VS027 LGW-MCO 20 APR 13 (Economy) NOW WITH PHOTOS

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

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TR Sat April 20th 2013 LGW-MCO VS27

Well, this was the best kept secret. It is my friends 50th on 25th April and his wife wanted to surprise him with a trip to Orlando. So after 8 months of planning, booking, devious packing strategies and a plan of where to surprise him, we meet in Reading. Now he thought he was going on a Virgin Experience in London for the weekend! So when we told him he was flying the next day to his favourite place he could not believe it After showing him check in confirmation, dropping off the bags & staying overnight at LGW I think he believed us

Anyway, that's the background, now for the detail! 

I foolishly went out for coffee in the morning of OLCI and didn't get home until 10 mins after it opened therefore only securing seq 44 onwards

We travelled from Reading down to the Premier Inn at Gatwick via the south terminal for Twilight bag drop off. I love entering an airport when it is very empty, something peaceful after the craziness of the day! We approached the VS Check in area and, after a little pause for the agents to finish their in depth conversation about the price of postage, we were received politely and professionally with smiles. Friendly chit chat, bags gone and off to the hotel for a couple (!) of drinks.
The Premier Inn was a great place to stay, typically comfortable, clean, with a pub attached and 10 mins away from the airport. Perfect!

Up and refreshed in the morning it was off to use Meteor Meet &Greet where the service was a great as always?  Off through security and straight into the No.1 Lounge where we were greeted with a queue. The lady behind the desk was warning that there were no tables free and that seating around the bar was the only option! Mmm I don't think so! However we found a table upstairs for all 6 of us and proceeded to eat lots and drink the champagne, peroni, white wine and anything else we could get our hands on! The service was friendly & good from the staff, a fine place to relax before a flight.

No1 Lounge LGW.JPG (36.87 KiB) Viewed 6150 times

Off to gate 17 where we saw Hot Lips awaiting our company.

VS27 Hot Lips.JPG (36.29 KiB) Viewed 6150 times

Departure lounge filling by the second confirmed what FlightStats had told me during the week - the flight was packed! Priority lanes and boarding in use, a short delay announced of around 20 minutes and then boarding commenced.

Being a keen following of V-Flyer I was selecting seats at day -90 and a few hours, so snaffled our favorites ones upstairs. On boarding we were greeted with a smile and directed to our seats.
Our seats were great 78&79 ABC and in fine, brand new condition with Vera Touchscreen on demand - awesome

VS27 Upstairs Y Cabin.JPG (34.8 KiB) Viewed 6150 times

Pilot announced a flight time of 8 hrs & 43 mins, 441 pax with 17 crew. After a 20 min taxi & wait, we were on our way

Met our two dedicated CC who were immediately warm and friendly.  We had a strange request for them though.....we had enlarged an old picture of our Birthday boy and copied it 6 times with the idea of putting it on the inflight dinner trays.  When asked our crew were only happy to oblige and perform the task brilliantly to the great surprise of our friend,who was wondering what was coming next
Dinner choices were Sausages & Mash, Chicken curry & Aubergine pasta....Sausage and mash for me then! It tasted pretty good and was served on the tray with that great picture! We had pre-ordered champagne for my friend and that was delivered brilliantly by our crew with a lovely Happy Birthday from VS! Lemon dessert and coffee to follow....all good.

VS27 Dinner.JPG (34.51 KiB) Viewed 6150 times

Time now for Jack Reacher, some sleep and more TR later......

30 mins sleep only :-( but I would say Jack Reacher was a good film as was the random Premium Rush, a story based around cycle messengers in NYC and a dodgy cop.

I digress, CC visible throughout the flight offering juice, water, ice cream followed by High Tea.  I noted that the cheese & onion sandwich had been replaced with the slightly less tasty cheese & pickle.  All good, though.

I have to say this is the second outbound flight we have been up in the bubble for and both times the dedicated crew have excelled themselves The service was great, nothing was any hassle, smiles all round - in fact these guys looked like they were enjoying their job - top marks VS....a letter off to Crawley Towers one thinks!  

Landed about 25 mins late, thanked our crew for their fine efforts and then disembarked towards immigration.  Queues were not too bad, around a 25 min wait, but we did have the most unwelcoming, non communicative immigration officer ever.  Bags out straight away, down to the Alamo garage to pick up our car with no delay due to their excellent OLCI. Then it was out on to the open road to our rented house just off the US27 courtesy of a great deal from  MrsBear99
Cheers!!

Seems like a pretty decent flight all round!

[buns]

Thanks for the wonderful TR

Top marks for the Crew for "aiding and abetting" the Birthday surprise plans and I do think that a letter to Crawley Towers is most certainly in order

buns

Thanks for the TR ,sounds like you had a great flight and don't take this the wrong way but its nice to have a great TR from economy and I must say what fantastic friends you are to organise this ,he must have been gobsmacked ,a great read thank you
Blacky

Great TR sounds like it all went to plan

What a great birthday surprise and good to hear such positive comments about the flight.

Thanks for the TR.

A trip your friend won't forget, I think.

Sounds like a good flight. Great to hear of your bubble experience, we've requested seats 79 A/B/C from MAN to MCO in July, really looking forward to it!

I know this sounds crazy but..... what if Immigration were warm and welcoming ??? Or would that be too freaky to handle at the end of a long flight? Must say best Immigration officers I have experienced were in Cape Town.

I know this sounds crazy but..... what if Immigration were warm and welcoming ??? Or would that be too freaky to handle at the end of a long flight? Must say best Immigration officers I have experienced were in Cape Town.

It was weird as our friends went to the officer next door and he had a brilliant sense of humour I guess that means it was us and not the officer

Btw, great name Laphroaig and a damn fine malt

Great Trip report sounds like an excellent flight and a great suprise great on keeping it such a suprise for so long also.

I know this sounds crazy but..... what if Immigration were warm and welcoming ??? Or would that be too freaky to handle at the end of a long flight? Must say best Immigration officers I have experienced were in Cape Town.

I did have this suprise when we landed on Thursday I had a very friendly and chatty immigration officer who was quite happy although the hall was quite busy, but it can happy, I had only previously had the same experience with immigration as yourself. Hope you all have a great time !!

Thanks for the TR Petmadness, great to hear that the clandestine plotting worked out so well. Good to hear the crew were obliging with your surprises. I did something similar for my wife on our wedding anniversary with a card. It's great to see the look on their face when it arrives!

I was left wondering how the packing was explained. Like "Why do we need suncream, shorts, flip-flops etc. for a weekend in London .... in April?"


Cheers

Martin

[honey lamb]

I was left wondering how the packing was explained. Like "Why do we need suncream, shorts, flip-flops etc. for a weekend in London .... in April?"


Cheers

Martin

Tsk, Martin! His wife did the packing and, as always happens, he was nowhere to be seen!

I was left wondering how the packing was explained. Like "Why do we need suncream, shorts, flip-flops etc. for a weekend in London .... in April?"


Cheers

Martin

Tsk, Martin! His wife did the packing and, as always happens, he was nowhere to be seen!

CorrecT as always, HL I took my friend out for a days golf whilst his wife packed and took the cases to Mrs P. T'was a military operation

Just added a few pics - return TR on way

With the pics you can see how dinner is scaled down compared to what used to be offered.

Thanks for adding the pictures! Great TR as well

looks pretty good, my first real view of the bubble looks pretty good might try and nab some bubble seats on the Vegas flight :-)

So glad you had a great time in Orlando and enjoyed our villa. What a brilliant surprise for your friend too!

Cheers
MrsB

Looking at that pic, I wouldn't be selecting PE seats upstairs on an LGW 747 in a hurry.

Looking at that pic, I wouldn't be selecting PE seats upstairs on an LGW 747 in a hurry.

That's the upstairs economy cabin. I believe it's referred to in these parts as "the bubble" because its got a higher standard of service than downstairs.

I meant that the PE section in front of Economy with the curtain wide open is hardly very Premium.

Ah. The cockpit door is open, I suspect that was taken with the plane on the ground and the curtain stowed for takeoff.

Ah. The cockpit door is open, I suspect that was taken with the plane on the ground and the curtain stowed for takeoff.

Ha ha, was just about to mention that too... slightly more concerning a matter than a curtain left open

Thanks for the TR Petmadness, a good read

Ah. The cockpit door is open, I suspect that was taken with the plane on the ground and the curtain stowed for takeoff.

Ha ha, was just about to mention that too... slightly more concerning a matter than a curtain left open

Thanks for the TR Petmadness, a good read

Wht an attentive bunch you are, 10 points for good observation