An in-depth review of the Upper Class suites aboard the Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350

Quick take: Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class brings fun back to flying, though the seats are showing some wear and tear.

Pros

• Phenomenal, friendly service.
• Excellent inflight dining, including meals you can order ahead of time.
• Comfortable bedding and long, lie-flat beds.

Cons

• They’ve only been in service for around five years, but seats are already showing signs of age.
• Tray tables are designed in such a way that they can feel tight.
• Taxes and fees on award tickets are sky-high and only getting higher.

The last time I experienced Virgin Atlantic’s new Upper Class suites was on their inaugural flight across the Atlantic from London to New York more than five years ago, in September 2019, when the airline began rolling out service aboard its Airbus A350-1000s.

It wasn’t until this past November that I had the opportunity to try them out again — this time on a longer route from London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

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These semiprivate suites still feel innovative and cool, with whimsical finishes and excellent entertainment screens. They are, however, starting to show their age, with some scratches on their durable parts and wear and tear on the upholstery. That said, I was still able to get very comfortable and enjoyed the experience thanks to an excellent and friendly flight crew as well as delicious menu options.

Here’s what it was like flying Virgin Atlantic’s A350 Upper Class and how I booked it.

How much does it cost to book Virgin Atlantic Upper Class?

The cost of a Virgin Atlantic Upper Class ticket will depend on your origin and destination, the time of year, and whether you are flying one-way or round-trip.

In terms of award tickets, the airline recently implemented dynamic pricing. We saw some one-way Upper Class awards between the U.S. and the U.K. drop to a mere 29,000 Virgin points, though some flights also skyrocketed in price to a jaw-dropping 350,000 points per segment. And that’s not even including taxes and fees of around $600-$900 each way. Those taxes are also going up by about 12% next year, so even if you redeem Virgin points for a premium ticket, you’ll still be paying quite a bit of cash out of pocket.

Virgin Atlantic is in the SkyTeam alliance, so you can also cash in partner loyalty currencies such as Delta Air Lines SkyMiles and Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles for tickets, though award availability in Upper Class is more limited and mileage prices can still be astronomical. For instance, there is some award availability via Delta for 170,000 SkyMiles each way between London and various U.S. airports in Virgin Upper Class. That’s still a lot of miles, but at least the taxes and fees are substantially lower ($5.60 traveling from the U.S. to London, but around $945 on the return).

For my ticket — a one-way award from London to Los Angeles in mid-November — we paid 67,500 Virgin Atlantic points and about $816 in taxes and fees. Paid tickets were going for $13,100 one-way. No, that’s not a typo; they were indeed this expensive for the entire month of November and most of December. However, in the coming months, there are some round-trip flights pricing out at around $4,400.

Even if you don’t regularly credit flights to Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club, you can still stock up on points quickly, thanks the following transfer partners:

The following cards all currently offer considerable welcome bonuses with points and miles that you can transfer into your Virgin Atlantic account:

One final note: If you want to fly this particular type of Upper Class suite, you’ll need to book a flight on the airline’s A350-1000s since their other aircraft have different products on board.

Older herringbone-style seats are still flying on its Boeing 787-9s and Airbus A330-300s. There’s also a newer, different style of Upper Class suite aboard its Airbus A330-900neos, so pay close attention to the aircraft operating a flight you hope to book.

Checking in to and boarding Virgin Atlantic Upper Class

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class passengers can enjoy the following priority services at the airport.

My flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles departed at 10:20 a.m. I had taken the Elizabeth Line of the Tube from the Bond Street stop directly across from the new Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, London, where I’d been staying, out to the London Heathrow Terminal 2/3 stop, and it only took about 45 minutes early in the morning.

I made a beeline for the Upper Class check-in area, which was also available to Sky Priority elite members, where there were no lines, and checked my bag and had my boarding pass printed out.

I was then directed to a special elevator that took me up to a security line set aside for Upper Class and elite flyers.

I consider it a personal victory that I got through the notoriously strict Heathrow security procedures without undergoing a secondary search of my person or bag — no forgotten water bottles or loose containers of disinfectant gel for me, thank you!

Then it was about a 10-minute walk through the duty-free area and along part of the concourse to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, which is up a flight of stairs or accessible via elevator from the ground floor.

I won’t give a detailed review here since we have covered the lounge exhaustively in the past, and little has changed. The overall vibe still feels quite swanky, with plenty of seating areas ranging from modular built-in banquettes and Eames chairs to restaurant-style tables, a bustling bar and a quiet upper-level parlor.

I set up camp at a table in the corner farthest from the entrance and used a QR code on the table to order a cappuccino and avocado on a toasted bagel with a poached egg and spicy soyrizo, plus a bowl of fresh fruit.

A little more than an hour before my flight, I packed up and started the 20-minute walk to the gate (this is one of the downsides of Terminal 3, if you ask me — some of the gates are quite a hike from the lounges) so I could be among the first to board. That process began right on time at 9:30 a.m.

How comfortable is Virgin Atlantic Upper Class?

Virgin Atlantic actually flies A350-1000s with two different seating configurations.

There is a “leisure” version with just 16 Upper Class suites (four aircraft sport this version). The airline’s other seven A350s, one of which I was flying, have a larger Upper Class cabin of 44 seats spread across 11 rows of four seats each in a 1-2-1 pattern.

Unlike the type of reverse-herringbone seats many other airlines have opted for, these Upper Class suites are Cirrus NG models that all angle slightly outward toward the sides of the plane.

That means side seats feel rather private, angled toward the windows, while those in the center section have their seatbacks closer to one another and their foot cubbies toward the aisle. They are better for folks traveling together since you can chat quite easily, even if you’re not fully facing one another, though they also have privacy screens for solo passengers.

All seats have an extendable privacy panel on their aisle side that deploys to a full 8 inches. That’s not quite the same as having a closing door or divider, like many other airlines have started implementing, but it does provide plenty of shielding from the aisle.

Whereas many airlines seem to play it safe when it comes to the palette and materials they use in their cabin interiors, Virgin is known for its bold colors (just picture that signature red you see splashed across its jets). So when it came time to design these Upper Class suites, the airline made some unique choices, including claret-toned leather cushions and almost shimmery pearlescent seat shells reminiscent of the clouds with textured pink backsplashes, Champagne-colored metallic panels and reddish accent lighting.

Combined with vibrant purple cabin lighting (that changes throughout the flight to help passengers adjust to a new time zone), the overall effect feels quite chic but also warm and comforting.

I had selected seat 3K on the right side of the cabin. I measured it to be 22 inches wide between armrests, though the wider one on the aisle side could be lowered to give about 7 inches more space.

The seat had 44 inches of pitch — the space between its seatback and the back of the preceding seat — though this narrowed to a mere 29 inches to the surface from which the tray table folded down.

Speaking of the tray table, it is rather chunky and flips down from the aisle side of the preceding seatback then swivels into place. I measured it to be 17 inches wide by 12 1/2 inches deep, so there was plenty of space for my Macbook. The complaint people seem to have about this table is that it can be hard to maneuver in and out of the seat when the table is being used, and it ends up being quite close to the seatback. I am 5 feet, 8 inches tall and have a 30-inch waist, so I’m on the smaller side and I still found it to be quite close when I was trying to eat. In fact, I ended up putting my seat into the fully upright position while dining just to have a little more room.

The space between the armrest and the aisle was 12 inches, which is somewhere in the middle of the range for business-class seats. Less than on KLM, for instance, but more than in United Airlines Polaris. I didn’t have any trouble squeezing in and out for lavatory visits.

Aside from that, the seat’s footwell was 15 inches wide by 11 inches high and 14 inches deep, so I had no trouble fitting my size 9 1/2 feet in, but if you have larger tootsies, you might need to try out a few different positions to get comfortable.

A panel of buttons along the window-side armrest had preset positions for takeoff and landing as well as lie-flat mode, and controls for adjusting individual components, including the seatback and the leg rest. I accidentally hit these with my elbow a few times, but once I learned to avoid that, they functioned well. There were also buttons to call the flight attendants and control the overhead and reading lights.

Just above this were a USB-A port and an earphone jack plus two small open cubbies for storing little items during flight.

There was another universal power plug and USB-A charging port below the window-side armrest that made it easy to keep my devices charged without cords getting in the way.

After the main meal service, I reclined the seat to the lie-flat position and flight attendants made it up with the provided bedding, including a cushioned mattress pad, a lightweight duvet and a soft full-size pillow.

Given the seat’s dimensions, I found it very easy to stretch out and change positions, so I had a nice rest. It was even better since the cabin featured individual air nozzles, so I could keep my seat area cool. I also like how the A350 has old-school manual window shades rather than the electronic ones you tend to find aboard Boeing Dreamliners, which don’t block out all the light, so the cabin was nice and dark for the long middle portion of the flight.

Upper Class passengers can use two lavatories at the front of the cabin, though it can get quite busy during meal service since one of the main galleys is up there. There are also four lavatories aft of the cabin shared between Upper Class and premium economy. They were kept very clean and were stocked with REN skincare products; they even had windows so you could enjoy the view as you did your business.

Amenities in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class

Waiting at my seat when I boarded, I found the full-size pillow plus a “goodie bag,” or amenity kit, and the menu for the flight.

The amenity pouch, which was made from recyclable paper, contained a dental kit with a biodegradable toothbrush, earplugs, a fabric eye mask, socks and REN natural skincare products, including Atlantic kelp and magnesium hand cream, mineral lip balm, and facial moisturizer.

There was also a provided pair of basic noise-canceling headphones (unfortunately, you can’t pair a set of Bluetooth headphones with the entertainment system, though you can pair your phone with it to use it as a control).

The seatback monitor was 18 1/2 inches wide and featured an extensive library including hundreds of movies ranging from classics to new releases, television shows, musical playlists and albums, and plenty of games. I mostly kept mine on the moving map.

The system also had instructions on how to connect to Wi-Fi and could be used to control the seat’s lighting and to call the crew as well as notify them that you did not want to be disturbed.

Wi-Fi was available on my flight, but the system had trouble maintaining a connection until we were over North America, and several other passengers mentioned this to the crew. There were three packages available:

• Messaging for $3.95
• One hour of browsing for $8.95
• Full-flight pass for $26.95

That was rather steep considering the long pockets of time where the signal didn’t work, but I sprung for the full-flight pass so I could get work done when it was operational.

Virgin Atlantic is renowned for its onboard socializing spaces. Aboard the 787 and A330-300, these amount to bar counters where Upper Class passengers can order drinks, enjoy a snack or meal, and generally have a good time out of their seats.

When it created its new A350 Upper Class product in 2019, however, Virgin Atlantic entirely reconceived this type of space on board the A350 to be more of a lounge with booth seating for up to five passengers, plus a single seat and standing areas for up to three other people. There is also a 32-inch HD entertainment screen that passengers can watch using provided Bluetooth headphones.

On my flight, the Loft ended up being quite popular so I was only able to sneak back once during meal service to get some shots without disturbing other passengers. Although it was busy, the noise from it did not reach me at my seat, and even when I used the aft lavatories it seemed fairly quiet, with folks chatting discreetly. The flight attendants were on hand to help guests with drink and snack orders, and there was a bowl of fruit for those who wanted a healthy nibble.

How was the food in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class?

Ten days before my trip, I received an email telling me about the food and drink options on board, including what the predeparture beverages would be.

I was also offered the opportunity to preorder a main meal from a larger selection of dishes than would be available on the flight itself. This option would be available up until 24 hours before departure.

A few days before checking in, I perused the listings, which included 10 dishes ranging from pan-roasted cod and chicken-mushroom pie to vegetable korma and a light superfood salad. I selected the lamb dahwalla (sometimes spelled dahiwala), which is an Indian dish of slow-cooked meat in a creamy, flavorful yogurt sauce over yellow rice and served with slices of roti in this case. I waited to see what else would be offered on board.

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Almost as soon as I took my seat, I was offered a glass of Hambledon Classic Cuvee English sparkling wine, orange juice or water.

After the doors were closed and we began taxiing, flight attendants came through to take meal orders. The starters included a choice of bread and curried cauliflower soup with spiced crispy onions and coriander oil, or lemon-chili prawns with baby gem lettuce, pickled celery and avocado puree.

The mains available on board included:

• Chicken-mushroom pie with mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and gravy
• Pan-roasted cod with panang sauce and coconut rice
• Pumpkin-stuffed girasoli pasta with herb cream and pistachio-mint pesto

Finally, there was a selection of English cheeses and two desserts, a warm fig and polenta cake with orange syrup, or dark chocolate and morello cherry delice with vanilla cream and blackberries.

There was an option to have your meal back in the Loft or to enjoy an “express lunch” with just the cauliflower soup so you could rest or work longer.

After takeoff, but before the meal was served, flight attendants came through the cabin offering passengers bowls of potato chips and their drink of choice. The wine list was fairly extensive and included:

• Hambledon Classic Cuvee English sparkling wine
• Laurent-Perrier champagne
• Valento Prosecco
• Sicilian Grillo-Viognier from Feudo di Santa Tresa in Sicily
• Diermersdal Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa
• Violet Hill pinot noir from Oregon
• Corti Salentine Primitivo from Italy
• Aubert et Mathieu rose from France

There was also a variety of beers, ales and ciders on offer, plus specialty cocktails including:

• The Virgin Redhead with gin, mixed berries, prosecco and a twist of lemon
• A tequila-based Bloody Maria
• Caribbean Queen with Bacardi rum, ginger ale and a dash of pineapple
• The nonalcoholic Flamingo with cranberry juice, sparkling water and a squeeze of lime

Interestingly, there were also health-focused drinks including raspberry-lemon Lo Bros kombucha and a sparkling peach-flavored matcha drink. The airline was also serving various coffee and espresso drinks and Teapigs teas. There was even Cadbury’s hot chocolate.

I had a glass of Laurent-Perrier with my crisps (I was picking up on the Britishisms by now), which was offered about 20 minutes into flight.

Meal service started about 20 minutes after that and I began with the cauliflower soup, which was savory and filling but not overly rich. No need to season it with the airline’s iconic airplane-shaped salt and pepper shakers, lovingly dubbed Orville and Wilbur.

For my main, the lamb I had preordered was hearty and slightly spicy, and it went well with the pinot noir.

I skipped the cheese course and went straight for the chocolate dessert, which was like a mousse-y eclair.

I woke up around three hours before our descent and ordered a cappuccino and a glass of sparkling water, both of which were quickly provided. Then, about 90 minutes before landing, the cabin lights gradually turned back on and as passengers roused, flight attendants came to ask folks individually if they would like a prelanding meal.

The choices were:

• Warm cinnamon scones served with salted caramel-cranberry sauce, or orange scones with lemon curd
• Togarashi-spiced smoked halloumi on a brioche bun with chipotle mayonnaise
• Crispy chicken bao with nahm jim sauce, carrots, spring onions and pea shoots
• A British ploughman’s plate with chicken liver pâté, Shropshire blue cheese, baby pear, pickled celery and candied walnuts served with a mini baguette

I wanted something flavorful and substantial, so I chose the chicken bao. It was a small sandwich with fluffy bread and fried chicken thigh meat plus a sweet-and-sour sauce, and it was exactly what I wanted to tide me over until dinner several hours later that evening in L.A.

Would you recommend Virgin Atlantic Upper Class?

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class is one of the most pleasant ways to fly between Europe and the U.S., mainly because of the uniqueness of the onboard socializing spaces, the inflight amenities and the unparalleled service.

When was the last time you were on a flight where the crew members were happy to chat with you, unprompted, for 10 minutes about the various meal options and how much fun they had working for their airline? It made the entire inflight experience feel like a breath of fresh air.

On the downside, the Upper Class suites aboard the airline’s A350s seem to be showing signs of wear and tear, with scuffs and scratches, so hopefully there are some refurbishment plans. It’s also hard to swallow taxes and fees that can range up to nearly $1,000 on award tickets and that are only going to get higher, too.

However, given the price of paid fares on routes between the U.S. and the U.K. these days, that might not seem like too much of a burden.

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