This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
This leg to Sydney is the first part of a Great Escapade the g/f and I will taking over the next 3 weeks, if the first report is too long please let me know and I will shorten the next sectors down!!!!! I get a bit too excited every once in a while[:I]
Given the last few days weather, I expected an interesting trip from the Midlands via the M40 to Heathrow. It turned out to be trouble free and as quick as usual despite the pea soup that left visibility down to 15-20 metres in places.
T3 concourse certainly looks different without the multi storey car park bearing down on it, chaos seemed to have descended upon the set-down area and it took 10 mins to get ourselves and baggage moving towards check-in. The terminal inside was surprising quiet though, I cannot remember seeing the bag drop and Y lines so empty in a long time. UC had 2 people waiting so we made our way to a free PE assigned agent. She processed our documents quickly and confirmed our Australian ETAs were present in the system. OLCI had stated that all A/C and H/K seating was taken, this was quickly confirmed by the efficient agent and we were issued 18F and 18G. Not ideal, but I planned to see if any other options were available later in the CH.
As I was organising my hand baggage to proceed up to security I remembered to query the fast track issues that other V-Flyers seem to be struggling with lately. The agent confirmed that nothing had changed with the procedure and we were issued with gold shiny stickers to jump the security queues!!!
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I had re-ordered currency to collect from Travelex on-route to security, service was poor to say the least, I was kept waiting for 15 mins while my order was found I will be reviewing my currency options for my next trips, this is not the 1st time I have walked away deliberating their poor service....[n]
Fast track was quick, efficient and soon restored my faith in good service. Looking at the lines for standard security screening I was glad I had remembered to get my boarding cards stickered, the Xmas queues were finally starting to appear!
After exiting security we were randomly selected for footwear screening, this is positioned before duty free and opposite the 1st Travelex airside outlet. How long has this been there??? Is it a new thing or have I missed it previously??? After saving our feet from the delights of T3s carpets we proceeded straight to the CH to put a dent in the food stocks.
Time was fast approaching 16.00-16.30 and not having eaten since breakfast, food was required quickly. The impeccable CH staff duly obliged and a CH burger was devoured in record time! [:D] Once again the standard of service and the quality of food left me highly impressed and presented me another reminder for why VS extract every last penny out of pockets.. We spent 4-5 hours in the CH, relaxing and watching the Mumm champagne levels drop behind the bar...[B)][:p]
The CH was the busiest I have witnessed it, VS must have been doing some good xmas business.
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I was slightly disappointed to find that the Jaguar had vanished from the terrace though. When did it disappear? The g/f was in celeb spotting mood and spotted this pair. I wouldnt have known them from the next couple, however the g/f is very much into her horses so it was quite a big thing to her. Think Jenni had won that Only fool on horses show earlier in the year. A quick visit to the concierge followed which confirmed all seating was taken so no move possible.
The only negative that clouds the CH for me is the WiFi issue. The Sony Vaios were deadly slow so I hooked up with T-mobile. The connection lasts less than 30 seconds if you are anywhere near to the bar, pool table or library. I could only find a consistent connection by the concierge. VS Put this right, WiFi has to be a standard requirement of a high quality airline lounge.
Boarding was called on time; we made our way to gate 14 on Pier 7. I hadnt used one of the gates down there recently. They could certainly do with a good makeover and a lick of paint. The queue was pretty long due to only one agent checking documents. No sign of priority boarding in place due to the lack of staff. 20 minutes later we made the head of the queue, I passed over our boarding cards which sparked the gate computer system into life. Bingo, Op up for us!!!!!!!! First time in a few years, Merry Xmas to you too VS!!! We were re-assigned 9G and 10G.
Boarding commenced immediately and we eagerly made our way to our unexpected home for the next 12 hours. Both our suites were in impeccable condition and very welcoming indeed. The captain advised us that we would have a significant delay due to the weather conditions. Airfield movements were very slow and we were warned to be patient. Despite being ready to go at 21.40 we didnt pushback until 23.35. The captain advised passengers in Y not to panic as an engineer was about to appear on the wings to remove some excess ice, nice joke made about the crew forgetting a desperate fare paying passenger!!!!
We taxied out at 23.50 under the aircrafts own power. No tug too move us to a starting grid, maybe the weather conditions had postponed the trial???? Drinks were plentiful while we were waiting, we finally rotated off at 00.10.
The crew were very keen to start the service straight away. The IFBT gave me the impression that she wanted a quiet night as she spent more time trying to persuade her customers that it would be more worthwhile sleeping than receiving a treatment
Our meal orders were taken while we were awaiting pushback. I opted to miss the starter options and go straight in with a Beef hotpot with roasted vegetables.
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The meal arrived well presented and was very delectable indeed, I have to say that the current menu is well suited to my taste buds which probably puts me in the minority section though. The hotpot was followed up with bramley apple and blackberry crumble, served with custard. Again, this was very good and left me looking for seconds.
The g/f already had her bed converted at this point and had disappeared under her duvet. I felt the time was right to don my Ninja suit and join her in the land of zzzzs. I converted my suite quickly, made my bed, retired and woke up 6 hours later. That wouldnt have been possible in PE for sure.
After refreshing myself, I turned my attention to V-Port. Firstly, I-Map wasnt working again. This is the third sector in a row that this has happened??? Have I missed something and its been purposely disabled or is this just bad luck??? FSM confirmed that the whole a/c was missing the service but couldnt offer an explanation. This was the first contact we had with her, she had decided to help with the food service due to the late departure rather than spend time introducing herself.
A couple of work colleagues were talking about Cars recently so I decided to spend then next couple of hours seeing what the fuss was about. I quite enjoyed it, animation films are really my scene but this was an acception. Just as it was coming to a close my breakfast order appeared. I was curious to why people were getting randomly served rather than by row. Upon questioning the FA she replied that she was serving in status order 9s first followed by 8s and 6s. Is this policy or down to the individual??? Didnt realize that service was prioritized by status??
Bacon butties rolled up, damned excellent indeed. You have to love them, they certainly wet my appetite each time breakfast comes round. They were washed down with a bowl of Special K and some fresh fruit.
The obligatory PAs followed and the crew bolted down anything that could move for our arrival into Chep Lap Kok. Smooth landing followed and a short taxi to Gate 36. ( Next to HKG clubhouse) We made our goodbyes to the excellent crew and disembarked into the transit area. Ground staff issued all transit passengers with a sticker for identification. (Apologies for the poor quality[:#])
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Security was cleared in 15 mins and we made our way straight to the clubhouse. The lounge was absolutely jammed, not a spare seat to be taken.
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I did notice an EVA 744 a couple of gates further down, do EVA still use the VS clubhouse? If so service was definitely compromised because of it. We grabbed a couple of drinks at the bar and stood, we certainly weren't sort of choice!!!! [:p]
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HKG was well decorated for xmas, they had a beautiful hand made xmas tree, photo doesn't really do it justice.
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Due to the late arrival from LHR boarding was soon called for the onward sector to Sydney. The crew seemed very anxious to get away on time, It turned out that a party of 20-30 needed to make an Australian internal from Sydney If they had missed it there wouldnt be another service until Xmas day.
This time the holy grail of beeps didnt materialize from the gate computer, we were allocated 19F and 19G which we duly took up. The a/c was G-VATL so no new PE seating which was a shame. I immediately noticed that the seat pitch seemed smaller than my last trip on an A346...[:?] The previous trip had been on the old config without the horrendous row 23 wedged between the toilets....[:0] I think VS have pinched a bit of room back to allow for the extra 2 rows at the rear of the cabin.
Welcome drinks soon arrived, doors were closely promptly and we pushed back and taxied within 20 minutes of being seated. The FSM took a great deal of time during the long taxi to explain the benefits of V-Port, he also stated that he didnt want passengers passing though the class splitting curtains unless absolutely necessary. He explained that Upper toilets were to the front and to the rear of the cabin, PE toilets to the rear and he made a big point to say that all Y toilets are towards the rear of the a/c only. VS backing up the new PE product launch with dedicated toilets[y]
Take-off roll was very long, we passed Haeco who repaired the tail strike damage to G-VWKD as we rotated, I promise I wasnt listening for a tailstrike!!!!!! [:p] I darent tell the g/f about the incident or I would be in for an ear bending for mentioning it. Our initial climb rate was very, very slow even by A346 standards, this provided some good views of Lantau and some other outlying islands before we made our way out over the South China sea and on route towards Manila and Indonesia. (Info provided by the Captain)
Again the food service started quickly, Penn state pretzels were followed by a tasty chicken dish with the usual desert, cheese and biscuits. Landing cards and duty free followed before lights out. Again no I-Map, I took myself off for a wander towards the back of the bus. I noticed a couple more screens bearing the please wait notice as their users also tried to access the map. I have to admit this does frustrate me slightly as I like to know what route we are taking and how the flight is progressing....[n]
A quick trip up to the bar (Sorry I broke your rule, Mr FSM!!) resulted in a very helpful crew member finding me a laptop power cable, the listed adaptor didnt fit. Not wanting to admit defeat, the challenge had been set and the FA duly marched off with my laptop to source an adaptor. She returned with success, I thanked her for going an extra mile to help me out as I couldnt sleep and fancied starting to write this!
After also completing a couple of exercises for work, I managed to grab a couple of hours sleep. The morning sunlight awoke us both over the outback. Breakfast was being prepared judging by the smell we also awoke to! The service was professional and efficient. The crew were mainly of Australian and Chinese origins and very well drilled at their practice. We both had a ham and cheese panini which was served with croissants and fruit. The new food service in PE has some nice touches. Your napkin is now red and made from a much tougher material, it comes rolled up in a gold and purple Premium Economy sleeve with looks very professional indeed.
The breakfast service was cleared away, 3-4 drink runs continued over the next few minutes or so. At the top of our decent we hit some turbulence which scuppered most attempts to use the bathroom. Not VSs fault but most of the naive cabin attributed the blame for this to the crew.
We approached Kingsford Smith and landed on 16R from the north. The FO who was at the helm chose to use the length of the runway, some of local passengers seriously thought that we were going to run off the end of the strip and end up in Botany Bay, amusing for a few seconds watching them twitch and make comment....[}:)]
Our delay in leaving LHR had resulted in us arriving at Sydney 2 hours behind schedule. It was our intention to connect to a DJ service to Melbourne on our morning of arrival. Our connection time had been reduced from 3 hours to an hour. One of the dedicated PE crew kindly organised for us to exit the a/c with 20 or so other passengers rushing for connections before Upper was emptied. We had parked on a stand and were able to get too and clear security quickly.
Priority baggage failed us again though unfortunately. Baggage that was loaded at HKG, to include crew, and all cabins came of first. The LHR baggage must have been trapped further back in the cargo hold.. Not the idea scenario when you are pushed for making a connection and having to switch from one terminal to another.
Customs followed, all baggage has to be screened for prohibited products before you can exit the baggage hall. The queue was lengthy given the time and attention that was being given to every bag. Thumbs up for the Australians on this, they really do a professional job of ensuring that a minimal number of products enter their borders without their authorization or consent. Just after the screening point is a designated lane to connect to a Virgin Blue flight. We took this lane and the next leg of my trip report will commence from that point.
Overall, a fantastic trip to Sydney and an immensely enjoyable experience. Both crews were excellent. An Op-up is always gratefully received and indeed very welcome. Baggage could do with tweaking as ever, but its not the end of the world.....[:D]
