virgin atlantic upper class worth the cost?

territt · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:30

Hey,

Looking at doing a road trip at the start of next year with some mates, LA-San Fan-San Diego-Las Vegas-LA. As we are turning 30 next year we thought maybe about upgrading the flights to Upper class?

What do people here think about the Virgin Upper Class experance? worth the extra cost?

Basher · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:31

territt said:
Hey,

Looking at doing a road trip at the start of next year with some mates, LA-San Fan-San Diego-Las Vegas-LA. As we are turning 30 next year we thought maybe about upgrading the flights to Upper class?

What do people here think about the Virgin Upper Class experance? worth the extra cost?

What's the cost for your journey?

Upper class on Virgin is very nice.

beachBOYken · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:33

Basher said:
What's the cost for your journey?

Upper class on Virgin is very nice.

Check the seat plan on some VA 747 flights as we recently got Economy seats on the upper floor.

The upper class were just ahead of us and you seem to get better leg room up there and also better service.

Personally I would use the money towards the trip itself as well , economy premium looks good everytime I have walked past the seating area , looks like plenty of leg room and nice wide leather seats

POB · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:34

Depends entirely on the price difference. But I would personally spend the money on the trip itself.

territt · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:36

Premium Eco Both ways - 1050ish
Upper bothways - 3300ish
Upper out and Econ back - 2000

timebomb26 · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:38

For me, at those prices, it would never be worth it.

clocka · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:38

id go eco and spend the £2000 saving making the 2 week trip utterly awesome!

grimm · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:38

I can think of much better things I'd rather spend the extra 2 grand on, but if 2 grand is nothing to you then why not?

gigeorge · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:41

clocka said:
id go eco and spend the £2000 saving making the 2 week trip utterly awesome!

This.

Tunney · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:48

Depends on how easily you can afford it. If the extra £2,000 is only an extra 20% on top of your holiday price then it might be worth it. If it's doubling the cost of your holiday then almost certainly not.

smelly_legend · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:48

2 grand buys you a lot of sex, drugs and rock and roll

G-MAN2004 · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:51

£3300 flights? Seriously no point. Just spend that whilst you're there.

Firestar_3x · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:52

It's not worth the extra imho.

RedMogg · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:52

Premium economy on Virgin is equal to business on a lot of budget carriers. I'd go for that and put the extra towards the trip itself. Perhaps hire a snazzier car...

[TW]Fox · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:53

If you have to ask, then its not worth it. Very few people can justify the absolutely insane cost of Upper Class. £3000 return for a plane ticket to the USA is enormous money. If you need to ask us whether its 'worth it' then it almost certainly isn't.

I fly Economy with Virgin every time I go to the States. To be honest, you get a seat, its reasonably comfortable, all your meals are included and you can sit and watch movies. It's not as nice as Upper Class by some margin but then I paid £470 return to Los Angeles and not £3000.

Unless I was so wealthy I simply didn't care then I'd always be able to find something better to do with that £2500 saving. Even if it fitted my holiday budget I'd rather spend it upgrading hotels than on my flight. Given your first night in your first hotel is longer than the entire flight..

Westyfield2 · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:55

I've done transatlantic on all the classes with BA.
First and Business are nice if you are not paying the bill, but the cost is just too much IMHO if you are paying. Premium Economy is what I would chose if it is my money.

daz · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:58

If you spend a lot on your credit cards in general, getting a BA Amex can sometimes make it worthwhile with Avios.

Edit: That would be with BA rather than Virgin though

panthro · 23 Jan 2013 at 12:58

For someone in your position who's weighing up the additional benefits between ecomony and upper class it is not worth it. Upper class is only for people who have so much money they can buy the ticket and not think twice about it, or when someone else is paying. I've been fortunate enough to fly VA upper class (someone else was paying) and for an extra £2k IMO it is not worth it, especially if you spend most of the flight watching movies (which are they same movies as they are in economy) and sleeping.

POB · 23 Jan 2013 at 13:00

beachBOYken said:
Check the seat plan on some VA 747 flights as we recently got Economy seats on the upper floor.

I think this is just the refurbished leisure fleet, departing from Gatwick / Manchester.

For LA it would be Heathrow.

[TW]Fox · 23 Jan 2013 at 13:00

Westyfield2 said:
I've done transatlantic on all the classes with BA.
First and Business are nice if you are not paying the bill, but the cost is just too much IMHO if you are paying. Premium Economy is what I would chose if it is my money.

I can't even justify that. Looking at flights for September and PE is about twice as much as economy. Just can't see it's worth that for a wider seat and lots more legroom. I'd rather (and indeed will) put the money towards a really nice hire car and better hotels or even extending the trip - you could do extra days on the difference. More days in the USA > a nicer seat on a plane.

Because you spend 7-9 hours (Well, 10-11 for West Coast) each way in a plane seat you't you spend many more hours in hotels and hire cars..