Virgin Atlantic Recensioni 2.226

After flying with most major transatlantic airlines, I cannot fault the service of Virgin Atlantic T3 Heathrow lounge. Service was impeccable. I know it's not easy to smile all day but the moment I walked in and got served, Nicole was a vibrant server who made sure not only myself but other guests got what they wanted. Thank you Nicole and well done Virgin for getting the flyers off to a good start 😊

On flight VS300 (Heathrow→Delhi, 21 Dec 2025), a visibly intoxicated passenger was served alcohol despite clear signs of impairment. Multiple warnings to cabin crew about his escalating behaviour — including verbal abuse and a request from a neighbouring passenger to be moved — were not acted upon. A passenger when reporting their concerns to cabin crew was told that marijuana was found on them before they boarded the plane.

The situation escalated to a physical assault on a passenger. Cabin crew arrived approximately five minutes after the violence began. Passengers, not crew, restrained the aggressor. Restraining passengers themselves were assaulted as a result of their intervention. The crew then responded by restraining the passenger in his seat by tying his limbs to the seat with seatbelts. An empty 1L vodka bottle was later found in his bag.

Post-incident handling was poor: passengers attempting to document the event were shouted at by crew; coordination with authorities on landing was confused and delayed. The assaulted passenger had to take their seat near the restrained and intoxicated passenger who continued to hurl abuse towards him.

Virgin Atlantic's response to our formal complaint: a generic apology and 20,000 loyalty points. No investigation findings shared. No confirmation of reporting to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. No details of corrective actions being implemented.

The affected passengers continue to bear the trauma of the assault, affecting their work and personal lives. Not to mention the anxiety of having to fly again under such conditions.

We believe this reflects systemic failures in:
• Pre-boarding flight checks and protocols
• Alcohol service protocols
• Crew training on de-escalation and crisis response
• Passenger safety escalation procedures

We urge Virgin Atlantic to prioritise transparency: publish investigation outcomes, confirm regulatory reporting, and detail concrete steps to prevent recurrence. Passenger safety must be non-negotiable.

Really disappointed with our recent flights with Virgin Atlantic.

I appreciate that we were flying in economy, but the seats were extremely uncomfortable – honestly, I’ve had more comfortable seating on a short EasyJet flight. For a long-haul airline with such a strong reputation, this was surprising.

What concerned me more was the professionalism of the cabin crew on our return flight. Several staff members appeared distracted, making personal calls and texting, and overall they didn’t seem particularly organised or confident in what they were doing.

One moment that really stood out was when a paralysed passenger requested assistance to go to the toilet and seemed to be forgotten about for a period of time. I also witnessed crew members discussing how they were going to support him while speaking with the passenger and amongst themselves, which felt like something that should have been handled more professionally and privately before the flight.

It was also difficult to watch someone with mobility issues having to travel from one end of the aircraft to the other just to use the bathroom. In this day and age, you would expect better consideration and accessibility for passengers with disabilities.

Overall, the experience did not live up to the Virgin Atlantic brand. I left the flight feeling disappointed, and based on this experience I would likely choose another airline in the future if the option is available.

PUBLIC NOTICE – BEFORE FLYING WITH Virgin Atlantic ❌They confirmed wheelchair assistance wasn’t provided to my disabled mother — their failure. She’s now bedridden and hospitalized.
We only asked to reschedule. CEO Corneel Koster No refund, flexibility or waiver.

Having just returned from a flight from Delhi on virgin I found the plane very cramped,the food awful, inedible and disgusting. Only one alcoholic drink allowed on such a long flight. Had to ask about duty free, was told to go to the back of the plane and ask. Did that only to be told everything I wanted was sold out ! Inflight entertainment was outdated in fact I was surprised it wasn’t all in black and white. All of that and I had to pay £160 extra to get a confirmed seat next to my husband. I expected so much more ☹️

After speaking with Virgin Atlantic customer service regarding our flight scheduled for 9th March, we made it clear that, as a family of five, we do not feel safe travelling to the UAE at this time. We contacted them to understand what reasonable options were available given the current situation.

We were told that our only choices are to cancel and pay a £300 fee per person or change to another destination. There is no option to receive a travel credit valid for 12 months, and no option for a full refund.

For a family of five, this means a £1,500 penalty simply because we have genuine safety concerns. This feels completely unreasonable and unfair.

When we were offered the option to choose another destination, we were informed that it would likely cost even more. Everyone knows that booking a holiday only a few days in advance is significantly more expensive. This effectively means paying even more money to avoid travelling to a destination we do not feel safe visiting. It gives the impression that Virgin Atlantic is using the current situation in the Middle East to generate additional income rather than supporting concerned customers.

Virgin Atlantic publicly states:
“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our number one priority…”

However, in reality, we have not been offered any meaningful flexibility that reflects this commitment. If customer safety is truly the number one priority, customers should not be financially penalised for making a decision based on genuine safety concerns.

This experience has been extremely disappointing.

We attempted to book two Premium Economy tickets via Virgin Atlantic’s website on 6 February 2026.

The website crashed during payment. Despite this, our business account was charged multiple times.

In total:
• Three ticket payments of £3,281.78 were taken
• Two separate £220 seat reservation payments were taken
• Only some of these were refunded

One full duplicate booking was refunded.
One booking (later cancelled) was partially refunded correctly.
However, £3,501.78 (£3,281.78 + £220) remains unreturned.

We never received tickets for the failed bookings.

Over the course of several weeks, we have:
• Provided full bank statements
• Highlighted transaction timestamps
• Supplied screenshots
• Explained the issue repeatedly

Virgin Atlantic’s Customer Care team continues to insist only one charge was taken, despite documentary bank evidence showing three separate debits on the same day.

This has required significant senior management time from a small UK business to pursue recovery of funds for services never supplied.

We are now pursuing recovery formally.

The most concerning part is not the website failure — technical issues happen — but the inability to reconcile merchant transactions against bank evidence, and the repeated need to restate the same facts.

For a premium airline brand, this experience has been deeply disappointing.

After two long haul flights with Virgin Atlantic to South Africa and back I do wonder if anyone on the management has had an opportunity to sample the inedible food!
As compensation we were offered Virgin Points! Not much use if we will never fly with them again.

I have travelled in every Virgin class, and all have been brilliant.Much better the BA

Our recent journey with Virgin Atlantic was extremely disappointing and stressful, particularly for a group of 10 travelling together on a long-planned trip home from the Caribbean.

We flew from Union Island to St Vincent to connect onto the Virgin Atlantic service via Barbados to the UK. Knowing the connection time was tight, we contacted the airline several times in advance to stress how important it was for the first flight to depart on time so our checked baggage could be accepted for the long-haul sector. Despite this, the incoming aircraft arrived late and additional unscheduled island stops were added, making the situation even worse.

When we finally arrived in St Vincent but our checked luggage — which had already travelled with us on the first leg — was refused and left behind. Your staff were dismissive, unfeeling and disrespectful, even with the lady acting as your main rep, laughing at us. We were given no practical assistance, no clear solution other than “book a different flight” which would mean paying for and finding a hotel to stay in that night, late notice, on an island we don’t know, until the next flight to take us home which would be 3-4 days later. Choosing the only possible option for us, we had to board the flight with no reassurance about when or how we would receive our belongings. We were effectively forced to continue our journey without our suitcases and had to arrange and pay for their collection from the airport.

After allowing a long winded conversation about why they cannot take our bags, they suddenly changed their mind and told us we could not board at all. Luckily we noticed they failed to follow basic procedure, missing the fact we had already checked in online during our thorough preparation for this journey. We then managed to rush through to our plane enduring a condescending attitude from all your staff. Finally taking our seats, having said goodbye to our belongings, we couldn’t help but feel frustrated as we sat on the aircraft for a further 30–45 minutes before departure, which only reinforced the feeling that there had been time to handle the baggage properly, and execute the proper, basic and polite customer service.

We arrived in the UK without essential items, with the inconvenience and cost that comes with that, and with no real sense that Virgin Atlantic took responsibility for what happened.

This experience fell far below what we expected from a premium long-haul airline. A proactive solution, clear communication, or a small amount customer care at the airport would have made a huge difference.

We are now left chasing the return of our belongings and seeking reimbursement for the disruption caused.

Very disappointing.
Unless this case is given the attention needed along with an urgent resolution, sadly, my sincere advice is: do not fly with this company.

Seat allocation a complete disaster - booked premium economy tickets and it was impossible to choose seats beforehand. Rang twice to ask about it and told it was locked by airport so told them my wife was a nervous flyer and felt calmer with a window seat. Then the day before the flight they allocated us seats in the centre (no widow) and are charging us for seats we don’t want. Complete con and rip off and now dreading the flight. Terrible start to the holiday and it’s the 1st time using Virgin but won’t be going with them again - at least with Ryanair etc you know what to expect - very disappointed

poppy on my flight to jfk New York City was very kind and lovely and went out off her way to help me and my daughter and the other stuff were also amazing and so kind they helped us soo much and took their time too and gave us the right information and information about New York

This is the worst Company I have ever dealt with. They have double-charged me for booked seats and trying to get Customer Service to take any action is impossible - its easier to get an audience with the pope !
Very poor, I would never recommend them to anyone :(

Won't be flying Virgin again that's for sure. Booked to fly to Atlanta (USA) on an A350 as my wife is a nervous flyer and wanted to fly on a new plane. Plane swapped night before flying out and post checking in. Woke to find a late departure, old plane and no confirmed seats. Staff at the airport helpful, but we were put in separate seats on the revised flight. Plane crew were great though. Then, same again on the return! Plane swapped having paid $432 to guarantee an upgrade. No upgrade, no seats!! still waiting for our money back!!! In addition, rowdy passengers behind us fed alcohol all flight despite being rude, loud and refusing to allow us to recline our seats. Very, very poor experience.

Awful company that would think that advertising their brand with in game adverts during six nations rugby on ITV television in the UK is a good idea. Demonstration of the utter contempt they have for their potential customers. Yet another experience of them that leaves me booking with their competition.

just got off Virgin flight from Manchester to Barbados. Cabin crew were fantastic especially Emma. Thank you very much.

Outbound flight (LHR-Boston) was a Virgin Atlantic flight in 'Economy Delight' seats. They were amazing, just the right amount of extra leg room, priority check-in and really friendly cabin crew.

The plane was amazing too (Airbus A330-900neo).

Sadly, our return flight with Delta (booked through Virgin) was awful, so use caution when selecting 'partner' airlines.

Virgin Atlantic Credit credit card charges an over seas fee to every single destination they fly to ! They have recently introduced for the EU only no overseas charges, however they do not fly to any EU destinations!
It beggars belief how short sighted and removed from customer reciprocal loyalty relationship building they have become !
They will respond by stating that they do not issue the card and it’s another bank ! Why not change to a bank that does not charge the rip off fee or re negotiate!

Not a great start. Booked ‘upper class’ return to Barbados. Chose midday flight on new aircraft in preference to early morning flight in old tired aircraft.
Once booked, midday flight cancelled and I’m moved to the early flight with the old aircraft. If I wanted an early flight I would have booked one! Perhaps they might have asked me first if I wanted to change or have a refund?