For years, I've been a loyal business class AA/BA customer utilizing points and money. My flights are usually NYC-LON.
But after a poor service flight on AA yesterday, and tiring of the high fees on BA, I'm thinking of changing to Virgin Atantic.
For anyone who has flown in biz on American and Upper Class on Virgin, how would you compare the two?
Frank, from my experience Virgin was the best flight from Dulles to Heathrow in premium economy. Everything from the lighting, food, and service was well-done compared to first-class on AA or UA. As far as the latter the service on board was pitiful. I might as well have been in economy and was only in first class due to miles.
I'll be flying Air Canada for the first time in July so we'll see how they compare.
I have flown VA in upper class. It was fine and the best part is that you can take a shower in their lounge in Heathrow.
As mentioned by the previous poster, we think VA has the best premium economy(even though you don't get to shower).
The spiteful spiteful service in forward cabins on AA is really horrible. And totally standard.
The problem with Virgin is that they have poor connectivity to continue on from London. If LON is your destination that's no problem. Also, the J hard product on their a333s and 787s is sub-par.
If LON is not usually your destination, and staying within OneWorld is any motivation to you, Finnair and Iberia (that's a surprise) have the best J products in the JV, hard and soft.
Our JFK to LON flight in "upper class" on Virgin last August was a joke. Beware which craft; ours was very old and had some sort of fold out seat the crew had to do for us. We were lined up like in a dorm. They changed our seats. Never again.
Our usual is Air France or Delta direct to CDG.
VA has been my choice to London ( LAX - LHR ) since Branson established the airline. Premium Economy seat.
I take the red eye. Like the entertainment choices, the food, comfort and the staff.
Next visit I’m paying for Upper Class. Why not?
Consider also Jetblue's Mint!
I greatly enjoyed Virgin to and from LAX - LHR recently in premium econ. Glancing forward I saw that biz was full which I take to be a good sign.
I just read a travel vlog yesterday about SFO to LHR on United and the guy really went at them.
Also, the J hard product on their a333s and 787s is sub-par.,,,,,,,,,,, Finnair and Iberia (that's a surprise) have the best J products in the JV, hard and soft.
Scudder---Care to provide a decoder sheet?
Care to provide a decoder sheet?
Full fair price codes are travel vernacular used to describe thier corresponding class of service: F for First Class, J for Business Class, and Y for Economy. Premium Economy is W, but also new enough to not really have passed to the vernacular.
The hard product is the plane and the seat. The soft product is the service, including service items such as food/drink, dishware, headphones, bedding, etc...
The JV is the Joint Venture—in this case, the OneWorld transatlantic Joint Venture. Most people don't realize that the VAST majority of flights between North America and Europe are controlled by just three companies. What started as "code share alliances" evolved into integrated business units operating as one, coordinating schedules, setting pricing, and sharing profit between the parent airlines. Not all Alliance members are part of that group's JV. The OneWorld JV is made up of British, American, Iberia, Finnair, and, just recently, Aer Lingus. StarAllince is United, Air Canada, and all the Lufthansa Group airlines—Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, and Eurowings Discover. SkyTeam is Delta, Virgin, and the eponymous carriers of the AirFrance-KLM Corporation. The airlines have different JV's for markets other than transatlantic.
I think J refers to a fare class but basically means business class.
JV is joint venture or in this case perhaps one world alliance.
Hard product is the actual seat. Leg room, cubbies, foot rests, accessibility, in flight entertainment.
Soft product is the service on board and in the terminal. I would classify lounge access and quality in this category too but I’m not sure if that’s where it fits.
Edit. Oops scudder beat me to it! 😂
The Points Guy and Points Guy UK do some great comparison videos that compare the various products.
Even in spite of the VIrgin "make your bed" system I love their Upper Class. Generally great service and that fun bar area!
