Some airlines have been criticized for reducing their premium economy proposition.
I was excited to see how innovative Virgin Atlantic is with its latest product when your author was a guest of the carrier.
I arrived at the gate 30 minutes before I was supposed to leave. Premium passengers can use the priority lane and I was on the A330neo in mere moments.
The premium and upper class cabins are separated by galley 2 in the loft space. As I turned right, I was greeted by a bright cabin with 46 seats in a 2 seat configuration. The cabin still felt intimate despite being a bigger cabin. I sat in the aisle seat of the triple.
I felt like I had a lot of room. The image is of fintan Horan-Stear.
It was spacious and luxurious and the seat was exactly what I wanted. The platform is pitched at 38 degrees and is finished in rich brown leather. The leg rest and footrest made me feel better.
The middle seat of the triple had in-seat power in the form of AC outlets and a wireless charging pad.
There is a welcome touch to the aisle seats. The large overhead bins on the A330neo allowed for plenty of room for everyone's luggage.
The seat was really nice. The image is of fintan Horan-Stear.
There was a blanket and a pillow with me. The blanket was soft and lovely, but the pillow was not up to par. Amenity kits weren't given.
The inflight entertainment system was quick. The standard headphones provided by the airline were of poor quality, so I was thankful to be able to pair my own headphones. All passengers on the inaugural flight were provided free Viasat-powered wi-fi.
In bright sunlight, the IFE's colors stayed vivid. The image is of fintan Horan-Stear.
The cabin crew offered drinks of juice or water as boarding was done. Menus were given before the plane took off. Dinner was on the menu for an 8am departure, but I think it was a launch flight issue.
I was surprised by the offer of sparkling wine. Virgin has implemented an easyJet-style buy-on-board menu. Virgin's decision not to offer complimentary sparkling wine, even a Cava that retails at $2 a bottle, felt like a missed trick, as there was no hard sell of these items in Premium.
The low-cost carrier version was added to the menu, but not the low-cost carrier version. The image is of fintan Horan-Stear.
I went to check out the entertainment content. There were 170 films and 100 television series to choose from. I liked the fact that all of the seasons of shows were available. Only 60 films had English subtitles and 19 had audio descriptions. The light fare was called the Bullet Train.
The crew brought drinks and I was well hydrated.
A beer with tropical flavours was included on the drinks menu. The image is of fintan Horan-Stear.
Premium class spirits and mixers were great, but the wine was canned and not up to date.
The lunch service started 90 minutes into the flight. It was served on a single tray.
The thai green curry was great. It was very well cooked and spicy.
I didn't want a second wine service during the meal.
After the meal, tea and coffee were offered. I have yet to travel with an airline that does a good decaf, even though I had a poor one.
The purser told me that Virgin doesn't offer an after-dinner liqueur service anymore. An ice cream was offered on the way out.
The meal was delicious, except for the bread roll. The image is of fintan Horan-Stear.
A burrito snack was also available. The afternoon tea was served 90 minutes before the plane touched down. The jam was very good.
The burrito snack tasted better than it appeared. The image is of fintan Horan-Stear.
I was happy to have flown with Virgin Atlantic again, but I felt like there was more to be done.
The hard product is very good and modern. The crew was nice and attentive. The Premium service wasn't as good as the cabin would have you believe. An all-around knockout would be a better quality wine, an amenity kit, and a little more of Virgin's signature touches.
Virgin showed a lot of promise with their first service. The image is of fintan Horan-Stear.
As always, all views are their own, as was the case with Fintan Horan-Stear.
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The image was credited to fintan Horan-Stear.
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