Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350 Premium Economy (New York JFK – London Heathrow) 

Let’s face it. Living in Australia practically places us at the other end of the planet from popular destinations such as London and New York. But if you’re jetting all the way to one of those great cities, visiting the other becomes much simpler. Among your many travel options, you could complete the journey between JFK and Heathrow in Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy.

For one thing, it’s a trip that doesn’t break the ‘points bank’. If you have Gold status (or higher) with Virgin Atlantic – or more likely for Aussies, with its partner Virgin Australia – you’ll also be treated to many of the perks of Business Class when you fly. Namely, with access to the fantastic Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse lounge during your final hours in New York.

With a need to zip from the United States to the United Kingdom ahead of an industry conference, I decide to put Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy to the test. Tonight, I’m travelling on one of the airline’s newest aircraft, the Airbus A350-1000. By chance, this is the same type of plane that’s set to make Qantas’ upcoming Project Sunrise flights a reality.

Check-in and boarding

With a ticket from New York JFK in Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy, you’ll be able to complete airport check-in up to four hours before departure. Naturally, online check-in is available before that – but four hours is when bag drop becomes available.

Keep your eyes peeled for the white ‘Premium’ check-in sign. This lane is faster than the regular Economy queue, but it’s also shared with Economy Delight (flexible Economy), Flying Club Silver and SkyTeam Elite. If you happen to have Gold status with Virgin Atlantic or its partners – including Virgin Australia Velocity – the swifter ‘Upper Class’ check-in is available to you as well. I have my Velocity Gold number on the booking and don’t encounter any pushback at the Upper Class desks.

From there, it’s through security. Virgin Atlantic allows Gold-grade members to use priority security screening at JFK. But in a frustrating twist, my Gold status isn’t displayed on the boarding pass, even though my number is attached. After a polite word to the security staffer and on presenting my digital Velocity card, I’m allowed into the fast lane.

Because the system hasn’t detected the Velocity status properly, there’s no priority boarding over and above what my Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy ticket provides. But given where I’m sitting, I’m still on board without too much of a delay. Even if it means staying put when the usual calls are made for elite frequent flyers. I’m not wandering far from the aircraft door, so I leave it be.

Lounge options in New York flying Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy

A Premium Economy ticket on Virgin Atlantic doesn’t include lounge access as standard. But if you have the right credit card, frequent flyer status or membership, you could be covered. Here are the lounges you may qualify for when departing on Virgin Atlantic from New York JFK’s Terminal 4:

• Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. Available to Gold and UNIQ members of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Also open to Virgin Australia Velocity Gold members (and higher), SkyTeam Elite Plus members, and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold (and higher). Priority Pass is also accepted between 5 am and 1:30 pm daily.
• American Express Centurion Lounge. Open to holders of the American Express Platinum Card, Platinum Business Card, Corporate Platinum Card and invitation-only Centurion Card.
• Delta Sky Club. Welcoming Sky Club members and non-Delta SkyTeam Elite Plus cardholders in any Virgin Atlantic cabin. Also available to Delta Gold, Platinum and Diamond Medallion members travelling in Premium Economy or higher.
• Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with Etihad Airways. Priority Pass members can visit the lounge once per calendar year via their membership. Further entries cost US$75 per visit.
• Primeclass Lounge. Another option for Priority Pass members, open 24/7.
• Air India Maharaja Lounge. Available to Priority Pass members, but closes at 9:45 pm each evening, so not practical for this specific overnight flight.

I’ve visited several of these lounges previously, so this time, I opt for the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. I’m able to enter courtesy of my Velocity status. But I need to present the actual membership card, as again, the status hasn’t registered on the boarding pass. After a few fuss-free clicks of the keyboard, things are sorted and I’m inside for a pre-flight meal and shower.

Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy seating on the Airbus A350

Premium Economy comes in a 2-4-2 layout aboard Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A350s. There are two different layouts of this aircraft, but you’re unlikely to notice the difference. That’s because Premium Economy always runs from rows 21 to 27 – the only difference is how far forward or aft the seats are located.

New York to London is regarded as the world’s most premium air route. So, there’s no surprise that tonight’s flight is operated by the A350 variant with the largest number of Upper Class (Business Class) seats. This positions Premium Economy over and behind the wings. On the ‘less premium’ alternative layout, it’s much closer to the nose.

I’m planning to get as much sleep as I can on this flight, so I opt for a window seat: 23A. At the time of booking, it’s the only remaining window seat. Sneakily, Virgin Atlantic badges this, and a few other rows, as ‘premium seats’. Not in the ‘premium economy’ sense, but in the sense that you need to pay extra. Yes, even though it’s no different to any other seat in the cabin. But, they got me… I really, really wanted the window. It sets me back an extra US$74.42 (about AU$120) – but it pays off. I doze right after take-off and sleep through until breakfast.

It’s a comfortable journey thanks to the seat’s seven-inch recline. With a pitch of up to 38 inches, there’s also plenty of room to stretch out. Even though placing a laptop bag under the seat impedes the legroom somewhat, the leg rest and foot bar keep things comfy. The only drawback? The seat cushion is 18.5 inches wide – which isn’t substantially broader than Economy on the same plane (17.4 inches). However, the arm rest between seats helps to space things out.

Food and beverage in Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350 Premium Economy

This journey in Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy begins with a glass of drinkable (yet non-descript) sparkling wine. If you enjoy bubbles, take the chance to indulge when offered – as further sparkling wine oddly comes at a charge. But bubbles aside, the rest of the inflight offering is surprisingly generous.

Today’s journey from New York to London measures at 7 hrs 16 mins from gate to gate. Naturally, with even less time in the sky. But Virgin Atlantic still makes time for a four-course dinner service after take-off and a cooked breakfast before landing.

But this is a midnight departure – and I’ve made the most of my Velocity Gold perks to enjoy a nice dinner in the Clubhouse. So it’s straight to sleep for me, but I deliberately wake in time for breakfast. I certainly could have slept longer, but I’m also mindful of the midday arrival time into Heathrow. Waking even two hours before landing puts me at a 10 am rise time at the destination time zone, helping to beat jet lag.

I wake a little before the main breakfast service starts, so I take the opportunity to order a latte. On the food front, there’s a choice between citrus French toast, an omelette, or a ‘cooked breakfast’. That includes sausage, crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, potatoes and sautéed mushrooms. That’s my pick of the day and it hits the spot.

I’m glad that I didn’t indulge in the full dinner service just a few hours prior, as breakfast alone is more than enough food for the timing of the flight. Cabin crew distribute Love Hearts candy just before we arrive.

Entertainment and service in Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy on the Airbus A350

When you’re not trying to doze, it’s easy to stay entertained in Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy. On the Airbus A350, make use of the aircraft’s external cameras – particularly at the start and end of the journey. For take-off, I activate the tail-mounted camera for a bird’s-eye view. On arrival, I switch to the camera showing the forward landing gear, which gives a clearer sight of the runway we’re touching down on.

The 13-inch seatback screen also serves up a wide selection of content. Its inflight map is modern and interactive, so you can manipulate the view to your liking. As an added feature, the screen has a dedicated sleep mode to help signal your wishes to the crew. You can activate ‘do not disturb’, or opt to be woken for shopping or the next meal. Given I’m planning to eat breakfast, I choose the ‘wake for meal’ option. It places an image of cutlery on the screen as a message for the crew. I’m awoken right when I’d hoped to be: in time for that pre-breakfast latte.

If you’re relying on your own devices, the seat sports an international style AC outlet. There’s a USB socket as well for easy recharging. Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A350s also come equipped with inflight Wi-Fi, accessible at a charge. You’ll pay £2.99 for unlimited messaging, £5.99 for one hour of open browsing or £20.99 to connect for the entire flight. That flight pass is a little costly – around AU$42. But on a flight like this, you’ll probably want to spend your time sleeping rather than surfing.

Service from the cabin crew is friendly, prompt and efficient. When I’m just trying to rest, have a quick meal and then land, I couldn’t ask for more.

The verdict

All in all, Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy is a comfortable way to fly – especially on the airline’s Airbus A350s. Clearly, the carrier’s Upper Class cabin is a cut above. But I don’t feel that I ‘missed out’ on anything by choosing Premium Economy this time. In that sense, I’d definitely book the same cabin again on the same flight, if travelling under the same circumstances.

Given the short timing of the service, I slept exceptionally well. To the point that flying Upper Class wouldn’t have added to that, as I’d have dozed off and awoken at the same times, anyway. I enjoyed a filling hot breakfast with espresso coffee, watched a little TV before landing, and that was that. A fuss-free, on-time journey. It’s a pleasant one.

Securing this flight using points or miles

You have a few options when it comes to savvily securing a seat on this flight with points. The go-to move for travellers Down Under will be to redeem Velocity Frequent Flyer points on Virgin Atlantic. From New York to London, Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy costs 37,500 Velocity Points. That’s not significantly more than the 23,500 Velocity Points required of Economy, and this feels like a much more comfortable journey. Of course, Upper Class is only 51,500 Velocity Points on the same flight, so if you have the extra points to spare, why not.

But booking Virgin Atlantic with Velocity Points is a bit of a hassle. You can’t browse availability online – and when you want to book, you have to call Velocity. The telephone agents also can’t browse availability across multiple dates – or even between flights on the same date. That means they can’t easily read out a list of flights open for points bookings. The process to nab a Virgin Atlantic reward seat is literally to create a dummy booking on a specific flight – including with passenger names, etc. – and see whether the computer comes back with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. It’s slow trial and error – sometimes without yielding any results.

It’s much easier to book Virgin Atlantic flights using the airline’s own Flying Club program. This often means using fewer points in number than Velocity, but with some pricey Flying Club carrier charges. For instance, I secured this flight for just 17,500 Virgin Points through Flying Club. Yet with a hefty co-pay of US$452.80 – not including the extra I paid for seat selection. Of that, US$425 was a Virgin Atlantic-imposed carrier charge for Flying Club members, which isn’t imposed when spending Velocity Points.

Still, Flying Club members get access to more generous reward seat availability on Virgin Atlantic than available through partner programs. So while the same seat would have theoretically cost 37,500 Velocity Points plus only the genuine tax (circa US$30), there was no availability for Velocity members in this cabin on this flight, so the difference is academic.

That’s one of the benefits of collecting flexible rewards points. With Flying Club being a direct transfer partner of Amex Membership Rewards (a 2:1 transfer rate applies), it’s a move worth keeping in your back pocket. Especially if you plan to combine a US visit with a hop across to the UK, or vice versa.

Also reviewed: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, New York JFK

Photography by Chris Chamberlin, who travelled at Point Hacks’ expense.

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