Could Virgin do better on UC food?

Reading the various posts on this forum and other forums regarding Virgin's upper class, the thread that comes out time and time agin is that the on the ground facilities are second to none, but the food & (wine selection) rates poor compared to other airlines on-board service for First Class passengers.

As we have Virgin people reading this (and hopefully the Sales & Marketing department) Is this a true reflection and is this the area Virgin should be working on?

Thoughts please

P.S. I know compared to most Buisness Class the food is comparable, but VS are trying to get other airlines First pax to use Virgin UC as an alternative surely? and if these pax feel the food is not up to scratch, this is a valuable profit area being lost.

Humm...

The food is fine and I have never had any problem with the wine..I think that it may compare unfavorably with 1st classs simply because of the numbers involved - I flew back from IAD yesterday on a 340-300 (Maiden Tokyo) and UC was FULL[:0]

The ladies up front were soo busy getting everybody fed and watered I feel the general ambiance suffered..it was sort of Economy UC[:o)]

That said in March I flew back from Tokyo (ironoically NOT on Maiden Tokyo) with only 3 pax in UC - It was like a private club:D

I think pre-departure canopies would be a nice little addition, this is done in many 1st class cabins...although UC is not meant to be 1st these little extras just lift the service.

I thought the food was fine on my recent UCS flight.

My main request would be to have a metal spoon for the soup, the ban on metal knives I can understand, but soup just ain't soup when eaten with plastic (more akin to medicine!)

I think they could do better on Y class food- after all if Y class pax arent happy with the service and begin to change to other carriers they will have a bigger problem.

The food is always the same on VS(repeats too often) and they never have ur first choice.

The food in UC is great I think. The current Freedom Menu has got some very special choices on it!

Economy food is more or less edible, but a fairly unpleasant dining experience nevertheless. The cheap plastickyness of the coffee cup is the straw that breaks the camel's back for me!

Richard 28... Fantastic idea about the spoon, I totally agree with you. This whole plastic cutlery thing is just a step too far in my humble opinion!

To Alan, I never seem to receiver any complaints about the wine in J, seems that the current selection is very popular!!!!!!! particularly the sancerre and Chatueau Neuf de Pape (apologies to you wine lovers if I have made a spelling mistake)

I agree that there has been a slight decline in the choice in J, who remembers the cake stand and a choice of about 4/5 different bar nibbles. However I do feel the standard (out of London at least) has remained the same over the years.

I know we are trying to market a first class product but we must remember that this is essentially a business class product and that Virgin have invested a huge amount of money in the UCS. With soaring fuel prices the airline is doing everything they can to ensure repeat business whilst keeping costs down at the same time.

We do try to get it right and all feedback regarding passenger comments about the onboard catering is documented (in both J & Y). Alas it takes sometime to get changed but improvements are made from this. I would urge any passengers travelling with us to let us know what you think onboard so we can get it down to the company.

When I met Bazz onboard we had a long discussion about the y breakfast (not good), I wrote it up and to my amazement it changed soon after. BTW I think it was so dreadful the catering dept had been inundated but at least this proves that the company do listen

Finally, yes the Y coffee cup is really not good!

I think on a bad day VS UC is a J product but on a good day (which could be due to low # of UC pax, esp great J crew) UC seems more like F:D[8D]

I've always enjoyed VS J food - metal spoon seems harmless enough but if you snap the end off and it could be used as a weapon.

Never had issues with the great UC wine either!

The Y food is better than some airlines - a hot breakfast in Y/W would be nice - SQ do this on some routes

On the cutlery thing, I remember taking a flight in October 2001, just after 9/11, with the plastic cutlery (this was not on VS). The fork snapped, leaving a barbed plastic handle which would have been an ample weapon for gouging.

The plastic cutlery thing is just a load of FUD. I was in the LH Senator Lounge at FRA this afternoon and you could get metal forks, spoons and butter knives (OK, these have a blunt end), and this is after the security comb.

As far as the VS UC food goes - please, a main meal selection which isn't veggie and doesn't have sodding potatoes in it! It always seems to be a "veggie curry/oriental thing with rice" or "veggie pasta". All the meat/fish tends to have potatoes, or there was that nasty lentil thing last winter.

I also worry sometimes about the wisdom of mixing hot soup and aircraft.

The after-dinner liquor selection needs rounding out - there's no amoretto, for starters!

VS could choose a better premium lager than Stella, too. Now, Pilsner Urquell would make me such a happy guy!

The quality of most of the mid-flight snacks - especially the sandwiches (currently steak ciabatta!) - are very good, and better than offered on most other airlines' J/C products.

Just a few ideas!

Cheers
Mike

I think the food in Upper Class is pretty good - especially the desserts

I know this thread is about Upper Class however there have been some comments about Economy that I would like to address:-

For those concerned about the plastic tea/coffee cup in the main cabin, there is some good news. It will be replaced by something more suitable as part of the Economy service refresh.

It is somewhat unfair to say that the food is always the same in Economy and you never get your first choice. Although some popular dishes do re-appear on the menu from time to time, I have seen and tasted a lot of different dishes over the years. As far as choice is concerned, I can understand how disappointing it must be not to get your first choice however it is impossible to guess the eating habits of 400 passengers!! We do offer a range of special meals than can be ordered in advance. My top tip is to request a seat near the front or the back of the main cabin as the service normally starts at both ends and meets in the middle.

The nibbles in UC with drinks are bloody terrible[:(!] and as for the plastic knifes what damage could you do with the glass ware.Food off of the freedom menu is mostly excellent(please bring back the lamb pie VS;)

quote:Originally posted by jaguarpig
Food off of the freedom menu is mostly excellent(please bring back the lamb pie VS;)

.

Never flown UC before. First flight 2 weeks time. How does the freedom menu work. Is it in addition to main meal[?][:p]

Iain

Freedom menu - essentially, there's a menu of the food available and you can have what you want when you want it (subject to availability) rather than a meal service at a fixed time. On my one and only UC flight, the steward seemed intent on ensuring that I sampled everything on the dessert menu!

Personally, I think the food in Y is pretty good, especialy when compared to other airlines. I always give the tea and coffee a miss - I'm very fussy about how I have my coffee and I always find that the altitude does nothing for the taste anyway.

Thanx Helen,

So in theory you can snack away throughou the whole flight:D

Unfortunately the introduction of plastic cutlery was a knee jerk reaction following 9/11. As mentioned above, there are plenty of other items onboard that could potentially be used as weapons.

Virgin Atlantic did work hard to source a supplier of good quality plastic cutlery in Upper Class although I would concede that the dining experience would be better with a proper knife, fork and spoon!

quote:Originally posted by jaguarpig
The nibbles in UC with drinks are bloody terrible[:(!]

Agreed. The japanese rice crackers are particularly nasty. I personally like warm nuts (cue lots of Carry On style double-entendres)... I usually go and see if there is any chocolate out on the bar in fairly short order .

I've noticed a lot of airlines doing nice selections of cashews, almonds and pistachios, I'm guessing because of peanut allergies.

Cheers,
Mike

Hi,

I have no complaints about the UC food. It has always been of very good quality.

Some observations;

(1) I too would like to see the return to metal cutlery. On my recent AC flights we had all plastic going out but metal fork/spoons and platic knives on the return

(2) I like the nibbles given out with the drinks and on the plate too ( can you say bag of nuts on BA CW flights!!:D). I'm not a nut person so go with the crisps or spicy things.

(3) I love having soup ( without turbulence please!! [8D])

(4) Choice of breakfast cereals ( BA only had museli type thin on my last CW flight)

(5) Deserts very good

(6) Champagne on boarding!! ( OJ or water only on BA)

Regards

TBS

[fozzyo]

Why is it so many of my posts now seem to start the same way .... Not done UC yet, but my thoughts on Y food and drinks and nibbles.

First of all VS have (or did last time i flew) Penn State Sour Cream and Chive Pretzels. These are most definately the best!!! At least two packets please

Food never really had a problem with the food in Y, and of course it does give you that entertainment value of moving something and then having the challenge of trying to keep it all on the tray.

For the food most things are good. The Korma's always seems to taste best ... love the little nan bread, so cute. One of the biggest differences I think i've noticed was the sudden dissapearence of the Baileys / Whiskey shot after your meal. But that went a few years back.

The breakfasts aren't good, never really impressed. I would be much more satisfied with some cereal and a bacon or sausage roll.

Oh and Ice Cream is always a winner for me.

Foz xx

At the end of the day its all down to your personal tastes.

The same is for onboard service what you may find outstanding someone else may find ok.

I beleive that the menus on some flights at the moment are amazing look at the inbound LA and SFO flights.

One thing though is the english breakfast has vanished this cycle and has been replaced with pancakes and sausages!!!!

Yes why do VS inisted on cold yuck breakfasts for Y class? Muffins, cookies and those disgucting egg/bacon/what have they put in this sandwiches! I have been so use to flying cold breakfast airlines like VS that i was shocked and pleased to recieve a hot breaky recently on another carrier!

Wouldnt take much to heat up some omletes or sausages or something now would it!

quote:(2) I like the nibbles given out with the drinks and on the plate too ( can you say bag of nuts on BA CW flights!!). I'm not a nut person so go with the crisps or spicy things.

The last nibbles I have been served in UC are a plate of ready salted crisps(slightly soft)grotty foul tasting olives and some fish tasting stick things, give me a bag of Penn State Sour Cream and Chive Pretzels out of Y any day.Anyone else noticed the nice nibbles at the bar have gone, used to like the mingles.

On the bar Lily o briens chocolates, crisps and fruit are placed for the duration of the flight.

I have no problem with food either in UC or Y but I did have cause to complain when the removed 'London Pride' from the drinks menu. The fact that a British Airline has only foreign lagers to offer passengers is, I feel, rather dissapointing.

I wrote to VA and recieved an answer from SRBs office to the effect that it was being flown around the world for nothing as nobody drank it - surely not. At least there has to be one bitter on the menu. We should start a campaign - anyone else in?

Your Revolutionarily

Phil (Buffy)

Just ask VS if they'll give you a free UC ticket every time the bitter is running near its use by date, provided you promise to clear them out of their entire stock. That will be one heck of a flight.

What is the Lon - Syd beers record? Is it still David Boone that holds it, or did one of the English rugy team beat it last November? Presumably anyone that attempts this on VS will go the way of Vinnie Jones and Courney Love.

quote:Originally posted by csparker

What is the Lon - Syd beers record? Is it still David Boone that holds it, or did one of the English rugy team beat it last November? Presumably anyone that attempts this on VS will go the way of Vinnie Jones and Courney Love.

What? free flights courtesy of SRB?? :D:D