Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class holds a special place in the hearts of many travelers, both frequent and infrequent flyers.

Though this flight occurred in early July, it was my first international flight of the year 2022 and I’ve had the previous 6 months to look forward to it.

BOOKING:

I transferred 95k points from Amex to Delta to book this $12,150 (cash rate) flight. American Express charged $57 in Excise Tax Fee to transfer the points from Amex to Delta, and The Points Engineer paid $64 in taxes and fees to book the flight. So, altogether, this flight only cost us $121 out of pocket. 

CHECKING IN:

Originally scheduled for 6:30pm, but flight was delayed for an hour according to the email sent by Virgin Atlantic earlier that day. This delay eventually worked in my own advantage as getting to the airport was a bit of a hassle that day.

After dropping off my two 70lbs baggage at the check-in counter and all documents verified, it was now time to head to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse SFO.

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is located airside of Terminal A on the fifth floor, just make a left turn after TSA checkpoint. The lounge is open from 2pm to 10pm daily, and Amex Platinum cardholders can access the lounge.

BOARDING:

Boarding was further delayed for another 20 minutes, and all passengers waited in anticipation at Gate A2 for our flight VS20 to London.

Related : Delta One – Airbus A330

The experience got even better as soon as we were onboard, and the flight attendants wasted no time with their services.

One thing that the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class seats lacks was privacy. Though the A seats offers an okay privacy when in bed mode, these herringbone seats just doesn’t offer enough privacy when in seat mode. But again, I’ll take those seats in A over the ones in row (K) any time any day.

Seats 7A and 7K are missing a window, so you should do your homework well when selecting a seat on the Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 Dreamliner. SeatGuru has always been very useful when it comes to seat selection as it tells you what you expect at each seat.

Eventually, we started our pushback at 7:50pm. A welcome drink was served prior to the pushback. We then taxi for another 10 minutes, and by 8:03pm we were up in the air.

I picked seat 9A just for one single reason, which is to get a clear shot of one of the two Rolls Royce Trent engine of the aircraft.

A resealable bottled water was waiting at each seat in the upper class cabin. Even though I found this to be environmentally friendly, I think many passengers would struggle trying to open the bottle.

I found the Virgin Atlantic crew to be very welcoming and friendly. After taking dozens of pictures within a couple of minutes onboard, I was immediately approached by one of the flight attendants who even offered to take pictures of me.

Read More : United Polaris Business Class

FOOD & BEVERAGE:

The food and beverage service began 15 minutes after takeoff and to be frank, I must say the level of service was disappointing at first, but it got better later on. Since hot towel seems to be something you no longer get to see onboard anymore, I was at least expecting wipes or something else, but none was offered.

I skipped dinner for a couple of hours so i could get some work done, and later had dinner while most passengers were sleeping. according to the passenger behind me, “the ambience of the cabin at night was sexy and cool.”

I started the night with a glass of mojito, virgin of course. This was pair with a sachet pretzel. It still baffles me why some of the highly ranked airlines still serves their snacks in a sachet rather than serving them in a bowl or something.

It is worth stating though, that the Virgin Atlantic “Nojito” (mojito) was good. As a matter of fact, it was better than the ones I’ve had in Emirates First Class. No kidding.

For starters, I had Grilled Prawns (pineapple, mango, and papaya salsa with sriracha mayonnaise). The grilled prawns was so good, it made me want to ask for more. 

For the main course, I had the Roast Chicken Breast (maple chipotle barbecue glaze, sweet potato flan, collard greens and carrots). While I normally would not order for chicken on a flight like this, but since the menu had limited options, I settled for the chicken which, though was good, but just wasn’t great. 

This review wouldn’t be completed without mentioning the Virgin Atlantic salt and pepper shakers – Wilbur and Orville (as seen in the picture below). According to the airline, “these are the most pinched items aboard all their flights.” Though I didn’t pinch them on this flight, I might as well join the other passengers and pinch them on my next flight.

I washed everything down with Classic Vanilla Cheesecake for dessert.

Read More : Emirates Business Class Airbus A380

Even though this was my first upper class flight, I wasn’t a newbie to Virgin Atlantic’s cheaply made amenity kit which is made of recycled products. This, and pajamas (which the airline calls loungewear) were provided during our flight VS20 from San Francisco to London.

LIE-FLAT BED:

Despite its’ lack of privacy, the lie-flat seat was eventually comfortable to sleep on. Though at first, the bed felt a bit uncomfortable even with the mattress pad which was a bit tiny, but it became comfy after a while, and I was able to get 2 hours of sleep before being woken up for breakfast.

The footrest, although some uses it as a second seat to dine with their travel companions, I found it to be quite unsafe as the notice on the footrest displays a stowage load limit of 6.4kg (14 lbs.).

The lavatory to my surprise was very roomy enough to fit in a dropdown seat and a baby changing station. Throughout the flight, the lavatory was kept in a spotless condition.

Read More : American Airlines Flagship Business

BREAKFAST:

I opted for the Full English Breakfast, but without the grilled pork sausage and streaky bacon. Only with scrambled egg, sautéed button mushrooms, potato rosti and baked beans.

While I would rate the breakfast to be okay, the scrambled egg tasted sour somehow. But overall, it was a good breakfast.

I paired the brekkie with the Virgin Atlantic “Three Spirit Livener – The Party Starter”, but unfortunately it was nothing closer to the Nojito (mojito) I had for dinner.

Feeling a bit thirsty or peckish during the flight? The loft (onboard bar) is a socially gathering area where passengers in upper class can grab some quick bites, have a drink or two, or chitchat with other passengers up in the air.

One super-cool feature of the Virgin Atlantic upper class entertainment system (vera) was the chat functionality which enables you to chat with another passenger in another seat.

You are also able to connect your personal device via USB.  Please note that Terms and Conditions applies.

The noise canceling headphone provided by Virgin Atlantic did a great job by canceling out the noise even without plugging in the headphone to any device. 

Our flight touched down London Heathrow at 1:30pm. After passing the UK immigration through the E-Gates, I proceeded to the Virgin Atlantic Revivals (arrival lounge) but unfortunately the lounge had closed. The opening hours was from 5am to 12:30pm.

MY VERDICT:

Overall, this was a great flight with an upper class experience. I believe the flight attendants deserve kudos for a job well done. The onboard service was on par, and the bed provided a good rest.

But is this flight worth the $12,000 cash rate? In my opinion, absolutely not. But would I do it again for 95,000 points? Certainly, in a heartbeat.