Virgin Atlantic to the UK

[repete]

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd try and get some ideas about Virgin Atlantic's service to the UK. I haven't used them at all before and am wondering a couple of things...

I'm kind of interested in their general service (e.g. what the planes are like, the entertainment system, food - I'm guessing they serve you 'free' food, unlike virgin domestic??)

Also more importantly I guess is their service and performance/record etc. as an airline overall... any experienced flyers there?

And finally, in particular thinking about their service to the UK I notice one of the options you can choose to fly appears almost as a direct flight from Sydney to London? I believe there might be a stop-off in Hong Kong, but is this only a re-fuel and boarding passengers exercise? Do you get to hop off?

Thoughts from any experts on Virgin Atlantic and anyone whose done this trip would be great (if you've done it with kids and survived - let me know how too:!:

Thanks for that...

 

[Nigelinoz]

I flew VS to the UK in late 2007 and as it was a urgent trip I had to fly economy,
I would not choose to repeat the experience,the seats in Y are the most uncomfortable I have ever had the misfortune to sit in,they don't recline far enough IMHO.
The food was very ordinary,I had ordered a diabetic meal 7 days before departure but it was not loaded so I had to accept what everyone else was offered and when I did get it it was nearly cold.
The in flight entertainment unit kept crashing and had to be restarted 4 times on the HKG to LHR leg.
There was almost no bar service so I had to call a F/A to get a drink.
All in all very disappointing and not worth the $1650.00 return fare.
You do get off at Hong Kong for the refueling stop,I think it was about an hour and a half stop,maybe a little less I can't remember.
I might be tempted to try them again in premium economy or upper class but in economy-no way.

 

[AviationNZ]

I've flown them a number of times, but have been fortunate enought to be in Upper Class. From this experience, I though they were brilliant, great seats, service, etc... I would have assumed that this service would still be pretty good in PE and Y, but after reading NIGELINOZ's comments, I guess not.

Yes, you do stop in HKG for about 2 hours and get off of the plane.

 

[zig]

I have done the leg from Hong Kong to Sydney in Upper Class, and it was a great flight. Service was great, the staff really seemed to enjoy their work! The seat / bed was very comfortable. Inflight entertainment good, good selection and worked efficiently. The letdown was the food, it was really fairly average.
Agree with the comments above, because my flight was so good, I assumed that PE and economy would be good as well, but perhaps this is not the case.

 

[ANstar]

I've flown all 3 cabins with Virgin Atlantic... I love them in PE and upper but would not step foot on them in Economy.

Economy has terrible leg room, cough seats and dodgy food.

PE and Upper on the other hand have fairly good catering and their hard products are some of the best out there.