VS027 LGW-MCO 6 MAR 13 (Premium Economy)

[buns]

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Well here I am writing a TR within 24 hours of getting off the plane - not any reason of monumental significance has prompted me, just getting the early flight, which upset our normal routine

Many of you will have read my last TR was has recently been reprised here on V Flyer - I was determined not to get stressed out about getting to Orlando this time around, even though I had chosen a day when there was only one flight and it was clear from the outset this would be a "standing room only" flight and resigned to not worrying about the seat allocation of 19D & E and making amends when check in opened. At T-24 there I was, phone in hand tapping away and managed to move to Row 17 H&K (I was pipped at the post of getting Row 15) and I think I did a commendable performance of SEQ 4&5 given I was using a phone connection

In the knowledge that we were in a two seats together, it was a quiet evening as Mrs Buns was now content and the following morning Mr Tristar arrived on time (we use Tristar as for little more that the local cab firms charge we get there on time, safely and in a car that is clean) and we were on our way to Gatwick, being dropped off at the upper level (another benefit of Tristar).

A short walk saw us at the Upper Check In, where the agent remembered us from a previous occasion and issued with a nice "Premium" sticker we were able to use the premium security lane and after walking across to the passageway that take you to the upper level rather than going down and then back up again, we were at the Clubhouse .

Warmly welcomed back, we sat down to breakfast and I glanced at my watch and noticed it was under an hour since we left home Mrs Buns booked her Rejuvinatiing hand and arm treatment - which she thoroughly enjoyed - and we settled down to breakfast. Yes, it has got smaller, but no worry we just had seconds later on During our stay we wanted for nothing and the same was for everyone else in the Clubhouse which is why Gatwick will always be the best Clubhouse in my eyes

Bidding farewell, we made our way down to Gate 21 where there was priority boarding into the gate area, but of course you all joined the queue to go down the jetway to board the aircraft Mrs Buns remarked on how nicer the downstairs PE Cabin was now in comparison to the old configuration and was quickly won over from previous love of the bubble

Crew were attentive, but nothing exceptional, and I quickly formed the view that we were not fortunate enough to have one of VS's stellar FSMs today

Pushing back a little ahead of time, which was remarkable as there were over 420 passengers on board, safety demonstration conducted in the super new IFE and we were soon on our way into the skies. Hot towels distributed and the FSM commenced her welcome and turned on the IFE which was not a problem for Mrs Buns and myself as we had our own earphones, yet everyone else was still waiting for these to be distributed. Nevertheless, this was rectified and the drinks service commenced - Mrs Buns welcoming the serving of Bombay Saphire Something I should perhaps mention is there is no longer an amenity kit issued - your charity Collection envelope is now within the headphones packet

Now to the food...... Putting aside the fact that it is still mushroom, mushroom, mushroom the way it is presented is very good indeed. The starter of smoked salmon is on a proper plate and no longer any image of a conveyor belt construction, the main ( for which I had the beef lasagne and Mrs buns the chicken ) was tasty and well presented and the desert again presented in such a way to mask the conveyor belt construction of these meals

We opted not to take the small bottles of wine but to have our pre dinner drinks refilled

Well, the IFE certainly has won us both over - being long time users of the Gatwick fleet to have the range and variety of programmes and films on offer is just mind blowing and for those of you who have not travelled since the planes have been refurbed, you are in for a treat

On the duty free run, I discovered that no longer is it possible to have your Flying Club Number recorded (another miles opportunity lost it would seem) although in showing my Gold Card my status was recognised by the crew members doing the run

Afternoon tea consisted of two finger sandwiches of cheese and onion and a cup cake This was served with less than an hour left of the flight so made the getting to the end of the flight seem just that much quicker

We touched down half an hour early, which was good as it took us over 45 minutes to get through Immigration as when we arrived there was about only 6 desks opened which doubled by the time we got to the head of the queue ( bearing that the downstairs PE cabin gets off first)

So all in all, a good, but not great, flight with the PE product still offering good value for money, especially as the new seats and IFE now put VS back ahead of BA in my opinion.

Thanks for reading

buns

Hope you and Mrs B are enjoying your holiday !

Buns (and Mrs welcome back to Fla. hopefully the weather is warming up for you (certainly next week)

so reading your report is deplaning now - downstairs PE followed by UC and then upstairs ??? My daughter is arriving Saturday and I have her upstairs in 79 right now so she can be off early...I dont want her held up until all downstairs Ec has deplaned.

[buns]

Flabound

Thanks for the welcome back - it certainly is chilly here this morning We will be picking up our car this morning before driving to St Pete Beach where things should warm up by Tommorrw

It did seem that crew were holding back both sides of the economy cabin so upstairs would have been closely behind us

I should have pointed out the BA flight was behind us and we joined the Immigration queue behind the VS Manchester flight. By the time we were picking up our bags the BA flight was queuing right back past the tensa lines so perhaps we should be fortunate we were not on the 15

buns

Thanks for the speed-of-light TR, buns. Not too bad a flight then - apart from the hideous menu . On the duty free 'thing', I guess you can still have your FC number recorded if you pre-order?

Hi Buns, nice (and early ) TR

Another vote for the downstairs PE cabin - looks very nice .

The IFE, for the well travelled Gatwick passengers is a huge and very welcome improvement (although noticed that the announcements nearly burst my eardrums being much louder than the normal volume)

Enjoy your trip, and the sunshine when it appears - time to get another trip booked methinks (which should take me back to Gold thanks to the earlier bonus points )

David

Thank you for the TR.

yes its chilly though still better than the UK. its the wind blowing down from the big stoirm up north. we have had a friend here for 2 weeks and I reckon they have been 2 of the worst weeks the past 30 months. its been very up and down. Tuesday we were out on the boat in 80 degrees today its cool enough I just out long trousers on to walk the dogs for the first time this year !!

the good news is its getting a lot better next week.

the bad news -everyone reading this back in Britain is going 'whingers ' :-)

Thanks for another great TR, good to see the VS PE product is performing as it should.

Great report and sounds like a fairly decent flight.

Strange that there's no amenity kit. Someone should tell Virgin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... T9RHXxM-fs

Great TR

Ha ha portion control clearly under review, hoping that some people won't be asking for seconds (or thirds) - evidently they are wrong

Glad the flight ticked along and yep duty free doesn't usually earn miles in the air unless you preorder… have got away once with a call to VS and told them of my purchase only to see a couple of miles pop into my account. Not worth it given how many you get in my view

No mention of Jack Daniels??

Cheers for posting buns and hope you guys have an awesome holiday

[buns]

Thanks for the speed-of-light TR, buns. Not too bad a flight then - apart from the hideous menu . On the duty free 'thing', I guess you can still have your FC number recorded if you pre-order?

Not on board it would seem

I was pre-ordering for our return and it was then that the Crew Member said there was not anywhere to enter it on the new computer they were carrying

Joey

JD is no longer available in PE Made up for it when I got to the Hotel

buns

Great TR buns, glad to hear you are back enjoying the Florida sunshine

Good TR, every TR I read brings me that little bit closer to my flight - in exactly 7 weeks from today

Fab report, am even more excited than I was already for my flight to MCO now in 40 days :-D

Have a fab time in the sunshine state

Thank you for yet another informative and fabulous TR, posted in recorded time

I find the welcome at the plane door gives you an indication of what type of FSM & CC you are going to get for your flight - sounds like yours was 'ok'

Come on VS sort out the mushrooms

Hope you are having a brilliant holiday Only 6 weeks until we are on the 27

Well done for the speedy TR and impressed you got SEQ 4&5 on your mobile

Glad you had such a good flight over and you can both enjoy the rest of the holiday.

Thanks for the TR. good that downstairs PE is shaping up..

Glad to hear you had a good flight, that experienced LGW-ers such as yourselves think favourably of the new PE and that the seconds option was invoked....

We are tempted to try the downstairs Premium section now, though we still used the bubble for our flights last autumn - from Manchester.

Katie