This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
However it wasn't to be and reward seats never materialised, possibly due to the new Australian school term starting on the day of our arrival in Sydney...????
After a frantic failed attempt at OLCI on the Friday night
,(in a vain attempt to get Seq 1) it was decided to go to LHR early to iron out any issues.On arrival there at about midday we used UC check-in as my travelling companion is FC AU, so even if we stayed in PE at least we would have CH access in LHR and HKG
I asked about upgrading with miles etc and found out that there were 4 seats in UC to Hong Kong but only 1 available from there onwards to Sydney.
So that dashed our plans!
I requested that if possible we be given bulkhead seats and were duly given 18A and 18C.
We breezed through the private security lane very quickly (no issues with bags at all) and were soon welcomed into the CH.
It was very busy when we arrived and had difficulty finding an area to sit, but eventually found a place at the end of the Gallery,which is our favourite haunt.
We were quickly offered a drink and had champagne to start.
Perhaps at this stage I should add that the service in the CH was very very patchy that day, ranging from superb to poor
.We soon were able to move down along the Gallery as people left for their flights and before too long I was in my favourite hanging wicker chair
, located just about level with the end of the bar.It was then I noticed in horror that our boarding cards for HKG to SYD showed that we had been split up and that we had been given 22C (in front of toilet
) and 20C....On enquiring at the concierge desk they said there was nothing that could be done until HKG, even after reminding them of the AU status of one of us, so the lady added a few notes to our booking and we crossed our fingers that it would be sorted out when we got there.
I have no permission to mention their name (didn't get a chance to ask before she went off duty) so I wont do so but for the first few hours we had a brilliant young lady look after us in the Gallery.
She regularly came and asked if there was anything we wanted and was really superb.
We then decided to eat and went to the Brasserie where we had a very nice meal but the service was poor ie plenty of staff standing around yet waited ages for plates to be taken away and for next course to arrive etc.
Not how the CH should be but alas rather similar to my last visit here in Jan 2012 prior to our Tokyo trip
.Returning to the Gallery we had a few more drinks and then afternoon tea, but sadly our very helpful friend went off-duty and we donned our cloaks of invisibility
.Despite sitting almost level with the end of the main CH bar (albeit with the floor to ceiling glass partition and doorway between us)no-one offered us anything for the next 2 hours or so.
Each time I wanted anything I had to catch their eye, not that I minded a huge amount as I didn't want to be crawling on hands and knees to the gate
.I firmly believe that if 'our friend' had been on night duty we'd have had to be stretchered onto the plane.....
.Not sure of what the food on the plane would be like we decided to have a quick bite from the deli counter and left the CH for a leisurely stroll to the departure gate.
We utilised the priority boarding and were soon on the plane and found our way to our seats.
We were then offered a drink, well when I say offered a young man carrying a tray came up and said "champagne,orange juice"(and something else I can't remember), there was zero interaction at all.
I was worried that this was to the tone of our flight, and sadly it was
.This gent was the only male CC that was in the PE cabin and came across as distant and unfriendly.
He wasn't actually rude but there was no attempt at any dialogue other than "would you like"/"yes"/"thanks".....
The female CC were actually OK but there was little interaction from them either to be honest.
Once we had taken off service was started ; another drink was offered and then followed by the food.
This was OK, smoked salmon & creme fraiche starter was followed by chicken in a red pepper and mushroom sauce with a chocolate brownie-type cake to finish.
This was all followed by Baileys and tea/coffee/hot chocolate.
The FSM came through the cabin once (looked to be en-route to Y)and that was the only time I saw her for the entire flight.
The flight was really smooth and very uneventful and we landed about 30 mins early in HKG.
At this stage perhaps I should summarise and say the flight was very good, but only in as much as we had a nice wide seat with extra legroom and slightly better food.
If I had been new to VS I would have thought what on earth was the extra cost for?
The flight certainly did not meet with all the hype of the current adverts!
This isn't how VS should be as we know how good it can be!
On arrival in HKG we decamped quckly and were through security again with our "catch us if you can" stickers in no time and up to the CH.
On arrival I quickly asked if there was any chance of upgrading to UC but hopes were dashed when the lady said that UC was full and PE was over-sold.
Resigned to remaining in PE I then asked if the seat issue could be resolved and was there any chance of having 18A and 18C again?
The lady promised to look into it and to let me know a bit later...and in due course presented me with 2 new boarding cards for the desired bulkhead seats
.I then booked a shower and waited about 10 minutes until one became available.
I won't describe the showers here as I think most know that they are huge, spotless and brilliant,its fantastic to feel clean again after a long journey....
There was only time by now to grab a quick bite to eat but it was fantastic; cold noodle and king prawns starter followed by a seared steak sandwich and coconut cheesecake, all delicious.
Service was superb here, if only LHR could match it......
Soon boarding was called and we made our short way down to the gate where Bubbles (G-VFIZ) was waiting for us again and we handed over our boarding cards.
The young lady suddenly said "we've had to move your seat" and my mum (the FC AU member) groaned.......we'd been split up again!
Last edited by Nessy on 29 Jan 2013, 18:42, edited 1 time in total.
. Getting the op-up was great news 
