Virgin flight V dreamliner

hargi

hargi

hargi

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I know theres a few aviation enthusiasts in here. Looking for some advice.
We go to Florida, every two years for our holiday, either Easter half term or in the Summer six weeks.
When we first started going over we traveled on Thompson planes or Thomas cook etc then we started flying with Virgin. What I have notices is that when we flew with Virgin, although there was still a little turbulence it wasn't as bad as what we have experienced on the 'cheaper' planes.
I have got it into my head that Virgin tend to fly round bad weather where as the others will tend to plough through it. I don't know if this is correct or just something I have got into my head.
Or is it just a coincidence that we have had smoother flights.

So were off tonight to book again, and its going to be a choice between the new Thompson dream-liner or a virgin flight. Obviously the Thompson one is going to be cheaper. Just wondering if the savings are going to be worth it?

Cheers
 
Do Virgin operate larger plane less affected by turbulence?

I was on a night flight out Miami once, flying Virgin and the plane hit clear air turbulence. Nothing prepares you for that amount of 'fun'
 
How much is less turbulence "worth" to you?

For me it's not an issue, so I'd choose the cheapest flights.

Would be interested to know if there's a difference though, or just your luck.
 
I would take the Thomson Dreamliner every time, more room and the service on VA has deteriorated that much over recent years that other than free drinks (and they are very stingy with those) they are no better than the charter airlines in this respect


The turbulence is prob just coincidence

And my choice was based on equal price of Thomson is cheaper too then it's a no brainer
 
I've flown transatlantic on a Dreamliner and the experience was brilliant. It would be an obvious choice to fly on a Dreamliner over an older plane for me.

Don't get suckered into thinking a 'premium' carrier only uses better / new planes though. RyanAir have one of the newest fleets in Europe and BA have one of the oldest.

I tend to investigate each individual flight and see what plane they'll be using.
 
Go on the Dreamliner. Few snippets of info ref new technology on this aircraft:


Lower cabin altitude
Another piece of welcome news related to the cabin environment: our customers may very well experience a lessening in headaches, dry eyes and fatigue – the direct result of the cabin pressure of 6,000 feet. This is a noticeably lower altitude than the 8,000 feet for most other aircraft.


Anti-turbulence technology
If even a slightly bumpy ride makes you uncomfortable, you’re going to like the introduction of an anti-turbulence device on the 787. How did Boeing do this? Special sensors located throughout the aircraft send signals about upcoming turbulence, providing time for the plane to compensate for it. Your flight might not be completely turbulence-free, but you'll notice a smoother ride than on comparable aircraft.

Bigger heavier planes bounce around less in turbulence so maybe that is what you have experienced previously.
 
Virgin Atlantic do operate larger aircraft on this route than some of the holiday/charter airlines - typically VS flights to Orlando from London are operated by Boeing 747-400 aircraft which are among the very largest aircraft you can fly on and would be slightly better at smoothing out turbulence but frankly the difference is sufficiently minor that it wouldn't ever be a factor in choosing a flight.

The 747 is a noticeably larger plane than the 787 but the 787 is much newer and more modern (The Virgin 747's are all pushing 20 years old now).
 
This is an opinion related question really,

As far as I'm aware, VA don't have anything new like a 787 at the moment flying that route (Ask Blinkz). As already pointed out, the flight experience may be better on the Thompson flight.

Though that said, there is some other considerations:

1) Airport experience
2) Inflight allowances (drinks / food etc)
3) Customer Service (I like the little things)
4) Delays mitgation / support

I personally dislike Thompson as I had a bad experience with flights being delayed, uncomfortable seats (even with the upgrade) and not enough leg room (I'm only 5ft 11 on a 757 to Cyprus) BUT that's just me! If it saved me quite a bit of money, I'm sure I'd give it another go.

Do what works best and of course what your budget can afford :)
 
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I fly back and forth across the Atlantic every couple of months, and mainly on Virgin. I have had good and bad flights from a turbulence perspective. I think it is just coincidence.

(I'd also add I have flown on new and old planes - including the Virgin 787 - and I think the difference is overstated - but that is just my opinion)
 
tlrBeta said:
Though that said, there is some other considerations:

1) Airport experience
2) Inflight allowances (drinks / food etc)
3) Customer Service (I like the little things)
4) Delays mitgation / support

I personally dislike Thompson as I had a bad experience with flights being delayed, uncomfortable seats (even with the upgrade) and not enough leg room (I'm only 5ft 11 on a 757 to Cyprus) BUT that's just me! If it saved me quite a bit of money, I'm sure I'd give it another go.
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Airport service - likely to be similar

Inflight service - food similar - drinks free on VA but they are not very generous with them, you will pay for booze on Thomson

Customer service - nothing in it, Virgin have gone down lots in this respect

Delays - not had any significant with either

Re legroom, the 757 you had would prob have been 29 inch pitch, Virgin are 31 ,. Thomson Dreamliner 34
 
I think hand luggage is less on Thomson, and overall luggage is a few kg less.

Virgin is probably cheaper to take a second bag as well.
 
Thanks for the replies.
Thompson flies from Newcastle to I'm gussing stanford (orlando) so this end its a shorter trip to airport i.e we can go on the morning of the flight. Virgin only do Manchester to orlando international so we tend to drive down day before and stay in a hotel £99 for that and parking. I have has 2 bad experiences on the none Virgin flights, one was a sudden drop which scared the poop out of me ( clear air turbulance ) the other was when we landed, we had touched down and got to the end of the runway to taxi off ( 25 knots if that) and an alarm went off, we were on the last seat of the plane with the air stewards behind us and they started to panic. Which wasnt very reasuring ( even though we were on the ground and nearly at a stand still.

Anyways basically I don't like turbulance so it is which is going to be smoother flight. And basically your saying 747 - 787 there is hadly any difference.

So if there was rough weather up ahead would Virgin tend to fly more around it giving it a wider birth then Thompson or not?
 
hargi said:
So if there was rough weather up ahead would Virgin tend to fly more around it giving it a wider birth then Thompson or not?
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I don't think that is correct.

The exact course will be a decision made by the pilot, co-pilot and ATC and have nothing to do with the company any of them work for.

I found the 787 we flew on to LA was significantly smoother than whatever Virgin and Delta operate on the LHR-LAX route. The 787 was with Norwegian so not a 'premium brand'.
 
hargi said:
Anyways basically I don't like turbulance so it is which is going to be smoother flight. And basically your saying 747 - 787 there is hadly any difference.

So if there was rough weather up ahead would Virgin tend to fly more around it giving it a wider birth then Thompson or not?
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I think you're expecting too much out of it, and it's all going to be situational/circumstantial and what's bad is going to vary from one person to another.
Also for minor turbulence as you suggested, they're not going to fly around it, it's have to be a very bad condition for them to do anything about it, if that.

Also if I remember correctly jet streams on north Atlantic flights will have different conditions going west to east.
 
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OP, you don't mention where in Florida you are travelling. Since you have used Thompson then I would guess Orlando. Virgin fly the 747 to Orlando (and the A330 to Miami for info).

747s (and yes heavier aircraft in general) do handle turbulence better. Generally the extra weight gives it more momentum and so it's harder for turbulence to move it. However of course it doesn't mean you definitely won't encounter the odd bump. As pilots we certainly do our best to keep things as smooth as possible!

Virgin also have 787s however they don't fly to Orlando. I've travelled on one as a passenger and found them to be pleasant but also a little over rated.

Virgins, service I have found to always be excellent but then perhaps I'm a little biased! (I'd like to think I'm fair!) Recently we have improved our economy service after listening to customer feed back. Each passenger is given a bottle of water on boarding, there are some extra drinks services and it is now using alcohol miniatures and small bottles of wine. There should never be any issues if you want another drink so feel free to as. Before dinner there is a hot towel and there is also cheese and biscuits after dinner with chocolates being provided with hot drinks. Hopefully everyone likes the changes, they seem to have been well received. There should be more info on the website.


Whoever you choose, I hope you have a great holiday!
 
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Blinkz I take it you are a pilot?
when we experience turbulance is it normally that we are buffered up and down a few feet and it just feels worse then it actually is
 
There are a lot of factors, time of ear makes a bug difference. In winter the jet stream is much stronger and there are more storms so the turbulence in cruise can be substantially worse. You also get cool thinks with a 250kt tail wind you can effectively break the sound barrier at ground level!

When it comes to landing gusting winter weather is obviously bad, but so it hot weather in the summer due to to increased uprising and turbulence due to thunderstorms. The US east coast can be very bumpy in the summer when it comes to landing.
 
hargi said:
Blinkz I take it you are a pilot?
when we experience turbulance is it normally that we are buffered up and down a few feet and it just feels worse then it actually is
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Hey Hargi,

Yup I fly the A330 and A340 for Virgin. I can assure you that any bumps you feel on board are absolutely nothing to worry about. The best analogy is that it is like driving a car over a cobbled road. It's a little uncomfortable but certainly nothing to worry about. The aircraft can handle far more then you can encounter, we avoid as much of it as best we can to try and make the passengers as comfortable as possible.
 
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