Virgin economy delight - worth it?

[Ambleton]

At the end of Sept we're planning on going to San Francisco. (First time out of Europe for both my wife and myself)

Looking around online it looks like basically economy is £500 return each (give or take)

Economy+, delight (with extra legroom and whatever else) is about £750 return (give or take)

Then there's a big jump to the next class.

I'm 6ft5. Whenever I've flown within Europe I've always paid extra for emergency exit seats for the legroom. I did cattle class once and regretted it.

Is the "delight" on a virgin worth the extra cash for a 12hr flight?

[mark_1974]

Absolutely worth it if you can afford it. Especially with Virgin, I find their Airbus planes to be very cramped even in premium economy - narrow gangways etc so it must be horrific in cattle class.

We fly to Barbados most years as that's where the in-laws live, we always fly premium economy these days, and it makes for a much nicer flight than when we had to sit in the back. We did business class coming back into the UK once, and I was less convinced of the value of that.

[seyre1972]

I'd say YES - this isn't a 2-3 hr flight you're talking about but approx 11hrs. Given your height it will be money well spent !!

Firstly - check on Seatmap for the plane you are flying (seems to be a Boeing 787-9. This has a diagram of the plane/seating and which seat are which, and which ones to avoid (like next to the toilet)

SEATMAP VS19 example flight

Virgin Website also has plenty of details between cabins/features (such as dedicated Bag Drop etc)

Virgin as an Airline are pretty good (bit biased on my behalf as I have got Credit Card/Reward points etc Fly to the US with them a couple of times a year)

Maybe also if any questions join theV-Flyer Forum

There will be VS19 Economy Trip Report from others who've done that route more than likely.

Edited by seyre1972 on Wednesday 6th July 11:50

[Ambleton]

Thanks for the info.

From what I can gather economy delight are the same seats as economy, but with more legroom.

Premium goes up from about 750 to 2.5k (yikes)

[seyre1972]

Ambleton said:

Thanks for the info.

From what I can gather economy delight are the same seats as economy, but with more legroom.

Premium goes up from about 750 to 2.5k (yikes)

Even on miles flights - Upper to West Coast is now 115k Miles/Points (2 points per £ spend on Credit Card) but in the last 3 months - the taxes you have to pay on top flights have gone from £650 to £950.

Definitely a luxury these days - so if you're going to do it - do it and enjoy !!

[Sn1ckers]

I’ve just booked flights to South Africa with Virgin primarily because of their Economy Delight seating which, as you say, gives an extra 3 inches of leg room over the standard seats.

To be fair it was only an extra c£80 per ticket but I lined up 2x2 dining chairs to simulate the spacing and the extra 3” makes a lot of difference. A friend then reinforced my decision with his experience that it allows you to properly stretch your legs (though I’m not 6’5”!).

[Dr Slotter]

I'm 6'2" and last week did Heathrow to Seattle and back in Virgin Economy Delight on a Dreamliner. Definitely worth the money leg room wise, pretty much could stretch my legs completely out with ease. I'm quite broad, so still mostly prefer PE for that reason, but Delight was absolutely fine with a window seat. Virgin's seats are a little hard though, but that is the trade of for them being shallower thus enable greater pitch (I think).

[peter tdci]

Ambleton said:

Thanks for the info.

From what I can gather economy delight are the same seats as economy, but with more legroom.

Premium goes up from about 750 to 2.5k (yikes)

From the seatmap link above, the pitch/width in economy is 31"/17.5" going up to 38"/21" in premium economy.

[Ambleton]

Yes, there's a economy delight too, where the pitch increases by 3", seat width same as Economy.

[seyre1972]

Ambleton said:

Thanks for the info.

From what I can gather economy delight are the same seats as economy, but with more legroom.

Premium goes up from about 750 to 2.5k (yikes)

I'm going out to the West Coast for the 1st time in October myself - so have been checking on flights etc (in this case even though booked via Virgin I'm on Delta planes/tin) Bit different as I'm doing LHR/Salt Lake City (SLC) Then onwards to Seattle. 4 days there, then fly to Vegas (not too bothered about Vegas but want to do Death Valley/Grand Canyon) Then schlep across to the Coast, do the Big Sur, up to Yosemite, and end point being San Francisco for 4 days again before flying home.

Put up your itinerary if you wouldn't mind - as know of several things in/around San Francisco that I plan to do (Dylans bike tour over GG Bridge/Evening Alcatraz tour/Love Bus City Tour (old VW Campers) etc

[Ambleton]

I haven't planned anything like you. I have some pals that went to work out in SF in 2020/21 and I have two weeks off in late sept/early Oct.

That's about as far as I have got I'm afraid.

I should probably put together some sort of an itinerary

The states is an odd one imo, it's so big do you scattergun and do a day or two in many places and spend lots of time (and money) travelling, or do you do one or two locations properly but miss out on ticking off a load of the "big ticket items".

[anonymous-user]

Message me the week before as a reminder. A friend of mine is a virgin pilot. (yes a virgin pilot, not one who hasn't had sex or flown but one that works for Virgin Atlantic )

Anyway, a few times he has managed to make friends of mine travelling more comfortable. He likes doing it as its a feel good factor, so is less bothered of how well i know these people.

[Matt99man]

It’s 100% worth it! I’m as tall as yourself and paid for the extra legroom on the last long hall flight I took with Virgin. It made what is usually a painful experience into a excellent one.

[Xenobian]

The crowds have spoken, but one more person here to say yes it's absolutely worth it on a flight that long. You will feel the difference when you arrive.

[oobie38]

Going to differ slightly here- flying with the family on Virgin to SF in a week or so, looked at all sorts of permutations- I ended up booking economy light and restricting everyone to carry-on only- for 6 and bit weeks away I did notice that exit seats are £85 extra each way, price may be a bit less if you're booked on economy, and that'd be my preference rather than economy delight, unless you collect points- delight gives an enhanced number of points.
Another possibility is to use the auction to bid for the upgrade, which we'll do on the way back- we're likely to have more luggage than going, and I alwayss appreciate a bit more comfort travelling home / west-east.

[Ambleton]

Thanks for all the input guys.

I've just booked out flights from LHR-SFO

Depart Sat 24th sept
Return Sat 8th Oct

Total was £1560

Prices had gone up about £80 from when I last looked but ho hum.

Booked direct with Virgin as it was a little cheaper than through Delta (only about a tenner in it tbf)

I opted for Economy Delight based on the recommendations here, it'll be our first long haul and a real treat so I think worth the extra... I wasn't tempted to upgrade to business for £21,210 (yikes).

Seriously looking forward to it!!

[yellowbentines]

oobie38 said:

Going to differ slightly here- flying with the family on Virgin to SF in a week or so, looked at all sorts of permutations- I ended up booking economy light and restricting everyone to carry-on only- for 6 and bit weeks away I did notice that exit seats are £85 extra each way, price may be a bit less if you're booked on economy, and that'd be my preference rather than economy delight, unless you collect points- delight gives an enhanced number of points.
Another possibility is to use the auction to bid for the upgrade, which we'll do on the way back- we're likely to have more luggage than going, and I alwayss appreciate a bit more comfort travelling home / west-east.

Before you use the auction, just check how much it actually costs to upgrade now by logging into your booking - there doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rules about pricing.

e.g. we booked Virgin Atlantic next year EDI to MCO return (connect on way out, direct return) - bog standard economy. I have just logged in and upgraded the return flight to premium for £148 each. That's less than the minimum bid to do that via the auction - which doesn't make any sense!

[NNH]

Ambleton said:

Thanks for all the input guys.

I've just booked out flights from LHR-SFO

Depart Sat 24th sept
Return Sat 8th Oct

Total was £1560

Prices had gone up about £80 from when I last looked but ho hum.

Booked direct with Virgin as it was a little cheaper than through Delta (only about a tenner in it tbf)

I opted for Economy Delight based on the recommendations here, it'll be our first long haul and a real treat so I think worth the extra... I wasn't tempted to upgrade to business for £21,210 (yikes).

Seriously looking forward to it!!

You mentioned you hadn't put together much of an itinerary yet. I moved to California from London, and I've been exploring ever since. A good way to spend two weeks is to enjoy a few days in and around San Francisco, with a day trip to the Napa wineries, then rent a car to drive down the coast over two days to LA for a bit, then onwards to Vegas either taking 4 hours s along the freeway, or a longish day via Joshua Tree and the Mojave. Two days is more than enough for Vegas, then back to SF via an overnight stay by Lake Tahoe. Happy to make further suggestions.

I'm planning my next trip home and I'm 6'5", so it's been interesting to read about Economy Delight fares.

[Ynox]

Ambleton said:

Thanks for all the input guys.

I've just booked out flights from LHR-SFO

Depart Sat 24th sept
Return Sat 8th Oct

Total was £1560

Prices had gone up about £80 from when I last looked but ho hum.

Booked direct with Virgin as it was a little cheaper than through Delta (only about a tenner in it tbf)

I opted for Economy Delight based on the recommendations here, it'll be our first long haul and a real treat so I think worth the extra... I wasn't tempted to upgrade to business for £21,210 (yikes).

Seriously looking forward to it!!

I like economy delight. It's a solid product for a decent price for e.g. LHR -> JFK. Can't really go wrong with it.

[MrBig]

Ynox said:

I like economy delight. It's a solid product for a decent price for e.g. LHR -> JFK. Can't really go wrong with it.

Absolutely agree. Even better if you can plan your seat early enough...

Edited by MrBig on Thursday 21st July 16:10