PE / Upper Vs Economy

Having read through a number of threads and trip reports on here, it appears to me that there is a disproportionate number of posters travelling Upper and PE against the number of Upper and PE seasts on each flight.

From this I can draw two possible conclusions :-
1) This board only attracts the more affluent Virgin travellers (which begs the question, what am I doing here ?[:?]
2) The community of this board are mainly regular Virgin flyers who have experienced Economy and now only travel Upper and PE due to bad experiences.

There is a third option (probably the most likely one) which is that I am totally havering with this and there is no leaning towards Upper / PE:D

Anyways, I guess if your still awake after reading all that, I'm asking travellers who have experienced travel on all the classes to let me know what lies ahead for a mere pauper like myself who is travelling with Virgin for the first time ever in Economy.

[Decker]

It will come down to what makes a flight for you. Some highly respected individuals here regularly use Y and are perfectly happy with it. Personally I'm not a big fan of the leg room in Y and would thus choose to fly other airlines if Y was all that was on offer. However my first few flights were in Y and there were aspects of the VS experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Originally posted by Decker
It will come down to what makes a flight for you. Some highly respected individuals here regularly use Y and are perfectly happy with it. Personally I'm not a big fan of the leg room in Y and would thus choose to fly other airlines if Y was all that was on offer. However my first few flights were in Y and there were aspects of the VS experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thanks, luckily I'm a bit of a shorty so leg room's rarely an issue for me.

[Decker]

Then the rest of VS should make the flight for you

I've flown Economy on VS. As economy products go, it's not bad at all. IFE is usually better than most, particularly across the Pond. Going to Asia, they come up against more AVOD-equipped carriers, I think.

The food can be a bit ropey, but most Economy airline food isn't great. It's just sustainance.

The seat pitch on VS is a bit tough for me - I'm a well-built guy. The worst bit on VS is there can be a bit of a seat pitch lottery on some aircraft, but VS have recognised this, and are putting a new configuration on their A340-600 aircraft which makes the seat pitch more uniform. Hopefully, the rest of the fleet will benefit next time refits fall due.

I travel up the front usually because I'm on business, and the company or a client is paying for the travel - I'll often have to go straight to work on arrival at my destination. Other times, I'll upgrade my ticket using miles to a higher class of service, sometimes I'll take advantage of fare sales, and occasionally I'll strike it lucky with an op-up (being FC Gold seems to help with that!).

Cheers,
Mike

There is something else worth adding and thats the fact that some of us started on here as Y users and then read about the extras of PE and UC trough trip reports and the various product discussions and wanted to try it for ourselves - I think that V-flyer has been the "bete noir" of many a credit card and bank balance as some of us wanted to fly in the next class up.

And once youve got on and turned left............[:I]
(or gone upstairs!!)

I think there are a number of reasons for the leaning towards UC and PE trip reports:

1. People who travel in UC and PE have more to write (and shout) about and therefore are more likely to write a TR.
2. Members are more likely to contribute TRs and these are also the more regular flyers who travel in PE / UC.
3. The bulk of Y is made up of occassional (once/twice and year) passengers who are less likely to use the site or contribute TRs.

I try to write up Y reports when the opportunity presents itself but unfortunately these are normally part of family holidays and therefore my PC is not as accessible for writing TRs - until I get home that is.

Phil

I don't do a lot of long haul travel, my last two business trips were both Economy (tight fisted company), KLM to Singapore and Varig to Brazil. In both cases I found little difference between their Economy and a short haul charter flight. Based on these experiences Y should be a major step up.

I certainly plan to do TRs for both legs on my return.

As I've stated on a previous thread, finding this Site has been an absolute Godsend for me, thanks again peeps [y][y][y]

I have been travelling with Virgin for about 5 years and have always flown economy.

But after stumbling on this site after booking my Virgin Wedding last year i have found the pros of flying in PE/UC.Unfortunately as i had a vey wee baby travelling with us in Dec 05 to St Lucia (for our wedding) i deceided to do economy again (i did post a tr)

But this year in december 06 (for our first anniversary and leaving the kids at home!)[}:)] i will be trying for the first time ever UC outbound and PE back so saving very hard just now for this.

You will find a wealth of information and you will also find that some us mere mortals who can`t really afford to fly in the high rankings are accepted and activly encouraged to leave TR after our one a year trip!:)

There is quite a wide spectrum of people from all walks of life who are members on this site so please dont feel its really for those travellers who book UC / PE all the time!:D

P.S Another Glaswegian like me, hurray!!!!!!

Originally posted by motherger
P.S Another Glaswegian like me, hurray!!!!!!

I just noticed that too, and a like minded one at that judging by your username

Hope I've got that right !

hey hey! are you a blue nose or from the other side"

you should come to our get together at the Edinburgh Festival but you have to be a member, i recommend you to sign up!!!!!

I've been meaning to get round to joining all week, it's definately worth it.

Other side ????[n]

i mean rangers or celtic???

def sign up as its worth it!

if you need any more assistance done hesitate to pm me,ok?

Don't know about everyone else, but I generally fly UCS as most of my flying is business related and they have been kind enough to stump up for a business class fare.

Both of the previous two posters on this thread have 88 posts, spooky or what ? [:0]

its true once you have turned left or gone up stairs your hooked.
If you work hard enjoy yourself, you cant take it with you whats a few hundred quid more for you comfit and well being and enjoyment,

1. check in i like this bit red carpet nice pre checkin chat etc "have you come far today" "no just from the Hilton across the road"

2. you get on first sit there and enjoy the moment of a bit more space and time to relax have a look around your upstairs private cabin before you take off read a newspaper, "the times sir", nice.

3. nice bit of bubbly with the wife , "priceless"(probably the first sit down together in months)with a nice big smile on our faces

4. choice of food "ooo i think ill have the beef today and kids the pasta plus two more g & t's here please"

5. get off first, bags first, immigration first, priceless

makes the whole trip a bit more special

its only money


Regards

Dave

Hi A380,

We still do Y most of the time using miles+money with the occasional PE trip. Alot of the guys on the forum use UC but for us we just can't get our heads around the cost/benefit.

We're doing a PE trip in August to LA which I'm really looking forward to as it's always a treat to go upstairs but generally I just can't wait for the plane to land so I can get off.

Anyway you've found a great forum which will give you loads of inside info which I have found invaluable over the last few years and really helps avoid some of the pitfalls of travel.

Enjoy the experiance

Miopyk

A380
My family have been flying Virgin since April 1986, I do not how old you are but do remeber the inception?
Anyway, we are regular people, no business or sposered flights and have flown in all classes as recent as last week. LGW - LAS - LGW
Firstly things have changed over the years some of the threads reinforce this point, food has changed, quality of staff and service is sometimes not what you expect. The enjoyment of the flight depends on your crew and the IFS firstly, a tight hard working team will make the flight whatever cabin you are in. Seat positions vary, use the very handy link on this site. ie 22a & b in Y are fab, quite, by the loos, and first in line for service. Some PE in the lower cabin out of LGW are awful, dark not the full amount of room and not first in service line. J class this can be wonderful or woeful, depends on fellow passengers in the main, and the few crew you get, YES it is different but check what your value system is to justify the costs.
Also confort can be affected by the weather bumpy trips affect all passengers whatever class. There is loads more but take it from me VIRGIN is a good overal product, it leaves and it lands at destination what more do you expect.
One last thing in J the crew introduce themselves to you, what I do is introduce myself in the other classes and what a difference it makes. We have even tipped staff before take off a sure fire hit. (This is not bribery)
Steve

Irrespective of carrier, I wouldn't do long haul in anything less than a PE equivalent. If I couldn't afford it, I'd stay closer to home. For example, many people travel economy to Sydney - I wouldn't even contemplate it unless I could go UC - so I'd rather wait. For that reason, I've never travelled VS economy so can't comment on how good/bad or indifferent it is. Others would endure a long haul journey in economy to get to a place they really want to see, or would want to save money to spend at the destination, or many other reasons I'm sure.

For all my European travel I wouldn't think of doing anything other than economy.

I started by travelling with VH and VA back in the early 90s always travelling in Y.

Because we now have only one or two flights to pay for instead of 5 (boys now grown up) it is more affordable to us. All of my travelling is for pleasure.

It was the experience of Y travel that made me try other classes - and that certainly wasn't the seat pitch! It is only the legroom issue that make me choose PE or UC.

I will be travelling economy to MCO in July for the first time in a few years because I thought it would be more fun travelling together with friends who couldn't afford the higher prices and will definitely be doing a TR and giving an honest and fair comparison. However, as I'm travelling on a full fare ticket (got a companion one for a friend and shared the cost of both)not sure if I could turn down a free upgrade!

Jilly

I lean towards PE/UCS mainly because I would rather enjoy my hard earned cash than sit on it, and if I am spending it on something to sit on, then I will go for the biggest there is[}:)]not that my bums big or anything[:I].

However after many flights, the one flight that sticks in my memory the most and makes me feel good to remember it is my first ever Transatlantic Flight and that was actually in Economy.

We are not snobs on here mind we just like nice things, and the longer you frequent this forum the more difficult it is to resist moving up the cabin.

If you work hard enjoy yourself, you cant take it with you

Totally true dude, no pockets on a shroud are there?

Originally posted by slinky09

If you work hard enjoy yourself, you cant take it with you

Totally true dude, no pockets on a shroud are there?

And my Granny who was still flying at 91 said "you're a long time dead".

Jilly

All great reposnses and thanks for the varied opinions, all useful.

One recurring theme seems to be that most people would prefer to spend the extra, rather than scrimp on their hard earned cash.

I totally agree with this sentiment and (despite being Scottish);)am far from being tight fisted.

This is my kids' first trip to Orlando and our thinking was that anything we save on the journey will go straight into making the holiday as great an experience as they and we) could possibly imagine.

We actually stumbled on VS by accident after shopping around and discovering that to fly scheduled Y with VS was less than travelling charter with First Choice from Glasgow. (Including the transfers). The ultimate no-brainer.