Is it time for Virgin Atlantic to launch a ‘Suite Guarantee’?

It’s happened to me again.

I try to get to New York once a year, and since Covid I have been using Virgin Atlantic. It ensures that I get to fly them annually to keep my eye in. It is also a good use of my annual Virgin Atlantic credit card voucher which makes it only 35,000 Virgin Points for an Upper Class return ticket.

For the second year running, however, I have been ‘downgraded’ to the terrible old seat.

It’s difficult to overstate how much Rhys and I dislike the old Virgin Atlantic business class seat. It was a decent product in its day, but that day was a LONG time ago.

It is simply not an acceptable seat, in my view, given what else is currently on the market. More importantly, it isn’t acceptable compared to what else Virgin Atlantic is offering.

Here is the old seat:

and

The problems are numerous. You will be facing into a wall or at another person. You cannot see out of the window. You cannot communicate with your partner. You cannot put the seat into bed mode yourself – it needs the cabin crew to do it. It is so narrow that even my 40 inch chest struggles to fit. Storage is woeful. The seat feels short if you are over 6 foot. The TV is small.

Compare it to the A350 suite:

…. or the even better A330neo suite:

…. and it’s night and day.

When Virgin Atlantic announced a new aircraft order at the Farnborough Airshow last month, we were hoping the entire Boeing 787-9 fleet would be scrapped. No. Only three are leaving the fleet, since only seven additional A330neo aircraft have been ordered.

There is no plan to refurbish the remaining 14 aircraft in the Boeing 787-9 fleet. Virgin Atlantic is likely to be flying these seats into the 2030s.

Virgin Atlantic needs a ‘Suite Guarantee’

Now, I hear you say, surely British Airways has a similar problem. The old Club World seat is still on a lot of aircraft, and as far as the Gatwick fleet is concerned it will never be replaced with Club Suite.

I’m not arguing with this. However, Virgin Atlantic has a terrible record for swapping aircraft. BA does not. Book Club Suite and you will usually get it.

When you book a Virgin Atlantic flight these days, it feels like the aircraft type shown is basically a best guess. You might get it, you might not.

Even worse, Virgin Atlantic does not tell you when your aircraft has been changed. I only found out that my New York flight in October had gone from an A330neo to the (soon to be scrapped) A330 by accident when I was idly fiddling with the Virgin Atlantic website.

What I hear from our readers is that they are not booking Virgin Atlantic in Upper Class even when the flight shows as an A350 or A330neo.

People don’t trust Virgin Atlantic to stick to their word about aircraft type, and they refuse to risk getting the old seat.

Since my annual New York trip (their flagship route, remember) has now been swapped two years running to the inferior old seat, I don’t blame them.

How would a ‘Suite Guarantee’ work?

What I think Virgin Atlantic needs to do is launch an Upper Class ‘Suite Guarantee’.

If you book an A330neo or an A350 in Upper Class, and your flight is swapped to an A330 or Boeing 787-9, you should have the right to cancel with no penalty or be moved for free to a different flight.

This should apply to both cash and reward seats. Of course, reward seats can already be changed for a £30 fee (albeit you need availability) so the main beneficiary here would be cash travellers.

Doesn’t everyone win from this idea?

As far as I can tell, this is a win-win idea.

Passengers know that they will get the seat they paid for, and if they don’t they know they can cancel or swap without penalty. Those people who refuse to book Virgin Atlantic Upper Class due to the very real risk of being swapped onto the 787 will hopefully come back.

As for the airline, as well as winning back those flyers, the guarantee may bring a bit of discipline to the scheduling department. Any team that is putting A330 and Boeing 787-9 aircraft on its flagship route, where bankers are still paying £10,000 for a return trip, needs a wake up call.

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How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points and the free card has a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points):

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 50,000 Virgin Points.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points.