This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
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Seat 28A
Arrived at the Airport at 13:35 to find the Checkin about to open. Although I checked in online, I wanted to move to my preferred seat.
Upper Class Checkin opened and I was the second to be served. The Agent changed my seat without any fuss nor a call to release it [y]
Headed straight to the Lounge, and found it only had 1 or 2 others in there and settled down to a Corona and some work. I was offered lunch and declined as I was waiting for a colleague who I knew was on his way.
He arrived 30 minutes later than me, and I then found he had upgraded himself with miles from Y to J, we both opted for the Sandwich and the Cheesecake, washed down by a few glasses of champagne.
Around 2.30pm another colleague pitched up and we talked shop awhile.
The flight was called at 4:40pm and we all headed down to the gate, the priority line was working well, no need to squeeze past anyone. My other colleagues headed down the UC jetway and I joined the masses waiting to go through L2.
Got to my seat, found there was no room for my carryon so I asked the FSM for help and she put my bag in the very large wardrobe, I did joke was it that big to accommodate any problem passengers ? [:o)]
I sat at the bar with my colleagues so the cabin crew could continue to welcome passengers without stepping on my toes. We learned that the outbound flight had drunk all the Champagne, so they only had one last bottle, and we left that for the other UC passengers and drank water and the Sparkling Wine, which the crew thought was pretty good, I thought it was a poor substitute.
I saw some people hanging around R2 (more of that later) , and asked the FSM if there were any more UC seats, and was told they are not allowed to upgrade anyone on board anymore, this was the first time I have heard that.
Anyway, 28A is pretty good when you have the footrests, so I thought that would not be a problem.
We pushed back 10 minutes early, and the seat belt sign went off pretty quickly. Mustang Sally is suffering from the same droopy screen problem that Tubular Belle and Tinker Belle has. Mustang Sally looked like it had been refitted pretty recently as the screens looked fairly unscathed. The flight time was announced as 9hrs and 45 mins.
The crew were great in PE, we had 2 drinks before dinner. Now, always just after the seat belt lights go out I ask for the footrests, and this time, no one could find them, they were not on the plane. At least 4 members of crew had a search, including the FSM, and eventually the FSM came back to me to say they were not on board.
Just before this another colleague came up to speak to the guy next to me, they both work for the same company as I do, and I found out that the 4 people milling around R2, were friends of staff and were bumped from a not full PE to UC, leaving 1 seat free. Somehow this really got me annoyed, there I was having paid for a full fare PE, with Gold status and a valid issue with the footrests and 4 non-AUs were moved forward. I'm over it now, but at the time I was very unhappy.
The FSM apologised for the fact that the footrests were not on board, we also talked about that they are no longer allowed to upgrade anyone on board for free,and the penalty is a de-motion. I was not looking for a free upgrade and would have used miles, and now I know I need to do this on the ground. I was really miffed about the footrests and she offered her carry on for my feet for the flight, and as a gesture of goodwill myself and my colleague got 10K miles, despite me saying I had enough and was not looking for anything and my seat neighbour did n't even know there were footrests.
During our conversation I learned that Hot Towels should be part of the service both ways, and that they were not on board todays flight, nor were they on board my last VS20 flight on the 30th Nov. Apparently they have to fill out a form which gets processed in India, and not much happens.
I chose the Beef Stew which was OK, and the trays were cleared again quickly, I watched The Bourne Ultimatum and quickly fell asleep.
The night passed quickly, and I woke just before Breakfast, which was the usual, I did not see the fruit come round, although I know it was in the PE galley. We were told we should be on the ground 10 mins before the scheduled time, but in reality we landed on time, and headed straight to a gate. There was a mix up with the doors and again L1 was opened instead of L2. Virgin policy calls for the door to be opened where the FSM is, although they often miss that at SFO.
Despite my issue with the footrests, the crew were top drawer and provided a very good service for a night flight. I saw no signs of any laziness I had seen on other trips.
Immigration was empty and only 1 IRIS machine was working, the one on the left was still roped off. The bags came on belt 9 and the UC ones came off first, mixed with some Y ones, mine was tagged as PE and came off 15 minutes after the belt started, I did ask SFO to tag it properly, next time I will wait until I see them put an UC one.
Currently I am not seeing the Online Checkin 250 miles on my account, nor the 10K gesture, although I am sure both will appear in due course.
Between my next Virgin flight is a BA one, so I'll be able to compare a WT+ and PE service in Jan, as I am heading back to SFO at the end of Jan.
Also, no Gold welcome in PE, but I think I took up enough of the FSMs time, she was very personable, honest and hard working. I learned that I need to make my mind up before I go through the gate if I want to upgrade and not chance the gate op up bleep, as over the last 12 months and 26 flights, that has not happened. [?]
This is my last TR for December, and may be my last on here.
Happy Christmas everyone.
Mark
Edit : Mon - 250 Online Checkin Miles added
