V-Flyer

Far too hot by the pool today so took refuge in air conditioned suite and whilst the laptop is out thought I would do a quick TR.

Journey along the M4 (Reading to Heathrow) only took 30 mins, arrived at Terminal 3 check in at 7.45am. Very busy, waited in queue for 10 mins. UC queue was even longer! Unfortunately seats in row 18 had gone so kept original booking seats. Check in girl just took a cursory look at my cabin/hand luggage, nodded approval and away we went. Not being Au members, we found a pleasant 'bistro' and had some breakfast and wiled away the time till boarding.

The usual stampede as soon as boarding announced. Eventually arrived at our seats 22A and C only to find a gentleman sitting in one of them. After turfing him out, tried to organise myself. (Blanket, pillow, amenity kit, bottled water, reading glasses, personal headphones, newspaper and magazine just do not fit into the small pouch of the seat in front!! I am used to the PE seats in the 'hub' and do appreciate the extra storage space. The new PE seats were comfortable enough and reclined sufficiently. Fortunately, the lady in front of me didn't recline her seat at all. Cabin crew came round with champagne, bucks fizz and OJ. (I thought I read somewhere that the champers had been replaced with sparkling wine - not so on this flight). We took off about 10mins late and the plane was Varga Girl (husband did a quick double take, thought it said Viagra Girl!)

Drinks service came round fairly quickly, note to self, do not ask for brandy and coke, very cheap brandy and virgin coke, ugh. (I know one shouldn't dilute a good brandy with anything but I wanted a long drink). I chose the pork and husband had the med chicken. Both fine if not a little dry. Bread rolls were cold and stale. Then the after dinner drink choice of baileys or brandy. Baileys won hands down! Watched a couple of films, Blades of Glory, very funny and Wild Hogs, also quite amusing. About 90mins before landing 'snack' consisting of a 'brownie' handed out. The fruit bowl appeared about 30mins before landing. All in all, not a bad flight, fairly quiet, Economy full and lots of children.

Arrived earlier than expected, UC and PE off first quickly and I must say, many thanks to Richard Mannion for his tip re the 'bus'.
As soon as we got on we stayed near the door and let everyone go down to the back. When we alighted, we were first off and first into immigration. Totally empty, wonderful. Took about 3 mins and then we were at the baggage carousel, again luggage came very quickly and we were outside within 20 mins of landing!

Although PE is a very good alternative, my one and only UC experience is still a vivid memory.[y]


Anna

Cabin crew came round with champagne, bucks fizz and OJ. (I thought I read somewhere that the champers had been replaced with sparkling wine - not so on this flight).

Interesting. It was definitely sparkling wine when we flew to IAD on the 19th July.

note to self, do not ask for brandy and coke,

Or JD and Coke, you wont get any in PE or Y. Much to my dismay, as i know they have it onboard in UC. Grr ...

Cheers for the trip report Anna. Glad that the flight seemed to go pretty smoothly for you. When PE works its actually a very good product but the small issues such as cold and stale rolls really need to be ironed out, especially as these are perks often mentioned in the marketing literature.

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Thanks,
Sarah

Originally posted by HighFlyer

Cabin crew came round with champagne, bucks fizz and OJ. (I thought I read somewhere that the champers had been replaced with sparkling wine - not so on this flight).

Interesting. It was definitely sparkling wine when we flew to IAD on the 19th July.

Maybe someone is lurking here, thinking 'Arse! We've been rumbled. Get the proper fizz back on!'[;)]

Or, could have been as simple as a lost delivery, or a stock cock-up on LSG's part that took some time to clear up, causing a substitution. Hopefully, if LSG do perform product substitutions (rather than send a plane out understocked), they do so with the blessing of the relevant people at VS.

Thanks for the report. I still think the 'brownie' is poor as a second service for PE. It looks lame compared to the main service, for one thing.

Mike

The fruit bowl only coming out 30 minutes before landing is a little late really - previously I have had it out much earlier. It is always better when the person in front doesn't recline for the duration of the flight!! Was the man in your seat in PE, or just trying it on???

Originally posted by gingerflyer
The fruit bowl only coming out 30 minutes before landing is a little late really - previously I have had it out much earlier. It is always better when the person in front doesn't recline for the duration of the flight!! Was the man in your seat in PE, or just trying it on???

I'm sure that the 'fruit bowl' was an afterthought or maybe someone had asked for an apple. The man in my seat just got his A's,C's and H's mixed up.


As for the 'brownie', I'm sure on previous PE trips last year, something more substantial was served. Mind you, when I was given the brownie, my expression must have moved the cabin crew as she offered me a Green & Black's Organic Dark bar of chocolate as well. Wow!

Anna

Thanks for the TR, glad that the flight went well. I am unsure why VS can not provide fresh warm rolls. In UC I always go for the garlic bread! [y]

Enjoy your trip.

Dominic

When I flew back in PE from JFK, we had a choice of 2 diferent warmed rolls. I went for the onion and poppyseed which was pretty good. Just shows that consistency is still an issue, although it really shouldn't be.

Jonathan

The IAD transport bus tip does save a lot of time, particularly if you have a connecting flight. In some of the clubhouses (IAD included) the champagne has been replaced with sparkling wine for some time. On my last few PE flights it has been the same.