IFE Lgw/Man Fleet

Regular fliers from Gatwick and Manchester which 747 aircraft that are due for a refit you have flown on, would you say in your mind has had the most unreliable IFE ? For me in PE its got to be English Rose first aircraft into Vegas from Lgw after the ash cloud cleared faulty IFE for return trip! Twice last year waiting at the gate in Vegas for a return flight to Lgw a call to the podium and a £25 voucher for Virgin due to no IFE. Now i have a flight from Man to Las on 29th March 12 and i see yes English Rose is flying that route!

[Neil]

It is still way to early to even think about predicting which a/c will be operating which flight in the 29th March.

All of the LGW/MAN fleet rotate, so it won't probably be util the day before when you might be able to predict, but even then a/c changes happen on the day quite often.

Thankfully, and I know it won't affect your fight unfortunately, but the refits will mean brand new IFE for all the LGW fleet, so fingers crossed no more issues.

All MAN/LGW aircraft are equally un/reliable. There are no trends for aircraft, just highly unlucky that this aircraft has not performed well on these occasions! I'm sure your flight will be fine, however I'd stock up on backup entertainment forms just in case.

There is always one aircraft that is more "challenging" than others in every airlines fleets, engineering wise. Perhaps English Rose is Virgins?

All Odyssey systems are a pain in the proverbial, engineering wise I couldn't even narrow it down!

Funnily enough, my parents flew MAN-MCO last week on V-ROS in PE, and guess what...... no IFE!!!
This is the second time this has happened to them, and no matter how much 'refit due' blah blah that get's mentioned, I would be mighty cheesed off if it were me. v(

TBH in this age of kindles, smart phones and all things iPad/Pod/Phone/etc etc plenty of people are no longer relying on aircraft IFE as they used to.

Flew on English rose last thurs to Vegas,we were in the bubble seats 79a and c and the IFE worked fine.

Well, VS010 JFK to LHR the other day had no IFE, so its not just the LGW flights.

Just a quickie - do you get Noise Cancelling headphones in PE or just the standard ones ?

[Neil]

Just a quickie - do you get Noise Cancelling headphones in PE or just the standard ones ?

Just normal ones.

Thanks for that - I'll take my own !

Thanks for that - I'll take my own !

I don't why you just wouldn't have done that anyway? Far nicer than picking up a pair on board that could've been anywhere. B)

Honestly - because mine aren't quite as good as the BOSE ones BA use !

Plus the fact it means less weight in your hand baggage

I'm with daywalker on earphones ... I know the airline ones are cleaned etc. but I really don't want anything other than my own sitting on or in my ears!

I would normally agree, however when BA use a £300 pair of BOSE earphones that take out approximately 95% of the noise I'm happy to trade mine which only cut out around 70% !

I would love a pair of the BOSE ones as BA use (VS might use these in upper ?) but unwilling to shell out £300 for the 2 or 3 times a year I use them.

On a wider note, paying PE prices (which are well in excess of double EC), the only benefit you seem to get is a bigger seat - no Lounge access, no improved IFE, and now potentially no "exclusivity" in the bubble - seems like VS are gradually putting the squeeze on PE, even though it's their biggest source of revenue growth ?

[Darren Wheeler]

On a wider note, paying PE prices (which are well in excess of double EC), the only benefit you seem to get is a bigger seat - no Lounge access, no improved IFE, and now potentially no "exclusivity" in the bubble - seems like VS are gradually putting the squeeze on PE, even though it's their biggest source of revenue growth ?

Different meals
Priority boarding
Priority baggage
Dedicated check-in
Miles bonus (depending on fare)
Higher cabin crew to passenger ration

Is that True though Darren ?

Have read a lot of reports saying Baggage is hit and miss, OLCI means no dedicated check in ? and the cabin ratio will be eroded if the rumour of EC upstairs is true - means the ratio will be about on par with EC ? I'm not that fussed on food on a plane anyway, it's usually pretty bad with whoever ! For me, the only real tangible benefit now is the bigger seat. VS could do so much more to make it better - V-Room access for free - it's £20 to book, but on a PE ticket the price is 100%+ more, Noise Cancelling headphones - they could get a deal on these and exclusive for PE and above. Miles are only any good if you are a regular flyer - if you fly less than three times a year there not worth a lot ?

Put it in real terms, is PE worth 2 EC seats ?

[Neil]

Is that True though Darren ?

Have read a lot of reports saying Baggage is hit and miss, OLCI means no dedicated check in ? and the cabin ratio will be eroded if the rumour of EC upstairs is true - means the ratio will be about on par with EC ? I'm not that fussed on food on a plane anyway, it's usually pretty bad with whoever ! For me, the only real tangible benefit now is the bigger seat. VS could do so much more to make it better - V-Room access for free - it's £20 to book, but on a PE ticket the price is 100%+ more, Noise Cancelling headphones - they could get a deal on these and exclusive for PE and above. Miles are only any good if you are a regular flyer - if you fly less than three times a year there not worth a lot ?

Put it in real terms, is PE worth 2 EC seats ?

Also, in addition to the list Darren stated, increased luggage allowance and priority disembarking, which are two very useful benefits. I'm only a leisure flyer and find the miles very useful.

VS PE has real extra benefits, if you personally don't feel that are of use to you then so be it, but compared to something like BA WT+, where the only benefit over Y is a bigger seat with more legroom, then it is a great product.

Regarding the V-Room, it is only something available for VH pax at two airports (LGW and MAN). It is not a VS product so they wouldn't be able to offer it to their pax, plus what would happen with pax at LHR?

Not wanting to get in to a protracted argument, however the increased luggage is 2 x 23 Kgs - so if you bought 2 x Economy (at less than ½ price of PE – which they are today) you would still get the same allowance. As for priority over disembarkation, how will that work with PE at the front of the bubble and EC at the back (if rumours are to believed). I also agree with you on the V-Room issue, it is only at 2 airports, and mainly for leisure flights, but the same question remains extant. Do people see PE as at least twice as good as economy, because that what your paying for or should VS look to add additional benefits. Sorry for going away from the OP, perhaps this should be a separate discussion ?

Regular fliers from Gatwick and Manchester which 747 aircraft that are due for a refit you have flown on, would you say in your mind has had the most unreliable IFE ? For me in PE its got to be English Rose first aircraft into Vegas from Lgw after the ash cloud cleared faulty IFE for return trip! Twice last year waiting at the gate in Vegas for a return flight to Lgw a call to the podium and a £25 voucher for Virgin due to no IFE. Now i have a flight from Man to Las on 29th March 12 and i see yes English Rose is flying that route!

I was on that flight too Ladybird ( Broken Engine )replaced by Jersy Girl and a four hour delay the return was smoother two weeks later Ruby Tuesday