Virgin Atlantic have won my loyalty. I find it hard to imagine ever flying British Airways Club World again if Upper Class is available.
This does not mean that after 370 lifetime flights with BA I do not like them any more. I still identify with the brand and will look forward to flying their much more extensive route network later this year. I will continue to fly in BA First when the price is not too crazy.
But it does mean that Virgin Atlantic is now my preferred carrier whenever I buy a ticket in biz-class.
The reason is simple. I took out the Virgin Atlantic Mastercard to go with my BA Amex and get a double-dip on reward vouchers. I took the sign-up bonus, used the points and a reward voucher to buy an Upper Class ticket to Shanghai.
I loved everything about flying with Virgin Atlantic so much that I will now spend cash with Virgin Atlantic that would otherwise have found it’s way to BA. The card and it’s sign-up bonus have done their jobs well.
I had heard it said that while Club World is a flying office, Upper Class is a flying nightclub. Having been a bit of a party animal in years gone by I was looking forward to seeing whether or not this was true. Spoiler: it was! Kind of…
Why is my story relevant to Airline Revenue Economics?
Air travellers like me are a loyal bunch. We are to some extent more brand than price sensitive. We will pay a little extra or fly at a slightly inconvenient time to fly with our preferred brand, who reward us with points for flights and status perks.
We are not the ‘50 Dollars extra from a thousand passengers” ancillary retailing market that is so in vogue right now. We are the “thousand Dollars extra from fifty passengers” market that the NDC retailing trend seems to forget about.
We know that selecting flights purely based on flight or schedule may save a bit of money in the short-term. But we also know that not flying our preferred carrier comes with a cost too. Knowing how to make the most of a familiar seat and bed and jumping to the front of the queue when things go wrong thanks to our status is often worth the additional cost.
For these reasons loyalty programmes act as a significant barrier to leaving one airline for another. For a frequent flyer to switch loyalty to another carrier might not exactly be as rare as a watcher of the skies spying a new planet. But it is not far off.
It started with credit cards
I have had the BA Amex in some form or another since 2006, the start of my business travel career. I cannot remember what the sign-up bonus was but it funded an upgrade from World Traveller Plus to Club World on a holiday to Chicago.
Most years I held the costly Premium Plus at £195 and now £250 ($317) a year. But from time to time when I was burning rather than earning points downgraded to the free one. Here is what it gives me:
3x Avios per £ when buying BA flights or packages, excellent when flying regularly
1.5 Avios per £ on everything else
A voucher after spending £10,000 in a year, increasing to £15,000 soon, that either gives me an extra ticket for a companion or a 50% reduction in Avios
Access to more reward seats in every cabin apart from First.
In recent years I used the voucher for many excellent flights;
Hong Kong with my Mum in First and Tokyo in Club, op-upgraded to First on the return
Barcelona with my Dad in Club and Singapore in First
Beijing and Montreal in Club and Hong Kong in First.
These vouchers are so valuable that more would be welcome. After all, once I have a certain level of status why would I want to spend cash when I can use points instead?
Unfortunately no such double-voucher opportunity exists in the UK market. The other Avios-earning card in the UK is not available to me as I already hold a different card from that bank as my free card and want to keep a free card just in case.
So when Virgin Atlantic launched a double sign-up bonus on their Mastercard in 2022 I pounced. The deal is slightly different to the BA Amex and the fee a little lower at £160 rather than £250.
3x Virgin Points when buying Virgin Atlantic flights or packages and 1.5 on everything else
A voucher after spending £10,000 in a year that can be used to upgrade from Economy to Premium or from Premium to Upper Class.
The voucher can also be used for a companion or to access the snazzy Clubhouse at Heathrow but the rules are complex. As I was starting from zero points and zero status this would have been an inefficient use of the card. The upgrade was what I was after.
The double sign-up bonus was 30,000 Virgin Points.
I think that both cards are as good as each other. BA’s extra availability is extremely helpful but with Virgin Atlantic you have fewer people chasing the seats.
Remarks on the economics of the cards
BA’s sister loyalty company IAG Loyalty pull in the doubloons in sackfulls with their Amex deal. Amex buy Avios for cash and divvy them out to cardholders as they spend. For IAG Loyalty it is literally a license to print money.
The Virgin Atlantic Mastercard has different economics. The card is issued by Virgin Money, who have big offices in Newcastle my home town and employ two of my close friends John and Jo. Because they are both in the Virgin group, they share rather than buy and sell.
I think it works like this, although I might have some of the details wrong:
Virgin Atlantic gives Virgin Money the Virgin Points for free or almost free
When a customer buys a Virgin Atlantic flight, Virgin Money take a share
When a customer buys a Virgin Money product like a loan or mortgage, Virgin Atlantic get a share
They share the card fee.
I will be interested to see whether or not the Virgin Atlantic Mastercard survives the upcoming Virgin Money take-over by Nationwide, another British bank.
Finding flights
I selected Shanghai as my first Virgin Atlantic destination for four reasons:
Excellent reward availability through the year
Flights in waking hours in both directions so I could really experience everything Virgin Atlantic has to offer – departure times were 12.35pm eastbound and 11.10am to London
Long flights so I would have time to try everything – total time on the plane was 28 hours
Relatively low taxes and charges at £581.29, of which £329 goes to Virgin Atlantic as the YQ carrier surcharge – in comparison, America is the best part of a thousand Pounds.
I bought during the Black Friday sale when the points required for Premium upgrading to Upper Class with the Mastercard voucher was reduced from 45,000 to 30,000. Exactly what I earned from the card sign-up bonus.
If you exclude airport charges and the various government taxes the Virgin ground received £489 for my Upper Class return ticket to Shanghai, £160 for the card and £329 YQ. The points were free because they were a sign-up bonus.
That is a bargain even if the flights had turned out to be rubbish. In fact they were anything but…
Reservations & ticketing
Things I liked about Virgin Atlantic:
The special line for people buying Upper Class tickets was answered very quickly, within a ring or two after the “calls may be recorded” blurb
The agents knew exactly what I wanted to do once I had my Mastercard voucher
Verifying my details, making the booking, paying and issuing the ticket took only seven minutes.
All in all Virgin Atlantic was just as good as BA’s Gold Guest List line, which is a “better than First” service. But having to call to use the voucher is not quite as easy as BA’s, which can be used online.
Winner: Virgin Atlantic
Advance Seat Reservation
I was pleased that booking a seat was free. I do agree with BA’s paid seat selection policy because it means that good seats are often available for frequent flyer status holders. But as an early booker I had my choice of every seat in the cabin.
I chose seat 6A in both directions. Half way down the cabin so far from both the galley and the bar.
I liked Virgin Atlantic’s seat map. Seats in other cabins are shown with the groovy remark “this seat is roped off for now”. Flying nightclub vibes indeed! :-)
Winner: Virgin Atlantic
Airport check-in & security
Things I liked about Virgin Atlantic:
Visually stunning signage on arrival at Heathrow Terminal Three
Jazzy yet calming lighting effects in the Upper Class check-in area, which elegantly cycle through hues of red, orange, blue and purple
No need to walk to the other end of the terminal from the station like with BA
Desk agent just as friendly as BA’s
Lift to private security channel just to the right of check-in
No wait for either the desk or security
Things BA does better IF you are a Gold card holder and not a regular Club World traveller:
Access to First wing security, which is more light and airy than Virgin Atlantic’s channel
Direct access to Galleries First lounge and Concorde Room without needing to go through the shops.
Otherwise Virgin Atlantic is the clear winner.
Lounge
Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse is well reviewed – use your favourite search engine to find thousands of pictures and hundreds of comments.
Things I liked about Virgin Atlantic:
High quality of materials used to construct and furnish the lounge, so everything is in much better condition than BA’s equivalent
Excellent staff – special shout outs to Iain behind the bar and Catherine who showed me around and came to find me when my flight was delayed slightly
Flights announced in the lounge with just enough time to get to the gate to find boarding starting, something that I appreciate as somebody who prefers to board early
Great food, including their own house-smoked fishl, which I had for breakfast with a little excellent charcuterie
Remy Martin XO, one of my favourites and certainly not a normal business class product – if only the flight had been slightly later…
I was disappointed that the famous pool table has gone.
It is telling that while after hundreds of visits to BA lounges I could not tell you the name of anyone who works there but remember Iain and Catherine from Virgin Atlantic.
BA does nothing better than Virgin Atlantic if you are not flying First and using the Concorde Room. Overall I would rate the Concorde Room slightly but not much lower than the Clubhouse due to the poorer overall trim and finish.
To some extent it is not quite fair to compare BA and Virgin Atlantic lounges. BA has a significant shorthaul operation. All of Virgin Atlantic’s flights are longhaul.
I often wonder on my BA travels whether they ever considered a slightly different lounge proposition at Terminal Five to what they have. Of course changing them now would be “too hard” given their need to serve thousands of premium cabin travellers a day:
Keep Concorde Room as it is, for First ticket holders and Guest List members, and fit it to exceed the Clubhouse
Reclassify Galleries First as a Club World lounge and fit it to the same standard as the Clubhouse
Reclassify Galleries Club South as the “first class” lounge for Gold card holders
Reclassify Galleries Club North as the “business class” lounge for Silver card holders and Club Europe travellers.
Winner: Virgin Atlantic
Boarding
BA’s boarding process is a chaotic shambles, with long lines everywhere and too many people trying to board at once. Here is what they have on longhaul:
Group Zero: Gold Guest List
Group One: First and Gold and oneworld Emerald
Group Two: Club and Silver and oneworld Sapphire
Group Three etc… others
There are so many shiny cardholders travellers that everything gets messy quickly. Here is what in my opinion they should have on longhaul:
Group One: First
Group Two: Club (& Guest List maybe)
Group Three: Gold
Group Four: Silver
Group Five: World Traveller Plus (& Bronze/Ruby maybe)
Group Six etc…: Traveller
I found Virgin Atlantic’s boarding process much calmer and better managed.
Winner: Virgin Atlantic
Aircraft names
I loved each aircraft having a name. I was on “Leading Lady” (G-VWOO) eastbound and “Miss Moneypenny” (G-VSPY) into London. BA planes used to have names. Think castles and cities in the UK. Now they just have nothing.
For me aircraft names are one of the little touches that Virgin Atlantic planes a little more special – I want to collect flights on all of them!
Winner: Virgin Atlantic
Seat
Things I liked about Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class Suite:
Quality of materials – comfy leather, elegant stitching in the right hand divider and visually pleasing vinyl-style laminate on the left hand divider – overall the seat was stunning to look at and feel
The recline was fine despite friends telling me otherwise
The table was large and sturdy
Having a foot rest that was not cocooned and which I could use during taxi, take-off and landing
The bed is extremely comfy and has lots of room for shoulders and arms when sleeping on my side.
Things I did not like about Virgin Atlantic:
The pillow is too soft and I had to fold it over to get any height.
Things I prefer about Club World:
A slightly harder pillow and firm second cushion
The chance to look out of the window
The Z-position for lounging in-flight is slightly better than Virgin Atlantic’s
The crew do not force dim the 787’s electrochromatic windows so I can enjoy the natural light westbound and look at the beautiful Gobi Desert.
I also think that Club World has an elegant look and feel, although slightly more sober than Upper Class. There is that flying nightclub effect again…
Winner: tie
Cabin
Things I liked about Virgin Atlantic:
Groovy tetrahedrons all over the design – this cool shape gives a certain effect of depth to everything that makes the cabin feel more cozy than BA’s waffle panels
I loved the bar, which kicks the Club Kitchen into touch, and spent about three hours in it on both flights – there are four seats but also cushioned wall panels that I liked leaning against
The mood lighting is lovely and similar to the ceiling lighting at check in, offering a red-orange-blue-purple cycle – the lighting in the bar was especially nice, with a pink tetrahedron illumination that dimmed and brightened again over a 20 minute or so period – the flying nightclub again!
The Door Two arch over the bar is well displayed even though it is traversed by the bar’s own lighting – on many airlines this lovely architectural feature is wasted with a galley
Chocolate coloured vinyl style panels on most bulkheads made the cabin feel warm
Large loos with plenty of room to change into the nicely presented pyjamas.
Special shout outs to Steve from Dalian and the two chaps from the healthcare industry for entertaining convo.
Having a special area to hang out in was great. On BA the only place to stretch your legs is the galley and while the crew are always welcoming you know when it is time to leave. Not a problem with Virgin Atlantic’s bar. It really is a flying nightclub!
Winner: Virgin Atlantic
Service
I loved the safety video and laughed out loud when the giant crab came on. On both flights I had little interaction with the cabin crew other than the meal service, which was friendly enough.
Winner: tie
Food
I pre-ordered a butter chicken curry which was just as good as BA’s curry. The starter was halibut and dessert was tiramisu. Outbound from Heathrow the food was just as good as BA’s. Inbound from Shanghai the food was just as good as on the way out, something that is rarely true on BA.
I was impressed with the eclectic selection of snacks from brands I had never heard of but which were good:
Savoursmiths Bloody Mary flavour crisps
Copperpot fudge
YUMMA cups, a gummy sweet
Joe & Seph popcorn (this was the only one I had heard of).
Winner: tie ex-Heathrow, Virgin Atlantic to Heathrow
How does Virgin Atlantic do it?
I was not expecting Virgin Atlantic to be as good as it was. Nothing that they have done is technically any better than what BA achieve. I think that the difference comes down to three simple things:
Nice thoughtful touches in design, like the tetrahedrons and chocolate coloured vinyl
Really caring about what they do rather than just saying they care
Staff are all part of one family, much more so than at BA, which supports the other two points.
Back when I was at Qatar Airways these three were points that we really struggled with despite putting a lot effort into the product and service.
The reasons were simple – Finance did simply not want to pay for the vision, the Commercial department did not have confidence in the vision and the staff were bullied into submission rather than inspired.
Virgin Atlantic has them right and the people running the airline are clearly doing a great job.
The end result was that I now feel “in the know” about Virgin Atlantic. Part of a super-secret club. Of course our relationship is entirely transactional, but it does not feel like it.
Based on my first experience Virgin Atlantic are doing a great job. I have already booked my flight on the latest voucher for an Upper Class flight with Premium-level points. This is to San Francisco in March. I can’t wait!
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