V-Flyer

im not sure if i have had too many bubbles over the years but can anyone confirm my earliest memories of upper class. did it used to be called mid class or was that prmium economy? also were there sofas on the plane by the bar or is my mind playing tricks again?

1992
- VAA becomes first airline to provide child safety seats
- Launch of Mid Class (later to become Premium Economy), VAA ground-breaking super-economy service

As Penny says, PE was Mid-class when it was first introduced.
The closest thing to a sofa that I can remember was the in-flight treatment table.

Nick

How long did they keep the mid class title for? all sounds a bit elitist with the implication that economy was 'lower class'

Calling economy 'lower class' would be a natural marketing ploy as premium cabin is called 'upper class'.
The origial plan was to have two cabins with pointy end called 'upper class' and the back end called 'riff raff'
I am not making this up - CAA objected and it was changed to 'economy'

There was a sofa by the bar on 747s in UC, with a cocktail table that had a chess board printed on it. The sofa had seat belts, so in turbulence you strapped yourself in, and ordered another drink!

JCBR wrote:Calling economy 'lower class' would be a natural marketing ploy as premium cabin is called 'upper class'.
The origial plan was to have two cabins with pointy end called 'upper class' and the back end called 'riff raff'
I am not making this up - CAA objected and it was changed to 'economy'

Yeah i've seen that economy was going to be called riff raff too - but didn't know the reason why it wasn't.

I first flew Virgin Upper Class in Spring 1989 when they only has 2 planes. Upper Class seats were similar to the current Gatwick Premium Economy seats, but with alot more legroom and a greater recline. There was no bar as such, but in the middle there was a lounge area of grey seats - 2 on each side that faced each other with a table in between. This was just on one 747 as the other (the original) only had economy downstairs with a few Upper upstairs. A long time ago and just before they introduced the Sony personal movie players in UC.

any picture links?