New Virgin fan alert

*VIRGIN ATLANTIC*

I recently booked a flight with Virgin Atlantic for my first trip to the USA - London to Los Angeles. Even though it was slightly pricier than other airlines - Delta, and Continental for example, I booked with them for a number of reasons:

1) The return flight only cost £30 more than an indirect, and therefore more inconvenient and time-consuming flight. Personally however, I probably wouldn't have spent much on a direct flight so its a thumbs up here to VA's pricing strategy.
2) High-profile incidents in the news about both american airlines Delta, and Continental, i.e. Virgin's so-far-so-good safety record
3) Word of Mouth recommendation of Virgin airlines from my cousin's blog, albeit that was a flight from LA to Melbourne
4) Overall brand reputation.

As the below quote indicates, this view is backed up by other research:

'The online reputation index claimed Ryanair was the worst performing UK operator with a score of (-62%). Virgin Atlantic was the only airline to come out with a positive score (33%), followed by BMI (-12%), British Airways (-21%) and EasyJet (-23%).' - UTalkMarketing Editor, Clark Turner.

There's nothing better than when a service meets or even exceeds expectations. Personal highlights included the following:

1) A huge selection of movies - I had a whole list I wanted to get through and didn't manage it.

2) I didn't submit a meal request (no beef) when I booked the flight or even 24 hours before as you're supposed to. On my trip to LA I was given the most amazing sweet chilli prawn and rice dish from a higher class (although I did have to wait and see what was left as I left the request until after they'd actually started serving!). On my trip back to London, I informed an attendant just before they started serving and actually got a chicken dish delivered to me before they started serving the whole of Economy class - I was finished by the time they got to me! Of course I found this particularly amusing. BIG thumbs up.

3) All food and beverages were great. Beverages were also served frequently and water was easily available at water points - I'm also a fan of a little blue cone-shaped plastic cups.

4) The little airline pouch - I'm a big fan of these.

5) The outbound flight was delayed but we made up most of the time. The return flight back to London was early.

6) No problems with baggage check-in (even though I was a few kilos over coming back to London) and reclaim.

7) Baggage check-in staff and plane attendants were really friendly and helpful. This is supposed to be a given but even this often can't be taken for granted anymore - if I had to name names, I talk about the reputations of Alitalia and Air Canada in particular, even though I've never flown with them. You may be surprised to know that Virgin flight attendants' wages are amongst some of the lowest in the industry and compared to airlines such as BA therefore you know that, 1 - they really want to be there, and 2 - they're recruited well.

All of the above points served to reinforce my opinion of the Virgin brand as a whole and in particular Virgin's travel services. A man I was sitting next to who dealt in antiques and is well travelled on this route also told me matter-of-factly that Virgin Atlantic is the best London to LA carrier and he wouldn't consider flying with anyone else.

Now if I had to be really picky, there are a few things which I believe could be improved upon, because let's face it, nothings ever perfect enough! Here's my very short and even, generic list:

1) Movies could be slightly more up-to-date. On Malaysian Airlines for example, I've always gotten to see things which haven't yet been released in the UK. This is therefore a novelty for me. However I doubt I will be booking MA anytime soon as their direct flight prices are almost extortionate.

2) Both chicken sandwich and wrap on the flight from London to LA had mustard in them! I hate mustard...why can't people just stick to good old mayo! I therefore had to kind of starve for 2 of the 3 meals as the vegetarian option wasn't much better.

3) Air cabin temperature was a bit on the warm side. You really do need to wear a T-shirt on the flights or face having jumpers, jackets, and the airline blanket on top of you for 10/11 hours.

4) The usual one - a little more leg space for when the person in front puts down their chair. I'm small and I still end up getting trapped. I flew American Airlines from LA to San Francisco whilst I was out there and even though my initial outbound flight was cancelled the seats were a really good size with lots of leg space - no doubt for the average American 'size'.

If the above four points could somehow be actioned by Virgin Atlantic, their service would be perfect...at least for moi. Even so, alongside South African Airways, Virgin Atlantic now rates as one of my favourite airlines and I will definitely be flying with them again in future.

As an end note, I suspect Singapore Airlines would also live up to its reputation and be included in my top-rated list. Now I only need to plan a trip in order to write a review on Singapore Airlines!!! Hmm, now I wonder if they'd consider sponsoring a flight to SE-Asia for me...

My new website

*NEWS*

My new photography-based website is up and running.
Check it out at http://www.livonyeow.com

My first entry dated 20th March titled 'Munchies', is dedicated to one of my favourite topics - FOOD, on my recent trip to California.

It is still a work in progress.
Please feel free to post comments or share your thoughts on it.

Livon :)