This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Arrived at the airport and waited for about 15 minutes while the remnants of the Westlife wedding were checked in just goes to prove that he shortest queue is not always the fastest. But soon enough I was in the, overcrowded, lounge and having managed to secure a table next to the fridge of Banks was reasonably happy for the next hour and a half!
Flight was called on time so a quick beer and off to the gate. Priority boarding was being enforced and was soon in my seat. No sooner was I settled than I was asked whether I would mind moving as a couple had been split up and apparently I was the last chance as there were no other single travellers in PE. I do try to book aisle seat on purpose as I cant sleep on night flights and like to move about a bit without having to clamber over somebody every time I want to.
No bubbly was offered and the drinks service seemed to take longer than normal with the cart being wheeled back to the galley at regular intervals to, I presume, replenish stock. The same was true with the meal service. Had the shepherds pie which was basically beef stew/goulash with mash on top, but reasonably edible. The salad, however, was not but the dessert was OK.
The IFE was being a touch temperamental but after a reboot worked OK for a while until I pressed some button I guess I wasnt supposed to and managed to reset it a couple of times (I hope not for the whole aircraft).
The flight itself was uneventful and relatively smooth. There were a couple of juice/water runs and fruit was offered just after breakfast. The breakfast role was an improvement on what it used to be and the roll seemed to be over-generously filled with two very thick slices of bacon. The usual 20 minutes to landing announcement was made, swiftly followed by another saying we had got an earlier slot and that we would be descending more rapidly than usual. The cabin was secured in double quick time and by 05:20 we were on the ground.
Once at LGW the bags were arriving as I entered baggage reclaim and priority seemed to be working as mine was third or fourth off. Within half an hour I was at the station. 60 minutes later I was still at the station due to some overrunning engineering works. 90 minutes late I was finally on my way home. Welcome to public transport!
All in all the two flights were a definite improvement on previous trips. The cc were very attentive and were more visible than they had ever been in the bubble on the LGW config aircraft.
David
