[Anonymous]

[wishee71]

I am a gold card holder with VS having also been a Gold card holder with BA I fell out with then over trying to use some of my miles for a holiday. (currently silver) I have just got back from a trip and was unable to get Upper (or any ticket for that matter) on Virgin and ended up reluctantly going Club with BA. I just want to put this out there as I have noticed that people generally favour BA on this forum and I fail to see why. In my opinion the Upper Class product is far superior, from the pick up anywhere in the UK through check in and then the lounge. On board the staff are leagues ahead of their BA compatriots. Am I missing something? I find the BA staff miserable, self important and treat passengers as if they are an inconvenience. I think T5 is a fantastic building but the lounge experience in T3 is better. I still use BA for short haul but fail to see how anyone can go back once you have experienced the VS touch. Incidentally with regards redeeming miles I have never had any problems with VS which is why BA lost my business in the first place. Answers on a postcard please.

[flyingformiles]

Never flown VS UC so hard for me to comment. I’ll give you my thoughts on BA CW and a few thoughts on what I’ve read about VS on other forums.

However, it all comes down to personal preference.

For me I’m not that bothered about pick-up in the UK (although only the top fare classes on VS get it). T3 lounge I’ve not been to but have heard good things. I do like the new T5 lounges.

As for your thoughts on the BA on-board staff this is something many people here and on other forums would disagree with. On all my BA flights I’ve had excellent FA’s, superb service and excellent food.

As for redeeming miles, I’ve never had a problem yet. I agree that some routes and some dates are hard but it’s all about planning and flexibility.

As for why I choose BA – I like the products, service, the range of routes, ability to earn miles, etc.

[viking01]

Why does one have to be terrible and one brilliant? It seems the terms of the debate were set decades ago during the Dirty Tricks campaign and have stayed that way ever since. I’ve flown every class with each airline, and depending on route, budget, purpose of trip etc… they all have there good points. I’m silver with BA, gold with Virgin, and although the Virgin T3 lounge is one of the best in the world, it’s not much use if you’re flying to somewhere that isn’t on their route network, and the lounges at T5 are excellent, especially if your departing from Satellite B and so dont have to go through the escalator nightmare to find the entrance to the ones in the main terminal.

[viking01]

And since I’m still logged in, BA’s CW has been kicked all around the forums for the last 18 months, and yet its excellent. The IFE can be unreliable, but if you fly often enough, unless it;s the start of the month you;ve seen everything anyway – its more annoying if the inseat power doesnt work for charging laptops. Apart from that it still stands up to most other airlines, especially since many of them have lie flat rather than fully flat, aka ski slopes.

[NTarrant]

I have flown VS once 6 years ago in economy and it was a good experience. But it does depend on where you need to fly to.

On the whole I think BA provides a good service, there will always be the odd member of staff that will not come up to the mark and provide a medioca service. I flew AMS-LGW a couple of months ago and was the only one in Club Europe but the service was medioca.

I have not had many problems using miles, although as another contributor said you have to choose your dates carefully. Using miles to upgrade is usually easier.

[wishee71]

I agree with the IFE viking1, as you say if you fly often enough not an issue but can be annoying. I disagree with the dirty tricks reference, I have no axe to grind in fact the BA network is substantially better. I use Club Europe and I would say it is 50/50 in terms of service levels. As I said initially my experience long haul has been awful with BA. I was just interested to know if it was bad luck or a common theme?

[viking01]

Yes, sorry, I wasnt implying anything about dirty tricks, just that it seems impossible to like both airlines, which is strange because they are so different, and also because people don’t seem to get so wound up about AF or LH. If you have a bad experience with an airline, it can make you wonder whether general service levels have dropped etc… but the more you fly, the more it averages out, I think (although the averge may vary between airlines). I fly AA and UA a fair bit, and I’ve found their staff to be just fine, but reading the forums, that makes me a freak as well, so perhaps I’m just indiscriminate !

[GoonerLondon]

Essentially I agree with the comment that we are very lucky in London to have two excellent airlines. I think it comes down to personal choice of what style you like.

I happen to value the route network and professionalism of the BA approach, and completely disagree with observations that BA crew are stand-offish, snooty or rude. I feel VS is a little style over substance, and don’t really like the ‘eggbox’ approach to their upper class seating.

As for miles, one of the best things about Exec Club is that the miles don’t expire, whih is good peace of mind if you are saving up for something.

For a non business traveller perspective, BBC Watchdog had a viewers poll – which was won by BA.

[wishee71]

I concur, we are indeed lucky in the UK to have what are essentially world class airlines. As my grandfather used to say “speak as you find” nothing fairer than that. Inevitably with the amount I travel, I will use BA again and lets hope they can change my perception. As I said in my first post, I wanted to gauge peoples experience as the majority of people here say good things about BA. With regards the seating, again, it is personal choice and I for one do not like the “face to face” configuration in Club and prefer First lay out if using BA.

[Biggless]

First let me say that I do generally like BA. I have flown regularly with BA for 20 yrs including long haul first class. Most recently to Cape Town, in First class, on BA miles!. However, I must agree with the original post that having flown Virgin Upper class just once, it is far superior overall to BA club World. The lounge at Heathrow is awesome and in my opinion much better that the new T5 Concorde lounge. In fact, I would submit that Virgin Upper class compares very well to BA First !

[travelworld]

I fly on both regularly-if I have a choice of two I usually go for Virgin as the lounge at LHR is fantastic (but can get v crowded at around 7.30pm as it is also used by Qatar and, I think, Etihad.) On board,I prefer UC seat (just) as opposed to new Club World (which is MUCH better than old) but I find BA food quality better. Crew vary between both airlines- sometimes good, sometimes not.. When I’ve flown first class on BA I’ve always found it superior to VS, but at that price it should be. So I agree- one airline isn’t significantly better than the other .

[wishee71]

Absolutely right about the lounge, I have heard that they are resolving this. It is much the same if you use Johannesburg regularly as they share with Swiss. Small issue though as it is just a great spot to unwind or do work.

[usainbxl]

I think that it’s great to have to luxury of debating the merits of BA over VS as options. If you aren’t clear on my meaning, just fly an American airline (any of the them) and it will all come into focus.

Having said that, I have found in my experience that VS is more consistent is striving to make the experience for their customers seamless and enjoyable. BA also offers a good experience for their premium passengers, but always seems to end up playing catch up to VS, surely due to it’s larger size and bureaucracy.

To chose your alliance to VS or BS, I think you have to look at your needs. If you fly JFK-LHR-JFK every week, I’d go with VS. Skipping dinner and sleeping upstairs on VS in your sleep suit is the best way to arrive as refreshed as possible — after a visit to the arrivals lounge, breakfast and a massage.

If you fly a combination of long-haul and short-haul, BA dominates because of its reach and frequent flier program.

Either way, two good choices in a world of great variability.

[GTR_Skyline]

Having just returned Club World with BA, I have to agree the VS offering is far superior. The staff continue to be arrogant and treat their passengers as lesser beings…a simple request from my mother for a fruit salad and cereal for breakfast was rejected by the crew member on the upper deck because it meant he had to open up a second tray…on VS, you eat what you want and when you want..the staff are humble – this is a word the BA crew need to look up in the dictionary…. The VS upper class offering is hard to beat…I won’t be travelling with BA again for a very long time..the recent trip was simply redeeming the last of the BA miles I had.

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