This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Arrived at Zone A, to find the VS desks all empty- served straight away. Check in assistant blew a bit hot and cold- but on the whole was nice. Informed us she had been told off the previous day for not showing enough Virgin flare, so was smiling more today!!!
Having not flown VS since March managed to get caught out by the new luggage allowance which wasnt too great! [B)]. Still can't get my head around Virgins logic- we had two bags out of a possible 8 and overall were small 140kgs below the maximum we could take on the plane- but got done for excess- only 2kg over! The reason being that apparently I was compromising the health and safety of the handlers, fair enough but one wonders if VS have stronger handlers, whose health and safety isnt compromised for the 32kg UCS and PE bags!!! [:?]. Went to pay my fine but sadly couldnt until the next day. Not impressed with the poor excuse for the new weight limit.
Next morning arrived at 7.45 as advised by check in to pay the fine! The line at check in made me glad we had checked in the previous night. Went to pay the fine, and once again asked for clarification on the reason for the new rule as it had been bothering me all night! Again I got a different answer- this time it was a) for the health and safety of handlers and b) to make it easier for those connecting to Caribbean Star flights that have a 22kg allowance. This time I was told the rule doesnt come into force until next April but they have been fining people to get them ready for April...if this is the case- why not just give everyone a ticking off?!?
Anyway rant over back to the flight...security was a mess but got through within 45mins which wasnt too bad. Nice to see the people who were pushing in the line- sent to the back having missed one part of the screening process [^].
Breaky at EST which wasnt bad....LGW is still a hole though- really not a pleasure to fly through. Down to gate 15, where the line for the secondary search was stretched all the way down to gate 13! Secondary search very inconsistent seeing as announcements being made that everyone would be checked in the exact same way. Result of security flight didnt board until 11.30.
On board and meet by a fantastic FSM who firstly addressed me by name and secondly said how great it was to have a Frequent flyer back on board....did have to do a double take to make sure my Flying Club Card was red not gold!! Push back at 12.15 in the air 12.36.
The crew really made this flight. After all the talk on here about some crews letting the VS name down- this was certainly not the case. The FSM couldn't be faulted; she was fantastic as was the CSS. I cannot praise the FSM enough- I can't put my finger on what she did exactly- maybe it was her enthusiasm but she was great! [y]
Food was the usual, chicken, beef or veg option. IFE wasnt bad at all- nova did itself proud. Good selection of films, though the TV programmes were only standard. Water and orange runs done throughout the service.
Hour out of Orlando- pilot came on to inform us that we would be circling over Kennedy Space Centre due to an electrical storm passing through MCO. After 30mins of circling we moved on in! It quickly became evident that the pilot was at the critical point of diverting to MIA or just landing in the storm- of course the latter was chosen and we started the final approach in near pitch black! Landed with lightning hitting a DL plane waiting to take off, and thunder all around- the FSM then came on to produce the most fantastic welcome speech I have ever heard! Something along the lines of, welcome to mco- weather is worse than home, so you are now all wondering why you have bothered coming at all arent you, have an excellent stay and wasnt the thunder and lightning fun hey- 12 years of flying and it still gives me the creeps.
Sadly due to the storm, ground handlers werent allowed onto the apron, so we sat on the tarmac for 25minutes. Off and into an empty immigration hall, collected bags etc and was at Thrifty within the hour.
All in all a reasonable flight made even better by an excellent crew. My faith in VS is once again restored!! [y] [^]
BTW- spoke to the first officer at baggage reclaim- who confirmed my suspicions- we were 4mins away from being diverted to MIA hence coming in during the storm.
