V-Flyer

This is my first report so apologies if it gets boring!
In fact this is the first time I have ever flown on Virgin and the first time I have flown outside of europe!

The purpose of the trip was a honeymoon to St Lucia which was paid for my my generous new father-in-law, and included an upgrade to Premium Economy.

We left Norwich at lunchtime on the Monday and drove down to Gatwick for an overnight stay at the Hilton. We arrived at the Hilton at about 3pm and phoned the telephone number we were given and a man came and collected our car from outside the hotel and took it off to be parked for the two weeks we were away.

Checked in and went to the room on the second floor.

We then decided to use the twilight check in service and made our way to the check in area. It is just over a bridge from the hotel so nice and easy. There was absolutly no one else at checkin so we were seen straight away and were given seats 76 A and C that our friendly travel agent said that she had prebooked us.
Wifes case was a bit too heavy - (why she had to take so many shoes and clothes to a beach holiday to St Lucia is anyones guess and incidently she never actually wore half of them anyway)
The check in lady just told us to be careful on the return journey as they may be a bit more strict on excess weight.

We went back to hotel after having a meal at airport and had a relaxing evening ready for our early start.

Got up at 6am and went to airport for some breakfast.
At 7am went through security. This took about 20 mins as there were loads of people in the queue. Still not as bad as the palava on our return journey in ST Lucia which I will write about in return report.

Had a look round some duty free shops and purchased 400 fags for my brother at a price of 33. what a bargain I thought, until I got on board and saw Virgin were selling them for 24!

Boarding commenced at 8am for the 9am departure. I saw before boarding that our plane was G-VAST which was ladybird. And realised that we would have the Odessey entertainment system which I was pleased about as would have some games to play during flight.
Relayed this information to my new wife in an excited manner, who looked at me in an 'oh my god, how sad' manner. She never has understood why I spend so much time looking at V flyer site and reading the reviews. Still I was pleased and looked forward to boarding the plane.
Boarded plane and was directed upstairs and was amazed how big the plane was compared to the 737 was that I had been on before.
There was the amenity pack on the seats with a blanket and a bottle of water.
Sat down and was impressed with the seat size and space compared to the usual seats i am used to. The space at the side between the seat and window was very usefull, especially during flight to put food tray etc on.
Stewardess came round offering sparklng wine, bucks fizz or water so i had a bucks fizz. We did notice that it was very warm on the plane, but thought this was normal.
Boarding continued and about 8.45 the captain came on to say that everyone was on board but unfortunatly there was a problem with the air conditioning and it was being fixed and this would delay our take off time.
I was impressed that the stewardess kept bringing round iced water to try and keep people cool.
Anyway we took off at 10am about an hour late but the pilot informed us that we would make up a lot of that time and land just a few minutes late.
As we were going down the runway I kept thinking we are not going fast enough, and I am still amazed that we took off at that speed!
Soon after take off drinks were served and the entertainment system was switched on.
Played a few games, didnt watch a film as was too excited about being on a jumbo and didnt want to miss anything going on around me.
Meal was served and I was very surprised at it. Normally on flight I would not give the food a second look but the chicken and mini roast potatoes was surprisingly good. had cheese and biscuits after and then nicked the wifes when she was in the loo. She never even noticed so that was a relief. desert was good too.
Read a magazine and then decided to stretch my legs and have a wander downstairs to have a nose. Walked all the way to the back and could not get over the lack of space. Some peoples knees were actually touching the back of the seat in front. Had a little chuckle to myself and wanted to tell them that I had tons of room upstairs, but decided against it!

Sandwiches were served about 1.5 hours before we landed.

Fresh fruit was also available during the flight.

All in all a great first flight with virgin. The only problem is, is that now when I fly again I definatly do not want to fly economy. It is so much nice upstairs and much more room.

There were a few gripes though. Upstairs were a family of 4. 2 adults and 2 kids. The kids obviously knew another family who were seated downstairs as during the flight about another 4 kids came upstairs and were there for the majority of the flight. I know they are just kids but it was a bit annoying when they were running about doing things kids do. I expected it to be nice and tranquil rather than a bit roudy, but overall it was still a brilliant flight.

Another little gripe was that there was no turbulence. I love it when the plane shakes and rattles but nothing. I was tempted to ask the pilot if he could do a few loop the loops but wife would not let me.

The last disappointment was that the wife would not agree to us joining the mile high club. There was not a lot of roon in th eloos but I was willing to give it a go. Perhaps on the return night flight???

We landed in St Lucia just a bit late and were one of the first off which we were pleased about. Immigration a bit slow and we were one of the first off so god knows how long the passengers that were last to get off had to wait.
Bags came off quick and we made our way to the helicopter desk ready for our transfer to the hotel (a good wedding gift as well!)

Helicopter transfer was excellent.

All in all a very enjoyable trip to St Lucia.

Thanks for the report! A great amount of detail with some amusing asides... I must admit when I stroll down the back I wonder how compfortable it can be but then the difference in price can pay for a lot more comfort at the destination so you pays your money you takes your choice Looking forward to the return - welcome to the world of anoraks!

Originally posted by robbienorwich
Normally on flight I would not give the food a second look but the chicken and mini roast potatoes was surprisingly good. had cheese and biscuits after and then nicked the wifes when she was in the loo. She never even noticed so that was a relief.

You really think she didn't notice? My experience is that your significant other will never miss a trick... it will just be noted down and used as revenge as required in future...[;)]

Thanks for the report, and good news that you enjoyed your flight!

Mike

A most enjoyable TR. I could sense your excitement at your first long-haul flight. I suggest you keep well in with your father-in-law to see if he will be the benefactor of more PE flights [:w]

Thanks for the TR. A great read; as HL said, your excitement comes across. Looking forward to your return report and if you have time add a Hotel review too..

Originally posted by robbienorwich

Wifes case was a bit too heavy - (why she had to take so many shoes and clothes to a beach holiday to St Lucia is anyones guess and incidently she never actually wore half of them anyway)

Exactly - I often gape in amazement at the mountains of cases people seem to be lugging with them. A battered panama, shorts and deck shoes is all one needs...

Originally posted by robbienorwich
Had a little chuckle to myself and wanted to tell them that I had tons of room upstairs, but decided against it!

You need to be careful with that. We at the back are often known to respond with an instruction to the kids to 'go and play upstairs'...[}:)]

Originally posted by robbienorwich
All in all a great first flight with virgin. The only problem is, is that now when I fly again I definatly do not want to fly economy. It is so much nice upstairs and much more room.

If yout're not limited to flying during school holidays[:(!], fare sales can help you achieve this aim in life. Bear in mind though that soon being upstairs in PE will be an option restricted to flights out of Gatwick and Manchester[n].

Originally posted by robbienorwich
The last disappointment was that the wife would not agree to us joining the mile high club.

I have to admit I've never quite understood the fascination with membership of this club...

Paul

Great TR, thanks for posting it was very funny in parts! [y]

Hope you had a great time in UVF and look forward to the return TR.

Keep in with the out-laws oppps I mean in-laws!!!!

Dominic

Originally posted by robbienorwich


Another little gripe was that there was no turbulence. I love it when the plane shakes and rattles but nothing. I was tempted to ask the pilot if he could do a few loop the loops but wife would not let me.

Now that really makes a nice change from the screams [:D]

Originally posted by pjh

Originally posted by robbienorwich
The last disappointment was that the wife would not agree to us joining the mile high club.

I have to admit I've never quite understood the fascination with membership of this club...

Paul

Do a search, there are a few topics on it...also the LGW 744's have the best bathrooms for it....so I have been told [:I][8D]

Thanks for an excellent TR, very well written and very amusing too

Wifes case was a bit too heavy - (why she had to take so many shoes and clothes to a beach holiday to St Lucia is anyones guess and incidently she never actually wore half of them anyway)

Its about having options, grrr, straight men never get this [ii]

Relayed this information to my new wife in an excited manner, who looked at me in an 'oh my god, how sad' manner. She never has understood why I spend so much time looking at V flyer site and reading the reviews.

I used to get that all the time, eventually she'll see what a great resource this site is, especially if like me it ends up saving you money so you can buy new shoes [:D]

All in all a great first flight with virgin. The only problem is, is that now when I fly again I definatly do not want to fly economy. It is so much nice upstairs and much more room.

Welcome to the world of PE and having no money, not only will you not want to fly Economy again you'll soon be itching to try UCS, its very addictive apparently.

Neil