This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Decided to get the bus to Heathrow and this took about 90 minutes getting me to the central bus station at 1:35pm for the 6:00pm flight (very early I know but Im one of those paranoid people that will leave extra extra early just in case). Proceeded to the bag drop section of the check-in area and all 3 positions were busy but the check-in staff opened another one as there were quite a few of us waiting in line. Check-in was carried out in a very matter of fact fashion by the agent she was obviously just there to turn up, go home and collect a pay check no smiles, greetings, explanation of gates or boarding times, etc Furthermore, I noticed that a lot of the check-in staff were wearing just red polo shirts and not the standard Virgin uniform is this a sign of cost cutting and pandering to the LCC demographic I certainly hope not as it will spoil the look and reputation of the airline. All in all, not the most pleasant experience.
I made my way up to the immigration security screening area and had the standard boarding pass/x-ray/passport checks. I inadvertently walked around the shoe check area (I didnt realise until I was in World Duty Free) and therefore managed to avoid it this time round. By this time it was only 2:00pm so I got a bite to eat and made some headway into my book. Gate 32 was displayed at 4:40pm and off everyone went. I presume that this is part of the Terminal 3 redevelopment as the style is very different to the traditional gates at Terminal 3 in that the gates in these areas are open and part of the public walkway much like at Melbourne (although it has been 5 years since Ive been there and things may have changed).
Boarding began at 5:10pm with Upper Class, Premium Economy, Flying Club Gold, children and special assistance. However, there were only 2 agents checking passports and boarding passes so a queue very quickly formed. This was compounded as the back rows of Economy were called soon after. As there were no priority boarding signs, everyone piled upon the 2 ground agents. A steady stream of Upper Class passengers (no doubt sauntering down from the Clubhouse) went to the agent overseeing the whole operation to ask about priority boarding and were told to push their way to the front! As has been repeated many a time on this site, Virgin really need to get this sorted out they can do this at other airports (it worked fine on my return from JFK) so why not at Heathrow? Additionally, some passengers were subject to extra security screening, being body searched and having their bags rummaged through, although it was unclear as to the criteria required to be one of the lucky few. The ground staff seemed to forget about the rest of the Economy cabin as no further announcements were made asking Economy passengers to board so the remaining passengers took the initiative and joined the boarding queue as they saw fit. I eventually made it onto the plane at 5:50pm.
We pushed back a little late at 6:15pm and were in the air by 6:35pm. I missed the captains announcement as to the flight time and other related curiosities as the lady next to me was busy drawing me a map of Manhattan and telling me where to go and what to do I didnt have the heart to tell her that I had already pretty much planned my stay and itinerary!
Once we were up and away, the CSS for Premium Economy and Economy announced that there were 222 passengers in Economy. Earphones and landing cards were handed out and when I opened my tray to fill it in, it was covered in crumbs cleaners please take note. Something else that has been mentioned on the site is the use of the Premium Economy toilets by their lesser brethren this flight was no different even though the curtains were drawn, the cabin crew turned a blind eye - perhaps in the wish to avoid confrontation?
Dinner was served at 8:20pm and comprised (no menu so this is my interpretation):
Salad
-Pasta with pesto and mozzarella balls
Main
-Chicken tikka masala with rice and spinach
-Vegetarian cottage pie
-Meatball mariana with orzo
Dessert
-Gu pot au chocolat
-Cheese and biscuits
-Tea and coffee
I chose the meatballs which were pretty good as airline food goes and the cabin crew did 2 tea/coffee rounds which were extremely welcome and they were excellent throughout always visible and happy to help, unlike some trip reports of recent times. There was a slight training issue, however, as the 2 cabin crew on my side of the cabin were unsure if they had to serve drinks to the Premium Economy passengers, although this is just a minor point. Sometime after, a strawberry and cream choc-ice also appeared (havent had one of those in years and turned out to be quite nostalgic).
Like a previous trip report, a message appeared via V:Port that people were to refrain from using the interactive (blue button) part of the skymap as this was causing the system to crash. Hopefully, Virgin will sort this out as it seems to be a known fault and is a shame as their interpretation of the skymap is the best that I have come across (comparing to Emirates, Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines).
For our pre-landing snack, we were offered tea or coffee and a Gu chocolate brownie or a pack of shortbread. Of course, I chose the brownie on reputation and it was as good as I had expected. We began our descent at 8:20pm New York time and landed at 8:50pm, 10 minutes ahead of time. Sped-walked to immigration but still had to wait 30 minutes although this is nowhere near as bad as what lynnewob described in her trip report. The immigration officer was surprisingly extremely chatty and asked about where I was from as my passport has Park Royal down as my place of birth. Got through with no problems and collected my baggage and was onto the AirTrain to Jamaica and the Long Island Rail Road by 10:00pm.
So how was the whole experience? On the ground at Heathrow not great. Once in the air I was pleasantly surprised as some of the trip reports on the site had got me worried. I was perfectly happy and thoroughly enjoyed the flight. Really rather good for 22,500 miles and 140 tax.
Since I have also taken 4 sectors with Emirates on flights of similar lengths, how do I feel they compare on the criteria that we rank Virgin trip reports:
Check-In: I used online check-in for both airlines and they essentially ask the same questions and require you to input the same information in a slightly different manner. Virgin has the upper hand in that you can change your seat selection online prior to check-in, whereas this has to be done over the phone with Emirates. As for the actual check-in at the airport, the Emirates staff that I encountered were much friendlier and more willing to help, although the Virgin staff member that served me may have just been having an off day.
Seats: Emirates on their newer planes have 34 of leg room as opposed to the 32 offered by Virgin. However, I didnt really notice a difference on a flight of this length. Lesson of the day if its over pretty quick, a couple of extra inches doesnt make a load of difference (Oh dear I am now imagining the innuendo that may be posted in reply to this comment). If it had been a 12 hour flight then it may have made a significant difference. On the other hand, I thought the Virgin seat was a lot more comfortable as I was going numb in a few select spots after a couple of hours in the Emirates seats.
Food/Drink: Presentation wise, I really liked the triangular shaped dishes that Emirates use to serve their food, but as to the food itself, I found pretty similar and comparable.
Entertainment: Again, like the food, both V:Port and ICE are very similar. I would have liked to have seen a few more recent movies on both systems (I had picked Borat (still havent seen it) and The History Boys (only because it was filmed at the school where I took my A-Levels) off the Virgin website as the 2 movies that I wanted to watch but of course they werent on the system). If I were forced to choose, I think I would have to pick ICE as I really liked the Very Best of collections that they have in the music section and I found the menu slightly easier to navigate.
Cabin Crew: Having taken 4 sectors with Emirates, I can say they are consistently polite, professional and hard working. I had the chance to see them perform under the pressure of a medical emergency and was extremely impressed by their ability to work as a team and under time constraints. My one experience of Virgin Economy this summer has displayed an equally capable team although consistency is something I cannot comment on and the one thing that has led to much discussion on V-Flyer. The one big difference I noticed is that the Emirates staff were more formal in their approach compared to their Virgin counterparts. An example would be, What would you like for dinner, sir? vs. Care for something to eat guys? I actually quite like this informality, although I appreciate that some people will prefer a more formal approach and may actually be offended. Which is the better way I have no idea although it seems this informality is confined to Economy as on my return in Premium Economy I was referred to as sir more times than in the rest of my life put together.
The crunch question at the end I guess is, if I were to fly to Dubai tomorrow and had the choice of Emirates or Virgin Economy, all other factors (e.g. price, schedule, etc) controlled, which would I choose? For me it would be Virgin as although both airlines are very similar and I havent had a bad flight on either carrier, theres just something about the Virgin experience, whether it be the safety video, the mateyness (I know thats not a word and the grammar police will be after me) of the cabin crew or the design of the toilets in the A346, that just appeals to me that little bit more.
Anyway, enough of the notes for this part of my trip to the US.
Jonathan
