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Crystal and I absolutely adore London and this was our third time visitng the lovely city. On our first trip we flew with Norwegian Air, on our second trip we took the Eurostar (via Paris), and this time we decided to book our flight with Virgin Atlantic.

This was our first time flying internationally with Virgin Atlantic and we chose them since they had the best airfares for our November flight.

TPA > LHR

When we booked our flight, we had several different options to choose from in the economy cabin. Since we’re both quite tall, we were particularly concerned about comfort during the flight, so we opted for extra legroom and selected their Economy Delight seating option.

The Economy Delight experience provided us with some nice advantages, such as extra legroom for added comfort, premium check-in for a smoother start to our journey, and priority boarding to ensure we could settle in quickly.

Virgin Atlantic Economy Delight — Economy Options

We did enjoy an earlier boarding time; however, we didn’t spot the premium check-in counter in the terminal. To be fair, we weren’t really searching for it either since the economy line was not busy at all.

The only thing we weren’t particularly happy about at check-in was the attendee who checked us in at Tampa airport. She barely spoke a word and never once offered a smile, which made our experience feel quite impersonal.

Tampa International Airport Gate — Tampa International Airport

The aircraft flying from TPA to LHR was an Airbus A330-900. This plane was a 2-4-2 configuration and the aircraft looked pretty new to us. The Economy Delight seats do not come with an amenity kit but we did have a pillow, blanket, and headphones. We really liked the blanket because it has a unique Y design that easily fits around your neck and drapes comfortable over your shoulders.

Virgin Atlantic Economy Cabin — Economy Cabin

The blanket kept us cosy and the supportive headrest wings definitely helps with the comfort. Our headrest also had the words “delight” written on it to indicate this was the seat with extra leg room. I noticed the headrests in the middle of the cabin did not have anything written on them.

Virgin Atlantic Economy Delight Seats — Economy Delight Seats

The only thing we weren’t happy with was the cushioning on these seats. My bottom was in quite a bit of pain throughout the flight which made it pretty much impossible to sleep. Crystal, on the other hand, had little issue with it and slept the entire flight.

Virgin Atlantic 34 Inch Pitch — Seat Pitch 34 Inches

We had a really large screen to watch movies and there was more than enough new released box office hits to choose from. If you wanted to use your own devices for entertainment, there were outlets and charging ports.

Virgin Atlantic Window Seat — Economy Delight 2-4-2 Configuration

Virgin Atlantic Large Screen — Large screen

Before the first meal, the flight attendants started their drink service. We both got these mini cans of gingerale, which we personally think is just the right size. For dinner, I had their pasta dish which was very bland. I didn’t eat much of it and moved on to the chocolate dessert, which was quite tasty. The Caesar salad was surprisingly fresh and was the only thing that Crystal ate.

Virgin Atlantic Pasta Dinner — Pasta Dinner

Virgin Atlantic Breakfast Entree — Light Breakfast

Our breakfast arrived in an adorable little box that featured the cheerful word “brekkie” written all across its exterior in a playful font. We had a small serving of yogurt with a small cup filled with an assortment of fruit. It was a very light meal right before we were about to touch down in Heathrow.

The bathroom was situated in front of us and it was pretty well maintained throughout the flight. It was a very small bathroom.

Virgin Atlantic Cabin Bathroom — Bathroom

The total duration of this flight was approximately 8.5 hours with some minor turbulence a couple of times. The crew was very friendly and was consistently adamant about ensuring that our seat belts were securely buckled during any instances of turbulence. Their keen attention to safety was pretty impressive but also a bit disruptive when we were trying to sleep.

LHR > TPA

We arrived at Heathrow Airport more than three hours before our scheduled flight, and since there was a delay, we had plenty of time to relax and hang out at the airport. With numerous shops and cafes to explore, we were able to make the most of our extra time while waiting for our departure.

Heathrow Airport Virgin Atlantic — Heathrow Airport Entrance

The boarding process was quite similar to our previous flight, but this time we noticed that pretty much everyone around us had priority boarding status. Once we finally boarded the aircraft, we quickly noticed that the economy cabin was practically empty. In fact, it felt as though we had the entire cabin all to ourselves. Since there was so much extra space available, we were free to switch seats after take-off and find the perfect spot to enjoy our journey.

Purchasing from a self checkout kiosk — Crystal buying a corgi souvenir

Heathrow-Airport-Shopping — Crystal’s new Royal Corgi

This aircraft had the same 2-4-2 seating configuration, but it was an Airbus 330, which was different model from our previous flight. The most significant difference we observed was the entertainment screen, which while noticeably smaller in size, still offered a wide selection of the same popular movies.

Virgin Atlantic row of economy seats — Virgin Atlantic Economy Cabin

The meals served on this flight were not particularly noteworthy or impressive. For dinner, I opted for the pasta, which unfortunately was smothered in an excessive amount of cheese, which was not appetizing. On a brighter note, the salad and chocolate dessert were fairly decent. The dinner roll was rock hard, so I didn’t even try it.

Aircraft monitor with remote control — Monitor with remote Control

sleeping on an aircraft — **Cabeau Travel Neck Pillow**

Breakfast arrived in an adorable Mile High Tea box, providing a delightful presentation that was not only visually appealing but also a wonderful nod to a traditional British custom. The charming design of the box added an extra layer of enjoyment to the morning experience, but unfortunately, the actual contents of the meal were quite the opposite and did not live up to the expectations set by its attractive packaging.

Virgin Atlantic Dinner Entree — Pasta Dinner with salad and dessert

Virgin Atlantic Mile High Tea — Cute mile high Tea Box

The total flight time was approximately 9 hours, and it was a very smooth flight for the most part, with minimal turbulence encountered along the way. The landing, in particular, was impressively smooth. Overall, we enjoyed our flight experience with Virgin Atlantic, as the service and comfort provided were exactly what we had anticipated.