I'm looking to book a flight out of Newark soon, heading over to London in September. Normally, I've ridden British Airways or American Airlines on their 777s when I go to the. I was thinking of mixing it up this time and taking a Virgin Atlantic 747 however. Has anybody ever traveled Virgin Atlantic, particularly their 747s?
i'm pretty sure virgin atlantic was what i took from nyc to london (and back) last year. and it had to have been a 747. they had tv's in all of the seatbacks, which was very nice. they had a bunch of movies to select from that you could watch (i watched 3 in a row on the way home i think), and they even had this trivia game that was basically plane-wide, in that your score went up against everyone else on the plane and you could see which seat won each round. plus the meals were pretty good and, iirc, they gave you a little goodie bag of stuff (mostly crap, but free crap). so i would definitely recommend the virgin atlantic experience.
Thanks guys, I think will wind up going with Virgin Atlantic, mostly due to hearing nothing but good things from everyone I've spoke to thus far. Now it's a matter of finding a way to survive 3 months in Europe with the weak dollar.
I flew AA from Dallas to Chicago on business once, and that plane was connecting and heading to London afterwards. It had all the same things you mention above (they upgraded me to business class), but the TV's popped out of the arm rests in each seat, and they were touch screen, and the funny thing was, if you didn't want to reach your arm up slightly to touch the screen, the other armrest had a remote control for the TV, which, if you flipped it over, was a phone. Fun stuff. I wanted to stay on the plane and ride all the way to the UK.
I used to fly BA across the atlantic all the time, but once I took Virgin and it was great. Of course, I was flying business class, which makes a difference. Also, its hard to say whether I liked Virgin just becuase it was different. I'm told that in Coach, Virgin is much better than its competition, but can't personally vouch for this. What I can tell you is that in Virgin Business Class they give services that the other airlines don't such as massages, fully reclining seats, Pyjamas, and meals you can order whenever you want. I have vague recollections of a bar where you can go order drinks and socialize, but I may be confusing this with an Austin Powers or James Bond movie.
oh yeah, i was wondering how i controlled the tv. now you reminded me that this had a remote in the other arm rest as well. it was definitely the most deluxe experience i've ever had on a plane, though i've always been in coach. and the hardest thing for me to survive wasn't the weak dollar, it was the lack of A/C (i automatically deduct a billion points from any place that doesn't have A/C) and free water. you had to pay for water damn near everywhere (can i catch a water fountain?) and it was great buying a liter of water to start the day and having it be warm after about an hour. i also had a bad habit of leaving my liter behind and would have to go buy a new one. paying for water sucks, paying for it twice really sucks. but other than that europe ain't so bad. but i was staying in hostels and such, so maybe you'll be where there is A/C.
I have a related question. I'm flying alItalia (coach) from Chicago to Milan later this month...does anyone know if these planes come equipped with power outlets so that I can charge my laptop?
Wouldn't it be more exciting to watch someone that is promiscuous rather than a virgin? Maybe that is just me...
