I made Los Angeles the first stop of my U.S. trip, as it’s one the few routes that feature Virgin A350’s new Upper Class Suite. In terms of similar suite products, I’ve tried Qatar Airways’ Qsuite and was truly impressed, but I’m not expecting Virgin to match that experience.
With the upgrade voucher I paid only 27,500 points for LHR-LAX, and there was a promotion going on to get half of the points back. It may come across as being cheap, if you dismiss the fact that taxes and charges amount to more than £600…
I’ve reviewed Heathrow’s Upper Class Wing and Clubhouse recently. I didn’t bother with the Upper Class Wing this time but spent considerable time at the Clubhouse. Menu of the day is surprisingly good including Chicken Katsu Curry, Kimchi Fried Rice and Thai Curry. I attempted to visit the Amex Centurion Lounge as well, but unfortunately it already suffers serious overcrowding issue.
Time to board the plane! If you’ve flown with them before you must be familiar with the club lighting.
I didn’t anticipate angled seats, but the upper class cabin is still configured the reverse herringbone style. As usual middle seats are ideal if you are travelling with a companion, but window seats offer better privacy.
I pre-selected 2A (window seat), but for operational reasons the seat is no longer available when I check in, and I’m assigned 8D (middle seat) instead.
I start to feel uncomfortable the moment sitting down. There’s nowhere to rest my head or neck, and the foot rest is much lower than the seat. At 6′ my legs are just about to reaching the foot rest, and I don’t know whether to put my legs down or on it.
There are five buttons to adjust the seat position. It’s a puzzle and I can’t find a comfortable position after all.
After converting into a bed, the lie-flat seat looks like this:
I’m finally starting to get comfortable, then another anti-pattern design hits me. As you can see from the picture, because of the installation of the IFE, I cannot lift my right leg at all. It may not be a problem when you are sleeping, but I like to roll around when lying down.
What’s more, I’m shocked to learn the “door” doesn’t pull out for more than 10 inches – it doesn’t go beyond what the picture shows. The partition between two middle seats is quite short too. To be honest I don’t think it has the qualification of being called a suite.
The amenity kit is made from recycled materials.
The IFE pops out, and I find its angle awkward as well. The system is very new but movie selection is quite limited.
Menu:
The menu fails to whet my appetite, nor does the food. The chicken parfait is fine.
I ordered a sandwich before landing, which is… a cold sandwich as you’ll find in Tesco.
The bar is replaced by The Loft on A350. I didn’t notice it when I got on the plane and didn’t look for it so have no idea how it actually looks like.
I’m not a fan of Virgin’s old Upper Class, and the only motivation for me to fly with them again was to try out the new suite. Sadly it turned out to be a near-disaster and the Upper Class Suite feels worse than the older product. I’m not looking forward to flying Virgin again in the near future, but hopefully I’ll be able to redeem some Virgin points on ANA soon!
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