Trip Report: Virgin Atlantic, London Heathrow to Atlanta (August 2019)

Trip Report: Virgin Atlantic, London Heathrow to Atlanta
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was traveling from London Heathrow back to Atlanta.  I had booked the ticked through Delta with the outbound sector being operated by Delta (check out that review here) while the return was being operated by Virgin Atlantic.  Once the ticket was booked, I was able to go onto Virgin's website and/or app and manage my booking which included preselecting my seat, adding special meal requests as well as adding other special requests.  Delta and Virgin Atlantic have a joint venture in which they share and market flights between the U.S. and Europe.  This joint venture was indicative throughout our return as the flight was marketed as a Delta flight number that was being operated by Virgin Atlantic (even the Virgin Atlantic boarding pass indicated this).  24-hours prior to my flight I was able to check-in and receive my boarding passes (mobile boarding passes only though, I was never able to receive an electronic copy of my boarding pass - neither through the website nor the app).  As part of the joint venture, they have a separate Sky Priority lane at the Virgin check-in desks in London so that is where we went to drop off our luggage.  Check-in process was fairly quick and we then proceeded to to the gate for our flight.  In the check-in area, Virgin was offering complimentary ice cream for its passengers, which a nice gesture as it was hot outside but generally it was a bit extra customer service.  

When we went to the gate, the plane was there and the screen had the Virgin Atlantic sign but the flight number was the Delta flight number (I still found this odd, that I had to search for the Virgin flight number).  The operating aircraft was an Airbus A330 in a 2-4-2 configuration.  The red distinct color of Virgin was prevalent throughout the cabin, but the plane did look a bit dated.  The seat also looked a bit dated, especially with the red fabric.  The seat itself was decent, not too narrow but not too wide either and the seat pitch was decent enough for the flight time.  The seatback contained a small PTV with a remote next to it, a USB port, a tray table, and a pocket which contained the safety card and airline magazine.  Each seat also contained a wrapped blanket, a pillow as well as complimentary headset.  Once boarding was completed and the doors closed, a safety video was shown and we took off for Atlanta with a scheduled flight time of 9hr 15min.  Even though Delta provided an amenity kit, no amenity kit was provided on Virgin's flight.

Once we reached cruising altitude, the attendants came back to hand out menu cards.  There were many announcements throughout the flight of Virgin trying to go green, so instead of passing out menu cards why not just put the menu on the PTV as other airlines do?  While the menu cards were a nice gesture, they seemed to be a waste of paper (in my opinion).  The first service was drinks only and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks were served along with pretzels, in Virgin's distinct color glasses.  The second service was the main meal service, with special meals served alongside regular meals.  Virgin's claims its meals to be healthier and incorporate better ingredients than its competitors, but the portion was small.  I ordered a vegetarian meal and that came with a small main dish, a salad, and dressing (the main meals did not come with much more).  While it was nice and healthy, it was neither flavorful nor substantial at all.  Water and drinks were available in the back cabin throughout the flight, but there were not as many snacks available on Virgin as were available on Delta.  About 2 hours prior to landing, an English Tea Service was provided which was a small sandwich, a dessert, as well as coffee or tea.  The Tea Service was definitely tastier than the meal service, but again it was small in portion size.  

In between the meal service, passengers could do what they wanted to occupy the time.  As it was a day time flight - the flight departed London at 10:10am and arrive into Atlanta at 2:40pm - most passengers were up and occupied their time with the entertainment system.  There was a nice variety of movies and TV shows and it was enough to cover the 9hr flight time.  The flight attendants were also always present throughout the flight, either walking down the aisles, talking to passengers, or relaxing in the back. 

Overall, it was an average flight with Virgin Atlantic.  Based on their reputation and branding, I expected to be wowed but I was not.  Positives were good customer service, friendly FA's and decent entertainment system.  Average were seat pitch and seat comfort, while negatives included small food portions and no amenity kit.  The ultimate decision maker is whether I would fly them again - and the answer while I would not avoid Virgin, they wouldn't be my first choice either.  Both them and Delta were nice, but it was an expensive ticket so what was paid for and the reputation I expected something great and what I received was a bit above average.

Trip Report: Delta Airlines, Atlanta to London Heathrow (August 2019)

Trip Report: Delta Airlines, Atlanta to London Heathrow
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was traveling from Atlanta to London Heathrow and since Atlanta is Delta's hub, the most flight options and availability was through Delta Airlines.  It was very easy to book the flight on Delta's website, and both through the website and app I was able to manage the booking which included preselecting my seat, my meals as well as other special requests.  For my flight sector, the outbound was being operated by Delta while the return was being operated by Virgin Atlantic (check out that review here).  On transatlantic flights, the ticket on Delta includes complimentary meal as well as one checked bag at 23kg.  I had never flown Delta internationally so I was excited to try their product.

I was able to check-in 24hours before my flight and receive my mobile boarding passes; however, because it was an international flight and we had bags to check we proceeded to the check-in counter.  As part of our group had 'Sky Priority' this meant that we could check-in at the Sky Priority counter and could board with Sky Priority.  We arrived at the airport about 2 hours prior to the flight and there was no one at the check-in counters so it was very easy and quick to check our bags and confirm our boarding passes; the agent who assisted us did his job but he was not overly customer friendly.  We went through security and proceeded to our gate - our flight was scheduled to board at 9:05p with a departure of 9:55pm.  The flight seemed very full and there were lots of people crowded near the gate, especially as the boarding time came and went without any announcement.  They finally announced that the boarding time would be delayed as the cleaning crew was delayed so that meant every process was delayed.  We finally started boarding at 9:30pm.

The operating aircraft was an Airbus A330-200 in a 2-4-2 configuration.  The condition of the plane was decent as the plane did not look brand new but also did not look really old.  The interior and the seats had been updated but you could tell the age of the plane with the overhead and the AC vents.  The seat itself was generally comfortable with decent seat padding and the legroom was also decent - I am 6'1 and while my knees were not hitting the seat pocket, they definitely were not stretching out either.  The seat width was also comfortable in that you had enough room to move without hitting your neighbor.  On the seat was a pillow and blanket and the seatback had a PTV with a USB and headphone jack on the bottom, and underneath the PTV was the tray table plus the seatpocket which contained the airline magazine, safety card, and sickness bag.  A plug was also available on the bottom of the next to the underseat storage, but there was one plug so it had to be shared between seatmates.  The boarding was complete, the front doors closed, and we finally took off about 30 minutes behind schedule.

The PTV was not operational as soon as we boarded, but it was switched on after the safety video was shown.  The PTV had a good movie selection and an average TV selection, in my opinion their movie selection was better than their TV selection as the movie selection had a wider range to select from - and there was definitely enough to keep you occupied for the 8hr 10min flight (although not sure if the selection was good for a significantly longer flight).  During taxi, the FAs came around and handed out full-botter water, menu cards, plastic earbuds, and a packet with socks, eyeshades, and earplugs.  I appreciated both the water - as its important to stay hydrated during the flight - and the menu card - as it is a nice touch (some airlines provide the menu in the PTV to be more environmentally friendly and I would prefer that) and the pouch and earbuds were also nice - especially since many Western (American and European) carriers have stopped providing these. 

An hour into takeoff the inflight service started.  Drinks plus pretzels were provided followed by the main meal plus drinks, then coffee and tea, as well as water - full bottles of water were available throughout the flight and that was a nice aspect.  The meals were decent in terms of size and flavor - I have been on airlines that serve more and have been on airlines that serve way less so this was in the middle.  Once the meal trays had been cleared, passengers were left to get some sleep on this overnight flight.  In the back gallery, drinks, biscoff cookies, cheese crackers, and water were available and FAs were available if you needed something but I did not see them passing through the aisle.  About 2 hours prior to landing, the lights came back up as a light snack/breakfast was being served.  The breakfast came in a little pouch that had a bagel, cream cheese, juice and butter.  It was not a substantial breakfast but a small snack to tide you over until the arrival.  Even though we left late, strong tailwinds helped us make up that time plus gain more so we landed a bit early but it took a while to taxi and deplane.  

Overall, it was a decent flight with Delta.  My previous international experience with American carriers had not been pleasant (with United and American) and generally American carriers don't have the greatest reputation for international service - so given all this my expectations were low.  Despite that, Delta offered a nice seat with decent amenities, nice PTV selection, and good customer service.  Generally, Delta's ticket prices are a bit higher than its competitors but with a higher fee comes higher expectations and Delta delivers on that.

Trip Report: Delta Airlines - New Orleans to New York, JFK Airport (domestic - October 2016)

Trip Report: Delta Airlines, New Orleans to New York JFK

comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I needed to go to New York and originally I had booked a United direct flight to Newark (United has been having a lot of sales lately).  I had almost completed my purchase when Delta launched their sale and I was able to book a 'Basic Economy' fare from New Orleans to New York for $215 roundtrip.  This flight was non-stop on the way outbound and a transit in Atlanta on the return.  Delta launched their 'basic economy' fares a little while ago - the fares are low but they are heavily restricted; no upgrades, paid or otherwise, no changes, no cancellations, and no seat assignments until check-in.  Other than these restrictions, there is no difference in on-board service between basic economy and regular economy.  Given this, I decided to try it out and booked the fare.

The outbound was a direct flight which departed New Orleans at 11am and arrived into New York, JFK at 3:15pm.  Given the fare I had booked, I was not able to pre-select my seat until I checked in 24-hrs prior to the flight.  When I checked in, there were plenty of seats available – some aisle and some window but all in the back of the plane.  There was a middle seat in the front of the plane so I chose that one – there was a comfort plus seat available, but with the restricted fare you cannot purchase upgrades on any flight.  I did not have any luggage so I proceeded through security and directly to the gate.  The boarding time was 30 minutes prior to departure, and we boarded on time and relatively quickly.  The flight was operated by an Airbus A319 in a 3-3 layout and the legroom was really good.  I am a tall person, and there was definitely enough legroom for me and my stuff underneath my seat.  Even though I was in the middle seat, it did not feel tight or cramped at all.  We boarded, taxied and took off before our scheduled departure.

On-board, there are a couple of different options to pass the time.  This airplane did not have any PTVs, but Delta does provide free TV shows and movies available through their app and Delta In-flight Studio.  These movies can be accessed free through Delta Wifi and my downloading the gogo inflight app.  If you do not have this app, you can download it while in air but it takes a while so its better if you download it ahead of time.  It would be nice if Delta sends an email reminding passengers to download this app the day before, similar to what Southwest does for its customers.   There are a lot of TV shows and movies available to watch so you can easily pass the time with this.  In addition to the inflight studio, there is also an inflight magazine available.  Inflight service consisted of a beverage service which started once we reached cruising altitude.  Along with beverages, pretzels, peanuts and biscoff cookies were provided.  While these complimentary snacks and beverages were nice, they were only offered once through the almost 3hr flight time; having another round of drink service, at least water would have been nice.  The flight was relatively smooth and we were scheduled to land early, but then we encountered air control traffic so we ended up landing 5 minutes behind schedule.

My return sector was not non-stop, rather I had to fly JFK to ATL, 1hr layover, and then fly ATL to MSY.   Again, due to my fare restrictions I was unable to select  a seat until 24hrs prior to departure; and the odd thing is that I was not able to select my seat from ATL to MSY – I was told that a seat would be given to me at the gate.  This is the first time I have ever experienced this, as even with low-cost airlines you are able to choose your seat; not having this choice was not very customer friendly.  No matter what Delta representative I spoke to, all they kept saying was ‘we cannot do anything, check at the gate in Atlanta.’ This was not a good start to the return journey.

My return flight departed JFK at 7pm and was scheduled to arrive Atlanta at 9:10pm.  It was operated by a Boeing 767-300ER and was in a 2-3-2 layout.  It was a very large plane, and one that Delta normally uses on its cross-country routes.  While the plane had been updated with new seats and PTVs on each seat, the plane was definitely an older plane (the overhead bins and panel showed the planes age).  The legroom on this plane was decent but was not as comfortable as the A319.  The availability of PTVs, with USB and headphone ports, was a nice perk on the domestic flight.  The PTVs were available once the doors closed, and they was a wide variety of TV shows and movies available (more options were available on the PTV as compared to the ‘in flight studio’ available on the personal device).  Once airborne, inflight service commenced which consisted of a beverage service and your choice of the snack – either pretzels, peanuts, or the cookies (you were only given one of the three).  The service was decent for the 2hr flight time, and the wide selection on the PTV for the domestic flight was nice, but the seat would not be comfortable for a longer flight time.  We landed in Atlanta and taxied to the gate. 

I went to the gate for the New Orleans flight and received my boarding pass at the time, and I was assigned the last seat in the plane.  I had requested a closer seat and was told that no seats were available; however when we were boarding my seat had been changed and moved up to the middle of the plane.  The operating plane was an MD-80 in a 2-3 layout.  The seats had been updated, but the seat pitch was tight and they were not very comfortable.  They were fine for the 1hr20min flight, but the seats would not be comfortable for anything longer.  The inflight service consisted of a beverage service plus your choice or peanuts or pretzels, no cookies were available.  Since it was a late evening flight, which departed at 11:30pm and arrived into New Orleans at 12:06am, the service was very good for the short late night flight.

Overall, it was an interesting experience with Delta.  The upgrades and added service the airline has implemented, including the various snacks and the inflight studio, are a welcomed perk for the customers.  The seats have been updated so that is also nice as well, and the inflight attendants were mostly very pleasant and nice.  The lack of seat assignments for the flight, lack of customer service from the other Delta representatives, and decreased seat comfort were some of the negatives.  In total, it was a good experience given the low cost.