Remember your first time ?

Did a search to see if this has been asked before > didn't return any answers so here goes........

Who remembers their first flight on VS ?

First time for me was 1991, LHR > LAX on a 747. Booked with VS only beacause they were cheaper than the competition at the time.

Economy seemed to have excellent leg room (could be rose tinted specs syndrome here), metal cutlery, and even a menu card (postcard format). Big plus though was that even back then there was IFE in the seat backs [y]. Was so impressed by the flight I booked again the following year as part of our honeymoon trip to the States.

Whilst we're on the subject......

Going way back in time, my first ever longhaul flight was on a BOAC VC10 in 1969, Heathrow to Toronto. Even got a visit to the flightdeck halfway over the pond. Ahh those were the days .
Also remember my Mum making me wear a shirt and tie for the flight, as a 7 year old that's just what you want! [n]

Anyway, a belated Happy New Year to all

[mitchja]

02/06/1998 VS075 MAN>MCO on a B742
(this is one flight of all my 30 VS logged flights I cannot find out the actual A/C I flew on...if it helps I was in PE which I remember was in the nose section)



...and yes I know I should get out more [:w]

My first long-haul was on an Airtours Charter bus (B767 possibly [?] - remember it been a wide-body) again to MCO a few years before that...about 1996 I think, when the chartered flights still flew into MCO)

Regards

My first flight on VS was in 97 from LHR to JNB.

My first upper class flight was in 2001 when Honeylamb and i got upgraded to upper (j2000)from LHR to EWR when my seat in pe was broken and there was no more seats in pe left.

My first upper class suite flight was on vs 4 LHR-JFK in 2004

sweet memories - nice idea for a thread

For some reason which I still cannot fathom, my first VS flight and first long-haul were back in 2001 (why did I not go earlier?!)

It was February 2001 LGW-BOS, on G-VIRG, for a skiing holiday in Stowe, Vermont with friends.

Had the old Gallery IFE - with the tiny tiny screens (made Arcadia look good!) I remember trying to watch "the mexican" (IIRC) on it, which had subtitles in places that were nigh impossible to read!

No sky-map either, but great service and the crew kept us all very well "oiled" all the way great fun - great flight.

4 days after I got back I then went to SYD with BA, so had a back to back comparison - and both were excellent flights (inc jump seat for take-off from Changi and landing in SYD), but VS just had a little sprinkle of magic something which earned my loyalty!

Rich.

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by AerJohn
My first flight on VS was in 97 from LHR to JNB.

My first upper class flight was in 2001 when Honeylamb and i got upgraded to upper (j2000)from LHR to EWR when my seat in pe was broken and there was no more seats in pe left.

My first upper class suite flight was on vs 4 LHR-JFK in 2004

And if I might remind you, your first PE flight was in 2000 from LHR to JNB.

[Scrooge]

Thank you HL for keeping him in line...

BTW welcome Aer John,instant respect from me based on HL.

first flight was back in 88 LGW - one of the darn NY airports,im going to say EWR but im probably wrong.

first PE was LAX-LHR in 93 and first UC was in 94.

My first long-haul and vs flight was in december 2004 in Y LHR-EWR VS18 on a arcadia 343, since then no other airline has compared:)

I remember my first flight- it was my first long haul too. January 2003, LHR-LAX, 747. Arrived from Home which was hammersmith at the time on the tube. It had started to snow lightly on the way in. Anyway, got to busy heathrow and did all the check in stuff and had breaky in terminal 3, boarding time was something like 12, but boarding time didnt happen until 1.30! I was pretty excited anyway so the delay didnt mean much to me- i just wanted to fly on my 1st 747 and arrive for the 1st time in America.In the departure place the windows gave the game away- heavy snow!![:0] Anyway eventually we were all shipped onto the aircraft via a mini bus bcus the lead-to door wasnt working. Made my way onto the plane- seat 64a- never forget it (you know the one at the back- i was obviously still red member then with no miles!). We were told by the captain that take off would be delayed due to the weather conditions ( not sure how many times he actually said this but it was said often but the word's were varied so it didnt sound the same). It must have got to about 3pm and we were still on the ground!! Anyway, they came round with cold sandwiches and another announcement that we were in a queue for the de-icer- only one de-icer for terminal 3! So many announcments about the de icer made me abit sick so i ended up watching scooby doo film. It reached about 5pm and still no de icer and we were still on the plane when we should have been over greenland or something. At 7pm we were told that staff were over their time and flight had now been cancelled!!! ho ho! six and a half hours on a 747 going nowhere! eventually we were allowed off the plane the same way we got on it, via minibuses. into a stupidly busy heathrow. I knew for a fact that i wouldnt be flying later that night so with many other angry people trying to haggle for hotel vouchers ( about 2000 people in terminal3 alone) i decided to grab my luggage and get back on the tube home. Before that however, I fond out that the flight had been rescheduled for 11am the next morning. I made the same journey from home and we took off at about 11.30am.
Ive had similar dramas in the US since with weather problems- like being stuck in Boston for 5 hours becus of snow, but ive never sat on a 747 going nowhere for 6 and a half hours! Virgin gave us all 10% off our next flight, when infact they and heathrow airport should never have pput us on the plane in the 1st place! I only fly virgin guys, bcus their 747 planes are newer than BA's. Well it was an interesting 1st time!:D

Hmmm If I remember correctly my first flight was LGW-ANU in 96/97.

First PE flight LGW-ANU March 2000.

First UC LGW-ANU flight June 2000.

First UCS flight LGW-ANU June 2004.

My first VS flight was in '94 to EWR (and then on to ORD)[8D]

Cheers,
VS045

Ah, my first flight.
April 1997, LGW-MCO. VS015
It was onboard Calypso Queen (G-VRUM).
Gallery IFE, except with the big screens (likewise on Wild Thing)
I remember menu cards, and also thinking that tehse are nice sized screens.
Was also my first 747 experience, so it was quite a thrill.
Gave me a good impression of VS from the start.
On the return the IFE was a little shock, as it was G-VLAX with its small small screens.
Ah, pointless nostalgia.

[Scrooge]

Should also say that my first long haul was London to St Lucia sept of '76.

Spent a month at Le Tuc in one of the villa's being spoiled rotten by the cunard staff and BA flight crew's...I was allowed up on the flight deck both ways...wish I could of been a little older to I could of enjoyed it more.

Hi

First VS flight was in PE LGW-ANU May 2004
(to be repeated in approx 7 days time [8D])

First VS Flight in Economy LHR-BOS Nov 2004

First VS Flight in UCS EWR-LHR Dec 2005

First Long Haul with Olympic Airways, LHR-ATH-BKK-SYD July 1996

Prior to VS we pretty much would have flown BA, but I think
we are pretty much in agreement with this

Robert & Gillian

My first VS flight was also my first longhaul flight (unless your're counting Tenerife, which seemed long at the time!)
Booked flight through Lunn Poly and it was an open Jaw, into JFK and out of LHR. Dunno why I chose VS but I remember wanting to fly them even before I knew anything about them.

Flew out on 28/08/97 and back 30/09/97 both in EC.

Wasn't as much of a geek then as I am now, but remember it was Virginia Plain, we walked across the tarmac to get to it. Had the menu folders (A4, folded). Think I still have them. I was also impressed by the IFE, free drinks and Nintendo games!

I also remember being really impressed with LHR as I had only flew from BHX beforehand and my friend commenting that there are so many bizzare vehicles that you only see at airports!

Also: first PE flight March 04
first UC flight September 04

Dean

Too young to remember! But I know that my first flight was EWR-London. It could have been with BA or with VS.

I am a Virgin virgin, making my first flight in May to Tokyo.

My first air journey was in May 1999 when I decided I could not wait 2 months to see "The Phantom Menace" and on the spur of the moment bought a ticket to Toronto. Sadly, it was a nightmare flight - there was a loud BANG after takeoff while we were climbing through cloud and the woman next to me said "that isn't normal". Most of the flight was very bumpy, with the FA's strapped in on four occasions. A pensioner somewhere behind me had coffee spilled on her and screamed! A guy 2 seats away from me had some kind of panic attack and collapsed in the aisle - and the captain actually called over the PA for a doctor (there were 3 on board). Anyway, the flight was late in after all that and I went straight from the airport to the cinema. I felt the turbulence for 2 days and then was so scared of the journey back that I played Tetris for the whole 8 hours I was in the air. The airline was Air Transat.

I guess I'm lucky that my first flight was my worst.

TTFN

Paul

[preiffer]

'96, with parents, to Disneyworld in Florida. Part of a Virgin Holidays package for Disney's 25th Anniversary "Remember the magic" etc.

I remember those seats down the back being a lot bigger at the time, but it was a while ago...!

January 1, 2003 - I flew LAX-LHR on VS #007 - Upper Class - sat upstairs in the last row. I absolutely loved the flight and the service. Will fly UC suite for the first time a week from Sunday (VS 024) also LAX - LHR - am very excited.............Steven

First flight was in 85 I think, LGW to MIA, it was terrifying, not becuase of the flight but on the other end was a father I had never met. It was some charter company attached to BA and I remember sitting at the back of economy chain smoking (in the days when I smoked).

Got a bug for travel after that and got into the casino business and lo and behold 18 months later I was back in MIA working on cruise ships.

I think my first VS flight was LHR-LAX in about 91/92. As it happens there was this odd little thing that used to happen when flying back out of LAX (happened to me twice or three times), on each instance I had changed the return date of my ticket to spend more time with this beautiful young lady (ahhh those were the days) and each time I turned up quite late at LAX to check in, to cut a long story short in each case there wasnt time to go to ticketing (as I went straight to check in) so I got away without paying the change-ticket charge and got upgraded to business class.

I didnt fly VS again for years....I dont know why to be honest, thats just the way things worked out.

My oddest flight.....flying into Prague on New YEars eve in 1990 (I think) the week the communists were kicked out only to be told by the SAS Stewardess that I couldnt actually get off the flight as they only stoped there to re-fuel on their way to Helsinki from Hamburg.....20 minutes of arguing later I was in an Army jeep with a lot of guys with machine guns heading for a now re-opened customs station with some very upset customs officials that didnt speak any English (and my Czech was non-existant).

[mcmbenjamin]

Originally posted by jetwet1
Thank you HL for keeping him in line...

BTW welcome Aer John,instant respect from me based on HL.

I can personal second that! His knowledge of various aircaraft and airlines put me to shame!

Welcome.

First VS flight was the last leg of a RTW from LAX to LON leaving LAX on 1st April 1991. I remember spending the day watching back to back films at Century City - Shawshank Redemption was one of them. Having been away for 7 weeks (and knowing we were returning to work) there was no way the flight was going to be enjoyable.

First Longhaul was an Air Canada flight from LHR to Toronto on 19th December 1971 - visiting the grandparents for Christmas. All I can remember is losing some of our luggage on the return trip including almost all our Christmas prezzies - very upsetting for a 6 year old.

BTW James - I thought I was the only one that kep a spreadsheet - a hangover from my old BOAC/BA Junior Jet Club - did anyone else out there recieve any certificates?

Phil

Originally posted by Jon B
Did a search to see if this has been asked before > didn't return any answers so here goes........

Who remembers their first flight on VS ?

First time for me was 1991, LHR > LAX on a 747. Booked with VS only beacause they were cheaper than the competition at the time.

Economy seemed to have excellent leg room (could be rose tinted specs syndrome here), metal cutlery, and even a menu card (postcard format). Big plus though was that even back then there was IFE in the seat backs [y]. Was so impressed by the flight I booked again the following year as part of our honeymoon trip to the States.

Whilst we're on the subject......

Going way back in time, my first ever longhaul flight was on a BOAC VC10 in 1969, Heathrow to Toronto. Even got a visit to the flightdeck halfway over the pond. Ahh those were the days .
Also remember my Mum making me wear a shirt and tie for the flight, as a 7 year old that's just what you want! [n]

Anyway, a belated Happy New Year to all

Think mine was LGW to MCO, probably around 1991 or 92. In economy - this would have been as we had 3 kids in tow, and I also remember the flights were around £600 to fly in economy! Kind ot makes me realise that fares have dropped.... first time in UC was Sep 2001 - it was an upgrade, after we got stuck in the US win the aftermath of the terrorist attack in NYC...... I was too damned scared of flying to appreciate it at all......

Originally posted by BuffyTVS65
a hangover from my old BOAC/BA Junior Jet Club - did anyone else out there recieve any certificates?

Phil

Yes Phil, I too hung onto my Junior Jet Club log book and lapel pin for many years. I always remember the BOAC CC as being very 'posh' with a capital P..... Just like you see on those black and white documentaries about flying.

1999, birthday traet for my partner, first time long haul and first time on Virgin Atlantic.

So mega exited about it I didn't notice any problem with legroom in EC, thought the cabin crew were fabulous and the food was lovely going out.

Coming back I caught a glimse of the front of the plane and shortly after miraculously started to feel cramped and dissatisfied with the very small pitch and legroom, my legs started to ache and I started to long for the mysteries of what was behind the front curtain.

Next trip was my treat from the partner and we went upper out and premium back, first time in upper I just didn't want to get off the plane.....dare I say it but I loved those old UC seats, and the freedom menu on that occaision was very free.

Been bitten by the UCS bug now though and since my first UC/PE experience became hooked on this site.

i wrote to Sir R to tell him how fab UC was and amazingly he wrote back and thanked me for writing, since then we have had a regular correspondence for charity do's etc.

I am not clever or well informed enough to be a geek nor a guru, but it should be said I am an avid VA fan.

Though my last flight in EC was pants unfortunately ( see TR )[V]
but have still booked UCS for next Nov on VS073, wonder which plane that will be.

First time with VS was in 1999 to BGI. Booked in Y, but thanks to a Virgin Holidays cock-up (incorrectly booked us connecting flights from LBA to LHR for a LGW flight) we were upgraded to PE, with a further op-up to UC on the return. Needless to say, 7 years on, I am still to sample the delights of Y on a VS flight. Someone knew what they were doing with those darn upgrades...