Review of Virgin Atlantic flight London → Boston in Economy

After my nonstop flight from London-Heathrow to Atlanta on Delta was canceled on the 6th, I was rebooked on a Virgin Atlantic flight to Boston and a Delta flight to Atlanta on the 7th.

Virgin Atlantic uses Terminal 3 at Heathrow. It's advised to check in online as the line for check-in at the counters was completely full. After scanning your passport at a kiosk you can print out boarding passes and you then bring your bag to bag drop off to check it. Security wasn't a big hastle, but it took a bit longer because many people didn't take all their liquids out of their bags.

All the food and shops are located in one central area in Terminal 3. I would advise you to eat and stay in this part of the terminal because the actual gates hardly have any food options located next to them. Virgin Atlantic only called the gate right as boarding started, but it allowed people to board the plane immediately after scanning.

Today's flight is operated by G-VLDY "Eliza Doolittle", a seven month old A330-900neo delivered in January of 2023. Virgin Atlantic has four A330-900neos which it uses for flights to Boston, Atlanta, Tampa, and New York. It features 32 Upper Class seats, 46 Premium seats, and 184 economy seats.

My seat on the flight was 66K which happened to be in the very last row of the plane. However, this was actually a benefit as the seat still reclined all the way, so I didn't have to worry about reclining into someone else's space.

The cabin had some very nice mood lighting.

Virgin Atlantic uses the Recaro CL3710 seats on its A350-1000s and A330neos, and these seats are amazing because Virgin's seats have 13.3" displays with Bluetooth connectivity as well.

Even though boarding started well before departure, we weren't able to leave the gate until 5:28 PM. There were some cool aircraft spotting while taxiing including this Cathay Pacific 777-300ER and these Qantas A380s.

After waiting for around 10 aircraft to take off in front of us, we took off from Runway 27L at around 6:00 PM.

I was thankful to be sitting on the right side of the plane as it allowed for great views of Heathrow as we left.

Leaving the United Kingdom behind

I apologize in advance as I do not have photos of the food served and the entertainment options, so I will have to rely on words to describe everything.

The first meal served by included an option of chicken with rice or a vegetarian pasta option. However, the chicken was the only thing left by the time the flight attendants reached me. On the tray, there was a chocolate mousse or pudding, a piece of bread with butter, some crackers with cheese, and a salad with arugula, mozzarella, and tomatoes. The first tray I was served didn't have a main course on it, so the flight attendants ended up giving me another tray that had everything. The meal was very good, and the chicken was definitely the best part.

Virgin Atlantic's entertainment system is very good as there are many movies and TV shows to choose from. The screen was very large and responsive as well. The moving map had numerous options and views to choose from. I ended up watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Wifi was also available for 18.99 pounds for the entire flight or 20 minutes free if you watch an ad. Only one per device however.

Around 1.5-2 hours before landing, the flight attendants came back around with the pre-arrival meal. It consisted of a box that contained a small scone with some clotted cream and jam, a finger sandwich, and a toffee or chocolate treat. There may have been something else as well, but I'm not quite sure. The meal overall was fine but nothing spectacular.

The descent into the clouds was quite stunning as the sun was setting at the same time.

A beautiful contrast with the clouds and the sunlight

Just before touchdown

We arrived at Terminal E at around half an hour late which meant I had to rush to make it to my connecting flight. Fortunately, immigration was really fast with Global Entry and my checked bag didn't take long to arrive which meant I was able to make it onto the Atlanta flight with decent time to spare.