This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
For those of you who have been paying attention, you will know Mrs Buns and I had formed part of the V-Flyer Partybus and had an excellent flight out to San Francisco. For those really following my travels (some might call this stalking
) Mrs Buns had arrived at San Francisco on a flight on VX from Las Vegas 
The Flight from Las Vegas had touched down at just after 2:30 and we went to Domestic Carousel 9 in the International Terminal (a bit of a contradiction I know
) to collect our bags before going back upstairs to check in for our flight by 3pm. Utilising our Au status, we were able to go to directly the head of the Upper Class Check In, which was empty, and were seen right away. Armed with Boarding Passes, we quickly made our way to the hallowed San Francisco Clubhouse as by now it was getting past 3pm 
.Sure enough, we were met by the marvellous Claire - the Clubhouse Manager - who was eager to learn how fellow V-Flyers had faired in the B2B Challenge.
After sharing the photos with her, Mrs Buns and I settled down to the roast Beef Pannini washed down with some sustenance. Although the Clubhouse was full to the rafters, service was attentive and very efficient (something for which Claire should be rightly proud - an excellent leader
IMHO). All too soon, the scheduled boarding came and having learnt from Claire that the BA situation had overfilled the flight and that volunteers were being sought, we thought it best not to leave until the last minute. Biding Claire a fond farewell, we made our way through the priority security channel. Having used this earlier in the week we we flew to Vegas, we knew to have to take everything out of our pockets as there is now a body scanner installed here.Here endith the Good portion of the TR
Gate A11 was an absolute scrum - it was overheard that the aircraft had been fitted out with economy on the upper deck
so there was a mixture of UC, PE and Economy all trying to get through at the same time. No real welcome on board, and the whole crew attitude could be summed up as being akin to just following the laid down FSM script in my view. The Crew did not display any great enthusiasm - in stark contrast to the VX flight taken a few hours earlier - and we arrived at our seats to find one person in one of them. For one nano second I thought we might be in luck of an upgrade, but then thought (in the absence of any crew circulating in the cabin) to ask the dear lady if she was sitting in the right seat. "Of course I am - 36G" was the reply, to which I was able to point her in the right direction across the aisle. Nice to know I can be pretty adaptable is these situations 
. Now it may just be me having a negative attitude, but it did seem to me that the crew working this flight were less than co-ordinated. Meal service was one aisle first followed b the other, making the entire process elongated and building up frustrations. Also (and a key point for me), if the crew were working light, then the FSM should have been more visible than merely handing out the Questionnaires before the flight started. Fortunately, it was the Starboard Aisle that got the dinner service first - dinner consisted of:
Seasonal leaf salad with crumbled feta cheese, tomato, black olives and Greek vinaigrette dressing
Mains
Slow-braised beef brisket with cranberry demi-glace and spinach mashed potatoes
Mustard and flaxseed-crusted chicken breast with herb butter and vegetable orzo pasta
Red Thai vegetable curry with aromatic jasmine rice
Dessert
Chocolate choux bun with vanilla chantilly cream
Both Mrs Buns I opted for the beef which was quiet tasty - although the slow service did detract somewhat
Here endith the Bad portion of the TR
Any opportunity to fully enjoy the meal was put paid to by the two businessmen in front of us who halfway through the meal service decided to fully recline their seats. As others have previously commented, when this happens, any chance to view the screen is removed and moreover, makes the entire eating experience a claustrophobic one. If this is a known issue, then surely VS can do something to limit the recline - it is all well and good promoting extra leg room, but if this is negated by inconsiderate behaviour then it will turn people away from what is a very competitive product. The inability to view anything more of the IFE (I had managed to get 90% of "Up in the Air") I resorted to using my I Pod for the rest of the journey. I was unable to sleep for most of the flight so was able to note there was only one drinks round. To me there was one member of the crew who was trying to do his best in a sea of indifference. Time dragged on, then breakfast was served.
All I will say is that well cooked croissants can be nice with some tasty fillings - but I have a sneaky suspicion that aircraft cookers are not the best place to try getting perfection........
Why couldn't have VS have stuck with the McMuffin offering??????To cap it all, just before landing the nice lady who had been sitting in one of our seats decided to coat her hair - and much of the cabin in hairspray
Now before I conclude the Downright Unacceptable portion of this TR, I do have to reflect whether I was unacceptable in my karma on this flight. As we landed, we were informed that there was a medical emergency on board and that paramedics would be boarding the aircraft before we could leave. Now it may we be that this emergency detracted the crew, however, and enthused crew would have made sure that the standard of service would have been more efficient and I can only leave with the thought that his was a crew "just going through the motions"
As is said time and time again, the approach of the FSM has the ability to make and break a flight and VS should stop thinking its only competitor is BA - it should be looking over its shoulder and making sure its product, both in terms of physical seating and crew, is match fit
buns
Perhaps then we would have had a more enjoyable trip home.
