VS401 DXB-LHR 18 SEP 14 (Premium Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Having flown out in UC i was not enthralled about returning in PE. However, the checkin was swift at Dubai, no hassle through immigration and the long walk to the other terminal was uneventful.

Bought a couple of Litres of Raspberry Vodka at duty free and then headed for the gate (C13). We boarded and pulled away on time which made a nice change.

The flight was smooth with no turbulence. The drinks and meals were served which IMHO were pretty good. I opted for the beef ragout with mash and veg, the rest of it on the tray was usual airline fare.

Managed to watch all six episodes of Game of Thrones series four that were available plus one more film which made the time pass.

The leather seats in PE are wide and comfy with enough leg room for me (6ft tall), in many ways they are comfier than those in UC with the exception that in UC they recline and convert to a bed.

No amenities bags were available which was only noted by the crew when on dishing out the random questionnaires and saying, 'there's a pen in your amenities bag' it dawned on them that they were missing

As we approached LHR we got the usual warning that we would be held in a holding pattern for 20 minutes (thats 20 Virgin atlantic minutes which are approx. 50% longer than normal minutes!) Anyway we eventually landed and it took less than 25 mins to get from the gate, long walk, immigration (retina exit) collect bags and across the road to my car at the meet and greet on level 3 Short Stay car park (recommend it). Must be a work record for LHR but after this the gods were angry and punished us on the roads back to Shropshire which were full of roadworks, speed restrictions et al.

A point to note....a number of passenger on this flight had a connecting flight from LHR to Manchester on Little Red. Every effort was made by the crew to get those affected off the plane quickly and i assume that they all made it. Whether or not their bags would have transferred as quickly....who knows.

Overall a good flight for a day flight, maybe less so on a night flight. Would consider PE again but if i had the spare funds then it would be UC instead, or maybe PE flight with the 65GBP each for the club room access, we'll have to see.

Cabin crew were very good throughout so thanks for the service.

Thanks for an interesting TR, interested to know the leather seats were comfortable as we will be traveling in PE in a couple of weeks time.