Premium Red and Violet over the Atlantic.
London, United Kingdom (UK) — Our transatlantic outbound leg to the UK allowed us to try Virgin Atlantic’s Premium class (the second oldest premium economy product, after Taiwanese EVA Air’s). The corridor between New York and London is one of the busiest routes in the world so there are many competitors, but Virgin’s premium economy product makes for a decently comfortable daytime hop over the pond.
Date Flown: 2024 July 8
Departure/Arrival Times: 08:20 EST – 20:10 BST
Flight Time: 6hr 50min
Aircraft Type: Airbus A350-1000
Fare Class: Premium Class
Notable Perks: Pre-ordered meals, premium check-in, priority boarding, extra baggage allowance
Elite Status: SkyTeam Elite (via Delta Silver Medallion); no Virgin status
Flight Overview
Virgin Atlantic operates this flight, VS26, with the larger Airbus A350-1000 variant, taking just under 7 hours between New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) International and London Heathrow airports. This particular flight is notable for being a daytime flight from the U.S. East Coast to London, whereas many eastbound transatlantic flights tend to be overnight.
Being a daytime flight makes Virgin’s “Upper Class” lay-flat business class seat less valuable, in my opinion, since most of the flight would be during waking hours. Personally, Premium class was better value for us on this specific leg since it was more comfortable than economy but much cheaper than business class.
New York JFK Terminal 4 was relatively quiet that early Sunday morning when we arrived and TSA Precheck security took less than 5 minutes; the general security line was also relatively short. After a leisurely breakfast in the Terminal 4 American Express Centurion lounge (review to come), we boarded behind the Upper Class passengers roughly on time.
Our flight departed New York on-time just after 8:20AM. Virgin’s cabin lighting was an interesting mix of red and violet LEDs, matching their corporate colors, which made for a fun vibe as we crossed the Atlantic. Dining under these lights felt a bit like eating in an upscale lounge or night-club.
Our London-based crew seemed relatively young and matched the energy of the cabin colors. Our particular stewardess was incredibly pleasant and very attentive throughout the flight. We arrived in London uneventfully just after 8PM local time and deplaned at Heathrow Terminal 3.
Seat Overview
Virgin’s Airbus A350-1000s are equipped with 44 Upper (Business) Class lay-flat suites in 1-2-1 configuration, 56 Premium Class seats in 2-3-2 configuration, 235 Economy Class seats (including 38 Economy Delight seats with slightly more legroom) in 3-3-3 configuration.
Virgin’s A350-1000 Premium Class seats are an advertised width of 18.5 in (47 cm), have a pitch of 38 in (97 cm), and recline of 7 in (18 cm). For comparison, Economy seats are roughly 17.4 in (44 cm) wide, have a pitch of 31 in (34 in for Economy Delight; 79 and 86cm respectively), and recline of 5 in (13 cm).
For completeness, Virgin’s Upper Class seats are 20 in (51 cm) wide, have a theoretic pitch of up to 6 ft 7 in (201 cm; i.e. the length of the business class pod), and lay completely flat.
Immediately noticeable when comparing the Premium cabin to the Economy cabin are the plusher seats and the increased width of both the actual seats as well as practical room due to having two less seats abreast.
The inclusion of wider arms rests between each Premium seat allows for less shoulder/elbow-bumpage with your neighbor. The headrest wings can be adjusted to give more support. These seats are reminiscent of those in U.S. domestic first class cabins.
Upon seating, directly in front of you is a 13 inch in-flight entertainment (IFE) screen (compared to the 11.5 inch screen in Economy). Along the bottom edge of the screen is a USB-A charging port and headphone jack. Directly below the IFE screen is a small storage space for small flat items.
Further down the seat you will find a seatback pocket with safety card, an airsickness bag, and in-flight literature. I tucked the meal service menu that was initially resting on the armrest here as well.
Below that is a foot rest that can be lowered if desired. The angle of the “pedals” can be adjusted.
Between each seatback are two 110V universal power outlets so no need to share with your neighbor.
Between each seat is a double width armrest with space for two drinks. Below that along the side of the armrest is the lever to adjust your seat recline.
The middle armrests flip up to reveal another storage space perfect for other flatter objects. Here you’ll find another USB-A charging port as well as a headphone jack. This was the perfect cubby to store my amenity kit and phone.
The opposite armrest for each seat houses the fold out table. Pulling the small black lever at the rear of the slot allows the table to pop out.
The table is hinged in the middle in case you don’t need the entire space. Unfortunately there was not quite enough space for me to slip out of the seat in folded position, but maybe a thinner person could manage.
At each seat there was an amenity kit, meal service menu and on-ear headphones. For what it’s worth, I did not use these provided headphones, opting to use my own noise canceling headset.
At each seat was a small pillow and very nice blanket which is discussed further below. The one unfortunate quirk of the thicker blanket is the relative lack of space to tuck it away when not using – I ended up wedging mine at my feet between the seat in front and the cabin wall.
Virgin’s A350-1000s have overhead air vents to allow you to control your own microclimate which is always a perk.
Amenities
Upon boarding, a small pillow similar to those in Economy class and a relatively nice blanket was waiting on our seats. The blanket in particular was very soft and also had a small cutout so you could wrap it around your neck while sleeping. It is by far one of the nicest blankets I’ve ever come across outside of business class.
Premium Class passengers are also provided a small amenity kit. In their effort to make aviation a bit more ecofriendly, Virgin decided to go with a thick recycled craft paper zippered case.
While admirable, I personally felt the case was a bit cheap feeling and would not hold up to hard use. I have no plans to repurpose it for travel use…maybe for organization at home?
Going along with the theme, inside you’ll find a pen made of recycled paper, a bamboo toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste, earplugs wrapped in a paper packet, and a relatively cheap eye mask. Nothing to write home about here.
Meal Service(s)
Upon boarding, we were served a choice of orange juice or prosecco as a pre-departure beverage. In-flight menus for breakfast and lunch service were waiting at our seats.
One notable perk of Premium Class is the ability to pre-order your entrees prior to your flight. To my knowledge, at the time of this flight, the Premium Class pre-order menu was exactly the same as the in-flight menu, but doing so guarantees your first choice is available.
Exactly one week prior, I received an emailed link asking for meal selections, if desired. This option is available to all Upper and Premium Class passengers, as well as Flying Club members of any class.
(Note: For special meal requests and dietary restrictions, you can pre-order on the Virgin booking management page regardless of class).
Breakfast service started about 30 minutes after take-off with crew coming around with citrus-scented sanitizer wipes, no hot towels here.
I went sweet and opted for the French toast option which was paired with a mixed berry and coconut topping and served alongside a sweet vanilla crème anglaise sauce.
Mixed fruit, Greek yogurt and cold apricot pastry rounded out the meal. I went with just still water, but plenty of coffee and tea options were available upon request.
Exactly 90 minutes before our landing time, the cabin was prepared for lunch service with another round of sanitizing wipes.
I went with the salmon which was cooked perfectly and paired with a nice lemony butter sauce and capers. It was technically served on a bed of mashed potatoes but that sort of blended into the sauce. Everything was delicious nonetheless.
My partner went with the chicken tikka masala. It was apparently nicely seasoned but a bit dry. All entrees were accompanied by the same side salad, fruit and cheese plate with a packet of crackers, a nice chocolate mousse cake and cold bread roll.
The mini airplane salt and pepper shakers were a fun touch. I seriously contemplated having them “accidentally” them fall into my personal bag.
Not pictured in this review but available during the flight was the “Wander Wall” in the galley at the front of the Premium Class cabin. Crew kept this area stocked with snacks and canned drinks for passengers to pick from at their leisure.
Lavatory
On this A350-1000, there were two sets of lavatories accessible by Premium Class passengers – one towards the front of the cabin shared with the Business Class cabin and another set toward the rear in the economy section.
Nothing fancy amenity-wise but the mood lightening was a interesting touch. The crew kept these fairly clean throughout the flight, no complaints here.
Booking
At the time of booking, there was U.S. Black Friday sale for 33% off the points portion of award flights on Virgin’s U.S. website (they routinely have holiday sales throughout the year). Taking advantage of this, we booked this route for 36,800 Virgin points plus $893.40 cash per person.
Unfortunately, award flights to/from the United Kingdom often have fairly high cash fees. That said, when compared to the going cash price for the same booking, we essentially traded just shy of 37,000 points for $1359 cash per person, a value of 3.6 cents per point (approximately 2.5 times better than The Points Guy valuation of 1.4 cents per Virgin point).
There are often transfer bonuses to Virgin from U.S. partner banks (such as American Express, Chase, and Capital One) which can stretch your transferable bank points further.
Virgin award sales like this pop up throughout the year, so it is worth checking from time to time, especially when the deals line up with partner bank transfer bonuses.
American Express Credit Cards
A portion of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points redeemed for this flight was transferred over from my American Express Membership Rewards account. American Express offers a wide selection of credit card products that may benefit avid travelers, including airport lounge access, hotel status, and many other benefits.
To learn more about American Express’s offerings, including lucrative early spend bonuses that may help fund travel, click this link: HERE. Be sure to browse through the different card options. If you apply and are approved for a credit card, we earn a referral bonus to help support this blog, and we thank you in advance!
Bun World Traveler 