Domestic Travel in US - Virgin America or Delta

[Steve Dyer]

Good Morning

I am heading to the US later in the year as part of a work trip. My wife is going to join me. We are going to travel Virgin to LAX in Prem (With the hope of upgrade on Points - i am Platinum) From LAX we want to head to New York for 4 nights and then return to Las Vegas.

Last year I travelled with Delta and did not have a great experience. Just old aircraft and the FA's did not appear to want to be at work, rude and cranky.

Two questions :

First - Does Travelling with Virgin America domestically mean I earn SC & Points at the same rate as Delta? will my Status of WP be recognised? What about my wife? Will I have access to the V America lounges?

Second - Is the America product a better product then Delta?

The domestic legs would be in Cattle class. I am keen to hear peoples thoughts... A big thing for me would be the ability to check bags in BNE and not collect again until JFK.....

Thanks Guys

 

[Boris spatsky]

VX product is fantastic. Best on CONUS IMHO.

 

[777]

First - Does Travelling with Virgin America domestically mean I earn SC & Points at the same rate as Delta? will my Status of WP be recognised? What about my wife? Will I have access to the V America lounges?

Second - Is the America product a better product then Delta?

1. Yes you will earn points and SCs. Your status will be recognised but it's not good for too much -- you get access to the lounge in LAX which is the only lounge they operate.

2. Yes.

 

[pshepvic]

VX is definitely better than DL. They are good, but not as great as they used to be. Their aircraft are starting to look a little tired (white wasn't a good choice for the leather on the F seats) but not as tired as Delta's. When they first launched, the crews were fantastic, now I would just say they are good. Some of the flair seems to be wearing off and they are becoming more like the AA and DL FAs in attitude. Not quite as old though generally! Their ground services are pretty poor though - DL and AA still deliver a much better product in terms of lounges (they actually have them).

 

[Bolthead]

VX Product is good although I haven't flown with them for a while. It also helped that all three time we have flown with them we had the whole row to stretch out in.

 

[MandM]

I've not flown Delta but can report that I've yet to have a negative experience with VX (about 10 domestic sectors). If you like VA domestic, then you will like VX.
Last trip I had separate PNRs for the international and usa domestic legs, but had my bags successfully checked through all the way (you need to collect in LAX and re-check, but I find it quite comforting to know they've made it at least that far!)
If you do go with VX have a look at the 'instant upgrade to main cabin select' fare. It makes the experience of getting back on a plane after the 13 hour flight a little more bearable (and sometimes for not much extra cost).

 

[pythonisman]

If you do go with VX have a look at the 'instant upgrade to main cabin select' fare. It makes the experience of getting back on a plane after the 13 hour flight a little more bearable (and sometimes for not much extra cost).

+1 to VX, and also to the "instant upgrade to main cabin select" fare. Not only gets you a seat with more legroom, but also a free checked bag, free food and drink, and you earn VA SCs at full Y rate, rather than discounted Y.

 

[Deewhy]

Good Morning

I am heading to the US later in the year as part of a work trip. My wife is going to join me. We are going to travel Virgin to LAX in Prem (With the hope of upgrade on Points - i am Platinum) From LAX we want to head to New York for 4 nights and then return to Las Vegas.

Last year I travelled with Delta and did not have a great experience. Just old aircraft and the FA's did not appear to want to be at work, rude and cranky.

Two questions :

First - Does Travelling with Virgin America domestically mean I earn SC & Points at the same rate as Delta? will my Status of WP be recognised? What about my wife? Will I have access to the V America lounges?

Second - Is the America product a better product then Delta?

The domestic legs would be in Cattle class. I am keen to hear peoples thoughts... A big thing for me would be the ability to check bags in BNE and not collect again until JFK.....

Thanks Guys

if you can manage the y+ ticket open jaw syd-lax-JFK then return las-lax-syd then they'll book you on main cabin select rather than having to pay extra. You then just have to get from JFK to las on your own steam.

Vx lounge access from what I know you should have it at lax and JFK. Don't think there's one at las.

Delta will have more lounges.

I flew 3 legs in Vx last year, two in mcs and one first class. I reckon Va is much better. I found the planes a bit tatty, dirty and those cream coloured first class seats ugh... Don't know the last time they cleaned those. However, also flew DL and wasn't any better to get me to choose DL over VX. I think flying I the US is like catching a flying bus. Not much glamour to it. I reckon of you go with that expectation, then you'll be fine DL also offer economy comfort like mcs, but no food. They just have the extra legroom. Eg $29 for Orlando to JFK ontop of the fare. They offer it to you as an upsell on checkout.

As for sc earn, check your ticket class. DL will be obvious when you book it. They show you the classes and you can check it against the Va earn table. If you go Vx MCS it'll earn more than the basic economy DL ticket.

Either way I think you'll have to collect and drop your bags in lax.

 

[grubbidok]

Good Morning
Last year I travelled with Delta and did not have a great experience. Just old aircraft and the FA's did not appear to want to be at work, rude and cranky.

Ah, the conundrum of flying in the US - no matter who you choose you still end up with an American carrier!

VX is head and shoulders above most US carriers, but this is more of an indictment on carriers in that country, than an active endorsement that they do everything well. If you're familiar with Canadian airlines it's probably similar to the gap between Porter and other airlines in Canada. Nicer, but I'd still pick DL if VX was too expensive. I've also found the gap narrowing in my past few visits, VX are definitely not as good as they used to be. I would personally put DL at the head of the pack of US legacy carriers, definitely no AA.

DL will recognise your status better, VX probably will too, but they don't really have much to give you. VX has a terribly small network too (and even smaller lounge network), but does do the routes you want so that's a moot point. If lounges are important to you (though remember that they're American lounges), DL is the only option.

You have to pay for checked baggage on DL in theory, but I've never had to on all but one of my 15 or so DL domestic segments (I think it was PHX-SLC), I've found they generally waive it if you use the desk rather than the kiosk (particularly if you put on some Australian charm, the lost traveller spiel works well too). You will on VX too unless you pay for MCS.

Main Cabin Select will only get you full economy SCs, but is still worth it. Wouldn't worry about cattle class in the LAS leg, it's short like a SYD-CBR and over and done with before you know it.

 

[VMC73]

I flew VX LAX-JFK-LAX Main Cabin Select in August last year, leg room the same as row 3 here def worth paying that little bit more for. IFE was great, staff were pretty average did not use lounge and did not feel status was recgonised. Food very average, drink service etc through IFE was good. Flight fare was recongnised through VA as PE.

Flew DL LAX-JFK-LAX J in January, the plane seemed to have been refurbed, seats were great as was food and service. Much larger plane than VX. IFE not as good. Loung in LAX was being renovated and the makeshift set up was pretty ordinary. JFK lounge was good. Platinum status recognised and you may take a guest into the lounge.

Overall I found DL the better product and cheaper.

Enjoy wish it were me going back to NYC!!!

 

[garoz]

Can’t vouch for Delta but last year we flew VX from LA to New York and were happy with the quality and service. We booked Prem Econ with VA from Sydney through to NY so we were automatically allocated the Main Cabin Select seats in VX. Well worth it for priority screening at security and the extra leg room and free drinks and snacks. No option of a proper meal on the flight, just a selection of sandwiches, crisps and the like.
Because LA is your first point of arrival into the country, you will need to collect your bags at LA and re-check them on to NY.

 

[Warks]

Flew with VX from LAX-SEA a few years ago and I was surprised how good it was. The best domestic flights I've had in the US. Which as others have noted, doesn't say much.

 

[A100]

Flew dl from las-jfk recently. They did not charge me for a checked bag as a Va platinum although the check in agent was exactly confident about it (I think they are supposed to charge - no benefits on baggage for VA customers). Being able to skip the massive check in line at las with sky priority was a bug benefit. Also got an Econ comfort seat at half price which was a big benefit...got an excellent exit row seat. Service on board was sufficient for a US airline - no surprises.

 

[Denali]

Im still waiting for our platinum status to be activated but when it does, how did you get discounted seats? Did you book online or phone?


Many thanks for the reponses - all info gathering for when I book.

 

[mlob]

I got my discounted seats using the delta phone no that the virgin rep gave me. Im only gold but they still gave me 50% of the economy comfort price for my JFK-LAX flight.

Im still waiting for our platinum status to be activated but when it does, how did you get discounted seats? Did you book online or phone?


Many thanks for the reponses - all info gathering for when I book.

 

[A100]

Im still waiting for our platinum status to be activated but when it does, how did you get discounted seats? Did you book online or phone?


Many thanks for the reponses - all info gathering for when I book.

the DL system seems to recognise VA platinum status. You can only book economy comfort seat after buying a ticket - you then do seat selection and it brings up a price - it seems to auto discount the seat if it sees your VA status.