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I spent 10 hours flying Virgin Atlantic's upper class. My seat had its drawbacks, but the flight mostly won me over.

As soon as I learned what business-class life was like, I never wanted to go back. Now, my husband and I use credit-card points to get the experience whenever we can, especially on long-haul overnight flights.

It's a leg and an airline I'd flown before, so I knew all the perks of this airline's version of business class. I also knew one thing I probably wouldn't love as much as the other posh details of the flying experience: the seat.

Unlike most business-class seats I've experienced — I'm fortunate to have flown long-haul business class on about 10 different airlines — Virgin Atlantic's doesn't smoothly recline all the way from upright to lie-flat.

Our overnight flight from LAX to London Heathrow was scheduled to take 10 hours and 25 minutes.

I was traveling with my husband while our kids were in summer camp (a rare grown-ups-only escape!), and we'd booked an upper-class seat configuration that was both interesting and slightly awkward for a couple.

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I liked that I could see him from my seat, but we were foot-to-foot across the aisle, so our heads weren't actually close enough to have a conversation without one of us standing up.

My seat had another quirk: Because of the seat position relative to the window, I had to turn and look backward to see out of it, which felt a bit strange and awkward.

The seat itself was comfortable, with plenty of room (up to 22 inches wide, according to Virgin Atlantic). And once it was made up into a lie-flat bed, I found it plenty comfortable to sleep on.

Dive deeper

  • As soon as I learned what business-class life was like, I never wanted to go back. Now, my husband and I use credit-card points to get the experience whenever we can, especially on long-haul overnight flights.
  • It's a leg and an airline I'd flown before, so I knew all the perks of this airline's version of business class. I also knew one thing I probably wouldn't love as much as the other posh details of the flying experience: the seat.
  • Unlike most business-class seats I've experienced — I'm fortunate to have flown long-haul business class on about 10 different airlines — Virgin Atlantic's doesn't smoothly recline all the way from upright to lie-flat.
  • Our overnight flight from LAX to London Heathrow was scheduled to take 10 hours and 25 minutes.
  • I was traveling with my husband while our kids were in summer camp (a rare grown-ups-only escape!), and we'd booked an upper-class seat configuration that was both interesting and slightly awkward for a couple.
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