V-Flyer

Hi,
I'm flying to MBJ in early December and have upgraded to PE as a treat. On the basis the old LGW/MAN configs tend to fly that route, which aircraft still have the old style PE seats onboard?
Thanks
croomes

Hi and welcome to the site.

All the LGW/MAN 747's currently still have the older cloth PE seats (exact a/c names of the LGW/MAN a/c can be found in the a/c database section in the Toolbox).

From April next year they will start being refitted with the new purple leather seats and that will be complete by end October.

Thanks,
Neil

Is the old style PE any good or have I completely wasted my money? Or do I just hope for an aircraft from LHR fleet that week?!

The seats aren't as new, but you should be up in the bubble (the PE cabin is mainly upstairs on the LGW/MAN a/c) and that is a fantastic place to be for the flight.

I personally find the older PE seats comfy still, even more so than the purple leather ones, some have lost a bit of their padding but combined with being in the bubble, it is my favourite way to fly apart from UC.

Neil

Got to say I LOVE being in the bubble, but I cannot get on with the old style PE seats. Am I the only person who finds the so-called "head-rest" REALLY uncomfortable? I can NEVER get it to feel nice when the seat is upright... ?|

vizbiz wrote:Got to say I LOVE being in the bubble, but I cannot get on with the old style PE seats. Am I the only person who finds the so-called "head-rest" REALLY uncomfortable? I can NEVER get it to feel nice when the seat is upright... ?|

Yep, I just unbutton it, store it, and re-seat it at the end of the flight.

I flew LGW/MCO in the old PE configuration in May, and everyone is right - being in the bubble was a very calm way to fly, despite being in a plane that looked and felt like it was from 1982. Not a waste of money if you can sit in an exit row in the bubble.

Well hopefully we'll have seats in the bubble - we're going with Sandals so I hope they allocate their PE clients up there.

You should try and get your VS PNR reference from your agent and then pre-select seats yourself through the VS website. The bubble seats are very popular and lots of people who can manage their booking online will be selecting them as first choice. Only VH pax have an exclusive allocation on the upper deck.

Also you really need to be doing OLCI to ensure you don't lose any pre-selected seats.

Neil wrote:You should try and get your VS PNR reference from your agent and then pre-select seats yourself through the VS website. The bubble seats are very popular and lots of people who can manage their booking online will be selecting them as first choice. Only VH pax have an exclusive allocation on the upper deck.

Also you really need to be doing OLCI to ensure you don't lose any pre-selected seats.

Because VH have an allocation of seats on the upper deck it does mean that the bubble gets filled up very quickly so Neil's advice is sound. If however you find that is the case, be aware that if the VH allocation isn't filled these seats are released back into the pool before OLCI opens so it pays to check regularly.

Also do be aware that these are merely requests for seats and they can be changed for operational reasons. However doing OLCI as soon as possible after it opens generally secures them

Hi All,

I thought I would jump on this bandwagon too. I am due to fly PE to Antigua very shortly. Please can anyone confirm if I get fast track security with PE at LGW?

Thanks!!

benbsphm wrote:Hi All,

I thought I would jump on this bandwagon too. I am due to fly PE to Antigua very shortly. Please can anyone confirm if I get fast track security with PE at LGW?

Thanks!!

IRRC yes, but the other factor is whether the fast track is open. It never has been when we've flown PE from LGW to the Caribbean.

Paul

Ok, well here's the rub. I have my VS PNR code (which I got from a very helpful lady at VS Flying Club customer services, not the travel agent!), but the system keeps saying that my flights haven't yet been ticketed ( no e-ticket number). However, my travel agent says they have, although I won't get my e-tickets until 2 weeks prior to travel (and won't know my e-ticket number until then either!!!!). Therefore I'm a little stumped at making my own seat selection or allocating the booking against my Flying Club membership anytime before the 2 weeks mark, and then I simply hope that OLCI will work and I can bag some good seats.

OK - good news. My booking has finally been ticketed by Sandals and I can access my booking online. We're currently allocated 82D/E and there's no allocation back home. I guess I just keep checking back until OLCI opens and try to bag what I can upstairs.

pjh wrote:

benbsphm wrote:Hi All,

I thought I would jump on this bandwagon too. I am due to fly PE to Antigua very shortly. Please can anyone confirm if I get fast track security with PE at LGW?

Thanks!!

IRRC yes, but the other factor is whether the fast track is open. It never has been when we've flown PE from LGW to the Caribbean.

Paul

Hi,
just noticed this post does everyone flying PE get the fast track security at LGW?? We are flying PE to orlando in the summer and would be great if you could!!

croomes30 wrote:OK - good news. My booking has finally been ticketed by Sandals and I can access my booking online. We're currently allocated 82D/E and there's no allocation back home. I guess I just keep checking back until OLCI opens and try to bag what I can upstairs.

Can you not change your seats in MMB or are there none left to allocate?

None left to allocate - they're all greyed out.

Most of the remainder will be released when OLCI opens (though migth be worth checking a few hours before hand).

If the map has been greyed out it means that the 60% of seats that VS releaaes for pre-request have been taken up.

tontybear wrote:Most of the remainder will be released when OLCI opens (though migth be worth checking a few hours before hand).

If the map has been greyed out it means that the 60% of seats that VS releaaes for pre-request have been taken up.

As Tonty says check and check again, for as per Neil's and HL's comments the "VH allocation" is released sometime around OLCI. A couple of years back I was in the same position - albeit at the back of PE - with everthing else greyed out and no chance to reassign. When it came to OLCI I found we'd been moved to the front half of the cabin and there were plenty of other seats available for selection.

Paul

Thanks everyone, really helpful info - 3 weeks to go and I'll be checking every day until 2nd Dec, then every hour before OLCI opens!

pjh wrote:

benbsphm wrote:Hi All,

I thought I would jump on this bandwagon too. I am due to fly PE to Antigua very shortly. Please can anyone confirm if I get fast track security with PE at LGW?

Thanks!!

IRRC yes, but the other factor is whether the fast track is open. It never has been when we've flown PE from LGW to the Caribbean.

Paul

It seemed to be open when we went to Montego Bay, but it was a big queue and apparently much easier to go through the new normal security...

Wow - checked yesterday and seats upstairs had come available! 78H & K on the 3rd, here we come. Interestingly though, had the e-ticket confirmation through and on the way back it's given us 36J & 36H, in PE. What layout is that?

croomes30 wrote:Wow - checked yesterday and seats upstairs had come available! 78H & K on the 3rd, here we come. Interestingly though, had the e-ticket confirmation through and on the way back it's given us 36J & 36H, in PE. What layout is that?

That's the new config LHR planes

Indeed your return flight looks like a LHR config a/c. Could change of course but keep an eye on it.

I thought so - shame there's no PE upstairs, but at least we'll get to try the newer PE if they stick with the LHR config. Can't access the seat map on the booking yet, so I suppose it could all change and they don't want to commit seats until they know which aircraft it really will be. I also assume that the travel agent made a typo and the seats are actuall 36H & 36K, not J!