Virgin Atlantic Business Class. A330-300 London Heathrow to Miami. Feb 2023

 2nd Feb 2023.

The journey to Heathrow was uneventful, setting off at 04.00 we missed the worst of the traffic arriving at Heathrow at 08.15. 

I had booked ‘meet and greet’ parking so drove into terminal three short stay parking, level four and dropped the car off. Within 20 minutes we were checked in, through security and in the Virgin Clubhouse lounge. 

Sitting in the seated restaurant area I had a pot of tea and rose champagne 🥂, the grapefruit, eggs Florentine and French toast. All absolutely delicious. A good start to the holiday. 

Now it was just time to relax and wait to board VS 5, LHR to Miami. 

Virgin Clubhouse Menu London Heathrow 

Virgin Clubhouse London Heathrow 

Virgin Clubhouse London Heathrow 

We had been in the Clubhouse before Covid, and it had a hairdressers and spa area, sadly this is gone and has been replaced by Petaton machines. I did not see any one on them.  

Virgin Clubhouse London Heathrow 

Virgin Clubhouse London Heathrow 

I am glad I had a good breakfast in the Clubhouse, as the food on the aircraft was awful. 

Boarding the aircraft was easy and on time, we were greeted with a choice of Orange Juice and English sparkling wine. The Aircraft was an Airbus A330, this was a surprise as it was advertised as the new Airbus 330 neo so this aircraft had the old configuration, so the same as when I went to Delhi in 2019. The Seats are at an angle, and don't recline very well, but do make into a flat bed. 

As we boarded I was given a new boarding pass as my seat had been changed, I no longer had a window seat,  I was not asked or advised about this change.

Virgin Atlantic A330 from LHR to Miami. 

Virgin Atlantic A330 from LHR to Miami.

Some of the passengers were very angry, as they, like me had booked a window seat, and had been moved to the middle. No reason for this change was given. But once boarding was complete, the reason was seen. A full crew were placed in the vacant starboard row and were 'dead heading' to Miami. 

The take off was delayed due to a technical issue and we took off at 13.50. 1 hour late. but I would rather be safe so did not mind. 

Drinks were served, but it was mixed for you, not miniatures and my Gin and Tonic was very, very strong. 

The menu was given to me, and I was very glad I had eaten it the lounge as the choices for the mains dish were very poor. 

Virgin Atlantic Menu Flight London Heathrow to Miami 

Virgin Atlantic Menu Flight London Heathrow to Miami 

Starter= 

Chicken Parfait

Textures of Beetroot. 

Mains= 

Chicken and Mushroom Pie.

Miso and sesame crusted Salmon.

Vegetable Korma. 

Dessert=

Black Forest Gateau (BFG)

Brioche Bread and Butter pudding

Cheese Plate

As I did not like any of the mains, I asked if I could have both starters and a pudding. I was told I would have to wait as it was unlikely that any starters would be left, so which one did I want? I opted for the Beetroot. There was a choice of bread rools, but you could only have one roll; and they were very small. 

When my beetroot starter came it was very nice, but it was tiny. Just three slices of beetroot and two splodges of the goats cheese mousse.  

A passing senior crew member then asked why I did not have a main meal, I told her and she promptly came back with the Chicken Parfait, unfortunately this did not really have any taste. 

I did not get asked about pudding! My partner had the BFG, again he said it was good, but very small. 

I did get offered the cheese, it was OK. 

My advise is to eat in the Clubhouse, as the food and wine on board was really not good quality or quantity. I don't know who though Pies would be a good choice? 

The goodie bag was made of thick paper, it was black. I think it is suppose to environmentally friendly. It just looks odd.  

I did not use the entertainment system. As I made my chair into a bed and went to sleep. Each passenger had been given a tin of water, I could not work out how to open the tin; this is not due to me being stupid, the mechanism was odd, many passengers were struggling! But if you could get a drink from the tin, it was just as well as the crew disappeared for the rest of the flight. No coming around with drinks, there was a 'bar' or 'social space' at the back, but it was minimally stocked. Gone are the days where the champagne was left in an ice bucket for people to help them selves. 

As the aircraft approached Miami, there was a second service, I had the cream tea, it was just OK. My partner asked for the Chicken Caesar sandwich and the cream tea, again he was told he could only have one thing. He opted for the sandwich and it was dry. 

It sounds like we are being greedy, but this was in business class, and having flown business on Qatar, Emirates and All Nippon Airways - even British Airways, the food, drink and service on this flight was really very poor, the cost cutting was very evident. Also, we were not the only people asking for more than one of the choices, many passengers were requesting a selection. 

As we had taken off late, we landed late. Miami airport is very busy and there were long ques at immigration, once we got to the customs officer, as our paperwork was all in order,  it was a very quick service. 

Once our luggage was collected we got an Uber to Fort Lauderdale, where we were staying for the next two nights.  

Overall thoughts on Virgin Atlantic Buisness Class.

I specifically opted to fly with Virgin Atlantic as I have flown with them previously - pre Covid- and it was a positive experience. I would always choose them over BA. However, I was very disappointed with this experience and for the price of the flights it was very poor value for money.  Although the Clubhouse was good, it was not what is was, and the cutbacks in service were evident in the clubhouse and on the aircraft. Virgin may have had an funky, innovative product 20 years ago, now it looks old and dated. In the onboard magazine they were selling tinned cocktails and snacks, and all the green washing is irritating.  After my flight back to the UK, I will avoid flying with Virgin again if possible.