This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I changed my flight from from the VS009 to the VS045 the day before I flew. I was flying on miles.
I was charged the 25 admin fee. Fair enough.
I tried to do OLCI but the system wouldn't let me. I rang VA & was very politely informed that this was because the ticket office doesn't work weekends & to collect my ticket from the relevant desk the following day.
I went to the ticket desk & was attended to immediately. I then went to a check-in booth & the system wouldn't let me check-in . I spoke to a VA attendant floating around & was politely informed to return to the ticket desk.
This I did & was checked in quickly although the staff member did say they had been told not to check pax in this way. However, she was happy to assist me. Ho hum. Never mind. In all this whole process didn't take 10mins.
Went through security in 10 mins or so, excellent.[^]
I went to the clubhouse courtesy of the posting by Jilly from 'Matterbox'.
I was checked off their list & entered tranquility.
My coat & bag were checked into storage.
I went to Cowshed to see if I could change my hair appointment as I was taking the earlier flgiht but no joy so I had to cancel my haircut (looked like a sheep dog for 4 days). I booked a 15min head & neck massage instead.
I had a late breakfast of scrambled eggs & smoked salmon which was excellent. I then went for a walk around duty free for a while.
When I returned I had my cowboy boots cleaned & left a tip.
Then I went for my treatment which was excellent, again left a tip.
Time for a glass of bubbles overlooking the planes (saddo).
Then I had an early light lunch of smoked salmon & couscous, again excellent. Another glass of bubbles was needed I thought. [y][:w]
The flight was called on time & by the time I reached the departure gate there were only half a dozen people in front of me for the final security check before boarding.
I couldn't see what plane it was but by that stage I didn't care - sorry.[:w]
My seat was 30A. Now this was booked deliberately but with hesitation. I wanted to be quick off the plane at JFK, BUT I wondered if I would be disturbed by galley noise/chatter/ reheated food pongs. I wasn't at all.
The crew worked efficiently without cackling & squawking. The crew were very good indeed.[y]
We were a bit late taking off but no matter.
I didn't really have much food as I had eaten in the clubhouse, far superior!
The flight was good, I watched Atonement & then Michael Clayton, after that I didn't fancy any other films so had a doze[|)]
I asked a crew member if it was possible to let a VA staff member at JFK know that I was coming in on the ealier flight & they said that it was no problem.
I had a small gift for the VA staff member as they had gone above & beyond the call of duty to get me on board the last flight of the day AFTER ALL THE CHECK IN DESKS HAD CLOSED, when I was flying out of JFK after taking an internal flight last November.
Landing was fine.
The VA staff member was at the door to greet me. It was lovely to see the person for a few moments. I didn't stay to chat tooooo long as I wanted to get through immigration.
Immigration yuk, yuk, yuk.[:$] 2 planes had landed just before mine so there must have been 600 people in the queue.
HOWEVER, it was moving quickly. I was shuffling along all the time. Fortunately, I was taken out of the queue & put in one with only 2 people in front of me.[;)]
I had travelled with hand baggage only & zipped through to customs & waited perhaps 3 mins.
I met my friend & we had a brill time in NY[:)]
The fact that I was so very fortunate to access the clubhouse & enjoy it's delights meant that I was very chilled & this put me in a good mood for the whole flight.
As I said, the crew were good.
The whole experience was excellent. This is why I remain loyal to VA.
My thanks to all those VA staff that I encountered.[y][^][:D]
