newbie questions before a Virgin trip

Hey everyone, I'm sorry if this has been posted somewhere else, but I am new to this so please bear with me. I'll give a little back story before I jump right into the questions I have been pondering.

My wife and I are heading out to London from Orlando International Airport in about 3 weeks for 8 days, taking flight 16 there and flight 15 back. We are in PE both ways, on the way out, seats 79A and 79C and on the way back seats 71H and 71K. As my wife has never been on a widebody aircraft before (and never been to Europe) she was just aching to go upstairs to see what its like, so I picked seats at the back and at the front to give her a different perspective each way. Im going to try to move us up to seat 70 when we check in at LGW for the return flight.

so here are the questions:
1- are those good seats?

2-how bad is the check in line at MCO for the flight there, I was planning on getting there about 2 1/2 - 3 hours early

3-should I buy access to the lounges in MCO and LGW? if so, how do I do that?
4-Can I check in the night before I go back to the US in LGW so I can have some more time to see London in the morning of my departure back to the US? if so, how do I do that?

5-what is the check in/ security line like at LGW? how early should I get there if I don't do early check in?

6-i was thinking of getting a limo from my place in Daytona Beach to MCO, anyone from the area have any experiences, good or bad, with a limo service here? ( i was thinking a 2 seater black car or something, i just want someone who won't be late)[V]

7-should I bring some food on the plane with me? the meal sizes didn't seem to be too............robust

8-If we get offered an UC upgrade, should I take it? my wife keeps saying she wants to sit right next to me, so is it that much better in UC that it is worth us not sitting right next to each other, but angled like you are in PE (she likes to sleep on my arm)[|)]

9-if i plan on going to Paris, Venice, and Scotland on our trip, will I need any Visa's? I was seeing a few stories where some LCC's in Europe were telling people they needed them.[?]


Thank you for all your help, I'm sorry to post so much in one topic, but I really want to make this the perfect trip for my wife.
[:I]

Hi Jeremy i will try and answer at least some of your questions & most importantly WELCOME to V-Flyer![y]

1.Have you checked out the seat ratings on this site? That should at least give you a chance to see other passengers comments.

2.I have checked in at MCO airport 3 hours before and that has been ample time for me.

3.You cannot buy access to the VS Clubhouses.You can only get access if you are either a Gold VS cardholder or are travelling in Upper Class. However if you are looking for "a lounge" you can buy access at MCO (not sure how you do that) and a lounge at Gatwick (try http://www.holidayextras.co.uk)

4. yes you can check in online for all your Virgin flights on their website.

5.I would make sure you get to the Gatwick check in at least 3 hours beofre your flight as there are currenly delays at the security screening.

6.Not sure of this answer as i live in UK

7.I believe you cant bring food on the plane due to security just now but i may be wrong?

8.It will be highly unlikely to get offered an upgrade but it does help if you have a VS gold card!

9.I`m not sure of other destinations but you def do not need a visa to come to my HOME COUNTRY![:0] we are part of and will remain part of the United Kingdom! So no visa needed to Scotland!

Hope some of this helps and hopefully others will come on and give their advice!

Have a safe & happy trip

It most defenitly does, and Thank you for such a rapid response.

I should have elaborated on the upgrade. I was under the impression that you can sometimes purchase them for a reasonable fee at check in, so I was wondering if it is offered, if I should jump on the chance.

i don't know if i should check in online, my flight is at around 1245, so it wouldn't buy me that much time in london, I wish they had an evening departure back to MCO

I think I will get the lounge access, it seems to be something different , so we may as well try it.

thank you again, I will have to look into the reply more when I get a break at work.


Thank you again

Jeremy

No problem Jeremy.

Yes you can upgrade with either miles or cash at check-in subject to space being available but you will find it sometimes is way over priced.UC tends to get booked up quite quickly.

But Def if you get the chance i would upgrade to upper.Once tried you will never go back to economy![y]

Originally posted by JeremyM
I should have elaborated on the upgrade. I was under the impression that you can sometimes purchase them for a reasonable fee at check in, so I was wondering if it is offered, if I should jump on the chance.

And welcome from me !

With only 14 seats in UC on the Orlando route you'll find it very difficult to up - grade at Check In. Availability is usually scarce on these routes.

holidayextras.co.uk will buy you the Servisair Lounge at Gatwick but not the Delta Crown Room at Orlando. I stand to be corrected but I think you can buy that direct from Delta for $55 but might also need to have purchased a Delta flight.

[honey lamb]

Hi Jeremy and welcome to V-Flyer

You can also do Twilight check-in the night before at LGW but to be honest I really don't know if that is going to give you any time to see anything worthwhile in London on the morning of your departure. As motherger advised, you really do need plenty of time as the security lines can be very long.

One of the things you can do if you arrive early in LGW is to have a meal once you have gone through security if you are worried about the size of the portions on board the aircraft.

[buns]

Hi Jeremy

Welcome to V-Flyer

Although I am a Londoner, I will concentrate my response on the Orlando end of your forthcoming flight.

My advice would be to check in at least three hours beforehand as Virgin are checking in 3/4 flights at the same time, so things can be a little chaotic. After you have checked in, you have to take your bags to the screening point which will be directly behind you.

After check in Mrs Buns & I retire to "McCoys" Resturant (which is in the Hyatt Hotel above the main concourse) to have a mealopposed to either the food court in the main terminal or an Outback Resturant in the satelitte - both of which can become pretty crowded.

Seat wise, 79A & C are favourites as they are at the back so your recline does not distrun and there is a small table alongside 79C which is very handy.

Happy to help with any other questions

buns

[ChuckC]

Jeremy,
I see you've already received a proper welcome and plenty of great advice. So I'll simply say "welcome aboard", and thank you for supporting V-Flyer.

Chuck-

[Scrooge]

You do not need a visa to go to any EU country.

The night before you fly back where are you staying?

If it is close to LGW it is worth doing the twilight check in and then just do the bag drop in the morning.


If you can get an upgrade for the right price rock n roll, the wife will soon forget about wanting to sit next to you.

Oh and as everyone else has said..welcome to V-Flyer.

Nothing to add to all the comments already made, except to also add my welcome Jeremy - I hope you and Mrs Jeremy have a wonderful time in our fair capital.

Thank you everyone for the warm welcomes and thank you also for the wonderful replies.

3 flights checking in at the same time does sound rather hectic, especially when they are 747's.
I guess I will try to upgrade if it is available, the wife will get over not sitting upstairs(I hope, I am taking her to Europe after all [ii] )

I'll have to check the lounge access when I get there because it says I have to buy it on site, but McCoys sounds like fun, I didn't know that Hyatt had a restaurant up there. Views are probably great. It'll also be good to get some food before we get on the long flight.

I'm glad the seats are good, I was nervous about the 79 seats because sometimes the recline can be limited when you are directly in front of things such as bulkheads, I much rather trust opinions here than seat guru. sometimes someone can have a great flight and rank a seat as being great because the FA was great and forget how bad the seat was. I hope the 71's are just as good, and hopefully we can move up to 70 when we check in. I just figured it would be cool to see the different perspectives from the front and the back (interesting side note, on the way back it seems all the seats on the left side are filling up in the upper deck before anyone books the right side, I wonder why that is [?] )

I think Mrs Jeremy will have a great time, shes a really amazing woman and she will be so awestruck by everything she sees, it will be fabulous. This is the trip she told me she has been waiting her whole life for, so I'm glad I could make it a great birthday gift for her. I just want to make sure that everything is perfect

We aren't really sure where we are staying yet, its going to be a kind of last minute decision because we are going to spend the first two and last two days in London, so we are booking the first two, but are going to hold off on the last two in case we want to spend some time up north a bit more.

I will have to check into the twilight check in, do you just go to the airport and do it at the check in counter? I wonder if I can check into my LGW flight at the LHR check in counter since it is closer to London

[?]


thank you again to everyone for your fabulous replies

For the Twilight check in you must both go together with tickets, passports etc to the VA check in desk. Check in between noon and 9pm the night before you fly from London Gatwick then turn up at the Gate at least 50 minutes prior to departure with your boarding pass.

You cannot check in for your LGW flight at the LHR check in desk.

sounds great, thanks for the clarification. wow, 50 minutes prior to departure at the gate? I guess im used to smaller aircraft in Orlando where its 30 minutes, didn't think it was a vastly larger aircraft. I need to get my head examined. I guess it may be worth it if we can sneak in a breakfast before we go or something, or perhaps just walk around for an hour. I'll have to check it out. With Virgins Electronic only tickets, do I just show up with a printed itinerary or my ticket number?

Virgin issue an eticket which sounds to me what you have been issued.This is fine as it will clearly state your locator (Booking Ref No), names, and itinerary details.

When is it your coming over?

I bet your wife is looking forward to the journey!

Yeah, I'll have to remember to print that out and bring it with me. we leave in 22 days I believe. She has added a counter to her work computer with days minutes and seconds until departure. We were supposed to go last year, but we weren't able to make it over so we went to the Bahamas instead for about 5 days. Other than that, this is the first time she is leaving the country. So when I surprised her with the tickets the water works were going off. The tickets were rather expensive, and so is the vacation, but its most defenitly worth it. She deserves it ten times over. The plan is to jump around a bit between London, Paris, Venice and hopefully to be able to go up to Scotland. Then we can see a taste of each city and plan our next trip back. It is how she wanted to do it, so I am going with it.

Her main thing was "she wanted to see castles"

I also need to look into booking a hotel, im trying to find something that is located near the tower bridge. maybe something that overlooks big ben, I may be reaching a bit, but we'll see. I also don't want to break the bank on the hotel, we are barely going to be there after all, way to much to see and do

[honey lamb]

If you are looking for an hotel near Tower Bridge I think it is worth pointing out that Tower Bridge is ever so slightly off the beaten track. There are only two main hotels near there, a Hilton and a Gouman (which was until recently a Thistle hotel) For views of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament as well as being near the London Eye and most of the tourist attractions might I suggest the Marriott at County Hall

[buns]

Jeremy

I am glad you are finding our help so useful to you - especially as the trip is so important for your wife:D:D

A deciding factor on your choice of hotel in London (which BTW are all pretty expensive[:(!]) is that the fast train service from Gatwick to London - the Gatwick Express - brings you into London Victoria. This is near to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Downing Street. If you stay in this area, you are close to the theatres using public transport and a 20 minute ride on the tube will get you to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

PM me if you want any more details


buns

Originally posted by JeremyM

I'm glad the seats are good, I was nervous about the 79 seats because sometimes the recline can be limited when you are directly in front of things such as bulkheads,

The 79 seats - in my opinion are the best in PE and recline perfectly as there is a large gap behind them!!

Oh - and a big welcome to V-flyer!!

Thank you for all the help, I will have to look into those hotels. It would be nice to stay somewhere with a room overlooking the river or the tower bridge and the tower of London, but the more I think about it, the more it seems like a wasted expense because we are going to be spending so little time in the room it won't be worth the high prices. Better to use the money on other things. She wants to go to Paris as well, so I'm looking into a tour from the Britain Shrinkers, hope they are good. Maybe take the one day or two day guided tour of paris, then spend a third at Versailles, then head from paris to Venice for a day (there I will not stay anywhere that doesnt overlook the grand canal, my wife will have it no other way it would seem) and then head back to London and go off to see the castles she so desperatly wants to visit.

The Euro Star seems to be what she also wants to do, and that tour service takes the Euro star, I'll probably end up booking the business class seat as they give you the three course meal and we can sit facing each other with no one else by us. Hopefully she will enjoy it.

Does anyone have any pictures of the anemnity pack? I know there is a thread on it, but it didn't contain any pictures and I'm kind of curious what it looks like. Does everyone in PE get one?


Also, is there anything I can order from Virgin to make the flight more fun? I saw something about a cake or something but I lost the link [:#]
I wouldn't mind doing something to make the flight stand out for her while we are on the way over. [?]

What is the IFE like on the LGW planes, I know it isn't the newest system, but is it survivable or should I go pick up a few extra laptop batteries to watch a movie or a dvd player [?]


thank you again for all your help folks, every reply is going to make my trip better and I am eternally greatful.

[honey lamb]

My wife and I are heading out to London from Orlando International Airport in about 3 weeks for 8 days,

Jeremy, if you are only going for 8 days it seems very ambitious to try and take in Paris and Venice also. London has a great deal to offer and there are plenty of places within easy reach of London for day-trips. Paris is do-able but to be honest, I don't think I would fit it into such a short stay

yeah, thats what I keep trying to tell her. The compromise was to not book any hotel stuff after Paris, and hopefully I can convince her that we should just turn around and head back to London. I think she will be agreeable to that when she realizes how long it takes to travel. She wants to travel between cities by flying or taking a train in the very early morning so all we do is sacrafice sleep, but that still takes time. I guess I'll have to plead my case when we get there. I can't fault her for it, she is just so excited, there is no stopping her. It's quite cute

Also, I found the PDF documents that let you pre-order items, but it seems you can only do it once on board for the return flight. Am I totally off on this? I would just love to order her a tiny cake and a bottle of liqour with a personalized label on it.

Also how, do I order those flight pods? I would love to get two of those for us. And for the life of me I can't see where to pre-order these items............grrrrrrrrr, I want to get them [:(]

[buns]

Jeremy

Well you certainly are going to have a fun packed eight days:D

In relation to your question about pre-ordering of items on board Try this link it does allow you to call from outside the UK - there is no on-line service. I have found the team there very helpful in the past[y]

Perhaps the reason there is not a photo of the current PE amenity kit avaibale is that it is still quite new, having only been introduced on 23 March or therabouts.

Finally the IFE on the MCO-LGW route is the "Nova" system and provides up tob 8 movie channels plus TV and audio entertainment. Whilst it does not have Audio Visual On Demand, I have found the selection sufficient for a night flight across the Atlantic


buns

[honey lamb]

Originally posted by buns4vs


Finally the IFE on the MCO-LGW route is the "Nova" system and provides up tob 8 movie channels plus TV and audio entertainment. Whilst it does not have Audio Visual On Demand, I have found the selection sufficient for a night flight across the Atlantic


buns

Or you may get lucky and get V-TOP (Virginia Plain) or V-XLG (Ruby Tuesday) which were once LHR aircraft and have the Odyssey system which has a few more choices of films plus some games

I would very much enjoy that degree of luck. I don't really sleep too well on planes. My wife on the other hand, out like a light by the time we hit 10,000 feet (if not lower) unless she tries really really really hard to stay awake.

I guess I will just have to hope for the best then on the kits. Hopefully that pod thing I will order will be sufficient, I imagine it would be. I find it interesting that there is no way to order online. Defenitly was not expecting that. I'll have to call them Monday.

I'll have to check the portion of this site that tracks the flights, maybe ill get lucky.

So im looking into hotels in London and I noticed that check in is only after 2 pm. Thats a pain, do they ever make exceptions? I want to stay somewhere that overlooks tower bridge because my wife said that would "be a dream come true" so I'm looking into the Apex, the Grange London City hotel, and the tower- A guoman hotel. Anyone have any experience in any of these? I think the Grange seems like the best deal. Also, if I arrive at 845 AM into LGW, what time can I expect to be at those hotels? Should I cab it or take the tube?


Wow, I just realized I must be a royal pain in the you know what. Thank you for putting up with my nitpicky insanity.