This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
When coming up from the Heathrow Express into T3, there are new crowd-control measures in place as you come up the stairs or leave the elevators - there's some wooden hoardings, and you can only go straight on if you're using check-ins A-C, otherwise, you're forced back outside to the pavement. This seems to be policed by some hired-in 'security' people (I'm going to refrain from calling them goons, despite desperately wanting to - I mean, I know everyone has a job to do, but some of these people give you the impression of just being goons, I'm afraid) from ICTS, who ask who you're travelling with.
Did Online Check-in the previous evening, bagged seat 20G - with all the windows already gone, this seemed like a good choice. The DIY bag-drop had a long queue, so I decided to check out the Upper desk, which had three desks open, and only one person waiting, so it seemed like the best choice. I recognised the guy on the Upper Class ticket desk today, I've seen him there before, and he's helped me sort out ticketing issues before. Lots of families around today, though things seemed to moving along, and I was seen after a minute or two, which I thought was okay. Check-in completed with no fuss, but I queried not being given a fast-track sticker - I was told the same as some others here - the sticker system was open to abuse and is being withdrawn, but BAA staff will accept a valid Flying Club Au card and VS boarding card as valid for fast-track. I mentioned that I'd heard of people being refused the use of fast-track in this situation, and the check-in staff said that if I was refused, I was to come back to the Virgin check-in, and one of the staff would escort me through fast-track. With this new bit of confidence, I headed off upstairs, where I think I got an idea what might be causing problems.
The 'front of house' of the security areas are staffed by more ICTS goons (they are wearing hi-vis tops with 'ICTS' on the back), asking about liquids, half-full tins of vaseline and other contraband, and also checking if people can use fast-track - the guy just asked me 'Fast-track?', to which I replied 'Yes' without showing him by red boarding card. The BAA person on the desk happily let me through on production of my Au card. I wonder if people were getting stopped by the ICTS contracted staff - the ones walking around at the front, rather than the BAA person on the desk, and it's the ICTS staff who aren't properly briefed? Wouldn't be surprised at all if that turned out to be the case.
I had an idea - don't know how practical it is - what if Au card holders got a Gold coloured boarding pass, regardless of class of travel?
Fast-track had a short (8-10 person) queue, but seemed to move a little glacially. Despite the metal detector not going off, I got a random pat-down search, and I noticed the 'quick route' into the departure lounge was blocked off today - presumably to force people up to the 'random shoe screening' located between the general exit from the search comb and the duty free shop. Still, gave me a chance to pick up a bottle of No TEN from duty free - good job too, as VS have stopped carrying it now for duty free pre-orders. Shame on you VS!
Headed off to the Clubhouse, where I was welcomed by another familar face, checked my bags in, and left my shoes to be cleaned. John (our OBE shoe-shiner) was off work today, and it was the other chap (Jack?) doing shoes, so I can't say I've had my shoes shined by an OBE (or can I, as John has cleaned my shoes before?).
Headed for a refreshing shower at the Cowshed, and then hit the Brasserie for a spot of lunch: gravadlax, salad, and the minute steak baguette (all great, though no dill sauce for the gravadlax) and a couple of delicious Clubhouse mojitos, before going to pick up some rejuvenated shiny shoes, and head for a hang in one of the bamboo bubble chairs. The only downer with them is that the height is slighly wrong, almost a bit too high, and no table close enough, so you can't just reach out for your cocktail, without risking being tipped out. Being a big chap, there was also the attendant feeling the bamboo contraption was about to come unravelled like a giant pencil shaving, too! I didn't realise that the entire area behind the glass wasn't the smoking area, only one end is. This is good news, as I quite like having a view out of the windows, and it seems a little more private and less busy than the main lounge.
The CH was quite busy, though not packed, and people seemed to spread out and make good use of all the different areas and styles of seating. The multi-screen didn't seem to be working, or maybe it was just switched off? I've noticed that VS have shuffled around a bit of the seating here, providing some more day-bed type seats.
Gate 29 was now showing for VS11, but even at 1400, there was no aircraft on the stand, then I spied G-VELD being towed on from a remote.
Calls for VS250 and then VS23 were made, and then shortly afterward, VS11 was called too. Even while I was getting my things together to leave, one of the staff came up and asked if I'd had a nice visit, and was there any last things they could get. A nice touch.
I walked down to the gate, and while I wasn't 'last pax', I was somewhere near the end, I'm sure. No boarding scrum, or jetway tailback.
Our FA was about the cabin offering pre-takeoff drinks, the juice and water offered in J tumblers, champers in the new W glassware. A full-size water bottle is tucked in your seat pocket when you board. The old Y amenity kit was provided, but even this is a shadow of it's former self - pared down significantly these days, no tissues or notepad. The new W blankets were loaded, but I think these were then let down by the normal microscopic 'paper covered' Y pillows.
Settled into 20G and actually found these W seats quite comfortable - and they even have nice touches like the recline button being recessed so you don't accidentally keep pushing it. The only thing I thought they lacked was a decent lumbar support (like the old W seats on the 747s). It's actually the first time I've flown W on the A340-300. The personal space seemed pretty good, not too cramped, no problems. Quite a few families in the cabin today, but even then, it didn't seem too busy!
I noticed we even have EmPower on this aircraft - look just below the seat cushions by the centre armrest. There's a couple of sockets, covered by a little flap, with a lens in the cover which glows green when the system is active. Inside the flap is the normal EmPower socket. I wonder, are these EmPower sockets provided in W on all the Odyssey A340-300s?
Pushed about 5 mins late, manual safety demo, taxied out to 27R and off around 15.35, 6h46 flying time. Very bumpy and zig-zaggy departure track (should have been a WOBUN, but only looked like one for the first 3 or 4 miles before we started zig-zagging), mostly seemed to be for avoiding weather. After about 20 minutes we were above most of it, things smoothed out, the crew started the service, and a few minutes later, the seatbelt signs were switched off.
New service - a little slow, but definitely better. It generally gets a thumbs up from me. I think the twin-aisled aircraft would be better being 'helped out' by another crew member working the second aisle, to get things done a bit quicker.
One aisle gets hot towels, then the other. Then the 'first' aisle it's drink order taken first, and then the other aisle is started. It's very easy to feel slightly guilty sat there with a drink while the person next to you has nothing. I'll bet it is a bit slicker on the 744 upper deck, for example. I'm guessing with the new W config (main deck, right?) on the LHR 744, it will be served from the galley by the No2 doors (might this be dedicated to W?), and there will be an FA working each aisle. I'm thinking this might make sense on the 340s too, so that the people left waiting on the other aisle don't feel slightly jealous.
Beers, mixed drinks and soft drinks seem to be served in J glassware, even once airborne.
It was a good hour in, and a couple of drink services later by the time the meal was served - I chose the pasta with a 'Sicilian' tomato sauce, and overall, the meal was of a good standard, and a noticeable improvement on the normal Y meal. Nice one VS. It seemed filling, the cous-cous salad was really good (really my sort of thing!), and the tomato sauce on the pasta was a dark (more 'brick red', rather than bright, iridescent orange) colour, and rich in flavour - it just needed a bit of pepper to finish it off. The presentation and tray layout is of a much higher standard, better napkin, and the same silverware as the J cabin.
Looking around, the chicken tikka masala with rice and a saag aloo-looking thing seemed pretty good. The sausage & mash I wasn't too convinced by, but then, I never was, was I? The sausages looked a bit anaemic and pasty to me, and it didn't look too appetising. As promised, warmed bread was served with the meal. The FA forgot to bring water on the trolley initially, which I'm guessing is a teething trouble with the new service.
I wonder if VS would be better doing this the same way as UA work business class - the water glass isn't on the tray setup, it comes seperately - they are in a divided tray in the meal cart, so they are all filled up with water in the galley before the meal run starts. Anyway, just a thought, which might get picked up here by someone from TPTB.
Desert was really only the let down - the Gu 'cheeky chocolate pots' are just more choc glop, dressed up in fancy marketing. It's a bit like eating Nutella, really, and a bit sickly. Brandy and Baileys were offered from a tray, toward the end of the meal. Didn't see any sign of the fruit bowl coming around, but I'm sure it would be there if you asked for it.
Overall, the service was pretty good, though the W flight attendant seemed to be worked very hard, and the cabin wasn't entirely full. On the 343, they also have to make frequent trips through what is nominally the 'Snooze Zone', as the service is now done from the J galley. I wonder if a small galley unit in the W cabin - maybe opposite a dedicated W lav, so no-one has to sit next to the lavs - would be the answer? This need not be a full galley, but maybe just a bar/drink galley, containing all the basic service items, and possibly a cross-over aisle? I noticed that people doing laps came up through W and all the way to the J galley to cross over, and it was hard for the W flight attendant to cross-over too, he had to go all the way to the J galley to cross over. You could lose a row of Y, have a cross-over aisle, a mini-galley on one side, and a W-only lav on the other, and still keep the Y bulkhead and curtain the whole lot off from Y, if you see what I mean?
My IFE seemed to be misbehaving, it wouldn't bring the menu up, so I couldn't work out what film was where, so I settled into watching 'The Queen'. While I've seen it before, I think the casting of the characters was first class. I made a note to ask for a reset when the first sequence of movies came to an end, but even then, this didn't fix it - though kudos to the W cabin attendant for coming back to check and see if it had worked. I still managed to watch things, finding what I wanted by manually paging through the channels - ended up watching a fascinating documentary about how the car manufacturers and oil companies conspired to kill off wide-spread development of electric cars - kudos to VS for having really interesting well-balanced and controversial programming on board, real alternatives to processions of popular trash and Hollywood blockbusters (though these seem to be available for those who may want them!). The failure of my IFE to go into 'Interactive' mode meant that my seat also ignored the 'shutdown' message from the supervisor console, and I got the skymap all the way down to the ground!
A strong jetstream in the mid-Atlantic meant a Northerly routing for everyone today, so up over Manchester and Belfast, passing South of Greenland, before making landfall in Labrador, then heading down through Maine toward Boston.
Ice cream served mid-flight, naturally: 'Panna Cotta with Raspberries' - the same I had last time in J, I think, so it looks like it's the same ice cream as J too.
I managed to doze for a while, and woke up while a flight attendant was passing through with glasses (proper J glasses) of juice and water. Shortly afterward, the lights came up, and the Y flight attendants came up to serve coffee/tea and the second 'snack'. This is the first time I've seen the 'reduced' 2nd service on the US flights. Even in New PE, we get the same cardboard cup, but we get a choice of a cookie or some Green & Blacks chocolate. (I could see the dreaded shortbread for Y lurking in the carts.) This was served more than 90 minutes before landing, which given the simplicity of the service, is too soon, if you ask me, as you're woken (if you're sleeping), given a drink, with no refill offered, and then left twiddling your thumbs for an hour.
I wonder if this second service is best provided by the dedicated W attendant, or if it's started from the back, finishing with W? Of course, then you have the problem of the lights being switched on, but nothing else happening, which might get some people's hackles up.
I wonder if VS plan to change the lighting areas when the A340-300s are refitted with the new W seat, so that the W cabin has it's own lighting zone? Might be a good idea.
Before long, we were descending into Boston and the seatbelt sign came on. The cabin was cleaned up for landing, and we were sequenced into the arriving traffic for Runway 27, all set for an on-time arrival. Weather in Boston was 1C, with some light snow lying on the ground, but otherwise clear skies and good visibility.
At about 200ft above the surface, the engines hummed into life, and the nose pitched up - we were going around! I commented to the people next to me that we had waved off the landing for some reason, probably nothing to worry about, and were going around. As a result passengers on the right hand side of the plane got a lovely sight-seeing view of central Boston and Cambridge, as we were resequenced for another go. The Captain came on, having now 'cleaned up' the plane (brought the gear up and retracted flaps, etc), and explained that we had been sequenced at minimum spacing to the aircraft in front, who was then a slow-coach at vacating the runway, causing us to go around. Second time lucky, and about 10 minutes behind schedule now, we landed successfully on runway 27, and taxied in to the usual VS stand at terminal E.
A light J cabin load meant we were quickly off and heading to immigration, where there were no lines awaiting us, and I was admitted into the US within a couple of minutes. Of course, that meant a wait for baggage to come, but the first items arrived within about 10-15 minutes of the landing, and while my bag wasn't among the first out, I didn't have to wait too long for it to come. I notice that it didn't have any Premium/Upper tags attached, but came out with some other PE bags, so I guess the 'right thing' was done with the bag as far as priority baggage goes. Out to meet my friends, and off to go for some sushi!
Overall, a good flight, quite impressed by the new PE service, though I think it may need a little fine tuning to get it spot on. Didn't see the FSM at all during the flight, but our W flight attendant made a good attempt to be visible and available throughout. The crew were okay, I'd say, they did everything that was required, but weren't stellar like some other trips I've had. Food and Drink were pretty damned good. Entertainment, middling, but happy I had laptop power, which was a nice surprise. I quite liked the seat, apart from the clutter of IFE boxes and seat anchors, and the foot rest being a bit narrow.
Finally, just to spark off another toilet debate - because there was no-one sat in the 'B' zone of the J cabin on his trip, most of the PE pax seemed to use the J lav aft of the R2 door!
