Flight Complaint - shall I bother?
Flight Complaint - shall I bother?
Just returned from holiday. As we have a young baby I paid the extra and booked Upper Class on Virgin thinking the whole experience would be less stressful. It was AWFUL!!!
There were problems at check in as all computers down so couldnt check in when we arrived and had to wait.
When we finally checked in (3 hrs later) were able to go and enjoy Upper Class lounge, literally in there 5 mins when called to board. Then rushed to boarding gate (no priority boarding for upper so got in line and waited an hour to board:eek: :eek:
Then sat on plane for around an hour before take off.
So we are finally in the air, baby an angel and fast asleep and I hear the snooty couple behind tell the pompus passenger behind him children and babies should not be allowed in business or first class as it is unacceptable!!
Thought maybe flight home would be better....
Check in fine, got on plane, as shown to seat lady in front of us turned to her husband and said very loudly 'Oh great a screaming baby!!'. Lola didnt make a peep the whole flight and slept for 7 straight hours. The air hostess didn't acknowledge her presence or see if we needed bottle heated and she even pushed me out of way to use toilet before me (after all that money I paid:mad: :mad: )
I so so so wished I was back in economy with the other normal people in the world. Why do people think they can be rude just because they have money!! (although they all cant get enough of the free champagne which I think shows there true cheap colours - i was happy with my mineral water!!)
Anyway is it worth my energy writing to Virgin to express my upset. Will they care???
Oh and I had to pay an extra £250 for Lolas ticket (all so she could be treated like a second class citizen!)
Answers:
It's ALWAYS worth complaining, you never know but it seems most of your problems were from snooty business class passengers rather than anything Virgin did wrong. A computer problem at check in can occur at any time unfortunately. I'm assuming the flight home was a red eye? The cabin crew do tend to be less attentive on red eye flights mainly because they don't want to disturb those who choose to sleep.
When we fly long haul we go Virgin but we check in the day before, now that is less stressful. :) As we have checked in the day before, we stroll out of the hotel we've stayed in, straight past the queues of people checking in and straight into the departure lounge :) heaven, pure heaven :) We just go up one class to premium economy which is great mainly because business class upgrades would be expensive for 3 adults.
Complain, you have nothing to lose.
Answers:
how much did you pay for your tickets all together then?
Answers:
I would complain, might not get you anything but it feels satisfying and I think feedback is always useful.
The other passengers comments were unfortunate but (and I have travelled with three kids of my own) to be expected. I would probably be surprised to see a baby in Upper Class too especially given how much it costs. The other passengers probably booked it for the same reason as you "less stress" and immediately they saw a baby they assumed the worst. We all know that babies cry and I always found it easier to ignore my own that someone elses.:rolleyes: (What a dreadful mother I sound).
Answers:
There is usually priority boarding for Upper Class passengers, so I'm assuming something went wrong, and as the others have pointed out, it's not Virgin's fault that other passengers weren't exactly welcoming.
It's probably worth a letter saying you were disappointed with the experience, pointing out the lack of priority boarding and the unhelpfulness of the crew member. Having said that, you could have marched to the top of the queue with your boarding pass and said "May I board first, I'm travelling Upper Class" and they would have held back the plebs for you - I've done that.
Also, do for a second put yourself in the position of the other passengers: they've paid a shitload of money to avoid babies and suddenly there's one in the cabin - they don't know that she's going to be an angel. I once came home from Sydney in business with Qantas and there was a toddler on the flight who was just young enough not to have a seat of his own but big enough to need one.
He spent the entire 10 hours to Bangkok marching up and down the cabin; then slept for two hours on the Bangkok to London leg, and then the following 10 hours marching up and down the cabin. Everyone wanted him dead, including his mother. It was not great - people had paid a pile of dosh and it's a long flight, and nobody was happy. It's a difficult situation.
Just returned from holiday. As we have a young baby I paid the extra and booked Upper Class on Virgin thinking the whole experience would be less stressful. It was AWFUL!!!
There were problems at check in as all computers down so couldnt check in when we arrived and had to wait.
When we finally checked in (3 hrs later) were able to go and enjoy Upper Class lounge, literally in there 5 mins when called to board. Then rushed to boarding gate (no priority boarding for upper so got in line and waited an hour to board:eek: :eek:
Then sat on plane for around an hour before take off.
So we are finally in the air, baby an angel and fast asleep and I hear the snooty couple behind tell the pompus passenger behind him children and babies should not be allowed in business or first class as it is unacceptable!!
Thought maybe flight home would be better....
Check in fine, got on plane, as shown to seat lady in front of us turned to her husband and said very loudly 'Oh great a screaming baby!!'. Lola didnt make a peep the whole flight and slept for 7 straight hours. The air hostess didn't acknowledge her presence or see if we needed bottle heated and she even pushed me out of way to use toilet before me (after all that money I paid:mad: :mad: )
I so so so wished I was back in economy with the other normal people in the world. Why do people think they can be rude just because they have money!! (although they all cant get enough of the free champagne which I think shows there true cheap colours - i was happy with my mineral water!!)
Anyway is it worth my energy writing to Virgin to express my upset. Will they care???
Oh and I had to pay an extra £250 for Lolas ticket (all so she could be treated like a second class citizen!)
Answers:
It's ALWAYS worth complaining, you never know but it seems most of your problems were from snooty business class passengers rather than anything Virgin did wrong. A computer problem at check in can occur at any time unfortunately. I'm assuming the flight home was a red eye? The cabin crew do tend to be less attentive on red eye flights mainly because they don't want to disturb those who choose to sleep.
When we fly long haul we go Virgin but we check in the day before, now that is less stressful. :) As we have checked in the day before, we stroll out of the hotel we've stayed in, straight past the queues of people checking in and straight into the departure lounge :) heaven, pure heaven :) We just go up one class to premium economy which is great mainly because business class upgrades would be expensive for 3 adults.
Complain, you have nothing to lose.
Answers:
how much did you pay for your tickets all together then?
Answers:
I would complain, might not get you anything but it feels satisfying and I think feedback is always useful.
The other passengers comments were unfortunate but (and I have travelled with three kids of my own) to be expected. I would probably be surprised to see a baby in Upper Class too especially given how much it costs. The other passengers probably booked it for the same reason as you "less stress" and immediately they saw a baby they assumed the worst. We all know that babies cry and I always found it easier to ignore my own that someone elses.:rolleyes: (What a dreadful mother I sound).
Answers:
There is usually priority boarding for Upper Class passengers, so I'm assuming something went wrong, and as the others have pointed out, it's not Virgin's fault that other passengers weren't exactly welcoming.
It's probably worth a letter saying you were disappointed with the experience, pointing out the lack of priority boarding and the unhelpfulness of the crew member. Having said that, you could have marched to the top of the queue with your boarding pass and said "May I board first, I'm travelling Upper Class" and they would have held back the plebs for you - I've done that.
Also, do for a second put yourself in the position of the other passengers: they've paid a shitload of money to avoid babies and suddenly there's one in the cabin - they don't know that she's going to be an angel. I once came home from Sydney in business with Qantas and there was a toddler on the flight who was just young enough not to have a seat of his own but big enough to need one.
He spent the entire 10 hours to Bangkok marching up and down the cabin; then slept for two hours on the Bangkok to London leg, and then the following 10 hours marching up and down the cabin. Everyone wanted him dead, including his mother. It was not great - people had paid a pile of dosh and it's a long flight, and nobody was happy. It's a difficult situation.