VS015 LGW-MCO 24 Feb 07 (Econ)
Posted: 28 Feb 2007, 18:28This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
We were travelling from LGW MCO on VS015.
At the time of booking these flights I phoned Virgins special assistance line to give them the details of the help I require when travelling with them. Because of the nature of my disability I prefer the bulk head seats. As I already knew, you cannot reserve these seats so thought it would be a good idea to arrive early at Gatwick to boost my chances of getting the seats I wanted. I was told by the chap on the phone that there were going to be a lot of parents with babies on the flight who would also be requiring these seats.
Whenever I travel from Gatwick, I always park in the short stay car park for the length of my trip. In this case we are away for 4 weeks. Just out of interest, if I had not paid up front the parking would have been about 650 for those 4 weeks. It has ended up costing about 250. Still expensive I know but it saves a lot of hassle.
Anyway, we arrived early at Gatwick, about 9:30am for our 12.45 flight. Check-in was quite empty and we went straight to the desk with no waiting at all.
The young lady on the check-in desk was new as it turned out which meant things took a little longer than usual. I travel with an extra wheelchair which doesnt normally cause a problem. In this case we had three Virgin staff scratching their heads on how they deal with taking the chair and loading it onto the plane. The first tried stuffing it into a plastic bag..didnt fit. They wanted me to dismantle it..the chair doesnt dismantle. We got there eventually after trying to explain how we have dealt with it in the past. Maybe the problem has arisen because of new safety restrictions, who know.
I got the seats I needed which was a relief 30 E, F & G.
Once checked in we headed for security.
CHAOScomplete and utter chaos. It didnt take long to get through but whose idea was it merge everyone into one long queue. You could tell the guy in front of us was American, he had already taken his shoes off expecting to be thoroughly frisked.I think he was disappointed as they arent very thorough at Gatwick. They gave me a quick pat down but that was it. They never check my electric chair very well.
No fancy lounges to report on this trip we headed for the viewing area for a drink and tend to find from past experience that it is a relatively quiet place to wait.
Wasnt long until our gate number appearedGate 31. My batteries almost went flat getting there!!!!
Arrived at the gate to be warmly greeted by a very nice female member of staff. She knew my name and did all the necessary tagging of my chair etc.. I was also recognized by a member of the ground crew waiting at the desk from a previous flight I had taken. Im sure that happens to a lot of you all the time, but I dont travel with Virgin that often!!
It was only about 5 minutes before they called me for boarding. I was the first one down the plank, even getting there before UC passengersblimey.
I have to be hoisted into the onboard isle chair by the door of the aircraft and then threaded down the isle to my seat. One think I wasnt too pleased with was the fact they let other passengers start queuing by the door of the aircraft before they have lifted me into the isle chair and taken me to my seat. Its not the most dignified way to be gotten onto the plane which is made all the worse by a queue of people watching.
Anyway, It turns out the plane was only half full today with plenty of spare seats to spread out in. We were in the middle row with a spare seat between us. It certainly makes for a more relaxing trip. I think I saw only 2 families with small babies so perhaps there wasnt the need to arrive so early after all.
We pushed back about 5 minutes early and after a little bit of waiting behind an American Airlines 777 we were off.
We were first informed that the flight time would be 7 hours 47 minutes. Thats a bit quick we thought..5 minutes later that was corrected to 8 hours 47 minutes. Shame, thought we were in for a quick ride.
The drinks trolley was around very quickly followed not long after by the lunch trolley.
Todays offerings were Sausage and Mash, Vegetarian risotto, or Chicken pasta. I never eat on these flights but my travelling companions assured me that the sausage and mash was okay and the risotto was awful. They liked the fruit pot for pudding though.
The entertainment was switched on quite quickly. A reasonable selection of films which included BoratI have been wanting to see that for a while. The only real problem I had is that I have to sit on a special cushion which means I sit a bit higher than usual. Because of this I couldnt use my headphone socket, nor could I reach the controls for the TV. I ended up using the seat next to mines TV and headphone socket. Not Virgins fault at all.
The cabin crew were very attentive making regular trips around with water and orange juice.
A couple of hours before landing we were offered the choice of a Chicken Caesar sandwich or a cheese sandwich. I didnt try either but apparently the chicken was the one to have.
The landing wasnt the best Ive experienced. The plane lurched very unnervingly from side to side on touch down. Mind you that was soon forgotten as the relief of finally getting there took over.
I am always the last passenger off the plane and because the plane was only half full it wasnt long before the special assistance staff arrived to hoik me back into the isle chair.
They transferred me onto one the airport wheelchairs temporarily. Who are these chairs designed for. Obviously someone with very short legs and a wide back side. My knees were by my earsAnyway, I didnt have to tolerate it for long. There was my chair ready and waitingIt felt like a LAY Z BOY after the aircraft seat.
Immigration was painful. It took longer than I have ever experienced and when we got to the front we were greeted by a glum unfriendly battle axe.
Welcome to America.