This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
So there may not be a huge amount to report on, but in the main we loved it, and most of the extra touches really did seem to add to the experience, even if their monetary value is obviously far less than the premium price. Although I guess most of that is for the extra space and bigger seat.
Anyway - we boarded on time, enjoyed the bubbly, and left on time. The new (maybe not so new now?) amenity kits actually come in a really nice pouch now, although from looking online some of the contents are maybe not quite so good. The pen is a lot more basic for example. This is perhaps my first little grumble - that you only get the Economy amenity kit on night flights. Weirdly we got the PE one leaving Sydney at 15:45, but the Economy one leaving HK at 23:30. Looking back on the website, it does say night flights only, but seems a bit odd if the contents don't contain anything specific night flights. Unless I missed something.
Just seems the sort of thing that whilst may be in the small print, but goes against the general impression Virgin try to create. And given the cost of the thing must be easily absorbed by the premium fare, it seems the sort of thing that costs a company more in goodwill than it gains financially. If the selling point of PE is in the detail, then they need to get those details bang on.
The food I though was very good though - pre flight bubbly, then pre dinner drink, main meal, coffee (could have been better) and Baileys. Starter was a very nice smoked salmon and couscous with salad. I had the pork with mash and veg (very good for airplane food, if not very good food period. Actually, that sounds harsh - it was pretty tasty), and my wife a veggie pasta. On the menu it read the same as what she'd had in Economy on the way out, but when it arrived it was clearly a much better looking dish. And much better tasting too. And pudding was a chocolate mud pie type thing - can't go wrong! And after all the plastic cutlery on flights, eating with metal cutlery from crockery really did feel a lot more civilised! And the little salt and pepper shakers are a nice touch.
It was high tea before landing in HK - unfortunately I don't like eggs, so the egg and cress sandwich was a bit unfortunate. I didn't think not liking eggs is that uncommon, so maybe they should stick to cheese. And a kitkat. Which is fine, but not only was it not a four finger kitkat, but it was smaller than a normal kitkat. I guess everything is smaller when it comes to airplane food, but I'd have thought that PE could stretch to a regular sized kitkat!
On the HK - London section, the started was a prawn affair, not as nice as the salmon and couscous (although that was particularly good!) I had a chicken stew with potatoes and veg, and pud was a slice of apple tart. For breakfast I had the chicken a noodles to avoid the egg.
Overall the food was very good, given that its being served up on an airplane. Although its again a shame that PE literature makes a thing out of the crockery and cutlery, but this only applies to the main meal - beyond that you're likely to run back in to ready meal plastic and plastic cutlery. Which I think is a shame - if you're going to make it a selling point, and charge a hefty premium for it, don't deliver it half baked. Again, I think it must cost more in goodwill than it gains financially.
Last food comment - its a shame the Movie Treat thing isn't on all routes / flights. Its exactly the sort of little detail that doesn't take much effort or cost, but is a nice fun touch on a long flight.
Other than that, the flight was comfortable, water and juice was readily available. Having also flown to the US, one of the things that stood out with Virgin crews was a sense of fun you don't often get. Its probably a cultural, not to mention language thing, but you don't really get that with the predominantly Asian crews. Although obviously on that route it makes sense to have crews who speak multiple languages.
Unfortunately its still the old entertainment system, which is understandable if they are rolling out new aircraft on the route in the next year or two. But having all that content available on demand still makes a huge difference compared to the old days! (Which is why I still give it four stars. The addition of an HD screen would make it pretty much perfect. I wonder if Virgin are kicking themselves for rolling out their new system just before using iPads seemed like a good way to go!)
I think thats most stuff - in a nutshell we both really loved the experience compared to economy, with the caveats that it could be better if the food presentation was the same standard for all meals, rather than just the main meal. And the little thing of the PE amenity kit only being on night flights.
That maybe sounds picky, but if the service is being sold on the details, deliver those details consistently across the whole flight. Giving people a taste of it, but then delivering it inconsistently just felt a slight let down.
)
.
.
