This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Early check-in after being delivered to the airport from the JBH using their Audi A8 (nice car [y]). Waited a good 5 minutes in the PE queue before being ushered to an empty Economy desk, there was no hassle and we were checked in and ready to start the shopping [}:)]. Bought a few things here and there, entered the Dubai Duty Free Lottery and then off on the long walk to our gate (quite far away from the main terminal area), our aircraft of course was at a remote stand about 5 minutes from the gate, I was very disappointed at the lack of priority boarding and pre-boarding checks at the gate - it was a free for all.
New Seats
Boarded a very, very foggy(!!) plane to my seat at 19G, with the parents to the left in E and F. Got a coke from the steward and settled in nicely to the cooler climate on the aircraft (G-VEIL). On boarding I was delighted to see that we were sampling the new leather seats in Premium Economy, the material is the same as UC and apart from the whole 'push a button, here comes the bed' fact, the seats were just slightly less padded and just as comfortable as what I sampled in UC (half way over the Alps). The handset is now more coveniently located below the screen and prevents accidental pausing of V:Port, a big thumbs up to the guy who thought of that idea.
Unfortunatly the seats do not have a leg rest, but a foot rest under the seat infront (with numerous combinations of positions to get comfortable) so it turned out to be only a bit more uncomfortable than the flight to DXB, get the leg rests and its perfect.
IFE
It seemed to take forever to get the cabin ready for departure, and forever to get to the runway and well - seen as it is an A346 forever to take off!! Once airborn, V:Port took about 5 minutes to be turned on, probably the quickest I have ever witnessed. I watched Last Holiday with Queen Latifah which was absolutley fantastic, highly recommended - and then I watched the less tasteful Date Movie (all the way through this time) and then made a call to my friend for the sheer novelty, and it works very well.. I was impressed
Food
The food was, for want of a better word, crap! I had a very gready breakfast which actually made me sick [n] and it does take a lot to make me sick, my parents too were unimpressed. However I did have a very tastey roll before landing and my favourite - Virgin Coke! The roll takes my food&Drink vote from Very Poor to Poor.
Crew and Flight Experience
The crew onboard were fantastic! Everyone smiled and seemed eager to help and despite there only being two drinks rounds, my drink was replenished when finished both times. As I work in a local travel agent part time, we have a mascot which travels with us everywhere we and the customers go. It is a small teddy, thats right - a 17yo boy with a small teddy, macho! I approached the crew with caution and asked if it would be possible to sit the bear on a Suite and get a picture, they obliged and the FSM helped me out by getting earphones and offering to make the bed, I didn't want to put her to any bother so I left it with the earphones and seatbelt. She then asked why etc etc and I explained. She told me that if I had explained this at the beginning of the flight she might have bumped us up - Damn it! She told me to try next time as they often bump up travel agents so they get the full Virgin experience and can recommend it to customers [:w]. She allowed me 5 minuted to play with the buttons (ooh the buttons) and lie down on the bed (very comfortable, more so than I imagined) and get a feel for the product anyway. [y][y]
Overall
An excellent flight and excellent crew. A good choice of films (56 in total) and a nice comfortable seat (minus leg rest). I will give the flight 5/5 even if the food was rubbish, because I do not eat much anyway on planes, the cabin crew's extra efforts and friendliness were fantastic... Oh and if you are the guy in 21G who LAUGHED like he was having a fit all the way through the flight, please, please - take a sleeping pill next time you fly - I do not want to hear your wheezing again... I can assure anyone else will not either. (I am not kidding people, the whole of PE was staring at him and it turned out his friend had just told him a joke...)
Thanks,
John
