Virgin Atlantic Airways - VIR > Reviews > Carry On Flying!

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Poor
Customer Service	Nothing special
Punctuality	Good
Space	Comfortable
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	great in - flight entertainment, helpful stewardesses, competative rates
Disadvantages:	Not good if you have a special dietry requirement

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

So I decided to go to New York earlier this year and, on the recommendation of a good friend, opted to fly Virgin Atlantic. They had competative rates so it seemed like too good a deal to turn down.

I booked online - the process was straight-forward and I got all my confirmation emails through and everything. There was just one teeny problem - because I have a peanut allergy I would need to call Special Assistance to let them know. Impressed at the level of care and attention Virgin were offering, I picked up the phone and dialed. I repeated this process daily for about a month until I finally got through to someone at the other end. They took down the information about my allergy and I reiterated that I wanted a vegan meal on the plane. No problem they said and so it was sorted. Or so I thought!

The big day of my flight came. Check-in was smooth, everyone was lovely and helpful and I was extremely impressed with all the facilities on board. You got a "goodie bag" (with eyemask, earplugs, socks, pen and other bits and bobs), the loan of a blanket and headphones and your very own "entertainment system" on the back of the seat showing a plethora of movies, tv shows and more. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a 7 hour flight! The toilers were clean and there was a water fountain in the middle of the plane too - even the leg room wasn't too bad for economy and there was space to move about.

Then came meal time.

I was presented with my vegan meal. Then another stewardess came running over to remove my vegan meal and present me with my nut-free "vegan" meal... which was chicken stew! I did ask her on what planet chickens were vegan and she was very apologetic. She kindly prepared me a baked potato with a side salad and some fruit, although I was rather alarmed that both the bread roll and margarine served with the vegan meal contained cow's milk, which isn't vegan in the slightest. She stewardness took the time to go through the menu with me, making sure that it wouldn't happen on my return journey. We even spelled out exactly what vegans do and don't eat in black and white. I felt confident all steps had been made to safeguard this from happening again.

The touchdown in New York was pretty much to time and I had a great time there.

Before I left, some friends took me out for dinner. "Oh, no need!" I said, "Virgin have promised me they're sorting the meal out for my flight home!" My friends insisted that I should eat before the flight just in case so I did.

On arrival at JFK, a Virgin special assistance stewardness insisted on escourting me to the departure lounge. I pointed out I only had a nut allergy and wasn't disabled or anything but she was adamant it was protocol. Fair enough.

So given the Hollywood Treatment, I was marched through security, into the lounge and then onto the plane itself. An announcement was made over the tannoy: "There is a person on board with a nut allergy - please could everyone refrain from eating any nut-containing snack!" I felt it was a bit excessive but was flattered that they had gone to so much trouble just for little old me.

Then came round the snacks. Peanuts! So after all of that, the stewardesses themselves were handing out bags of the very thing they'd told their passengers not to eat!

My "vegan" nut-free meal arrived shortly afterwards. Guess what? It was fish! This time, the stewardesses weren't quite so helpful and I had a banana chucked at me and a bottle of water. Oh well, at least my friends had suggested I ate before the flight!

The food that was on offer for those who weren't nutritionally challenged seemed wonderful - ice creams, snacks, drinks galore and wonderful meals... I felt quite envious with my fruit and bottle of water.

I was assured that someone from quality control would be in touch to apologise but, 8 months on, no one has.

It's a real shame because I was so impressed with the service and attention that I really feel let down by the food issue. Had I known they were going to get it so very wrong, I wouldn't have bothered wasting a month trying to get through to special assistance!

So my word of warning - if you have a special dietry need: eat before you fly Virgin Atlantic!