V-Flyer

Hello folks! sorry I have taken so long to write up my TR's I came back from Jamaica with a very bad chest infection and so have been laid up for a couple of weeks, but am on the mend now.

so here are my TR's for my two week holiday to MBJ to celebrated a family members 60th birthday.
Having checked in online the day before, We set off for the airport and as my suitcases were very heavy,( Mr Aries was travelling light! )we travelled from North London to Victoria by taxi and tube. At Victoria underground I was faced with the problem of getting both my suitcases up the stairs to the rail station,  thankfully a very nice young man offered to carry the larger of my suitcases to the top of the stairs, despite my warning of it being heavy ! I felt very guilty as he walked off rubbing his shoulder and arm.  We caught our train not the Gatwick Express - in good time, we'd bought our return tickets in advance using our Senior Railcards so it cost us only £13.00 each.
We arrived at Gatwick North Terminal and headed straight for the PE Check in Desk, there was no queue and the young lady there was very friendly, then came the moment of truth, when Mr Aries and I eventually managed to get my suitcase onto the scales I was surprised to see that it was 4 kgs overweight!!  on seeing the shock on my face I think she took pity on me because she said if I could get it down to 25 kgs she would let it go, so after a few minutes of frantically shoving things into Mr Aries's suitcase I reached my target and waved goodbye to my suitcase, as it lurched along the conveyor belt.
Going through Security was uneventful and we found ourselves in in the Departure area. I had booked us into "Holiday Extras" departure lounge, this was to be a first time experience for us, we had difficulty finding it as it was not well signposted, eventually we found it, and I have to say that I was very disappointed, with it, apart from the Receptionist, who greeted us very warmly, The lounge itself was untidy there were not a lot of people in there, but it looked very untidy, there were dirty tables, the food area was untidy, no one greeted us or explained where things were or what to do, there was plenty of alcohol, tea and coffee, and a few Danishes, but the only "hot food" was some tepid Carrot and Coriander soup and some not very nice rolls, there were no newspapers etc. available. I do not think this was worth the money that we paid, and would not recommend this particular Lounge to anyone.
We boarded the plane on time,( we were not given priority boarding - everyone shuffled through together) and were greeted by friendly cabin staff and "turned left" found our seats (17A & 17C), almost immediately we were greeted by CC offering us Champagne or Orange Juice. We were offered a choice of newspaper either The Independent or Daily Mail. The seats were comfortable, plenty of space and legroom; the food was fìne here is a copy of the menu, the only complaint was they ran out of the Chicken option before they got to us! The flight was delayed by about 30 minutes while they "reconciled" the baggage not sure what that meant, finally we took off, the flight was uneventful, we arrived in Montego Bay and both of us agreed it had been an enjoyable flight, we've turned our backs on Economy from now on. We had no problems getting through Immigration, our hotel transfer went smoothly, have no complaints about the hotel, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Sun
Spree resort.
Our return trip went very smoothly, on arrival at the airport we were told that our flight was delayed by over an hour, we spent the time spending the last of our Jamaican Dollars. This time we did get priority boarding, and again once on board were offered orange juice and Champagne after dinner - this time there seemed to be plenty of Chicken! I put the socks, eye mask and ear plugs to good use and woke up in time for breakfast
All in all we had a very memorable and enjoyable holiday.
We are already thinking about our next holiday, Australia is looking very inviting.

Thanks for reading, catch you all later

Thanks for the TR, sounds like a good flight and holiday. For future reference, the No1 Lounges at LGW are the ones to go for, smart and clean, comfortable, plenty to eat with one complimentary hot food item and plenty from a buffet.

Thanks will definitely keep that in mind for future reference.

Are you sure it was the North Terminal? I thought Virgin were not moving to the North until 2016? But whichever Terminal, I agree with Bretty, No 1 Lounge is the one to choose.

Oh dear, sounds like you booked into the dreaded Servisair Lounge at LGW. As Bretty says, the No.1 Lounge is considerably better (and the Virgin Clubhouse better still - PE passengers aren't technically allowed in but if it's not too busy they sometimes sell access on the day for about £35).

"Baggage needs reconciling" simply means they haven't been able to match each bag with its owner - ie there are more or fewer than there should be so they need to check them manually.

How near the back of PE were you? Cabin crew serve from the front so the further front you are the more likely you are to get your first choice of meal.

Hi were were in the middle, so not convinced they should have run out by the time they got to us! but never mind

I treated myself by paying out for PE instead of opting for the more legroom seats in E. I travel to Jamaica next February. But more than anything, I was looking forward to a more smaller, dare I say less stressful queue to get on the aircraft. The original poster said that everyone shuffled on and as a PE customer there was no priority boarding. So what's the point? I can't believe UC customers, disabled people and mothers with babies do not get priority boarding at least. Kinda concerned about the potential mad rush. Can anyone clarify please.

Hello Onelifeliveit

I had been led to expect that we would be called to board before the passengers in Economy but this was not the case, what I suppose I should have made clear was that there was no priority boarding for PE over Economy passengers, but there was for UC and disabled people, mothers and babies etc. but this did not spoil our flight.
Hope this helps

We've been flying Virgin PE from Gatwick for our annual trip to the Caribbean for at least the last 12 years (cant remember exactly) and every time PE have been called to board straight after UC and before Economy. So I'm sure missaries experience was a one off.

missaries wrote:Having checked in online the day before, We set off for the airport and as my suitcases were very heavy,( Mr Aries was travelling light! )we travelled from North London to Victoria by taxi and tube. At Victoria underground I was faced with the problem of getting both my suitcases up the stairs to the rail station,  thankfully a very nice young man offered to carry the larger of my suitcases to the top of the stairs, despite my warning of it being heavy ! I felt very guilty as he walked off rubbing his shoulder and arm.  We caught our train not the Gatwick Express - in good time, we'd bought our return tickets in advance using our Senior Railcards so it cost us only £13.00 each.

A bit of advice, travelling from North London, it might suit you if you can go through St Pancras, and get a train direct to Gatwick. 45 minutes, no stairs (assuming you can get to there without stairs), 13 quid return with a senior railcard (20 quid first class). A nicer experience...

Thanks to both missaries and mysandytoes for the update. I can only assume that there were less passengers than normal. But I will post my experience when I come back next year.

Not to nag or anything but should' you put this in the trip reports so everyone can find this.

Yes you're right - my mistake

Thanks for the TR and glad you had a good trip.