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Virgin Atlantic Airways has spent billions on new aircraft to renew its fleet.
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I flew for the first time in economy class with Virgin on the Airbus A350-1000 from New York to London.
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The cabin is new as of 2019 and in my opinion one of the better options on the other side of the Atlantic.
Virgin Atlantic Airways has spent billions of dollars to completely transform its fleet.
This includes the acquisition of a dozen next-generation Airbus A350-1000s since 2019. They are Virgin’s largest aircraft, and the airline has introduced them with modernized business and economy class cabins.
I recently left my favorite airline, Delta, to try out the A350’s new Economy Class on a July flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
This was my first flight with Virgin and I had high expectations of the airline, which is ranked among the top 20 airlines in the world according to Skytrax.
I was impressed by the little comfort details that made the journey to London pleasant.
I arrived at Terminal 4 of New York-JFK at 5 a.m. for my flight to London.
I took my first daytime transatlantic flight in March and will never take a night flight again unless I have no other choice. My two day flights were about as expensive as the night flights.
My Virgin flight departed at 8:20 a.m. ET and landed in London around 8 p.m. local time, which was the easiest way to avoid jet lag because I could go straight to the hotel and sleep.
Check-in was surprisingly efficient.
On the day of my departure, the CrowdStrike IT outage was in full swing, but fortunately my Virgin flight was unaffected and there were no crowds or queues at check-in.
I had to check a bag and was surprised at how easy it was. I usually avoid checking bags to avoid the inconvenience of dropping them off and picking them up.
But Virgin check-in was a self-service system – including bag drop. I picked up my boarding pass and bag tag from the kiosk, scanned the tag and put my bag on the conveyor belt. It was a breeze, but staff were available if needed.
Economy passengers with Priority Pass have access to Virgin’s Terminal 4 lounge.
I have a Priority Pass membership through my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, which costs $550 a year but gives me free access to hundreds of lounges worldwide. Since I travel half the year, it’s definitely worth it.
There are several options in Terminal 4, including the Virgin lounge. Eligible business class ticket holders and loyalty card holders can also enter, but my Priority Pass allows me entry with an economy ticket.
I was one of the last to board and went to aisle seat 52G.
I paid about $555 for my one-way flight to London, of which $430 was for the lowest base fare, which put me at the back of the line. I didn’t mind because I could just sit, relax, and avoid the pesky “gate lice.”
I also spent $50 for a preferred seat and $75 for checked baggage. I always pay for an aisle seat on long-haul flights, and this time I snagged one in the last row of first economy class.
At 1.60 m tall, I had plenty of space.
Virgin’s A350 Economy Class seats have a 3x3x3 layout, offering 31 inches of pitch and 17.4 inches of width. I had plenty of room to move around.
Taller travelers may consider upgrading to an Economy seat with more legroom, offering up to 86 cm of seat pitch but the same width.
The upholstery was plush and I appreciated the adjustable headrest and recline.
I’ve flown across the Atlantic at least 20 times with various airlines and Virgin’s seat is one of the best I’ve ever experienced. The A350’s wide cabin design gives it a particularly elegant and spacious feel and I loved the moody pink-purple lighting.
The seats have USB ports, 5-inch recline, and a headrest (airlines without a headrest immediately lose points with me).
The back pocket was large and I liked the two smaller pockets that help with organization.
The blanket was surprisingly effective.
Virgin provided a pillow and blanket for the long-haul flight. I was surprised that the blanket had little wings that I could hang over my shoulders to keep it in place.
It’s a small but clever detail.
There was an 11.5-inch screen in the backrest with good in-flight entertainment.
There were plenty of movies and TV shows, like Kung Fu Panda 4 and Harry Potter, but I spent most of my time watching pre-downloaded content on my tablet.
However, I found the provided headphones for the seatback screen scratchy and uncomfortable. If you plan on relying on Virgin’s in-flight entertainment, I recommend bringing your own wired headphones.
The aviation enthusiast in me was excited about the outdoor camera.
A flight tracking app on the seatback screen included an external camera that allowed passengers to see the aircraft’s surroundings in real time.
I didn’t notice the existence of this feature until I was approaching London, but I observed it during landing and taxiing to the gate.
The food was better than most of the competition and I was happy that breakfast was simple.
The first meal was a breakfast box with a sandwich, a granola bar and yogurt. I liked the sandwich and was glad that we were served a simple meal for the morning flight.
For lunch we had a chicken dish with cheese, salad and pudding. I found it tasty and filling and comparable to Delta’s offerings.
There was no free WiFi.
Virgin charges passengers for internet access and messaging. And according to the airline, the A350-1000’s Wi-Fi doesn’t support streaming, making it suitable only for email, messaging and browsing.
Competitor JetBlue offers free Wi-Fi, while Delta recently introduced free internet on select international flights and plans to roll it out across its entire fleet in 2025.
I paid $3.95 to send messages, which worked well.
The plane landed in London on time and I only waited 10 minutes for my luggage.
After getting off the plane, going through immigration and going to baggage claim, I only waited about 10 minutes for my luggage to land on the baggage carousel.
I arrived at my hotel around 10pm local time – the perfect time to overcome the jet lag.
Because of the comfort and service, I would definitely book with Virgin again.
In addition to Delta and Virgin, I have flown across the Atlantic with American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, the German Condor, Iberia, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines and the low-cost airlines Level, French Bee and Norse Atlantic Airways.
Virgin comes in at the top of this list in terms of overall experience. However, it falls behind JetBlue and Delta, both of which have better food than Virgin and offer better in-flight connectivity options. Norse comes closest in overall experience when considering the low-cost competition.
Still, Virgin is a reliable option on the ever-popular New York-London corridor, and I highly recommend the A350, especially for noise. It’s the quietest plane you can fly, and combined with Virgin’s headrest, bedding, and upholstery, I’d have no problem sleeping if I’d taken the overnight flight.
Read the original article on Business Insider
