This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Did the usual shopping, nosey around and went for some breakfast, after which VS7 was called and I went down to the gate. Boarded on time and took my pre-assigned seat, 20A. The cabin filled quickly with only a few empty seats, including the seat next to me.[:D] Champagne/juice round commenced and I noticed how much more welcoming the FAs were, compared with the last time I flew Virgin. Aircraft was almost fully boarded when it was announced there would be a slight delay in departing this was not of any concern as I had already started to enjoy the experience and was especially pleased to have two windows by my seat!
A couple of late passengers boarded and one of them approached me and said, excuse me sir, would you mind changing seats with my husband whos going to be sitting over there, pointing to the middle seat (of three), also in row 20. I politely said, I pre-selected a window seat and I dont want to sit in the middle of three, sorry, to which she replied emphatically (to my astonishment), but Im travelling with my husband and hes seated over there! By this time I was somewhat irked by her attitude, and not exactly pleased that I was going to be stuck with her sitting beside me for the flight I politely said, sorry, Im not going to change seats.[V] She moved on and badgered the chap sitting in the aisle seat to swap with her, and he reluctantly obliged. Next, she wandered off to take a phone call, only to be escorted back to her seat 10 minutes later by two FAs, who were politely but firmly reminding her that only pax with UC boarding cards could sit in UC. She wasnt happy and began loudly protesting that the seat was empty so whats the problem?... There was an interesting tension building in the cabin as people began to wonder what would happen next with this woman[n]
During this time the crew were excellent in asserting their authority in ensuring she stowed her excessive number of designer-labelled carry-on bags, including the one repeatedly placed by the side of her seat in the aisle.
Eventually pushed back and the Captain announced it would be an 11hr flight and expected to make up much of the time wed lost. Uneventful take-off and climb and drinks service commenced, followed by start-up of V-Port. At this point, little miss-demanding asked the chap in 19A to close his window blind because she could not see her screen. He advised her to adjust the brightness and said he would close the blind further into the flight, which I thought was reasonable. She didnt agree and called for the FAs assistance, although the FA explained that it was very early in the flight and that they would make an announcement later to request that window blinds be closed within 5 mins, she was asking me to close my blinds and I was now really pd off with her self-centredness, and we were only 30 mins into the flight.
Anyway, my IFE would not start so it was re-booted by a very helpful FA who explained it could take 20 mins to re-boot. He brought me another drink and apologised for the IFE glitch. After a while, he came back to check that his corrective action had been successful. Unfortunately it was not and after three attempts at re-booting, lunch was served and I forgot about it for a while. Mozzarella salad starter, followed by the chicken dish that was accompanied by a broccoli/potato mash (delicious!), and I skipped the Profiteroles as I was vaguely attempting to stick to my Atkins-type diet. Then the FA finally got V-Port to launch Pride & Prejudice and I decided it was best to accept this and settled down to watch the movie (TV, music, etc would not play at all). Brandy and Baileys were offered post-lunch and overall, I very much enjoyed the standard of service I got.
Blinds drawn, seats reclined and miss-self-centred started again telling the chap in front of her that hed reclined too far into her lap (groan!!!) So now she wants to be moved into UC mid-flight. Whilst it isnt particularly relevant to V-Flyer, I only include such detail to illustrate how an excellent flight with really great FA crew can be marred by one irritating and bloody annoying pax. Lots of discussion took place, including telexing FBO with her demands to be upgraded (shed very publicly offered to pay now). During this time, the FAs and FSM were exemplary in their management of the situation; firm, polite, professional, apologetic but assertive, and under the circumstances, their management of the scenario (and other pax resulting irritations) was truly commendable.
Next miss-self-obsessed was cold and the cabin temp was increased in response to her complaints. Then she was too hot and the cabin temp was reduced again[}:)]
After watching the movie, my IFE crashed again, and I gave up trying to get it sorted. I had a couple of hours snooze, then the whole IFE system crashed. Two attempts at re-booting the entire aircrafts IFE system failed and with just over three hours to go, the back-up system was launched and comprised Shrek 2, and a comedy video. Alas, it was not to be and the back-up system also failed and I found myself thinking, I hope theyre having more luck with their systems on the flight deck!!
At all times, the FSM made regular announcements detailing the actions being taken in attempting to resolve the problems, and this was appreciated but there was NO IFE for the remaining three hours of the flight. I was bored senseless by this time.
After a smooth flight with virtually no turbulence we were straight into LAX and with minimal delay, I cleared customs and headed on to my connecting flight to PSP.
In summary, FAs, food and beverage service were all excellent. PE cabin was comfortable and reasonably spacious, compared with economy. The failure of the IFE was a complete pain and made the flight feel an awful, awful lot longer than it was.
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IIRC Airliner magizine did a special on Palms Springs Airport this month. Look pretty 
