Delta One and Virgin Atlantic--question

I can’t answer your question about transferring your miles but I can answer about Delta One. My last 2 trips I’ve done Delta One both ways. Previously I upgraded once to the Delta One cabin on the way over.

I started out with Delta One as it was my earliest trips back to Europe after the pandemic. I thought it might be smart to be in a cabin with fewer people and more separation. It is awesome. I like the fact that no one is brushing by you during boarding and that you have your own little enclosed “nest”, 😆😆.

I’m in the middle of a 2+week trip to Orkney and Shetland and I think the fact that you can lie flat helps with getting rest on the flight over. I actually slept about 6 hours on a 9.5 hr flight from Seattle to Amsterdam.

Food is pretty good and I’m not used to the kind of service you get! Very nice.

I’d go for it if you can use your miles.

Hi, SandraL,

You might want to be more specific in your question as the title is a bit misleading. For one thing, I don't see anything about trains or cars in your question. A better title might be something like "How do I use Virgin miles for Delta flight and how is Delta One?" You will get more answers that way. :)

I can tell you that it's rare for someone to complain here about Delta One, especially considering the alternative. :)

Thank you very much!

I did change the heading for my question. I guess I was just trying to be clever there!

Delta One does sound nice. Getting sleep on the trip over is a great idea. I hadn't even thought about the "fewer people" part of it, but that is a very good point.

Delta One from Seattle to Paris and/or London is our standard way to travel for our trips.

We've done it about 10 times since COVID and we really like it. I don't know which plane Delta uses for your flight but for the Seattle trip, they use an Airbus A330-300. This should take you to a picture of the seat: https://www.sanspotter.com/delta-air-lines-a330-300-business-class-delta-one-atlanta-to-seattle/

They also sometimes use this plane, which is also nice. It's the A330-neo: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2022/03/delta-one-suite-aboard-the-a330neo-remains-solid-paxex-choice/

I love Delta's huge video offerings list. I always find something I like.

Food is good. They serve ice cream mid-flight, which makes me pretty happy each time.

It's expensive for sure but I go in with a price I can work with and then plan my trip around the cheapest flying days I can come across. Here's my tip - Tuesday flight days tend to be cheaper - at least with cash purchases. I don't know how it plays out with miles.

I can’t tell whether the flight you are considering is a Delta airplane or a Virgin airplane. I think business class differs between the two airlines in terms of seat configuration. I have flown Delta One overnight to Europe a few times, and like the privacy, comfort, and level of service. I looked at Upper Class on Virgin, but decided against it because of the way the seats on the particular plane were configured: the foot portion of the lie-flat seat seemed to jut out into the aisle. I was concerned that my feet would get jostled by passengers walking by when I was trying to sleep. So see if you can look up seating charts or find YouTube video reviews—it might give you information that would be helpful in making your decision.

I've recently flown prem econ to Europe on Delta and Virgin, and enjoyed them both. I thought Virgin did a better job though, the crew seemed friendlier and the meal service was v. good.

Just be aware that when it's time to check in, you may get shuttled back and forth a few times between Delta and Virgin depending on whose airplane/crew it actually is. At Heathrow the counters and checkin machines were right next to each other so when the blazer airline reps starting arguing with each other over which line people should be in, it was easy enough slide over.

Another issue we had, we have Global Entry so when we checked in at LAX with Delta, it was printed on our boarding passes. Then the agent grinned sheepishly and said we now had to go to the international terminal and check in again with Virgin. When we did that we got new boarding passes and, you guessed it, it didn't say Precheck. We tried to explain and show the friendly and helpful TSA agent that it was their mistake not ours, and he didn't want to hear about it.

You cannot transfer miles from one airline to another. You must use Virgin Atlantic miles from Virgin Atlantic website, only.
For May 24, 2024 and anytime that week, there are many flights on Upper Class (business) on Virgin Atlantic (none on Delta One). All flights are for 47,500 miles (cheap in miles!) per person (2 seats only per flight) + $977 (cash is high bc of fuel surcharge). This is one way JFK=>LHR (no flights to LGW). Choose aircraft carefully. On each flight, select ‘Details’ for aircraft information.
Flight #:
VS26 or VS10 or VS138(Airbus 350-1000: new largest aircraft w/new seats!)
VS4 or VS46 (Airbus 330-900neo: new aircraft/new seats)
VS154 (old aircraft/Avoid!)

Good luck!

@Accidental Southerner--The plane (Delta) is a Boeing 767-300. I think the last time I flew Virgin, it was on one of the newest planes. If I'm not mistaken, aren't the 767s a bit older?

@GeorgeB--I found VS40611 flying from JFK to LGW on Saturday, May 25, leaving at 7:30 p.m. arriving in London 8 a.m.
This is on the Virgin site so there should be no issues with booking.

Thanks for your help!

Good Luck!

Virgin Atlantic gave me a "Free ticket" in Upper Class (Virgin) due to a mess earlier this year.

I just tried to use it.... taxes and fees on a Virgin Upper Class award or free ticke to London.... $2000!!!!!!!!!! And from what I can tell that's normal with them.

Now you can't transfer miles between Virgin and Delta but you can generally book Delta flights on the VIrgin site.

Delta One is nice, but it varies by plane in terms of comfort. The "suites" are the best but they are only on limited flights.

VS4061 is a revenue-based flight. Only a hand full of flights can be booked w/miles (I believe this is what u r looking for?).

And yes, the Delta Boing 767-300 are 'extremely' old.

When searching on Delta, each flight identifies the aircraft. If it says, 'Delta One', u r getting the older business seats. If it says 'Delta Suites', u r getting the newest business seats (w/sliding door).

BTW - Yes, you can book Delta flights from Virgin Atlantic website using miles, but those are extremely limited (revenue-based flights should be no problem).

Ok, to add clarification here. I just checked on Delta website for your flight, JFK=>LGW on May 24, 2024, and Delta has that same flight as DL62 and you can book w/miles, but on Virgin Atlantic website, you can only book that same flight, VS4061, on a revenue-based flight. Unfortunately, Delta is asking for 245,000 miles + $5.60 (Delta One - old seats). To answer your question, no, you can't transfer your Virgin miles to Delta, and you are better off not doing so, bc of the high cost in miles. You are better off, just doing the JFK=>LHR using Virgin Atlantic miles + high cost of fuel surcharge + you can fly in style on their newest aircraft (new business seats!).

FYI - Talking about learning something new, it turns out Virgin Atlantic uses the flight number starting w/'VS' for both their own aircraft and their partner aircraft (in this case, VS4061, for a Delta only flight). This is awkward and confusing bc this does not distinguish your own flight (Virgin Atlantic) from your partner flights. In other words, on the Virgin Atlantic website, the flight JFK=>LGW should be listed as DL62 bc it is on Delta aircraft only. This is how all other airlines do it.

Before you pay the $2k fuel surcharge price buying a flight. I flew JFK to LHR for $2400 in business. That’s why I find the fuel charge bizarre. Not sure what I’ll do with tthis certificate

Thank you all for helping me with this. I didn't realize there were revenue-only flights.

@Carol--I don't know about your flight--but $2k sounds awfully high. I flew Virgin's upper class in May (one way) and I didn't pay anywhere near that much in revenues.

I’m flying to and from the UK in business for $2500

If I use the “free” Virgin ticket the “taxes and furled surcharges were over $2000. Excuse me. It costs almost as much to use a “free ticket”. Imho that’s a ripoff.