I make no secret of how much I enjoy flying and to be honest I don’t mind what class I fly in, so long as I’m going somewhere nice! But both Mr P and me are proud of the amassed airmiles collections we have and always look forward to going on holiday in business class, and the occasional extra special first class treat! I’m tall and so leg room is fairly important… Exit seats and seats behind the cabin dividers are best if we’re in the cheap seats, accumulated tier points make this easier to ensure. What impresses me most is how little extra it costs to travel in premium economy and how much better it is, also the A380 economy class is almost as good as premium on an older plane leg room wise!
Let’s compare!
On the way home from Dubai we flew with Virgin, in the Virgin upper class cabin, needing to burn some miles Mr P had collected through work travels before they expired!! A totally new experience and one that of course had to be compared to the BA one that I’m fond of!
Outbound we did BA first and it would be unfair to compare this to upper class – whilst both are the top level product, the first class experience is something exclusive and very different to the business class machine!
4 things I like about upper compared to club:
1. I can see the appeal more if I was travelling on business as each seat is separate from all others and so there is privacy. There’s no need to communicate diagonally across the gap when waiting for takeoff in the way one might with BA if you don’t get online early and pick a good seat! Not so sociable however in upper if you are travelling with your other half, a shame they don’t have the seating choice that club has, and that club doesn’t have the option to sit alone like this!
Tricky to have a conversation!
2. The footstool is always accessible – this was nice as it means I had my feet up as soon as I was boarded, a very comfortable way to pass time waiting to push back, glass of fizz in hand! The club one folds down after take off and makes up part of the bed once reclined.
3. Rather than trolley service like in club, it is waited/tray service. This is a nice touch and makes eating feel more like an event than a process! However, I think this is the reason why after take off, when everyone needs to make a trip to the toilet, the front toilet is shut due to food preparations blocking it off… Not ideal – one loo for a cabin this size wasn’t ideal! The toilets do have cowshed products in them, this is nice!
Definite novelty value sitting at the bar at 36,000ft
4. Pyjamas and bedding come as standard (although I had to ask for my pi’s) and very comfortable they are too. With BA this is a perk of first class and as such the club experience is limited to good quality blankets that could do with being a bit bigger and more snuggly. The upper class seat becomes a proper, comfortable bed – so where it falls down on socialising with a travelling companion, it is much better for peaceful sleep that the BA equivalent. That said – on club flights where I have been right at the back of the cabin by the window, or where we’ve travelled in the middle seats, I’ve slept untroubled without the need of pi’s and a duvet!
4 things I like about club compared to upper:
1. The club cabin isn’t overcrowded. BA are clever in that they split the bigger cabins so that they do feel more exclusive and are as a result quieter. The upper cabin is crammed full of seats and has narrow aisles, it also looks messy because of all the pillows that are stored behind the seats. Virgin have been clever with the lighting and removing the middle luggage storage (why would you do that…) to make it look more airy, but there is no getting away from the fact that the seats are crammed in!
An airy cabin, by doing away with overhead storage!
2. The wash bags have just been updated, I haven’t flown with them since they were, but they are looking good and seem well received. I love that BA finally give us pens (and am very fond of my first class ones!). Hindsight is a marvellous thing though, I was starting to snub the old BA one as I’d seen it so many times before, but then we flew upper class home and I realised just how good it actually was in comparison…!
Check out the “amazing” amenity kit….
3. Choice of drinks is much better and of a higher quality in club. I felt that Virgin kind of dine out on gimmicks a little much – so the champagne glass shape is different (whoever thought that was a good idea during turbulence) and the bar is a nice touch (but would open up the cabin so much more if it wasn’t there, nice as it is to sit at the bar and chat to the friendly cabin crew), but there is still only one champagne, so you aren’t in luck if you like rose!
The salt and pepper pots are now made of plastic and on the bottom say ‘pinched from’! Virgin wised up to how many of the metal ones had been pinched…
4. BA food is bankably good, and there always tends to be too much, I don’t believe I have ever managed to finish an afternoon tea serving in club! Virgin disappointed me, however this may not be standard. I have a dairy free diet which is far from challenging and I had pre-ordered my meal… This has not been a problem with BA long haul before. I was interested to know how this would go given the flight included afternoon tea… The main meal was fine, uninteresting, but fine. Afternoon tea was so bad the cabin crew were embarrassed! Virgin managed to cobble together lettuce and tomato sandwiches, and orange segments… I made a complaint as it is not acceptable given the price of the flight, however it took two efforts to get more than an apology and a promise of better standards in future! An apology doesn’t really do it on a £1k flight… Saving grace – they managed to serve it on brown bread, many places get that wrong and use white bread which includes milk products…
What a fine feast…
Where does that leave me…
The Virgin experience is no doubt better value for money looking at the price points. I might consider looking at their sales in future because of this. But with no shortage of miles with BA, and with so many more route options, as well as the winning ways above, it’ll always be BA (that is until I try another carrier that does it better of course!!). We didn’t fly out of a major Virgin hub airport and so didn’t get to enjoy the Clubhouse experience, from what I can tell this is the airline’s piece de resistance and a flight without this definitely lacks the spendour that one might expect travelling in their most premium of classes.
As for first class, well its great and will remain a treat we get excited about on rare special occasions….
All holidays should start with fizz, first class lounge regardless
That is a really thorough comparison, very useful indeed. I love this: “Afternoon tea was so bad the cabin crew were embarrassed!” That totally paints the picture, great description.
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The hostie offered to put it on a tiered plate if it would make it look any better 😉
This would be a dream for my husband who has long legs and always suffers on long flights. To be honest I fly a lot in Europe and because the flights are shorter I wouldn’t spend my own money to upgrade froam an economy seat but I can see that it’s worth treating yourself if you have some air miles to use up
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always watch out for the just before flying upgrades – they are often good value for what you get. agree – not much point on a short haul unless a good deal in the sale. it is the overnight flights, or longer than 6 hours, when these really come into their own!
I can see how Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic might be deemed less sociable if you are travelling with someone. However, it perhaps depends on where they are sitting relative to you. Also, it should perhaps be noted that he footstool can be used as a seat directly opposite you. I saw people doing this although it obviously limits your own leg room (and means they’re not in their actual seat).
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it is good that there is that option yes, but I think the footrest size must vary by plane as whoever sat on the footrests on our plane would need to be very petite indeed 😉
I would love to fly on the A380, mainly just so that I could say that I have done so! I have never flown anything but Economy class and for the most part I just cannot justify spending the extra dollars/pounds to pay for anything but this class. Of course, there are perks just like there are with anything in life if you are willing to pay more but honestly do they far enough outweigh the costs? I personally very much doubt it.
I know that legroom is a major issue and being tall, this would be my primary benefit of paying the extra fare. Aside from that, I just don’t think that I could do it….so I will stick to the good, old economy class with the commoners in the back of the plane!
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a colleague has said that the emirates A380 economy needs to be seen to be believed, so I think I’d like to fly on that! the Qantas one was good (space wise and for quietness), and emirates are in a different league again! It’s tricky – we fly up front due to airmiles (or if flying with work) which softens the cost and when spending a lot on hotels, it is nice to have the holiday comfort start at the airport. but I agree – I wouldn’t want to be paying for full price tickets! and the trouble is now that I know what I like, it’s even harder to go back to not flying in business! watch out for the premium economy upgrades as they are not normally much and the food and space has always been significantly better for the price difference.
saying all that – the best up front experience comes from an unexpected upgrade – they are just awesome, everytime!! fingers crossed airline company allegiance gets you one, but then you’ll want to do it everytime
And if I go back to where this all began… it was the time about 10 years ago when my husbands friend upgraded us on a Cape Town flight to bells and whistles treatment… So I blame him for my expensive tastes entirely!!
Yeesh, they didn’t handle the Afternoon Tea disappointment very well at all, did they? Surprising, as you are right, higher flight fares should equal better apologies. You did have me at “bar” though…lol! Nice work.
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with BA they do – I once reported that the first class lounge in Oman didn’t have functioning wifi (I don’t always have a moan, but I needed it to do work emails) and BA gave me 20,000 airmiles! Haha – the bar was definitely a novelty, shame there wasn’t wifi on the flight as I’d have loved to do a 36000ft check in foursquare!!
I am very jealous. It all sounds good to me!!
We flew Virgin Australia between Melbourne and LA recently. I saw the bars. I really wish I could have visited it!!
I am very jealous. It all sounds good to me!!
We flew Virgin Australia between Melbourne and LA recently. I saw the bars. I really wish I could have visited it!!
I have gotten free upgrades to first class from time to time on flights within the US, usually short haul flights. But never anything quite like this. It would be nice to do it at least once on a flight to Europe!
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Short haul in Europe is typically less than 4 hours so the club experience is only really about more food and drink, hold out for a transat upgrade! I’ll never forget how silly excited I was on a ba flight to Singapore. Was flying out to meet my husband and had a last minute (expensive) economy seat! Thankfully knew the captain so I got upgraded to the last bed up front – massive grin when the purser came to find me and take me ‘somewhere more comfortable mrs Parker’….
I have gotten free upgrades to first class from time to time on flights within the US, usually short haul flights. But never anything quite like this. It would be nice to do it at least once on a flight to Europe!
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Short haul in Europe is typically less than 4 hours so the club experience is only really about more food and drink, hold out for a transat upgrade! I’ll never forget how silly excited I was on a ba flight to Singapore. Was flying out to meet my husband and had a last minute (expensive) economy seat! Thankfully knew the captain so I got upgraded to the last bed up front – massive grin when the purser came to find me and take me ‘somewhere more comfortable mrs Parker’….
Oh boy, first class all the way every time if possible 😉
Just followed you on Twitter so I can read more travel gems 🙂
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first class if money was no object 😉 at least virgin confirmed to me it is worth avoiding them in the future! useful research to justify real luxury in future!!! i will find you and follow you back!
Oh boy, first class all the way every time if possible 😉
Just followed you on Twitter so I can read more travel gems 🙂
What a great write up and comparison! We only ever travel in economy as we can’t justify the extra expense for just a few hours but lately have been dreaming about going first class one day…we’ve paid a bit more to fly with Emirates to Mauritius/SA in a couple of months and to us that will seem like luxury compared to normal, ha ha. But one day, I’ve promised hubbie we will get to fly in style, guess I’d better get collecting those air miles! 🙂
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It is all about the air miles and being flexible on the destination! Work business travel certainly does help notch up the miles and tier points though! But now I am worried about an easy jet flight in September – so it isn’t all good!
What a great write up and comparison! We only ever travel in economy as we can’t justify the extra expense for just a few hours but lately have been dreaming about going first class one day…we’ve paid a bit more to fly with Emirates to Mauritius/SA in a couple of months and to us that will seem like luxury compared to normal, ha ha. But one day, I’ve promised hubbie we will get to fly in style, guess I’d better get collecting those air miles! 🙂
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It is all about the air miles and being flexible on the destination! Work business travel certainly does help notch up the miles and tier points though! But now I am worried about an easy jet flight in September – so it isn’t all good!