alizda,

It depends on more that just the airline. What's the price difference? Are you going flight only or as a package (which hotels are part of the package)? What travel class are you wishing to fly in (economy, premium economy or upper class)? From which airport? What are the better departure times for you? Those are just some of the considerations you need to factor in. Personally, if it was economy travel, I'd go with Thomson for the bigger seat pitch, but remember this is a charter airline so drinks are extra whereas they are complimentary with Virgin (not a big deal if you don't drink like a fish!!!).

Darren

holiday packages are similar prices for sister hotels - so it was just really which airline is better x

If it was my choice i would go Premium Ecconomy with Virgin.

I once flew premium economy on Virgin and it was really good and comfortable , in fact the word economy shouldn't be used in the description , it's al lot better than that , sadly flew back in economy on a overnight flight , to say it was dismal would be unfair , it was worse than that , so although I haven't flown economy on thomson long haul , it's got to be better and having briefly looked at comments about thomson long haul it does appear to be favourable .
Have a nice holiday and congratulations , I'm nearly close to 20 years too , god knows how

If you do decide on P/E with virgin , book seats on the upper deck ( the bubble )

I wouldn't touch upstairs in the bubble again in a hurry, run by lazy cabin crew who have no inboard manager upstairs to keep an eye on them in my experience. The mix between economy and premium upstairs now means there is a constant flow of people using the one lot of toilets in premium - the smaller cabin also means one nusience group make the cabin very uncomfortable and unpleasant.

Thomson's premium service is far better now it's been improved in may this year. With everything served course by course, similar to Virgins uppper class, the food is a lot better quality too. Thomson's Dreamliner beats virgins 12-16yr old fleet of 747's any day. In premium on virgin the tv screen is also in your headrest so no rest if some hard fingered yob/child is behind you like I had for 9 hours. You will always get a drink on Thomson's flight before your meal and not made out to be an alcoholic if asking for a drink in either cabin.

I am a long term virgin Atlantic fan, but after a very very poor 3flights over the last year I will be going out of my way to pass on my experiences.

When I flew PE in the bubble it was I think 10 rows of 2-2 , so if its now mixed I imagine its not as good , my opinion on seeing the downstairs PE was that it was cramped ??

Does Thomsons premium cost a lot or a bit more than economy ?

Andy66 when I booked to go to Mexico Premium Econ with Thomson (albeit I didn't actually travel), the upgrade to PE was approx £369 - this was going to be on the Dreamliner. I have travelled PE with Thomson before and very happy with the extra legroom and service, have never traveled with Virgin (prices of overall holiday too much for me) so can't comment of flight