What I Liked
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All seats have aisle access
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Seat reclines to a flat bed
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Good food
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Wide variety of drinks
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Lovely service
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I flew in Business Class on Virgin Atlantic from London to Orlando. Here is my review!
Virgin Atlantic offer a comfortable way to cross the Atlantic. Their Upper Class seat reclines to a fully flat bed. All seats have aisle access. The food was really good. They had a wide variety of drinks.
Also, the service was impressive. As it normally is with Virgin.
On the down side, the seat was narrow and lacked privacy.
This review is an in depth guide. I took lots of photos. Each photo can be clicked to open out the full slideshow.
I also uploaded a video review on Youtube. Which is below.
In this article, I’ll explain how I booked the flight. And how I used Virgin Points to save over £2,500 on the cash rate.
One benefit of flying Virgin Atlantic Business Class is that you can access the Virgin Business Lounges. Which are regarded as some of the best in the world. My review of the Virgin Business Class Lounge in New York, JFK is here. An excellent lounge with restaurant quality food and champagne on tap!
It's possible to enter the Virgin Lounge in JFK New York, even if you’re not flying Business Class on Virgin Atlantic. You can access the Lounge with a Priority Pass Membership.
Priority Pass is the largest independent lounge network in the world. You can access over 1,700 lounges worldwide. Signup here for a 30% discount – membership starts at £48. This is an exclusive deal – not publicly available. This is the best offer that you’ll get anywhere. I know how many people have access to this offer, and it’s not very many.
All of the USA Virgin Atlantic Lounges can be access with Priority Pass. Sadly, the lounge in London Heathrow doesn't take Priority Pass. It's pretty amazing too! My review is here. They have a lovely outdoor terrace with awesome runway views.
I also have a Youtube review of the Virgin Clubhouse in Heathrow. One of the best business class lounges in the world. Shown below.
The cash price for my return flight from London to Orlando was roughly £4,300. I did not pay £4,300!
I used Virgin Points to book Business Class on Virgin Atlantic. 60,000 Virgin Points and £1,000 in taxes.
It's possible to take advantage of this deal, even if you don’t have any Virgin Points. You can buy Virgin Points Directly from Virgin. Virgin have regular promotions. And have sold Virgin Points for as low as 0.88p each. This works out at £528 for 60,000 Virgin Points.
If you bought Virgin Points at that price, then the total price of the flight would be £1,528. A massive saving on the cash price.
If you are going to book with cash, then I suggest you go to this webpage. This is Virgin’s low fare finder. You can find the lowest price to each destination.
Virgin Atlantic is headquartered in London. A global city and also the city of my birth! There are so many amazing things to do. Below are some of my favourites.
The Sky Garden is London’s highest public garden. Entrance is fee, but you must book in advance. The view from the top of the building is spectacular.
The London Theatre District is the best in World. Yes it’s better than New York! You can see all the same shows in London, but for half the price! You can book Tina Turner the Musical here – for only £13! That’s a crazy good deal.
You can book a tour to Oxford, Stratford, the Cotswolds and Warwick Castle from London. Luxury transport from London is included. Book here for only £85. Each one of those places is amazing. So to see all four in one day is great value. Oxford is home to the famous university. Stratford Upon Avon is the birthplace of Shakespeare.
There were 33 seats in the Upper Class cabin. 11 rows of 3 seats. Each seat has aisle access.
The cabin felt pretty busy with 33 people in Upper Class. Every seat was taken.
Behind the Upper Class cabin is the on board bar. It’s between the upper class cabin and premium economy.
It's a social space to enjoy a drink and chat with a fellow passenger. I was travelling alone, so I didn’t sit down there!
The Virgin Atlantic seat was a mixed picture. Good points and bad points! The seat has aisle access and reclines to a flat bed. However, it was narrow and lacks privacy.
I was sat in Seat 11K. At the very back of the cabin. Next to the window. I like these seats at the back, as I can get a photo of the cabin – for this review. On the downside, I’m next to the toilets! The sacrifices I make for the readers!
Virgin Atlantic have a herringbone style seat. Where each seat is angled towards the aisle. This type of seat lacks privacy, as you eyeball the flight attendants as they go by. You also eyeball the flyers across the aisle.
The seat is quite narrow. It doesn’t bother me as I’m not the biggest guy. But it’s something to note.
At the side of the seat, is a wall between you and the seat next to you. The TV screen is here. You can press a button to pop the TV screen out. The screen is pretty small. The same size as the TV in the economy seat!
At the front of your seat is a foot stool. When you extend your bed, it will flatten and join the footstool at the front. To make a fully flat bed.
There’s a small storage shelf in the wall between you and the seat next door. Just enough space for your water and headphones.
The tray table also pops out of the wall between you and the neighbouring seat.
The seat is solid and comfortable. But yeah, it’s not earth shattering!
It’s definitely dated. I prefer reverse herringbone to herringbone. Reverse herringbone is when you’re angled away from the aisle. So you’re facing towards the window instead. You have more privacy.
British Airways have a reverse herringbone seat in their business class. They have a privacy door too. My review of British Airways Business Class is here. I was flying to Los Angeles on that occasion. It was a great flight with BA. The seat was comfy, the food was good and the alcohol was premium.
The Virgin Business Class Seat stretches out to a fully flat bed. However, I did need a flight attendant to make the bed for me. It’s a little complicated! I wasn’t the only one that needed help.
I slept for 3 to 4 hours. Really good for day flight. I was super tired. I’d woken up at 5am, to get to Heathrow airport.
I was travelling alone on this occasion, so I took the train to Heathrow Airport. And not a taxi. I saved £50, compared to the taxi. The train was packed at 6am! If I had taken a taxi, I would book with Minicabit. They’re a price comparison service for taxis. So you can find the cheapest deal.
After that 6am train journey, I was glad to get some rest! I liked the bed and the bedding with Virgin Atlantic. I found the cabin to be a good temperature too. Not too hot.
Business Class on Virgin Atlantic – the meal service surprised me. In a good way!
There was a choice of meals on the menu. I had pre ordered a vegetarian meal. So I didn’t get a choice.
However, I made sure to look at the menu. So I could share the options with you guys.
When you pre order a veg meal. It’s nearly always economy class quality! No matter what class you fly. Even in Singapore First Class Suites, my veg food was crap!
So by looking at the full menu, I was punishing myself and seeing what I was missing out on! But I love my readers, and I’m willing to sacrifice!
For the main meal (lunch), the starter was a choice of
The main was a choice of
The dessert was a choice of chocolate cake or pear tatin.
My lunch was the veg soup and pumpkin pasta. So it turns out, they just gave me the vegetarian options from the business class menu! On this day, my veg meal was of business class quality!
The veg soup was lovely. It came with hot olive bread. The bread was beautifully fluffy.
The pasta was pretty nice too. It came in a creamy sauce and had chunks of pumpkin.
For dessert I had the chocolate cake. Which was good. As you would expect.
After this, Virgin have a range of smaller dishes that you can order if you wish. The range of dishes was
After my sleep, I asked for the halloumi burger. But they had run out. I was annoyed as it looked good!
I ended up having a cheese and tomato sandwich. It was part of my pre ordered meal. It was pretty average.
I also had some scones. Which were ok. They were a bit dry.
The food was very similar to my previous time in Virgin Atlantic Business Class. That review is also number one in Google. Search for ‘Virgin Business Class Review’ or look below! My meal was probably slightly worse last time. The afternoon tea was not good.
The TV Screen pops out of the side wall. The wall between you and the seat next to you.
The TV screen is small. The same size as an economy TV screen.
The screen was responsive and the images were crisp. There were also lots of film and TV options.
The headphones were good too. Not as good as the Bang and Olafsen headphones that American Airlines have in their business class. But still really good. My review of American Airlines Business Class is here. The food was BAD! Everything else was pretty good.
The Amenity Kit came in a paper bag. Nothing like the luxury bags you get with British Airways or Etihad. Etihad gave me a beautiful leather bag by Acqua di Parma. My review of the Etihad flight is here. My wife still has the bag!
The quality of the items in the Virgin Amenity Kit was good however. The toiletries were provided by upmarket brand Ren.
There was a good variety of items.
I kept the items to use later. Except for the toothbrush, which I used on the flight.
If you don’t brush your teeth on a flight, then that’s disgusting!
Business Class on Virgin Atlantic had good service. It started good and only got better!
The Virgin Service began with a hot towel, which was piping hot! How it should be.
There were four servers in business class. All friendly and happy to indulge me as I talked nonsense and had a bit of banter!
I’m sorry if this upsets people, but Business Class on Virgin Atlantic is good. It’s really good.
The food was tasty, they had premium alcohol, the servers were nice and you get a flat bed.
The weak point of Virgin Business Class is well known. It’s the seat. It’s narrow and it lacks privacy. However, as a total package I really like Virgin Atlantic Business Class.
I’ve also reviewed Air France Business Class. Air France are partners with Virgin. You can use Virgin Points to book Air France flights. I enjoyed the Air France flight too. The food and drinks were excellent.