VS043 LGW-LAS 14 NOV 10 (Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Hi

This was an unplanned trip which came about when VS had a 50% sale on reward seats, I had 50k of miles doing nothing so a quick trip to Vegas was arranged.

Having been to vegas before I am a member of the MGM Mirage players club so a quick check on their website and there was an offer in my account for 7 nights at the Excalibur for free. So decided to take be plunge and basically got a free week in Vegas minus the taxes.

I was called 3 days before my flight by Virgin, I missed the call and got a voice mail asking me to call Virgin to discuss m flight, panic set in thinking the worst, but on calling back it was just a nice lady asking if we were all set and would we like to purchase leg room or exit seats. So I stumped up the £150 for 2 exit seats as its a long long flight in Economy.

Arrived at Gatwick day before flight and did the Twilight check in, as 2 pm we were the only ones checking in, check in wet smooth but the agent was a bit grumpy until he worked out we were welsh which seemed to cheer him up!

Day of departue I booked the No1 lounge as Gatwick is still a bit of a zoo with shopping taking over seating areas, the place was nice with some hot food and waitress service, although they were a bit slow.

Flight was called 1hr20 min before departure, knowing that we would be the last to board decided to hang back and take it slow, even then by the time we got to the gate they had not started boarding, but it seemed to go very quickly and smoothly and was supprised that we were seated doors closed and pushed back on time, even the crew in the jumpseats opp us were supprised at this being "Gatwick"

Flight was fairly smooth and crew worked hard the food was.. well ok though its a shock to see how little is on the tray these days even the tray itself is smaller tha I remember. I has Sweet and Sour Chicken which was tasty.

Flight was long and boring, the Nova system was rubbish and unwatchable on my screen and my partners, despite a reset the sound would cut out and screen jump. I gave up- even the sky map was unwatchable.

A snack and an ice cream was served then a sanwitch was served before landing, chicken only as the cheese run out so the veggies had to go without by the time the trolly got to use, the sandwich was pritty good though.

Being in Row 25 we were the very first off the plane. We had arrived early and a mexican flight was still clearing immigration so we were held in the zig zag barrierrs until they had all totally cleared immigration before I was allowed to step forward. I think the people last off were in for a long wait.

Bags were some of the first off- just after PE and UC and we were in the Excalibur 20 min later. The hotel is a bit old and showing its age but was not over run with kids like I heard. Casino was smokey but amd smelled of flowers and smoke- odd! We had an upgraded widescreen room which was large and clean, but I dread to think what a standard room might look like. As it was free we had low expectations anyway so were happy with what we got

All in all a good flight, 10hrs in Economy is a bit testing though.

G

Thanks for the report. I'm flying on the VS 43 this coming Sunday (also in economy) and not looking forward to 10+ hours of the rubbish entertainment system that Nova is.
DL

[buns]

Gavin

Thanks for the TR

It is always good to have TRs from Economy on the Site as it provides a very useful insight for folks just about to embark on their first journey with VS.

I hope you managed to put all the money you managed to save on this trip to good use whilst in Vegas

Thanks once again

buns

Thanks for the detailed TR. I would have thought most vegetarians on board would have ordered meals in advance so VS would know how many to load?

What a result with a week in vegas for very little well done, those gatwick planes truly are shameful atleast it didnt cost much.
Great TR thanks for writing it up.

cheers

alex

DL
My advide it to take a good book and an i pod, the nova system is really showing its age now, its a shame VS dident do something about it a long time ago.

A week in LAS free! That's total result .

Next year's refurb of the LGW 747s sounds like it can't come soon enough, cash cowing these planes is one thing, but the repeated comments on the cabins and IFE show it's long overdue.

Thanks Gavin for a very informative trip report, we are going next September again and I hope the refurbishment is under way by then they have been saying they will be doing it for years.
(if anyone knows when its going to happen would they post it on here)


We have been going to the Excalibur for 3 years now and find it very reasonable and the pool area has recently been upgraded. Mind you a free room would be nice but we don't gamble to that extent. Thanks again Linda

Thanks for the great TR.

[Scrooge]

The flowery smell is some stupid idea that a guy named Mark Peltier, it all started with the Mirage in 1991, after that his system has been installed in just about every casino built.

Some like the Mirage are actually ok, others like the Venetian just come across as a cheap stripper... Way to strong.

Next year's refurb of the LGW 747s sounds like it can't come soon enough, cash cowing these planes is one thing, but the repeated comments on the cabins and IFE show it's long overdue.

If my memory is serving me correctly, the 744's were sold and leased back and at rates that compared to current 744 lease rates are pretty high, so they are not much of a cash cow now days, though saying that, with the exception of the 77L and 388 a fully loaded 744 should generate a very good RASM.

Some like the Mirage are actually ok, others like the Venetian just come across as a cheap stripper... Way to strong.

I never really notice any of the smells except for the Venetian which you can smell as you are crossing the Strip towards it. I had to leave the casino in the Venetian after about five minutes the last time I was there as the smell was so bad - my eyes and my nose were streaming from it. Slightly annoying too as my lucky machine is in the Venetian!