V-Flyer

A slightly early finish from work to get to LHR for a nice relaxing evening in the lounge was made a little difficult by the typical delays on the London underground! Kind of expect it I suppose though!

Upper class check-in a breeze, although they didn't seem to notice our request for bulkhead seats initially. Made it through fast track - slightly difficult as I had taken my expired Gold card and they apparently don't issue fast track stickers anymore at check-in. Small amount of shopping and safely tucked in the Clubhouse by 530pm. Light snack and cocktail before a shower to freshen up followed by the pre-flight facial.

They have recently updated their cocktail list, removing one opf my favourite - The Purple Velvet Martini - including the base ingredients so the bar staff can't still make it [V]. Therefore tried one of the new cocktails on the menu - can't remember the name, but it was AWFUL! [n] However I wasn't the first person to think this, and even the bar tender agreed that it sounded a lot better than it tastes. She therefore rapidly made a different one that was much nicer (including a taste before serving in case I didn't like this one) and then to our surprise she made one of her favourites from the new list (again the memory escapes me but it includes pomegrante juice and is very similar to a cosmo!) as one on the side for us. VERY good indeed!! [^] Bit more time relaxing, including a light dinner before being called to boarding. On a remote stand which meant a slightly late departure waiting for the stragglers.

Premium was pretty empty - only 14 of us in total. Really attentive cabin crew - better than on a lot of upper class flights in the past. Post-boarding sparkling wine (not champagne anymore) - but a couple of glasses were gratefully accepted. Took-off about 40 minutes late, but made that up in flight. Post-take off drink orders were taken before departure and served individually on a tray. The trolley didn't make it into the cabin all flight![8D] Similarly dinner orders taken (well you have to try the new menu, don't you[;)]) and served individually. Really made premium economy feel like a 'premium service'.

For those who are interested, as the DXB route differs from other routes, the menu in PE was:

Starter
Greek pasta salad with cucumber, tomato, black olives and feta cheese

Main course
Mediterranean chicken with orzo pasta, summer bean salad and marinara sauce
Lamb kofta with fried potatoes, green beans and tomato sauce
Marinated artichokes with Arabic bulgur wheat

Desert
Fru fruity lemon shots

Cheese and biscuits

The lamb was really good and was a large portion. Chicken also looked like a very full portion and apparently tasted very good.

Cabin crew were very helpful throughout the flight and provided an excellent service. Managed a couple of hours sleep and then woke up with about an hour to go before landing. Fruit bowl appeared a couple of times, along with soft drinks and the breakfast tray not long after I woke up. The obligatory remote stand in Dubai, but we were allowed off out the front door (1L) along with the Upper Class passengers. The main door was just opening as we were whisked off in the 'posh' transfer bus to the terminal.

All in all a very enjoyable time in the Clubhouse and wonderful experience of PE - true VIRGIN style![:D]

Post-boarding sparkling wine (not champagne anymore)

[:o] Anyone know if this is an interim measure or a permanent change? The bubbly in PE kind of set it apart and made that little bit more Premium. I cant understand why they'd change this.

Glad you had a good flight! Enjoy DXB.

Thanks,
Sarah

Its been 'sparkling wine' on the last couple of PE flights. Pretty nice but not champagne [n]. Kinda get the feeling it is here to stay!

Sparkling wine, pooey, they'd better change the Web site before we can accuse of false advertising.

BTW a pomegranate martini is a nice drink, try this recipe:

Absolut Citron - about two cups
lime juice - half a cup
pomegranate juice - one cup
Triple Sex - half a cup
add an orange twist
shake over lots and lots of ice
serve in a martini glass ... or a few more

ABSOLUT CITRON, Lime juice, Orange Twist, Pomegranate juice, Triple Sec.

Originally posted by slinky09
Sparkling wine, pooey, they'd better change the Web site before we can accuse of false advertising.

Triple Sex - half a cup

Now that is false advertising...and very, very tiring...

Yeh its been sparkling wine since the new service started...just goes to show that no one noticed tho! It is berry brothers so decent stuff im guessing 95% of people wouldnt know the difference.

Originally posted by pjh

Originally posted by slinky09
Sparkling wine, pooey, they'd better change the Web site before we can accuse of false advertising.

Triple Sex - half a cup

Ooops

Now that is false advertising...and very, very tiring...

[:I]

Originally posted by JoeyVS
Yeh its been sparkling wine since the new service started...just goes to show that no one noticed tho! It is berry brothers so decent stuff im guessing 95% of people wouldnt know the difference.

Sorry Joey, that's an awful thing to say - the BBR sparkling wine is really flinty and yucky ... clearly it's a bean counter thing, one more to add to the litany of cuts!

Originally posted by JoeyVS
Yeh its been sparkling wine since the new service started...just goes to show that no one noticed tho! It is berry brothers so decent stuff im guessing 95% of people wouldnt know the difference.

How come no Bucks Fizz is offered on ex UK flights, but was offered on our JFK flight?

Originally posted by JoeyVS
Yeh its been sparkling wine since the new service started...just goes to show that no one noticed tho! It is berry brothers so decent stuff im guessing 95% of people wouldnt know the difference.

I'm guessing a large number of V-Flyers would! [:D]

Seriously, its another terrible bean counting exercise. Does it really save that many beans? Surely sharing a bottle or two with UC would be more cost effective?

Thanks,
Sarah

Yeh its been sparkling wine since the new service started

It was served in UC pre departure as well, what horrid muck,It was so noticeable after sampling a few glasses of Mumm in the CH.The Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave is one of my favorite NV fizzs and how ever much the CC said they had served it before take-off I was not convinced,oh and I did see the empty cheapo bottles being disposed of before departure.

Originally posted by jaguarpig
It was served in UC pre departure as well, what horrid muck,It was so noticable after sampling a few glasses of Mumm in the CH.

This is what gets me with VS. Do they think that their pax won't notice this sort of thing?

The Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave is one of my favorite NV fizzs and how ever much the CC said they had served it before take-off I was not convinced,oh and I did see the empty cheapo bottles being disposed off before departure.

...and I'm sure it tastes even worse when the crew tell fibs.

Mike

Originally posted by HighFlyer
Seriously, its another terrible bean counting exercise. Does it really save that many beans? Surely sharing a bottle or two with UC would be more cost effective?

Given that it's 'sparkling wine' in both J and W pre-departure, I'm guessing this is a move to reduce the duty VS will have to pay on pre-departure fizz, as it's a cheaper product. Most airlines seem to do this for their pre-departure drinks on longhaul International flights.

All the 'proper' in-flight drinks will all be kept in a bonded store by the caterer and classed as duty free, and the alcohol carts should be kept sealed until after departure. This often why people are told 'Oh, you can only have that after takeoff'.

I'm guessing the 'real' pre-departure bubbly we used to have in J was from a specific pre-departure stock that was duty paid, and therefore loaded in a seperate cart or atlas cabinet from the main liquor.

So yes, the long and short is that it is bean counting.

Mike