With a combination of many years of extensive Virgin credit card usage and as a result, an accumulation of thousands of Virgin points together with a reward voucher I was fortunate to be able to exchange these to experience a return flight to my recent trip to Delhi in Upper Class! How exciting!
And what a way to start and end my first trip to India 😃
Outward journey: London Heathrow to Delhi
Keen not to put my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at the tiniest of risk I left home at least 2 hours earlier than I needed to. As a long term London commuter I have a deep lack of trust in local train services with multiple issues of trains being cancelled at the last minute or delayed for hours on end. So I set off for the airport super early 🙌
As it happened the train to London Farringdon and Elizabeth Line to Heathrow Terminal 3 were all on time for a change which resulted in an airport arrival time of 6 hours in advance of the flight departure time!
And with no queue at check in (yep, I was able to check in 6 hours early)…
And breezing through fast track security, within a few minutes I soon found myself airside in T3.
Despite a generous luggage allowance of 2 x 32 kg hold cases I was determined to travel light for my 2 weeks travelling through northern India so I managed to pack everything into a small carry on case weighing under 9.5 kg.
Anyway, after a quick post security trip to Boots to buy a few more essential liquids I still had over 4 hours to relax in the Virgin Upper Class Clubhouse.
It was a luxury for me to have champagne for a change! What a treat to have the real deal rather than the usual Prosecco 🥂
Having found a comfy chair I ordered from the QR code at the table. I don’t usually choose a burger but with the prospect of two weeks of curries this was what I fancied.
The plant based burger was really delicious and is highly recommended. The service was quick and all of the Clubhouse staff were so friendly. And one of them soon came round to top up my Champagne.
Hmmm… I wasn’t planning on drinking much to enable me to savour and enjoy my Upper Class lounge experience… but margarita was on the cocktail menu 🤷♀️
And a very fine one it was too…
With quick service and a good selection of cocktails, wines, spirits and all manner of goodies it would be easy to spend several hours scanning the QR code on a regular basis and eating and drinking like a complete glutton. So a peppermint tea was in order. (Although I couldn’t resist a soft and slightly chewey melt in your mouth pistachio, dark chocolate and sea salt cookie to accompany it).
By now, for a change of scenery, after a little wander around the lounge, I had moved seats and had a view of the planes.
OK… I’m sitting here uploading photos, adding text and stretching this blog post out… maybe 4 hours on your own in the Virgin Clubhouse is a little long 🤔
Quick summary
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Virgin Clubhouse. It was quite lively and busy during the middle of the afternoon but by around 6 pm a few of the people had dispersed and the atmosphere became more relaxed.
The staff were all fabulous and went out of their way to ensure everyone had a wonderful time, stopping by to chat and checking if more food or drink was required.
Boarding starts an hour in advance of take-off so now onto the plane and this time I’ll be turning left for a change!
Good to be in Group 1 for boarding so one of the first on the plane to my space for the next 8 hours.
Which I put on its little shelf next to me.
I found a goodie bag at my seat which contained amenities including a toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm, face cream, ear plugs, eye mask and socks.
After take off which was on time at 8 pm I chose a Rasberry and Hibiscus vodka with Fever Tree Refreshingly light tonic.
Starter was Butternut squash and sage arancini with romesco sauce, grilled lemon and peashoots. This was really tasty and the grilled lemon gave it a twang 🍋
Following an email from Virgin the previous week explaining that pre-ordering your main cuts food waste and enables your first choice I had pre-ordered cod fillet with a buttery capery topping. Which was also delicious.
And while I was now fairly full I still managed warm apricot and almond cake infused with lavender and honey served with fresh cream 😋
I was given pyjamas but with an 8 hour night flight, by the time we had dinner there wasn’t too many hours of the flight left to faff with putting pyjamas on 🤔 and not really anywhere suitable to change into them 🤔 so I kept my jeans and top on and set about getting my bed ready.
We were each provided with a thick white mattress topper which hooks over the seat, a white duvet and a large square pillow. It looks a bit messy as I set this up in chair mode 😆 but at the touch of a button the chair glided into a flat bed. It was all lovely and comfy and a far cry from trying to sleep upright in cramped economy seats as I’ve tried (and failed) many times.
I was able to stretch out fully and possibly managed a couple of hours of light half awake type of sleep.
But when I opened the window shutter, peeped out and noticed it was light outside and we were flying over the Himalayas, that was the end of trying to sleep!
What fantastic views and what a privilege to see these majestic mountains in this incredible, remote and inhospitable landscape. Sleeping can wait!
An hour or so before landing and I selected bubble and squeak cake with free range poached egg, chive hollandaise and cherry tomatoes. Yum! Another delicious meal.
Next, first off the plane and hello to Delhi!
8 hours is not long enough when travelling in upper class… however after a wonderful experience I am already looking to my upper class flight home again 😃
*** Fast forward 2 weeks ***
Return journey: Delhi to London Heathrow
For the beginning of my return journey back to London I had a new friend with me! My lovely new friend Rebecca who had just shared the two week Intrepid trip was booked onto the same Virgin Atlantic flight home so it made sense for us to travel together from our hotel in Delhi back to Delhi airport.
Upon arrival we were dropped off outside Delhi Terminal 3 departures and realised we had to queue up outside the building to have our documents checked before being allowed in.
Once inside we located the Virgin check-in desk and I headed to the Upper Class check-in while Rebecca went to Premium Economy desk. Rebecca was checked in first and came over to wait for me. Once the check-in person realised we were together they kindly offered Rebecca a complimentary guest pass to join me in the Encalm Prive lounge.
The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful and one personally escorted us to the fast track security and immigration checks.
Once through Rebecca and I made our way to the lounge, found some comfy chairs and relaxed with a glass of sparkling wine (unfortunately Champagne wasn’t free) and breakfast from the extensive buffet. A few years older than me, Rebecca is a wonderfully inspiring and interesting person and I greatly appreciated spending a couple of hours with her in the lounge.
Onto the plane and to seat 3K again chosen on the basis the plane would be facing the opposite direction and I would have a different view! I had selected row 3 as I didn’t want to be next to the toilets (in row 1) or at the back of this part of the cabin in row 4!
This time the 9 hour flight was a full day flight which took off from Delhi at 12:35 and arrived in London at 16:40 (20 minutes early). I love looking out of the window and always prefer a window seat but much of the time it was cloudy. And I came to realise that, unless you are flying over mountains on a clear day (which are always spectacular) or something interesting like Caribbean islands edged with turquoise sea, flying over flat landscape from 38,000 feet can be somewhat less interesting.
All food was excellent again as was the Italian red I enjoyed with it.
Summary
What a treat! Flying in Virgin Atlantic upper class was a fabulous experience and if I had the means I would do this every single time. But sadly my average income doesn’t stretch to the extra £3-4K per trip (at least) and I have other priorities.
I will continue saving airline points and continue looking for deals and opportunities to have a small future splurge if possible but only if the extra is no more than £200-300. Literally thousands of ££ extra seems a huge amount to pay for a mere 8 or 9 hours of enhanced comfort. That would be a lot of days of work in exchange for these few hours and I would much rather spend this money on more experiences and more trips exploring the world 🙂
Virgin Upper Class is really their name for business class although I preferred the Virgin Upper Class seating arrangements of little pod-like seats over my only other similar experience which was with British Airways in business about 18 months ago.
And as it happens, the next flight I have booked is with BA in economy 😦
frombluetogreen.com 
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