VS046 JFK-LHR 2 Mar 07 (PE)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

After 6 nights in New York it was time to head back home to London. I had to make a trip to Connecticut in the morning and there had been some really heavy rainfall in New York. The journey to Connecticut from Midtown took 3 hours having got stuck on a flooded road or ponding as they called it on CNN. I cut the afternoon short because I thought the roads would still be bad but everything had cleared up and I was at JFK checking in much earlier than anticipated at 15:30.

Virgin check-in was fully staffed and I was the only passenger checking in. The check-in staff were much friendlier and helpful than their colleagues at LHR - the lady even complemented me on my passport photo, shame I didnt get her number. I had reserved the same seat as my outward journey, 72A in PE, and that was confirmed. The flight was at 20:00, so I had some time! Many emails and a few sandwiches later I went through Security. Time was 17:00 and it was rather busy by now. One passenger a little way behind me in the queue feinted and fell backwards hitting his head hard on the floor (sounded nasty), he lay there unconscious [:0] with people screaming for medics, before they arrived he came round a little and people were just shouting at him, dont move, dont move like he was about to be shot, nobody seemed to know what to do.

I headed for Gate 38 and saw Mustang Sally waiting for me, she looked good.
The Virgin-Atlantic sign post was being dragged across the airport floor, then the Red Carpet was unrolled. Having walked 297 metres to the gate its reassuring to know the final 3 metres will be on a nice piece of carpet [oo]. I boarded on time and went up the stairs. The first thing that struck me was the cabin temperature, it was much too hot. Most passengers were reaching up to turn on extra ventilation. It did cool down a bit but still felt sticky. The cabin was very clean and everything on the seat was in order. There were no scratches on the V:Port screen and everything on the seat functioned correctly.

There were 189 passengers on board and capacity was 351. We were told it would be a short flight of 5hr 50 min. We left the ground at 20:15.

Service from the cabin crew was efficient and pleasant but dinner was a bit rushed. I had the Beef Bourguignon, not bad, I ate it all, but I dont think there was much Burgundy in there. My tray was taken away before I had finished dessert (quite nice) and tea. Are the cabin crew instructed to have everything cleared away and lights switched off by a certain time? If they are, then they should extend that deadline by 10 mins - it would improve the dinner service a lot.

Seat was OK, Im 5ft10, and when the passenger in front fully reclined I still had a bit of space spare once my own seat was reclined a little. If you are over 6ft, then things would be tight. The passenger next to me fell asleep 5 minutes after boarding and didnt wake up until 15 minutes before descent into Heathrow at which time I had to slap him so that I could get to the toilet. He had a pack of Nytol in his transparent bag. Is it really that strong? Before descent he opened a sachet of power and added it to his orange juice, it must have been the antidote as he was wide awake in seconds.

After landing at 07:14, there was a rapid deceleration and a U turn towards the gate. Baggage was already on the belt when I got to it, my chauffeur was waiting and she drove me home and cooked me breakfast.

It was a good trip [y]

Nice TR Zippy,

That's a long wait at JFK - was there no chance of moving you to the 4 - sometimes if you ask nicely... At least you were up pretty fast 8:15 is good going on a Friday evening for a 8:00 departure.

Phil FM

Thanks for the TR. Maybe the crew were rushing for a rest behind the curtain! [V]

What a wait you had at JFK, I would of asked if I could catch an earlier flight.

Dominic

Thanks for the report, I flew the exact same flight as you a few weeks ago, on the exact same aircraft, Mustang Sally and in the exact same seat 72A lol! (There's a trip report somewhere on here)

I found exactly the same problems with regards to the crew rushing the meal and drinks and taking things way before i'd finished them!!

Mark

It's good to be able to compare notes like this! The crew should definitely give us more time to finish the meal. There was a stocky brunette girl giving orders and I didn't want to mess with her.

Given the time I arrived at JFK, I could have asked for an earlier flight, but I don't think my Mum would have got out of bed any earlier to pick me up at LHR so I would have had to wait there instead.