This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
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Dropped at Terminal 2 and had our bags weighed (1 was overweight apparently) before seeing someone about the usual 'have you packed your own bags' question and getting another little Virgin sticker for the back of my passport.
Someone already at PE check in but when an economy desk became free, the agent called us over to check in there instead of waiting. We had our cases weighed again and she didn't say anything about the larger one being overweight and checked us in as normal. After ensuring we had our requested seats of 79A&C again we were given boarding passes.
Walked upstairs for screening and stepped into the archway which blows air at you (not great for the old hairstyle). Never had this before and enquired what it was for and apparently it's to check if there is any explosive material residue on your clothing/body etc. Had to take off shoes etc and then walk through to the gates. We sat around in the Air Canada section as it was quieter and had a great view of the strip, rather than where the Virgin gate was.
I'm used to priority boarding when both PE and Upper are called together but this time, Upper were called first (which I think is right) then Premium. However, when we got on there were a couple of girls sitting in economy 2 rows down on the right already. My only presumption was that they were crew friends to be able to get on so quickly.
This time the plane was Pretty Woman with smaller a TV screen and I can only presume, Nova (please correct me if I'm wrong). The entertainment supposedly came on but we had nothing on our screen and mentioned it to the FA. She reported it to the FSM and apparently half the plane couldn't get sound so they did a reboot and this time we got a film but couldn't change channel, so we were stuck with whatever that film was. Again, this was happening downstairs too. They did a third reboot and we still had the same problem, so it was 'You, Me and Dupree' and nothing else for us to watch.
A drinks round was brought round and they explained they were short of glasses for this and would I mind having a plastic glass instead, which was fine. However, I do like 79A&C but to keeping getting short shrift because you sit near the back starts to wear a little thin after a while.
I saw the meals being served from the front again [:(!] and thought here we go, no choice left for main course. However, I was wrong and it was 'chicken, beef or veggie'. I did ask what accompanied the 'chick/beef/veg' and where the menus were and was advised that they had forgotten to load them on this trip. So, after opting for the very unhealthy battered barbecue chicken - at least we had metal cutlery and ceramic dishes (even though they were economy style/size) - I settled down to the meal, washed down with a white wine as I can't tolerate Virgin's red wine (tastes like vinegar).
Following the Baileys run - which my husband wasn't served and we had to call the FA back for a glass, I settled down for a good 3 1/2 hour sleep.
The second loop of films came and according to my husband, this time the channel could be changed so he opted to watch Miami Vice while was [|)]
Breakfast was brought around about 1 1/2 hours before landing which consisted of a hot egg/cheese roll, fruit and a muffin.
A very bumpy approach to Gatwick was made followed by a fairly smooth landing.
Quickly off the upper deck this time, as economy was held back and the EU immigration queue was very small, unlike the queue for 'other nationals'. This differed from Heathrow as it's usually the EU queue which is larger.
We were extremely lucky as our bags came off approx 4th and 8th and we were quickly on our way before some passengers had got through immigration.
However, this advantage was lost as we had to wait a while for our bus return to Copthorne Gatwick where our car was parked.
Once retrieved, a quick jaunt up the M25 (like a car park going the other way), M40, M42 and M6 home to north Birmingham.
Great hol and can't wait to get back to Vegas in February [:D]
