This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Well, it was quite a good two weeks of relaxation time. Got a lot of sunny weather in Nairobi [y] and caught up with relatives. Also had a quick look round some of the shopping centres and most were the same as I'd remembered, except there were now cinemas at the top. There were some new centres as well. I just wonder how much business they do as the credit crunch is slowly biting there as well.
We left for the airport about 3.5 hrs before flight time as in early morning you could get there in about 30-35 mins. We had been warned that traffic on the airport route normally starts to build up after 6am, but on weekends it builds up a bit later. We found our way to the entrance after being dropped off, only to find that bags were being scanned as soon as you entered which led a queue forming quickly outside. There were already about 20 passengers ahead of us, most with trollies so the queue appeared longer. Checking in online meant we just had to drop off bags and get boarding cards. Eventually we got through the initial checks and headed for bag drop desk, only to be re-directed to some temporary desks where they were manually checking bags (selected people only it seemed). They got us to open one of our hold bags but didn't check too deeply, noted down our details on a list and got us to sign our entries. It seemed as if this check was done for the sake of doing it.
Near the Virgin desks there were a couple of Virgin-branded stands with 2 people per desk (Virgin or airport security?, as they had no id or other sign) checking passports before you could get to the desks. While the mrs' passport was checked and processed with minimal fuss, the person who took my passport seemed to want to check the photo page in every possible way they could. Then they started asking if I had any other id (no, don't really carry anything else official), what I did in the UK etc. They continued checking and brought out what looked like a rulebook, flipped pages, then discussed it with someone who was floating around, flipped some more pages in the rulebook, then eventually asked me to write down my address and do a signature on a blank card. At this point they wer either convinced or just decided to let me go. They didn't make any effort to keep the card so I just took it. I may have filled out my cheeks a bit but the photo is not really that different! What I couldn't understand about this was that I was returning to the UK and had already cleared security & immigration on the way in.
We queued at the bag drop desk with only a single passenger ahead being checked in. The UC desk was next to it and the lady there called us over as there was no one waiting at her desk. She checked all our details and started filling boarding passes by hand, as the system was not working. I'm pretty sure that she looked at the screen several times as she confirmed that I had checked in online. As usual, the system came back when she has nearly finished with the passes. While giving us our passes she mentioned something to the effect that we had been upgraded(!) to PE. The initial rush disappared as she mentioned PE. I checked the passes and saw that the seat numbers were what we had originally been allocated anyway, but didn't mention anything as I just wanted to press on. The bags were checked in after she got us to fill in name tags (weren't asked to fill name tags on way out), although these were the ones printed for economy (are there PE-branded tags?). I had a quick look round and none of the nearby desks seems to have any, it was either UC or economy.
We joined the growing queue for immigration after filling in the departure cards, and were shortly directed to the fast track desk where our passports were processed with minimal fuss. All desks had webcams used to take snaps before we could proceed. We went up to the departure area and waited for the gate status to show, having a look round the shops. There seemed to be more shops that before with a wider variety of goods, but some of the prices seemed to be more expensive than our retail prices here!
Approaching the gate queue we saw that both bag & people scanners were situated just inside the gate entrance so the queues were out in the corridor along the shops. Both of us pinged going through the people scanner but only I was asked to remove and put my shoes through the bag scanner. Some people went through with shoes without a problem so I suppose the scanner sensitivity was set to a high level. However no sooner had we & the bags come through the scanner than there was another queue, and another bag & people scanner! This time there was a poster from Virgin saying that we had now entered the Virgin security area. The same scans were done again, we just elected to put our shoes through the scanner and got through without any issues. The lounge had half-filled up already as we made our way towards the doors leading to the airway. It was only a short wait before airside staff announced that passengers requiring assistance, and those in UC & PE could board. There wasn't a great rush so presumed there weren't many people in UC. Having said that PE was full, and a later walk around showed that economy was almost full with only a few seats here and there empty. I'm pretty sure I saw G-VHOL on the aircraft before boarding.
There was a bit of a wait while economy passengers boarded before the welcome drinks were brought round, by the one crew member for all of PE. I again enjoyed the bucks while the mrs got a large glass of orange. There were small Kenyan-branded bottles of mineral water for all in PE. The glasses were cleared after a short while, amenity kits distributed and the crew went through the safety demonstration in full, no vport demo this time. The kits had run out while distributing the first load so the crew member then went off to get some more, and carried on forgetting that the mrs had not been given one. It took several reminders before it was brought over.
As before, vport was available about 20 mins after takeoff. I thought some of the comedy & music content seemed to be the same, I elected to see The Forbidden Kingdom. The feeds were again fuzzy on all video channels (more so it seemed) but I stuck with it.
This time around it was the same crew member who came round and took drinks orders from several people in one go (starting from the H/K side), then went off and got them. No trolley service, which would surely have been quicker! It was some time by the time everyone who wanted a drink got one, not that we were in a hurry. I again enjoyed a Stella with the mrs sticking to the usual orange juice. The glasses were collected after what seemed a more than usual lengthy break.
Before long it was time for lunch and our trays were brought over before the trolley service (2 crew members this time). It was mostly the same experience as the outward leg, but this time we had a choice of either the standard rolls or garlic bread. The wines were brought round after everyone had been given their meals but it seemed other drinks were only served on one side. We had to request our fruit juices as the crew member passed with the wines, and these were brought over after a short delay. Again, it seemed a longer than usual break before all the trays were collected. The liqueurs were brought round soon after and I enjoyed a Baileys again [y] with the mrs electing to top up her juice, which was brought over quickly.
I continued to watch the movie when there was an announcement that as some people were experiencing problems with the vport system in economy the whole system would be re-started, taking up to approximately 30 mins to be fully back!!! [ii] I can't remember who made the announcement but he did apologise and said they were doing this so that everyone would then be able to make use of the onboard entertainment. I presume the reboot worked as there were no more interruptions. We snoozed a bit while waiting for the system to return, and when back everything had started from the beginning again.
I walked around a few times then dozed off while waiting for the 2nd movie to start (You dont mess with the zohan). A crew member came round and offered fruit if anyone wanted it but most people were snoozing by this time. I think water was offered a while after but I was probably in sleep mode. I did see some more restarts in the middle of the 2nd movie and '...loading database...' messages but other people were not getting this at the same time.
After a while I heard noises from the rear UC and presumed that they were having their snacks. Soon the one crew member came round (again starting from the H/K seats) with some GU cakes & biscuits. Some passengers were still sleeping so were bypassed, but even then I think these finished before everyone got some. Tea/coffee soon followed, in larger styrofoam cups this time. Duty free was announced if anyone wanted anything, but no trolley.
Our thoughts soon turned to home as we neared London and we were kind of sad that the holiday was over, but also glad in a way as any more holiday time would have started to get a bit boring. Although I watched the 2nd movie I didn't bother with the headphones as the feed seemed to be getting fuzzier and I decided to rent & watch it later. We kept an eye on skymap as we got nearer. It was very sunny outside and we could feel the heat through the windows. Soon we could see some of the French countryside through the clouds and then we were over the water followed by first sighting of UK land. By this time I think we firmly realized that the holiday was over and we would soon be back to our normal routine.
It was a smooth enough landing at Heathrow with only a short squeal as the brakes took hold and we were soon at the stand. A crew member came round to help a passenger in the rear UC (who stayed as we moved past as they required a wheelchair) and held us up until everyone from the other side of PE had gotten off. He could easily have moved in to an empty UC space to allow people through but he held on until he could move further inside away from the open door. By the time we got to immigration there was a growing queue for UK pp holders, a short while later they opened up another desk and we were soon away to collect our bags. As we had come from Nairobi I wasn't sure how soon our bags would come, but they had already started appearing, albeit slowly. In the end we waited for what seemed an age (probably about 20 mins) before we saw our first, and another 2-3 mins before our second came round. Again, as before we saw 1 UC passenger still waiting for their bags while we moved off. There was only one customs officer standing as we made our way out, although they probably watch the people passing through other methods.
As we made our way out the sunshine felt quite warm, and we reflected a bit while waiting to be picked up at the departures drop off point.
Overall, I would say the PE experience has been more enjoyable than my previous travels. However the varying levels of crew service and entertainment issues mean that VA PE will be among a list of choices for future trips and price may well play a major part in the final choice.
+: appreciated the early boarding, seats
-: crew not as friendly/welcoming, delays in onboard service, vport issues
