VS005 LHR-MIA 1 Aug 07 (PE)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Well, time for a rare special for me: a second Virgin RT in the same year, and it was in PE as well [:D]. A big family trip to Miami was the order; myself, my brother, sister, mum and dad. Alarm off at 5.45 (groan), but as soon I realise why I am up at 5.45, tiredness evaporates. A taxi comes by at 6.15 for the 30 minute trip to Heathrow, but some unlucky traffic light timing and unusual traffic jams meant it took 45 minutes, and we joined the PE check-in line at around 7.05. There was only one other group in front of us, but we weren't seen for another 15 minutes or so. 2 of the 4 desks were manned, and the people were taking forever. When we were finally seen the lady was very nice but took another 15 minutes to check us into 20 A, C, D, F and G. We then went upstairs at about 7.40, and were yet again faced with a non-existent security line. We were standing in that huge duty free area, having had our shoes scanned only 5 minutes after entering the queue. We sat down for a bagel and OJ, scrapping the original plan of Chez Gerard (always brilliant), thinking we didn't have enough time (although we easily would have). No problem, extra room for the PE breakfast.

This time it wasn't one of the new gates but I think twentysomething (24?) About 1/2 hour after 'go to gate', people requiring special assistance, UC and PE passengers and Gold cardholders were invited to board. There was no separate line, unlike in the US, and probably half the economy cabin got to their feet as well. So it was a while before I got that little buzz at seeing the purple headrests to my right. Even though I knew we would definitely get the new PE seats as we were on an A346 (G-VFOX), it was still a relief to see them. No new economy seats on this plane, and I sat down in 20C next to my younger brother.

The seats were very comfortable; both the width and recline are noticeably different and great, just a few more extra inches of legroom, like the new Qantas PE would have been great. The footrest, however just gets in the way, and is only useful if you want your knees bent.

The presentation IMHO is impressive; water bottle on the 'armrest table', a good amenity pack, and the blanket in PE colours - certainly an interesting colour scheme. We were offered drinks, and the OJ came in nice little VS glasses with the new logo on the side and a little plane with smoke trailing it. We also got hot towels.

We took off at around 9.50, 30 minutes late. Menus were also in the seat pocket, and as I don't think a NPE OB breakfast service TR has been done yet, I'll type it out:

MENU Premium Economy

Sit back, relax and let us serve you today's Premium Economy meal.

All you have to do is choose between and English breakfast or a vegetarian option and then decide whether you'd like tea or coffee. After that, all that's left is to enjoy and leave the rest to us.

FRUIT JUICE
Fresh Fruit smoothie

FRUIT SALAD
Seasonal fresh fruit

CEREAL
Strawberry bio Rumbler cereal

HOT BREAKFAST

English breakfast
Lincolnshire pork sausage served with hash brown potatoes, saut_ed tomato and Heinz baked beans

Vegetarian breakfast
Vegetable cr_pe served with broccoli, potato wedges, tomato concass_ and hollandaise sauce

BAKERY CHOICE
Cinnamon whirl Danish pastry

TEA AND COFFEE

SNACKS AND REFRESHMENTS
Available throughout the flight and prior to landing.

The PE cabin had its own steward, who served the starboard aisle first, then the port aisle, so I had to wait a bit longer for my breakfast. A warm bread roll (not on the menu) was also given out, a lovely touch. Many things had the new Premium Economy logo on, and the metal cutlery and china dishes were very well received. I chose the English breakfast, and it was very tasty especially the uniquely done hash brown potatoes. Goodbye to baked beans for a couple of weeks [:(]. The cereal/yogurt thing wasnt too good, but everything else went down a treat. Instead of the usual drink & pretzels orange, apple or cranberry juices were served, and then refills during the breakfast. It was all cleared away much more quickly than in economy, where Ive had the tray on my table for over an hour after finishing before. One thing I did notice however is that, although its nice to have a menu, describing everything with several extra adjectives makes you expect a little more than you get, even though what you get is perfectly good. The rest of the flight continued slowly, but I was in a big purple leather seat, fully reclined, watching Perfect Stranger excellent. Vanilla or chocolate ice cream tubs were brought round not the disgusting raspberry choc-ices. A fruit bowl was also brought round. Both were great additions to the flight, as I continued into Blades of Glory, which was ok. Our steward checked if we needed anything several times, and unfortunately there were no MacBook power leads, so I got an iPod one. Around 90 minutes before landing a second meal service was given out. Its not a meal, but it was an improvement on a brownie 1 ham and tomato sandwich, 1 chicken and stuffing sandwich and a toffee cookie. I think the vegetarian was egg and cress and cheese and chive, accompanied by a drink. Despite the late departure, we landed 10 minutes early at 14.00 ET.

A swift walk to immigration, and there were hoards of people still completing their green cards WHY not do it on the plane, anyway There were some fairly large immigration lines, however, these are the ones right as you enter the hall. If you go all the way to the far left hand side, there are several visitor desks, which have much shorter lines. We went all the way to the furthest desk left, and there was only one person in front of us (the person flying solo in the seat behind mine). The immigration official was very quick indeed, and very friendly, discussing my recent trip to New York, and concurring with a recent article in the Telegraph travel section, he brightened up even more as I mentioned that we had seen the NY Knicks, and he told me a little about the Miami Heat. We went downstairs, and through the stricter customs procedures than JFK. We were then in a 7 seater taxi in the VERY humid outside conditions maybe 25 minutes after getting off the plane. It was off to the Courtyard by Marriott Oceanfront Miami Beach for 4 nights before a Royal Caribbean cruise on the biggest cruise ship in the world which was fantastic! Thanks for reading; Ive probably forgotten a lot, so just ask if you want to know anything else. Return to follow

Chris

Thanks for this - a great read. Sets me up nicely for my first new PE experience this coming weekend.

Originally posted by chrisV
One thing I did notice however is that, although it's nice to have a menu, describing everything with several extra adjectives makes you expect a little more than you get, even though what you get is perfectly good.

That's marketing for you....

Originally posted by chrisV
A swift walk to immigration, and there were hoards of people still completing their green cards Ð WHY not do it on the plane, anywayÉ

My preferred method is (a) always get two cards per person to allow for the mistakes and (b) if you can do it before take off and the first alchohol of the day.

Thanks again.

Paul

Chris

thanks for trip report, will probably be doing same trip myself next Summer, nice to know you had good trip, and PE certainly sounds better now with the new service.

Lynne

Thanks for a great TR - it was good to hear lots of details on your experience with the new PE service.