With a total order of 12 Airbus A350, Virgin Atlantic has just announced the introduction of A350 services to two destinations in North America and two destinations in Africa. This introduction presents a significant upgrade for passengers, especially those booked in Business Class.
As of now, Virgin Atlantic has started their A350-1000 service on their London-New York route (up to 4x daily). Prospectively, we will see a daily A350-1000 service on the followings routes:
- Los Angeles from April 2020
- San Francisco from May 2020
- Johannesburg from March 2020
- Lagos from August 2020
What is The Business Class Product Like?
Configured in the 1-2-1 seat arrangement, all 44 Upper-Class seats on the Airbus A350-1000 will face towards the window; this is an improvement from the current aisle facing seat arrangement. Additionally, each seat features a cocktail table, shelving and a tray to store personal items.
In addition, Virgin Atlantic has introduced “The Loft”. It is a new social space for up to eight customers; it will feature 32-inch touchscreen monitors and eight Bluetooth audio jacks, to allow passengers to view content together.
Virgin Atlantic seldom comes out with any buy miles promotions. However, if you managed to buy miles at 1.08p per point in the previous promotion, which ended 13th November, you are pretty much in luck. One way Upper Class between London-US west coast cost 67.5k points (£729) while one way Upper Class London-Africa cost 57.5k points (£621). If you missed this deal, be sure to follow our blog as we will keep you updated.
Do you have flight numbers for LHR to LAC or SFO😊
I believe the flight numbers are yet to be disclosed.
What would the current fees be for those two redemptions?
Hi, I highly suggest that you play with the redemption booking system.
It does not present significant upgrades for passengers in Premium Economy on the 787-9. Why do bloggers keep peddling this notion. Premium Economy on the VS A350 is not a better product than the 787-9.
I see your point. However in Upper Class and Economy, it is an upgrade.
I agree with you that it is an upgrade for Upper Class passengers. I just wish instead of saying “This introduction presents a significant upgrade for passengers” there was a more accurate representation. Better for Upper Class, likely a downgrade for Premium Economy passengers.
If a blog reader had not experienced the products, they could easily be lead to believe that the A350 is better across the board. Bloggers are avgeeks, so I would think they would want to be nuanced. IMO there is a bit too much fanboying going on with the VS A350 on Boarding Area and glossing over areas which deserved a bit more critical eye.