On our recent trip to the States, we were lucky enough to not only fly in Virgin Atlantics Upper Class but to do so on their brand new A330-900Neo Aircraft. We took this incredible opportunity to take an in-depth look at the Aircraft and see how this NEW cabin compares to Virgin’s other upper-class cabins.
Newest Fleet in the Air?
For quite a few years now Virgin Atlantic has had quite a problem with the age and quality of some of its airplanes. The 747 was forgivable as it was such an Iconic Craft, but with its retirement due to the pandemic and the issues surrounding its 787 Rolls Royce engines, meant the Airline was operating some pretty substandard aircraft on some of its routes. Most notably it’s leased A330-200 and its own A330-300 Aircraft. Obviously, as an Airframe these are perfectly good airplanes, and we have no issue from a safety standpoint of flying on either of these, but from a comfort point of view, these cabins were seriously showing their age.
Fortunately, Virgin refused to sit on its laurels and has been undertaking a HUGE fleet overhaul and is now operating one of the newest fleets on the planet (for now at least). The latest and most modern of these to enter service was the brand new A330-900Neo. We could not wait to get aboard this place and when we finally did we were lucky enough to fly in the Upper Class Cabin. So let’s see how it Stacks up against Virgin’s other Upper-Class Cabins.
Virgin Atlantic’s A330neo Upper Class
For this Review, we are focusing mainly on this NEW upper-class cabin and less on the overall product. We have several in-depth reviews detailing the service and overall package of the Upper Class service so there is no need to go over old ground. The overall package is pretty similar regardless of what bir you are flying on, the main differences will be with the actual cabin and your seat so these are our focus here.
Virgin Atlantic – Upper-Class Review A350-1000
Virgin Atlantic – Upper-Class 787 Dreamliner
The Airbus A330Neo
The A330 is not a new aircraft, this really pains us to say that when we first started flying this was the new kid on the block and was considered state of the art and the Next Generation of Airliner. Time inevitably marches on and we are now in a situation where the A330 is long and long in the tooth, and needs replacing. And this is exactly what Virgin is doing with the A330-300 Aircraft all being replaced by the A330-Neo in the coming years.
The A330Neo is Airbus’s solution to this. Really there is nothing wrong with the older model it’s just that technology moves on. Neo Stands for New Engine Option and features newer more fuel-efficient Rolls Royce Trent 7000 ultra-high bypass engines along with better aerodynamics offering an 11% reduction in fuel making this the cleanest, greenest fleet in the sky…according to Virgins press release.
As a Passenger, you are unlikely to notice much in regard to the upgrades of the Neo, however, what you WILL notice is the brand-new and updated Cabins, none more so than in Upper Class
The Fleet – Why it matters which Plane you are on!
Let’s take a quick look at how the new A330 Neo Upper Class cabin compares to the existing Upper Class Cabins.
| Feature | Airbus A350 | Boeing 787 Dreamliner | A330-900 Neo | A330-300 |
| Layout | 1-2-1 angled Pods | 1-1-1 Herringbone | 1-2-1 Front Facing Privacy Pods | 1-1-1 Herringbone |
| Seat / Pod | Lie Flat Semi-Private Pod | Reversible Lie-Flat Open Cubicle | 360° Privacy Pod – Fully Lie Flat | Reversible Lie-Flat Open Cubicle |
| Socail Space | The Loft – Social Area | Upper Class Bar | The Loft – Small Social Space | Upper Class Bar |
| IFE Screen Size | 18.5-inch touchscreen | 11.1-inch touchscreen | 17.3-inch Touch Screen / 27-Inch Retreat Suite | 11.1-inch touchscreen |
| Seat Width | 22-inch | 22-inch | 22-Inch | 22-inch |
| Bed Width | 22-inch | 33-inch | 22-inch | 33-Inch |
| Bed Length | 6-foot 7-inch | 6-foot 6-inch | 6-foot 7-inch | 6-foot 6-inch |
| USB Power | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| UK/US Plug | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wireless Cahrgin | No | No | YES | No |
As you can see there is quite a difference between the different models and this is not always very clear when booking. It can be quite a disappointment if you see all of Virgin’s Promotional material and end up on the A330-300 with the tired old herringbone layout! And it gets worse to be honest.
Booking Experience
We managed to secure a really good deal on flying upper class with Virgin Atlantic. The flight cost a mere £694 per person, flying out to New York in Upper Class and returning to London Heathrow in Premium. A heck of a bargain, when you consider upgrade bids for upper class start at around £500, and you can easily pay well over £1000 per person return just for Premium!
This is not typical. Expect Upper Class to range from £1000 per person each way to up to £2000! It’s a lot of money but you can bag a bargain, or use one of our tips and tricks to get into the Upper Class Cabin for less.
Naturally, we snapped up this deal, and what was more the outbound flight was to be on the Brand New A330 Neo! so we were very excited.
However, a few weeks after booking we got the dreaded E-Mail from Virgin about flight alterations. And the A330 Neo, which we had not flown on yet was being replaced with an A350 for our flight…bummer.
So we jumped on the phone, and did a bit of haggling and negotiating with Virgin and ended up swapping out our return flight for one on the New Neo aircraft…and also managed to get ourselves upgraded to upper using our points…a pretty decent outcome, all things considered.
However, this really shows the problem of Virign swapping the planes out. Even if like us, you know your onions, know exactly what plane you want, and ensure when booking you ensure you are on the right plane, there is nothing stopping Virgin from swapping out that plane and replacing it with an older less comfortable model. This really can feel like a bait-and-switch tactic, whereas it’s nothing of the sort just regular operational issues for Virgin, but the effect on the customer can be quite profound. We got bumped for the A350, which is probably our favorite of the fleet, so there would have been no harm done, apart from the fact we are Travel Writers planning a trip to Review the New Cabin! But they could have swapped us for the 787 or 1330-300 which is a much lower quality of cabin (although they still have their upside and some people prefer them)
What’s most annoying is just not knowing which aircraft you are going to get, making planning and avoiding disappointments almost impossible. FWIW this is the first time Virgin has done this to us, it is normally just the times that change, but we hear about it all the time.
You can read about the outbound flight here, the rest of this review takes place after our amazing Upstate and Midwest Halloween adventure!
Virgin Clubhouse JFK – New York
One advantage of flying Upper Class with Virgin is you get to use one of Virgin’s CLubhouses or Oartner Loungers. There are only a handful of Airports that actually have a Clubhouse, and JFK is one of those, so we start our Upper Class experience here in the clubhouse.
Check-in and Security were a breeze as we got an Upperclass Check-in line and Priority Security, meaning we got from Kurbside to Lounge in around 40 minutes including a little shopping.
There is no time limit on the lounge so we got there nice and early, despite a pretty horrid drive in through manic Manhattan TRaffic. We headed into the lounge and got a nice spot in the pretty quiet lounge right by the windows overlooking the Airport.
The design of the lounge is inspired by New York City Architecture. It has Cool Britania Vibes along with New York Themes such as the Skyline-inspired Woodwork that meanders around the Chaotic layout of the Lounge.
The food was excellent, with some delicious Chicken wings, A fantastic Chicken and Leon Burger, New York Cheesecake, and a great Cheeseboard our choices.
Drinks were also excellent with endless Champagne Pours and some great cocktails along with a few Local Brews.
Overall it is a great lounge, and we had an amazing time there, you can read our full review here, or if you want to read our London Heathrow Clubhouse Review that is here.
The Upper Class Cabin and Seat
After turning left, the Cabin is at the front of the aircraft and has a seriously swanky look and feel to it. All 32 seats are front-facing and have their very own private cabin. The Middle seats have a central divider, but unlike the A350 this is a full-length divider and completely blocks out the other passenger when up. However when down you can chat away happily, as we obviously did as we know each other (quite well as we are married).
The window seats feel even more private, but the design of the seats means they alternate either being close to the window or close to the aisle. If you want to look out the window then choose a seat that is closer.It is also worth noting as the A330neo still uses the same airframe as the old A330 the windows are pretty small, especially compared to the huge windows fitted to the 787!
Other than that the pods offer 360° privacy. The only issue is that they are open top so Crew or other passengers can peer into the Cubicle, but this is to be expected.
The seat is a large comfy leather recliner. It moves about electronically via a rather complicated Control panel. The seat movements never really felt like they matched the buttons you were pushing, but you just need to keep fiddling to get a comfy position.
We feel the pod is much better designed than the A350. That pod is maligned by the fact it’s angled outwards, making you feel twisted, and the way the seat moves can make you feel trapped. There is also a lack of storage space and we ended up losing my phone (into the bowels of the seat) and having to store even small items up in the overhead. The A330neo is much better with loads of little cubby holes, a super cool bag hook, Wireless charging shelf for your phone and just feels way more convenient.
However, the trade-off for this is the limited room. Upon settling in it felt tight. We are both pretty small people and sideways space was limited. There was lots of room to stretch out, but the width definitely was restricted.
We got served our Glass of Bubbly on Arrival and had dinner and cruise drink orders taken. Discussed breakfast preferences, and received our Virgin Atlantic Sleep Suit (PJs) along with a nice Amenities kit containing a toothbrush, pen, eye mask, earplugs, socks, and various toiletries. It was then off up into the air as we rode the Jet Stream home.
Upper-Class Dining
Dinner Service
We usually love the menu options in Upper Class and this flight was offering some of our favorites so we were really looking forward to it. We got our first drink almost straight away, and dinner came less than 30 minutes after taking off. the flight was only 5-6 hours so the aim here is to get everyone fed so we can all get some sleep. There is an option for a Speedy supper if you are really eager to get yourself off to sleep, or you could eat in the Lounge and skip it altogether. We did both, eating in the lounge and having the full 3-4 course meal on board!
The Starter was a choice of Smoked Duck or Beetroot Tartre, which is no choice at all! The Duck was excellent. It was lightly smoked and a really good portion of meat. Maybe an acquired taste for some but divine for us.
The Mains were a bit more mixed. We had pre-ordered which gives you a few more options. I couldn’t resist the Lobster, calm, and Calamari Parella, and Kate went for the Chicken Meatballs with Truffle pasta. The Paella was great. The seafood stood up surprisingly well to being nuked in an Airline Galley and the rice had a good flavor. The Meatballs were a disaster though. They were really dry and flavorless, a big disappointment.
Dessert was an Almond Berry Cake with Cream or a Chocolate Mouse Cake. The Almond berry cake was really good, nice, and comforting, but the Cake felt a little like those cheap frozen desserts you get at Ikea!
We skipped the Cheeseboard but did both order up some port as an after-dinner tipple. Overall a pretty mixed meal, with highs and lows for both of us. But this is not really unique to the A330neo and could apply to any of the aircraft.
The one unique point was the tray table. This really felt cheap and nasty. It fits nicely in the side unit when not in use. But when extended out felt flimsy and wobbled about a lot. The A350 and 787 Tables are far more sturdy and secure.
Drinks
the drinks flowed all night. We only got a single service, as well as wine with the meal, but that was due to the Cabin operating a night flight. The crew appeared moments after pressing the call button and would rush you with anything you liked from the pretty high-end menu.
We would have to drive at some point after arriving in London so kept the drinks to a minimum, but there was an excellent array of wines, some great craft ales, and top-shelf liquors on offer. Virgin has really amped up the Alcohol-Free options too with several Booze-free options as well as regular soft drinks, teas, and coffees.
Breakfast
Night flights are horrible, even for Upper Class. Even the best breakfast can be hard to stomach after Flowing alcohol and not enough sleep. But this one…really turned my stomach. The centerpiece was the undercooked sausage, and really from that everything just went down very difficultly even the smell was enough to …you know. Kate ordered a Breakfast Bap and this seemed much more palatable and seemed the better option, but as you discuss breakfast options at the beginning of the flight you don’t really know.
You do get the option of not having a breakfast. The Crew will simply let you sleep right u until the moment they require you to revert the Seat to its upright position for arrival. Honestly, this would have been the better option as the flight was so short we really did not get any meaningful sleep, this was made worse by the poor seat design, which we will get onto.
Overall the food service was a little below par. This is not down to the particular aircraft but just this particular service. We do always find the return flights a little poorer as the caterers are not Virgins usual Home Base choice. As we said the breakfast was dire, but nothing would have sufficed, but we do find with the day flights the snack menu served later on is FAR better than the Breakfast.
Inflight – Entertainment – System
Vera
Overall the IFE System is the best we have come across, but this is merely a product of tech advancements. Touch Screen Tech moves so fast that even a couple of years means you can get a bigger better screen for less money than you could. This really shows in the 787 Cabin where the screens are very old, compared to the large screens in the A350 and the even better screens in the A330neo.
Super bright, high resolution, and really responsive to touch, it was a joy to watch stuff on. But there were a couple of downsides. One there was no tail cam or belly cam, or any way to track the flight. This is fine for most of the flight, but as we were in the middle seats there was no way to see what was going on during take-off or landing.
Then there was the seat position, which meant most of the time the touch screen was too far away. This is an odd complaint when you think of Economy where the screen is almost touching your nose after the person in front slams their seat back. But it is a bit of an issue, as it is the fact you can’t reach the light and call button without standing up.
Fortunately, there is a small remote control that solves all these issues. It’s a bit fiddly for complex navigation but for starting, stopping, pausing, calling crew, etc it’s perfect. If you are looking for a film you can just mean forward a little.
The Big Issue with VERA is the catalog. This is a common issue across all cabins and aircraft for Virgin, but really there is just not that much to watch! You do get some ice new releases, but the back catalog is very thin. For this flight there really was on;y a couple if films we wanted to see between us. In the end I spent more time listening to music than watching Films. VERA used to be so good but now it’s very poor, especially compared to many rival airlines catalogs! We flew into JFK on a Domestic American Airlines flight and the catalog of films on there was 10x VERA’s and in a world where we are used to endless streaming services it feels very restricted.
Connectivity
There was a great little power outlet plate. This had a US/UK plug, several USB connectors, including USB-C, and even a wireless charging plate. This is the best selection of charging points we have seen in any Virgin Cabin.
There is also WIFI available but we were on a night flight and were quite happy to unplug for a while.
The Loft – Social Space
All Upper Class Cabins have a Social Space and Virgin’s offering on the A330Neo is the Loft. On the A330 and the 787, there is a Bar area and on the A350 there is also a space called the Loft (The Leisure configuration only has a tiny space called The Booth for two people). Of these, the Loft on the A330Neo is our least favorite!
The Seating area is designed to be at perch height rather than seated height and we found this pretty uncomfortable, giving you the feeling you are not supposed to be loitering here long. The Loft on the A350 feels much more welcoming.
While the Bars on the A330 and 787 sound amazing they are little more than a raised table with a few bar stools. There is no bartender and No Bar as such. You will still need to ask a member of the cabin crew to get you a drink from the Galley. However, you will be able to grab a seriously envy-inducing selfie of yourself at the bar at 30,000ft!
The Saving grace could be the self-serve fridge, however, ours was not stocked so pretty useless. There was a small selection of snacks on offer such as crisps, fruit, and granola bars.
Overall while the Loft is a bit of a let down it’s still nice to have a spot you can head to to stretch your legs and get a change of scene. We often have a fun time in these spaces chatting with other passengers or even the Cabin Crew…in fact it’s usually the cabin crew. nive
The Retreat Suite
The Retreat Suite is Virgin’s new flagship Cabin and really we are not sure of the point of it. After booking an Upper-Class Seat you have to wait until 14 days before the flight for the avaibility to open up. Then for £200, you can book one of two Retreat Suite Cabins. These are in the middle and right at the front.
These are larger cabins with a larger screen but really apart from that smug feeling you get from having the best seat in the house you do not get a lot for your money. The biggest selling feature is that it can convert and you can have an intermate 2-person dinner, or open both suites up and have a 4-person dinner…assuming you know other people in Upper-Class. It’s all a bit unscary and we are happy with our cheaper pods right behind.
The only real advantage is the extra room does help a little with the following issues.
Sleeping in the Sky: Bedding and Comfort
When the A330Neo was announced with its full 360° privacy pod we were pretty excited. Having your own little space on a plane where you can blank out all other passengers is a real slice of luxury. It’s one thing we really don’t like about the other cabins. So after dinner, after a Baileys Hot Chocolate, after finishing off our Movies and donning our Virgin Atlantic PJs it was time to convert the Seat into a BED!
This is always the most exciting part of the Upper-Class experience and after a long day, we were looking forward to some rest. The bed converts electronically, as seen in the Video at the top of the Page, and then you can fit the Virgin bedding on top, or get the Cabin Crew to do it for you. You won’t have to ask, just stand there looking lost and someone will ask to help out.
Once converted and once in the bed with the privacy doors shut the real problem of this bed became apparent. It was apparently designed for Dracula!
The bed is really low down, almost on the floor, and with the cabin rising up one side and the storage cabinet the other you just have a small, claustrophobic, Coffin-shaped space in which to sleep. This tails off towards the Foot box giving you very little room to move around.
We are not large people at all, Kate is a mere 4ft10, but we both still felt very restricted. I was so uncomfortable I ended up reverting to a more upright position and simply snoozed listening to music rather than trying to get proper sleep in the Coffin.
The A350 is a much better bed to sleep in and while the foot box is still limited, there is more space high up as your arms can hang over the side, giving you much more space. However, the 787 is actually the best of the bunch as far as sleeping goes. The bed actually flips over and offers a fully flat surface. You also get the full width of the pod as space and if feels far more roomy and there is NO foot box. This issue with the 787 id the lack of privacy and the risk the cabin crew or passenger might knock your feet, but overall it’s way more comfy.
For this reason the the A330Neo would be in third place on any flight you want to actually sleep on. A real surprise for us as we wholly expected this to be the winner. We love the Cabin for day flights and probably have it top for many routes (the 787 can take on a real oarty vibe on certain routes such as Vegas and Orlando) but for actually getting some real sleep we are not fans at all. However some people might actually like the cramped sleeping position, maybe you will find it cozy…or maybe you are actually a Vampire. No Coffin lids were provided, however!
Service and Hospitality by Virgin Atlantic Crew
We are going to start this section with a little rare gripe. We love the service usually provided by the Virgin staff but on this leg of the journey, there was a slight hiccup. It was not actually in the air, but instead in the Clubhouse. Upon arrival, we actually had to wait nearly 20 mins for our first drink to arrive!
Now, we are hyper-aware that this is the very definition of First World Problems, complaining about waiting a few minutes for our free champagne. It all sounds a bit obnoxious and entitled and really we probably only mention it as we find it pretty funny hearing ourselves (working class as we are, moaning about waiting for Champagne. But actually, it’s not really a very good impression. It’s something that only takes a few seconds and makes the customer happy and it’s not like the lounge was busy at the time. Infact we are actually only mentioning it here as a contrast point to show just how utterly fantastic the Virgin Crew usually is.
It stands out as in reality, it’s about the only thing we can come up with in terms of a negative about the service element of the flight. The server in question got assigned to another table (t just happened we did not complain) and from that moment on the service was exemplary.
A glass of bubbly was put in our hands the moment we were seated, all our needs attended to before the airplane even moved. Cruise drinks arrived seconds after the Seatbelt sign went out. Dinner service was prompt and efficient and the wine glasses were never allowed to go empty.
As it was a night flight, there was no other service until breakfast but the crew was the touch of a button away, and any whim catred to with a smile.
The service on Virgin is always warm and friendly. They never go down the formal route. Like the whole brand, it’s supposed to be a bit more fun and un-stuffy and we always have such a great time with the Cabin Crew.
We had a very difficult passenger seated near us, and the way they dealt with him was phenomenal. Never breaking the boundary of being rude even when he was unsufferable the entire flight.
Comparing the A330neo to Other Business-Class Experiences
Virgin has always been our go-to airline, at least for transatlantic travel, based on cost, convenience, and just the fact we get phenomenal service, great products, and the whole vibe is just more cool and fun than the very business-like services offered by rival airlines.
This is never more evident than in the Upper Class. This is essentially Business-Class, but where the rival airlines all provide a product squarely aimed at the business Traveller, Virgin’s is more of a Leisure offer. It’s the same level of service and amenities just geared around a traveler going on Vacation not to a Meeting or conference, and this suits us to a tee.
The Neo Cabin is aimed to compete with the dazzling array of new Business-Class cabins that offer 360° Privacy such as the Club World Suite, the Delta One Sky Cabin, and Air France’s Business Class Cabins. However, most of these suffer from a similar Coffin problem that the New Virgin Seat Suffers.
The engineers seem to have delivered a solution to a problem, the lack of privacy of some Upper/Business Class Cabins, but produced another, in the form of making these private pods just feel too cramped. The only real solution is to make each cabin bigger, but the trade-off is going to be the number of seats available, which would make the cabin unprofitable or too expensive for customers…
At least Virgin has an answer to all this, you can choose your poison. Super swanky, Private pods on the A330Neo, Large comfortable sleeping space on the 787, or somewhere in the Middle in the A350. But all these are a huge improvement over BA’s Club Seat some of which are really badly designed.
The worst of the Current line-up is the A330-300 do everything you can not to be on this aircraft, but Virgin is phasing these out soon.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Overall we had a really good flight on the Neo. There are clear issues with the Seat, and there were a few niggles on our flight due to the food quality and one moment of poor service, but these are actually minor in the grand scheme of things and the overall flight was stunning.
We are a little wary of recommending this for a flight where Sleep is a priority. The Lie-Flat bed is really cramped and if you are liable to feel claustrophobic or required to sleep in certain positions, or are quite tall or wide, it could be a real issue. For this we would prefer the 787. The 787 cabin looks the most dated and some complain the Bed is a little firm, but the fact if flips over to provide a true flat surface, along with the fact it is WAY wider than the others means it just sleeps better than the other cabins.
The 787 can also be really fun on certain flights and many prefer it for PArty destinations such as Vegas and Orlando, it’s just way more interactive, but this stems from the lack of privacy.
The A350 sits somewhat in the middle. It’s got ample privacy and a really comfy seat that sleeps pretty well. All the mod-cons and ultra-modern layout. and overall feel like what Upper Class really should be. This middle ground takes the win for us, but there are some out there who really despise it. The angled seats and the fact you get a bit trapped in the pod really seem to anger some, we don’t find these issues, issues, but for some, it’s a deal breaker.
Overall, the whole package is really one we are drawn to, time and again. When we need to get across the pond, which is often, it’s always Virgin that comes out on top. The Upper Class is super fancy but still accessible and fun for all.
It is certainly not cheap at the usual price, but if you can bag a bargain like we did or use points to upgrade it’s probably our favorite way to fly.
Have Your Say
Let us know your thoughts on the A330Neo or FLying in Upperclass in General. We love hearing your tales of upper Class adventures so just fire away in the comments. And if we have missed anything and you still have some questions we would love to help out so just drop us a question in the comments.
