In this post, I’m going to share with you my comparison of DeltaOne and Virgin’s Upper-Class, interestingly, both were on an Airbus A330-300. This enabled me to provide an “apples to apples” comparison on the common platform.
On my recent trip to Hamburg, Germany, I was fortunate to be able to fly business class. I booked through Delta. Because of the routing options, I flew the Trans-Atlantic leg to Europe on Delta in their DeltaOne Cabin, with the return by way of their code share partner Virgin Atlantic in their Upper-Class cabin. So
Disclosure time! I do have an affinity for Delta and I am Delta Gold Medallion status, and have flown Delta One a few times in the past. This was my first experience on a Virgin flight. All opinions presented herein are my own and I am not receiving any compensation for this post…though I am open to offers 😊.
Delta One Vs. Virgin’s Upper-Class: Cabin comparison
Delta’s cabin is set up in a 1-2-1 configuration, with the seats set in a standard, forward-facing, orientation. There is with overhead storage available over all seats as storage by your feet is not really available, by design.
Virgin’s cabin is set up in a 1-1-1 configuration. The seats are set up in a diagonal, herringbone pattern facing the front of the plane. The left, window side, and the middle row are oriented so that you are facing towards the right, and the right, window side is oriented so that you are facing the towards the left. As with Delta, there is overhead storage above the seats, without storage by your feet. I’ll explain this dynamic a bit more for Virgin when I compare the seats themselves
The plus for Delta in their configuration is that the window seat conveniently allows you to look out the window. I wouldn’t say its necessarily a negative, but the aisles on the Delta flight were narrower in comparison to Virgin. The space for your bedding also is something you need to deal with, I recommend putting it in the overhead until you are ready to use it.
The Virgin configuration did provide a more spacious feeling in the cabin. The bedding is actually behind your seat, so it is out of the way. A true negative for the Virgin lay out is that the window seats are configured so that the window is behind you. If you are like me, and enjoy looking out the window from time to time, the Virgin seat made this more inconvenient, and tested your upper body twisting capabilities.
Aesthetically, both cabins had an attractive appearance, but I do give the edge to Virgin for having a sleeker feel.
Delta One Vs. Virgin’s Upper-Class: Seat comparison – sitting
Now, I’m going to talk about comfort and space in the section. Everyone is a different size and shape, so in the air of providing a frame of reference for my comments, I am disclosing some personal information. Height 6’. Weight 240. Waist 36”, and I’m little over 19” shoulder to shoulder. As I tamp down my self-consciousness for this disclosure, I’ll move on.
The Delta seat is in a surrounded pod and the seat is only 20” wide per the Delta.com Website. Despite the pod, it felt spacious as there was a wider space around you while you are sitting up, and it does while provide a sense of privacy in a personal space. While the seat itself it a bit plain, it was comfortable in the continuum of its reclining range and provided more than ample legroom as the integrated leg rest extended.
The Virgin seat, while very stylish, felt a bit claustrophobic. Despite being open and the seats are actually a bit wider than the Delta seat at 22”. Odd, huh? The walls on both sides of your seat felt tight, with little lateral space. This feeling seemed a bit more pronounced when you popped out the TV screen in front of you. The TV screen also required some manipulation with the tray table out. There is a fixed “footstool” that extends out into the aisle. The reclining action is really determined more by the back of the seat.
In the seated position, I give the edge to Delta.
Delta One Vs. Virgin’s Upper-Class: Seat comparison – bed configuration
The Delta seat extends to a fully flat bed with just the touch of the button. The seat fully migrates from fully upright to flat without any other engagement. Despite the ease of operation, for me it was uncomfortable to leverage in the bed configuration. The foot-well is very tight. It allowed little movement for your feet, whether you are lying flat, or on your side. Taking into considerations my size, the seat section where you plant your butt is ultimately where your shoulders rest. This area was also tight and constricted. I actually slept better with the seat as a recliner…I guess I’m ready for retirement days in the living room.
The Virgin bed is interesting. The passenger has to get out of the chair and hold the button while the cushion flips into the flat bed configuration. It’s kind of like an automatic futon. It seemed a bit inconvenient to me. Imagine you are in the recliner mode with the blanket over you and you start to doze off. It would be easier to just hold the button to extend the recliner to the flat mode. In the Virgin seat you have to actually have to stand up to flip the seat into the bed mode. The transition is rather slow, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally holding that button down and being catapulted across the aircraft.
Once the seat was flat, much like Delta, the shoulder area was cramped for me. The flat bed extends so that the “bed” terminates with the footstool, which extends into the aisle. There isn’t any real protection around it beyond a short, 4’ wall. There were times where my feet, or the footstool, was bumped as folks went up and down the aisle.
Neither really had an advantage for me as a “bed”. Your experience may differ.
Delta One Vs. Virgin’s Upper-Class: Seat comparison – Dining
Delta One has a more standard dining service on their flight. They offer a dinner service, snacks available during the flight, and a breakfast offering about an hour before landing. The dinner selection was creative. It provided a more sophisticated beef, chicken and vegetarian offering than you would see in a lesser class of service. I actually had the vegetarian dish, which was tasty. (yes mom, I ate my veggies). Breakfast was an option of a frittata or a cold oatmeal. I selected the oatmeal, much to my chagrin. While I enjoy oatmeal, this was something I did not enjoy. The flavor was not good and it would be something I recommend that Delta reconsider as an offering.
Virgin gets the nod here. Their service was almost free style. While they had a standard multi-course dinner service, they also had hot options available throughout the flight. This included a BBQ pork sandwich that was a form of torture until you ordered one. The smell of the BBQ sauce absolutely filled the cabin. I swear it was made to force you to drool until you finally broke down and order one. I think the guy across the aisle from me had 4.
In the dining category, I give the advantage to Virgin.
Delta One Vs. Virgin’s Upper-Class: Seat comparison – Service
I will state that this is a difficult category to compare as the flights were different in their tenor. Going to Europe, people are trying to sleep, there isn’t a lot of activity. While on the way to the US, everyone is trying to stay awake. As such, I can’t say either one was better, but I’ll note a difference.
Both cabin crews were friendly, engaging and professional. Kudos to both. The Virgin team was definitely more energetic. They were moving around engaging guests. Service on the Virgin flight had the feel of being in a popular restaurant with great servers, as opposed to being on a flight.
Delta One Vs. Virgin’s Upper-Class: Entertainment
Both carriers had a wide selection of movies, TV shows, music and games to keep you entertained for the duration of the flight.
Both had pop out screens. I actually preferred the Delta configuration. The viewing distance from the seat was appropriate and the monitor didn’t feel like it was encroaching on you. It felt more like you were watching a TV, versus watching a movie on a laptop.
Both had noise cancelling headphones that were comfortable to wear.
DeltaOne Vs. Upper Class: Amenity pack
Both airlines provide an amenity pack. The variance here is only in the brand provided. The amenity pack included: slippers/over-socks, bamboo toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm, eye-masks, ear plugs, hand cream and a ballpoint pen.
Delta One Vs. Virgin’s Upper-Class: The clubs
Both airlines allow access to their lounges for business class travelers, as well as for their premium members.
Unfortunately, I could not make it to the Virgin club lounge in London-Heathrow due to a tight connection. As such, I am unable to do a comparison between the facilities. I’m disappointed as I understand the Virgin Club is impressive.
Upper Class unique feature
The Upper-Class cabin does have a feature that DeltaOne does not. That is the presence of a bar at the back of the cabin. The bar existed, but it wasn’t really used, at least in the context of guests standing around it with a bartender. On my flight at least, it was kind of a wasted space
The winner? Overall, it’s a tie.
In the end, both airlines have nice business class offerings. Delta One provided a product that was more of a traditional business class feel. I thought alss provided a more comfortable seating option. While Virgin’s offering really provided a more relaxed and energetic solution with a more engaging service team. I enjoyed both flights and felt I received a premium experience.
The cost of a business class ticket on any airline is a substantial uplift in cost in comparison with even their premium coach offerings. There is no denying that the allocation of your travel budget can be impacted significantly on the class of your flight. , which will have ramifications on your budget for the rest of the trip. That said, if you do have the opportunity to fly in the business class on either of these airlines, be it for personal or travel for work, you will have a more enjoyable flight.
Travel Well. Pursue experiences.
O.M.I.A.H.