V-Flyer

Having suffered the long flights to and from the UK from Australia in Economy over the last 10 years, I made the decision to try Virgin’s Premium Economy product for my visit this year. As a frequent user of Virgin Blue domestically within Australia and having spoken to a friend who flies this route twice a year in Upper, I was confident of a good experience. I started reading the V-Flyer forums in January this year but due to various issues I was never able to register (had the Invalid Token issue). Anyway, having arrived in the UK I was able to become a member on my Mum’s computer and can finally start to contribute to the great forums. I have honestly gained so much information from this website – the trip reports were great, I used the seat ratings, load checker – everything!

After checking in online exactly 24 hours before the flight (and getting SEQ 1 – another thing I picked up from this forum), I flew into Sydney from Brisbane on the morning of Tuesday Sept 7th and used the train transfer from the Domestic terminal to the International terminal ($5 one way). I found the Virgin Check in desks (Area H I think) but they hadn’t yet opened for check-in. I asked for some PE luggage tags and they were very polite and helpful sorting me out. I waited at the check-in area for the desks to open as I wanted to drop off my bag before settling down for some food. We only had to wait about 20 minutes and I was second in line for PE check in. The process was very quick and I asked about the load (just out of interest – I wasn’t looking to upgrade or anything) and was told the load was light from Sydney to Hong Kong but heavier from Hong Kong to London. After grabbing a quick snack from the cafes before security I headed through (quick and painless) and had a browse around the shops and grabbed a coffee.

We were called to the gate on time and boarding was very fast (I like the priority queue!)onto VS201 Sweet Dreamer (G-VSSH). As I had been told, the load was very light – there were only 10 passengers in PE and I think about 50 to 75 in Economy. I also think Upper was light – but can’t be sure. I was really impressed with the seat and the amount of space – especially between adjacent seats – no knocking elbows here! We were offered sparkling wine or orange juice as soon as we were seated which was great. Take off was on time and very smooth.

After take off I asked if we were allowed to move seats(I was in 19H) – only because I was seated in front of an older lady and wanted to recline fully and didn’t want to make her feel squashed – especially as there was so much room. I moved to 21F and had a row of three seats to myself with no one behind. I spent the whole flight fully reclined and enjoyed the entertainment.

We were fed promptly and I had the Beef Bourguignon with roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli. There was a pumpkin and couscous salad as well as a warm roll. Desert was apple crumble cake – which I don’t like so didn’t eat. The meal was very tasty – which was surprising having read quite a few reports of bad food on VS. Plenty of tea and coffee offered as well as alcoholic and soft drinks. We also were offered the post-meal Baileys (yum) or a Whiskey (I think).

My game plan for the long trip was to stay awake ‘til HKG and then have a shower and try to sleep on the HKG to LHR leg. I managed to stick to my plan and was well entertained by the V-Port system. Plenty of movies, documentaries, TV shows etc. The flight went really fast and we were soon served a very delicious ham quiche about an hour before landing. It was great – I could eat those all day! The service was top notch – very attentive mostly Asian crew – probably made easier for them by the light load – but still I thought they were great. I was asked to complete a questionnaire and did so – praising them appropriately. We landed early in HKG (not sure of the exact time but we had about an extra 45 mins on the ground). I had booked a shower in the Traveller’s Lounge – West Hall (which was very hard to find) as I didn’t have access to the lounges (no gold status or Upper Class travel). I’m so glad I did, HKG was sticky even in the middle of the night and I felt much refreshed afterwards and changed into some comfy clothes to try and get some sleep on the next leg. Boarding was efficient and on time once again and we had a much fuller plane for the final leg. I think there were 4 or 5 spare seats in PE and Economy seemed full-ish. I was back in 19H and after take-off and the next meal service (chicken breast with potato wedges, pumpkin and peas, profiteroles and cheese and biscuits) I settled back in my seat for a sleep. Seven hours later I woke up!! That is the longest sleep I have ever had on a flight and was very comfortable and restful. I stayed relaxed and comfortable and watched a few shows and listened to some music and played some games until they turned the lights back on and served breakfast! I had the dim sum with noodles (delicious again). They came round frequently with water/juice and also tea/coffee and made sure to offer a drink and snack to people individually as they awoke. Excellent service. We landed about 25 minutes early and disembarkation was fast. I now only carry an Australian passport so had to join the mammoth non-EU queue and it took perhaps 45 minutes to clear immigration. However, my bag came into view as soon as I stepped up to the carousel so I had no waiting around.

All in all an excellent experience. I will NEVER fly economy again and will keep my eyes peeled for an Upper Class sale next time I fly to Europe. For the first time ever I am not dreading the flight back to Australia. Well done Virgin Atlantic!

I hope I remembered everything – my trip home is on 22nd Sept (VS200) and I will post a TR then – assuming I can log in from Aus.

Also, just in case it is of interest to anyone, I used a Humidiflyer mask for the whole trip over – it is a mask with a humidifier attached to the bottom and increases the air humidity to better than the 25% normally on board. I truly believe this made a massive difference to how I felt/slept/recovered from the flight. I am not in any way associated with the product – but highly recommend it to anyone who like me suffers from terrible dryness/nosebleeds etc usually on long haul flights. They were recommended to me by a colleague who works with the Australian Olympic swimming team and they all use them for International and Domestic flying.

Fantastically detailed TR with somse useful tips. What a great way to start your VFlyer membership - welcome!

Firstly, welcome to V-Flyer Sorry you had issues joining us, and if you do have any problems once you are back home, just drop us an email and we will endeavour to sort for you.

Thanks for the TR, sounds like you had a great flight.

kingt wrote:All in all an excellent experience. I will NEVER fly economy again and will keep my eyes peeled for an Upper Class sale next time I fly to Europe.

That echoes the path of many a V-Flyer, it is tough to go back to Y after you have flown higher.

Thank you for the great first TR.

As for the comment of never flying Economy again. I'll have to echo that from personal experience from my first time this year in PE and UC. My bank balance will never be the same again.

Hi kingt, welcome to V-Flyer and thank you for your excellent TR.

As for your first flight on VS and obtaining SEQ1 - well, the word LEGEND is coming to mind.

Really enjoyed your TR, thank you for posting and sooo glad you had an excellent flight. I've only done SYD in Upper, so can heartily recommend your looking for the sales!

Cool TR, real nifty.

Getting SEQ 001 is definitely uber cool!

Personally, I would love to try P.E. or U.C. one day with VS, been saving my miles with things like the VS AMEX. Just haven't decided to go to P.E. or head all the way to the top.

Humidifier mask great idea. I suffer from terrible dryness in my nose when i fly but there seems to be cure at last. Vain part of me hopes it doesnot look too scary! Must google it now.

Great TR glad you had such a goodun, oh yeah and welcome to V-flyer!

cheers

alex

Thank you! A brilliant first report and for an itinerary where we don't get that many reviews. I'm glad you persevered with registering.

Regards
R3dV

Again, welcome to the v-flyer community - I think you'll find us quite a happy and helpful bunch. Great TR too, thanks.

Welcome to the site and thank you for a great TR .The loads from HKG - SYD and return seem to vary whilst the LHR -HKG seeems to be constant (ie pretty full) . On my recent trip to SYD there were 15 of us in UC (PE was aboult half full) for the HKG-SYD leg, but on the return SYD -HKG all three cabins were rammed full (and the same on to LHR) with staffers on jump seats for the whole journey.
I heartily agree with you that DJ are a great airline .
Keep your eyes peeled for some UC sale fares (they do occasionally appear on the SYD route).Hope the return trip next week is as good.
DL

Thanks for the great TR and welcome to V-Flyer

Welcome to V-Flyer. I loved your TR and was particularly interested as this is my favourite route.

Thank you all for your great welcome and comments. I'm glad to write up my TR as I gained so much prior to flying from the other TRs and great advice offered on this forum. I will likely be doing this trip at least once per year (hopefully in Upper at least once!) and often head to the US with work and look forward to trying Virgin America for that route.

Thanks again.

kingt

Welcome to the V-Flyer community and thanks for a smashing TR

You have my admiration for doing the SYD - LHR trip in one hit But you seemed to have succumbed to the the V-Flyer Virus of "once tried - never go back"

Thanks once again

buns

Thanks for the TR. Despite its advantages, not sure I'd want to spend an entire flight with THIS on my face...

I've done LHR-SYD-LHR a number of times, in UC, PE and yes even Y. UC is the only way - or in my case more recently, Business Class with SIA

Great read, and welcome..
Sounds like you've got the bug now..
Given these longhauls in PE, you should start racking those miles, and try and grab them from where ever you can, it could prove fruitful if you keep amassing for that "next trip", save them up and go for a UG to UC..

NH