Is everyone sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin…
It has been a long time since I’ve been on here. I was never the most active participant but it was always interesting to hear what people said, gain some insights and enjoy some banter.
I used to fly at least a three or four times a year with VS, in UC with work and PE if paying for myself. I had the VS MBNA credit card and got all my wine from Virgin Wines. I was silver for four years and whilst I was never customer #1 I think Virgin did pretty well out of me and I was a brand loyal consumer.
That was then…
My last PE with VS were in PE to Jo’Burg last February (2005) with two VS virgins who I had persuaded to pay for PE. It was a very average flight, my companions appreciated the extra legroom, but the CC were bland and average, the food was bland and average, the check in was bland….I think you can probably see a trend. There was nothing “Virgin” about the experience. The flights weren’t cheap, even with money+miles and I must admit to feeling a bit let down afterwards.
Then in October last year Mrs VSLF (also silver) and myself blew all our miles for UC returns to SFO. We booked 6 months in advance and really struggled to get reward flights. The FC team were fantastic as always and really worked things well for us over a couple of months to get us on roughly the flights we wanted. The flights were good, the CH was good, the suite was comfy but scruffy, the crew were bland on the way out, bloody awful on the way back.
The result for me was if I’m paying for myself I’m going to shop around in future, I used to happily pay a bit of a premium (or add in a connecting flight) to fly VS, not anymore. Now I’ll get the best deal I can, do a bit of research on the cheapest airline and if it sounds OK I’ll go with it. I just don’t think VS stand out anymore.
This year I’ve gone to Hong Kong with BA in world traveller+, no different to PE, seats a little less comfortable, food better and CC much better.
I’ve also gone to the US with Maxjet and have discovered my new transatlantic favourite. Head & shoulders above PE, excellent food, consistently good CC and fantastic value for money.
And the rest of the Virgin group….
Virgin Wines totally cocked-up two orders and treated my complaints terribly – no problem, Majestic will deliver free on Saturdays, have a better selection and are working out wonderfully.
My VS Mastercard – Dear Mr VSLF, lucky you we’re enhancing it, look you can now have an Amex! – Well I don’t want Amex, I do a lot of travel in Europe and there are a hell of a lot of places that don’t take it, as well as a lot of websites and places in the UK – no problem, I think we can find another supplier for a Mastercard, and hey listen, they answer the phones within two minutes.
As soon as I stopped chasing FC miles everything got a lot easier, I’ve had better & cheaper flights, I’ve got a better credit card service and a better wine merchant. And it’s saved me money, because the “special” virgin X factor, whatever it was has vanished for me, it is now just another airline.
It pains me to say all this, I really was a huge fan, as I said prepared to pay a premium for VS service, but I just don’t believe that’s there anymore, and so I won’t pay that premium and I wont put as much spend to Virgin companies in pursuit of miles. It’s not worth it.
It was reading the snooze pack thread that prompted this, it seems symptomatic of what is happening to VS – a company being led by short termist accountants and dull marketing people, rather than by innovators constantly thinking of the customer and how to make them feel special. Because a customer who feels special will come back, will tell people how special they are and will pay for that feeling.
I think VS need a sizable slap in face and some very senior personnel changes to get back on track.
Thanks for listening. Hard hat in now in place, just poking up above the parapet.
Best regards to you all
VSLF
It has been a long time since I’ve been on here. I was never the most active participant but it was always interesting to hear what people said, gain some insights and enjoy some banter.
I used to fly at least a three or four times a year with VS, in UC with work and PE if paying for myself. I had the VS MBNA credit card and got all my wine from Virgin Wines. I was silver for four years and whilst I was never customer #1 I think Virgin did pretty well out of me and I was a brand loyal consumer.
That was then…
My last PE with VS were in PE to Jo’Burg last February (2005) with two VS virgins who I had persuaded to pay for PE. It was a very average flight, my companions appreciated the extra legroom, but the CC were bland and average, the food was bland and average, the check in was bland….I think you can probably see a trend. There was nothing “Virgin” about the experience. The flights weren’t cheap, even with money+miles and I must admit to feeling a bit let down afterwards.
Then in October last year Mrs VSLF (also silver) and myself blew all our miles for UC returns to SFO. We booked 6 months in advance and really struggled to get reward flights. The FC team were fantastic as always and really worked things well for us over a couple of months to get us on roughly the flights we wanted. The flights were good, the CH was good, the suite was comfy but scruffy, the crew were bland on the way out, bloody awful on the way back.
The result for me was if I’m paying for myself I’m going to shop around in future, I used to happily pay a bit of a premium (or add in a connecting flight) to fly VS, not anymore. Now I’ll get the best deal I can, do a bit of research on the cheapest airline and if it sounds OK I’ll go with it. I just don’t think VS stand out anymore.
This year I’ve gone to Hong Kong with BA in world traveller+, no different to PE, seats a little less comfortable, food better and CC much better.
I’ve also gone to the US with Maxjet and have discovered my new transatlantic favourite. Head & shoulders above PE, excellent food, consistently good CC and fantastic value for money.
And the rest of the Virgin group….
Virgin Wines totally cocked-up two orders and treated my complaints terribly – no problem, Majestic will deliver free on Saturdays, have a better selection and are working out wonderfully.
My VS Mastercard – Dear Mr VSLF, lucky you we’re enhancing it, look you can now have an Amex! – Well I don’t want Amex, I do a lot of travel in Europe and there are a hell of a lot of places that don’t take it, as well as a lot of websites and places in the UK – no problem, I think we can find another supplier for a Mastercard, and hey listen, they answer the phones within two minutes.
As soon as I stopped chasing FC miles everything got a lot easier, I’ve had better & cheaper flights, I’ve got a better credit card service and a better wine merchant. And it’s saved me money, because the “special” virgin X factor, whatever it was has vanished for me, it is now just another airline.
It pains me to say all this, I really was a huge fan, as I said prepared to pay a premium for VS service, but I just don’t believe that’s there anymore, and so I won’t pay that premium and I wont put as much spend to Virgin companies in pursuit of miles. It’s not worth it.
It was reading the snooze pack thread that prompted this, it seems symptomatic of what is happening to VS – a company being led by short termist accountants and dull marketing people, rather than by innovators constantly thinking of the customer and how to make them feel special. Because a customer who feels special will come back, will tell people how special they are and will pay for that feeling.
I think VS need a sizable slap in face and some very senior personnel changes to get back on track.
Thanks for listening. Hard hat in now in place, just poking up above the parapet.
Best regards to you all
VSLF
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