VS004 JFK-LHR 1 May 06 (PE)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Following a great sightseeing trip - drinks in the Marriot Marquis Times Square revolving restaurant, a nice meal in the Rainbow Room at the Rockefeller Centre, a midnight session up the Empire State Building, a ride on the staten island ferry, and 2 very cold open top bus journeys starting at 9am culminating in champagne in Flute Champagne Bar, we eventually think about heading home.

Our 'Joey' limo arrived just in time to get us to JFK but we weren't worried as we had checked in online and got our upstairs PE seats of 74A and K again.

The crew got us on board and served the champagne very quickly, in fact so quickly they very kindly gave us a second glass. A good start to a night flight.

The drinks round came along very quickly followed shortly after the meal options of BBQ chicken or beef stew. Had the BBQ chicken which was really nicely flavoured.

Got into 'Fun with Dick and Jane' which stopped 20 mins from the end when the whole plane's v-port system went down and had to be re-booted.

Anyway, made the most of this time period and went for a walk downstairs, still wasn't brave enough to plonk myself down at the bar though. Stood at the top of the stairs and had a chat at a lovely lady FSM who confirmed she was now worked for VA part time, having been with them for years.

The flight was absolutely jam packed and a VA admin staff member was travelling on our flight on the crew jumpseat as it was the first part of her leg travelling to Australia. Not a good start though, sat 6 hours on a jump seat. The FSM was really nice to her and bought a duvet and some food but my god, it must have been an uncomfortable flight for her.

Managed to have a drink of wine with the meal but had to change from the usual red and drink white - what is it about PE's red wine that makes it taste like vinegar [n]

A good flight but nothing exceptional as the crew did their jobs but with nobody doing anything special to make them stand out.

After a good landing, got to the immigration hall and nearly had a heart attack as to how many people were waiting. It took us 20 minutes to get through the UK/EU line but I feel sorry for the visitors as their queue was snaked around about 10 times.

Only one point to make about the LHR upstairs PE seats (the back two on the left (A&C) is that with the toilet being so close you have people hanging around your seats waiting their turn but also with upper class being on the upper deck, the galley is used for them and therefore results in an awful lot of banging and clattering of crockery when you are trying to sleep. Obviously on the LGW 747's this doesn't happen as we only have plastic trays and cutlery and it really isn't as noisy up there and the 2 toilets are near the front.

Personal preference for upstairs PE seats are on the LGW fleet. To me, I think the seats are wider and a lot softer to settle down in. My big gripe about the LHR fleet is that when the person in front reclines fully, if you are taller than 5'5' you cannot see your screen properly as the screens do not angle upwards sufficiently.

Anyway, I'm typing this whilst at work having landed on this flight at 0630am today into LHR and following a drive up to Birmingham, eventually making it into the office for 10am.

I know, I'm nuts..... Better get back to work now.

Another cool TR. Lynne glad you had a good time in the big apple. [y]

Nice TR Lynne,

No your not nuts I always go into work after a flight! you may as well use all your holiday to holiday -rather than recover!

Lynne:

Thanks for the TR. I will be flying the JFK-LHR 747 in PE and have 74C. After reading a bunch of comments, all mentioning the wonders of the little side table, I figured I move back a few rows from 72C. Never having been aboard and based on your comments, it sounds like 74C might be a mistake on a night flight. Also, how did the first row of PE upstairs look to you. As I understand it, they don't release the row 70 seats until at the airport. Is this the case?

On a night flight you don't get that many people hanging round the toilets. I always pick 74c if I can't get row 70. You can recline without annoying anyone behind and you can get out easily too. I think it's a great choice.

I agree with both the above comments - 74c wasn't as busy for people hanging around the toilets on the night flight as the day flight outbound, so I certainly wouldn't worry about that if you're picking 74c.

The exit rows (70) looked okay - the J&K seats have the FA's seats in front (backing onto Upper class) so you can have a chat with them on take off and landing. There seems to be lots of leg room but no storage bins at the side which I would miss.

If you're travelling on your own though, it's much easier to get out of these seats than any others - if you're on your own and in a window seat you have to ask the aisle seat passenger to move as there's no way you would get out without clambering all over that person (my husband didn't mind [;)] but I'm sure a pure stranger would).

Thanks for the information. I will shoot for a row 70 seat if available as I won't store too much around me (I presume that there is space in the overhead for say a rolling laptop bag). If not, 74C will hold. I am still trying to score an upgrade to UC on the outbound. Apperently VS releases inventory on the way out either a week in advance or at the terminal on day of departure. Has anyone had experience with this?

Nice TR![y]

VS.