VS075 MAN-MCO 11 Nov 07 (PE)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

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Hi all,
I have been 'lurking' for long enough now so thought I would write a quick TR following our recent holiday to Florida.

After what seemed like an age the day finally arrived when we travelled to Manchester to stay overnight in the Britannia Country House hotel(only 5ish/10 for the hotel but thats another story) Anyway arrived at MAN airport at about 07:30 to find quite a scrum around the VS check-in desks. Despite the little moveable barriers segregating the different check-in lanes it was still a little confusing as to where we had to go, however the check-in staff were fantastic and kept us ontrack throughout the process.
We had checked in online previously but I have to say that it didn't appear to have any real advantage as we were still required to undergo the usual security questions Etc endured at a normal check-in and the chap on the check in desk printed some 'proper' boarding cards as he said the self printed versions were sometimes a little problematic![:?]
Anyway, through check-in without any further problems or issues, then through security and onto departures where Pretty Woman was waiting for us looking particularly sexy!!!(sad I know!)
First minor dissapointment came when boarding,the gate,the number of which escapes me was at a particularly narrow point in the terminal and this was coupled with the fact that the PA system seemed to be awfully quiet. The result was a mad scramble when boarding was announced and I have to say that the staff on the gate didn't handle the situation very well. I would have liked to see them being a little more forceful in implementing the priority boarding process.
Anyway that aside, we were soon onboard and taking to our seats upstairs in 79A&C. Right from the off we felt really welcomed by the Cabin Crew and the first of many complimentary drinks in the form of sparkling wine(I have read about VS calling it 'champagne' but it doesn't matter to me as it was still very nice[}:)]) came our way almost immediately. [^]
Departure was delayed slightly by about half an hour or so but nobody seemed to mind too much. The upstairs cabin in the 747-400 is superb and you really get the sense that you are in an exclusive area of the plane. Much better, I thought, than the downstairs PE cabin which we travelled in on the return journey but more about that on the next TR.Food was pretty good and although some people have slated the glassware and the metal cuttlery , I thought it was quite a nice touch. I have marked down the IFE slightly because everyone who knows anything about VS knows that V:port is fantastic and Odyssey 'aint too shabby either but nova seems to let the side down quite badly which is what Pretty Woman is equipped with. I particularly disliked the location of the controls which were tucked away in the arm rest of the seat and couldn't be removed. Having said that it is adequate and I am more than aware of the costs involved in replacing the Nova IFE systems but it is still a dissapointment to get Nova when the other two IFE systems are sooo good[n]. And as for the fact that it is just the LGW/MAN aircraft fitted with Nova... well don't even get me started on that!
Sorry, I digress, the flight continued uneventfully from there on in with superb service from the Cabin Crew and lovely views with comfortable surroundings to boot! Great way to start a holiday.
Arrived about ontime at MCO but had a 15Min wait to get towed onto the stand which was a fisrt for me. Priorty baggage worked a treat and as there were no other flights arriving at that time it was straight through customs/immigration and onto dollar to collect our Chrysler 300- I love America I do!!![:D] sorry for ranting on, I will try to shorten the return TR a little

In summary- First time with VS for me and it will by no means be the last, they were great. MUCH better than any other airlines with which we have travelled to the US with in the past, especially the the ones who operate the silver aircraft..... you know who you are!!!![n][n][n]

nowt ont clock [y]

Great TR! Thanks for posting!

GJ

[buns]

Nowt

Greatly appreciate you taking the time to post this TR[y][y]

Like you, there will be many lurkers already planning thier visit to the Mouse and you have kindly provided some useful info on the flight from MAN[:D][:D]

You had been able to pick up on NOVA before you travelled and its stuff like this that makes V-Flyer so helpful.

Good choice of upstairs PE seat and to be honest, I have to agree that the fizz offerd when i recently travelled PE was not too bad.

Thanks once again

buns

Thanks for the TR

Nice trip report and agree about the choice of seat upstairs. It's our preferred two. We're on these seats on Saturday flying to Vegas.

Did they run out of choice of food for you though as that's something that always seems to happen to us?

Hi Lynnewob,
Actually they did! we were travelling with my parents-in-law. They didn't fancy the chicken korma( which we had and and was lovely!![y] So they asked for the beef but were told -sorry none left. Think the other option was pasta which they opted for but they said it wasn't up to much. Shame really

Thanks for the reply and have a great time in Vegas[:D]

Thanks noc, great TR - sounds somewhat dŽjˆ vu - we were on the same flight!
I agree the organisation bad at checkin - those barriers were being easily pushed to the right by the scrum - it was impossible to get cases through until they removed some - and that would just make things worse for those that came later.
Can't remember the gate number either - first one out of the concourse, so most of the line was still in the shopping/food area.

PE/UC gathered themselves mainly at the outer side which did help and despite the long wait to board, it seemed that most pax were being reasonable - I've seen much worse! I saw absolutely no attempt by staff to control the boarding process until they collected the passes so probably we were lucky!

I really do think that Virgin should be much better organised at check-in and boarding - it is the first impression of the flight and thus important for their image. They cannot simply blame the airport facilities.

Bill

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the reply. I totally agree, Virgin should really do more to control/enforce prority boarding given that it's part of the upgraded priviledges that people pay extra for.
That aside, we still had a wonderful experience with VS and will be flying with them again in May next year, who knows, we may be on the same flight again[y]

NOC

[mitchja]

Great first TR and welcome to V-Flyer [y]

Boarding does seem to be a problem at most UK airports with VS. MAN is made worse by the poor design of the terminal building.

I really cant unserstand why VS cant use 2 air-bridges (not sure if MAN has 2 or not but LHR certainly does)

Regards

The better half always says that every aircraft should have a red carpet for boarding.
A red carpet with seat numbers printed large - then if everyone stood on their number, everyone would be in exactly the right place for boarding!