This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
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12 June 2006-06-13 A346 (G-VGAS)
Id booked an over-night stay at the Regal Airport hotel which is connected to HKG airport. It was very nice with clean well kept modern rooms.
Check-in at HKG doesnt open until 16:00 for both the SYD and LHR flights, so Id stayed in the hotel upto that point. Id already decided I was not going to head into the city and to just chill out at the hotel.
Made up way to VS check-in (aisle F) shortly after 16:00. They were surprised to see me at that time for the LHR flight which didnt depart until 23:35. No problems though. I again asked for an exit row seat and was told again that yes I could have one but would have to pay. What about Au FC card holders I asked? No sorry was the response, but she did say she would make a note on my booking to see if any exit row seats where still empty before departure. I was issued seat 34H in the mean time.
Row 51 in Y on the A346s does offer 2 free exit row seats (the ones next to the door and to be honest they are much better than the same type of seats on a B744 as theres more room as the slide housing is smaller)
I said I didnt want these though as at that stage I had not actually seen the seat onboard.
Both my luggage and my carry on where tagged with J tags. Headed through immigration and security which was nice and easy again. Made my way up to the HKG Clubhouse again. Service was again spot on in the Clubhouse during my entire time there. Had a shower and something to eat. The only thing I think they could do with are a few more snacks as theres not very much other than whats on the Freedom menu.
Watched the VS200 arrive from LHR and then depart 90 mins later to SYD. The time there passed quite quickly and before long the VS201 from SYD arrived at gate 36. A/C was G-VGAS so config 1 again. After some shopping and a few visits to the smoking lounge it was soon time to leave the CH and heads down to the gate. Priority boarding was in operation and was working again.
As I handed over my boarding card, I was told I had a seat change and was given a new BC with seat 33C an over-wing exit row. I cannot believe nobody asked for that seat as once on board it was clear the flight was almost full in all cabins, so VS must have reserved that for me. Thanks VS [y]
Once on board I was taken through the exit row seat instructions. Tonights flight would be 12hrs 20 mins.
We pulled back at 23:40 and departed shortly afterwards. Wow, once again we had a long long run before rotating. V:Port had actually been left on so was usable right from the word go. Shortly after the seat belt sign went off a drinks trolley came round and then dinner was served. Again the choices were based on either chicken or beef with a veggie option as well. The food was again very good.
Coffee and tea were not served after dinner as we hit some bad weather so orange and water was offered instead. Once the seat belt sign went off and dinner was cleared I again charged into my VS sleep suit and again got some funny looks from fellow pax.
Y pax were using the washrooms in PE (myself included) and nothing was said on any of the flights I was on. Mind you not including the PE washrooms theres only 4 other ones for the whole of Y which doesnt seem a lot to me so maybe this is why nothing is said? Less easy to get to the PE washrooms on a config 2 A346 as the first 2 rows of Y seats are now PE seats with a bulk head behind them.
Service was much much better on the flight with regular water and juice rounds this time. I also found the water and juice jugs along with a box of snacks (including biscuits, bread rolls and a small quantity of fruit) in the now un-used middle galley. There were also the same drinks and snacks in the back galley though VS dont actually tell anyone about these so if you dont know they are there you might not find them.
V:Port worked fine the entire flight although I didnt watch much and even fell asleep during Transporter 2..guess that says a lot about that film!! [|)]
Something to note, the battery in my QC2s just about lasted for all 4 of my VS flights to/from SYD. It was brand new before I set off and the QC2s started flashing mid-way though this final flight though did last the rest of the flight. I kept them on and switched on all the time even when not watching anything as the noise cancelling really does help sleeping onboard an A/C just as long as you dont tilt your head to one side as they do pick up the vibration from the A/C though the seat which gets annoying after a while.
The flight again passed pretty quickly. I think I managed at least one hours sleep maybe more on and off.
Two hours before landing breakfast was served. There was a choice of cooked English, cooked Chinese or veggie (omelette with potatoes and beans). I went for the omelette which was pretty good again. There was also a croissant with butter and jam as well.
Got up and made a dash to a washroom before the pre-landing rush to freshen up and change out of my sleep suit. Had a quick chat with the CSS as Id recognised him from a previous flight (the VS20 V-Flyer party bus last November, he had been working in the J cabin with Marc) which he also remembered as well!!! [:D] I must be flying VS too much now as thats the forth time I recognised crew from previous flights. [:I]
Before long the seat belt sign came on and we were quickly approaching LHR. No merry-go-rounds at this time of the morning. We pulled into one of the new gates at T3 but stopped very abruptly before reaching the jetways. The captain came on and said the A/C guiding system had failed and we would have to wait for it to be re-started. Not good considering these are new gates. It didnt take long and we were soon off the A/C. Its not too long a walk from these gates and immigration was also a breeze for a change. We did land at 05:20 so would have been one of the first arrivals into LHR.
Collected luggage, which came off pretty quickly this time and made my way up to Revivals. Had some breakfast, a shower and a treatment before making my way to T1. Jumped on one of the PCs to check-in online for my BMI flight where I also printed my BMI boarding card.
Overall my Y flights have been a bit of an eye opener but the food has been a pleasent surprize. Would I fly again to SYD in Y on VS......hmmmmmm tough one, at the price I paid (388 return including stop-overs), yes I probably would, but no way at the full price and no way if I were not VS FC Au. With my 50% Au bonus, at least I've earnt the equivalent of PE milage along with the full 8 TP's.
I'm sorry to say those Kash Y seats are abysmal and the sooner VS get rid of them the better. It's like sitting on a bench the entire flight.
BMI T1 check-in was an absolute nightmare [:(!]. Clearly there was no air conditioning either as the temperature in the check-in hall was almost unbearable. BMI premium check-in was a complete joke. A grand total of just 2 check-in agents for BMIs entire business class, *G and premium check-in counters. Y check lines and Y bag drop lines where also very long. It took 20 mins just drop off my bags in the *G queue. Things were getting quite heated and in typical BMI style supervisors where just stood there watching.
Regards
Regards
James Mitchell
James Mitchell
