VS043 LGW-LAS 2 MAY 11 (Premium Economy)
Posted: 17 May 2011, 12:26This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
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which I thought was a bit of a result. Never been downstairs in PE before so I was a little apprehensive.Got to LGW just after 8am – only one couple in front of me at check-in and I was called over to the UC desk. The check-in agent was a little stern although not in anyway rude or surly – but there were no niceties – she did not ask if we had packed the bags ourselves which I was surprised about. Disappointed I wasn’t SEQ1, got SEQ6 instead. My usual routine of then going to Weatherspoons for breakfast before ‘last puff saloon’ outside at the smoking area (really, how sodding far away is that eh?
– must be a half mile walk!) was scuppered when I saw that Gatwick Village has disappeared behind renovation boardings. 
So I had to go out for my last nicotine top-up before breakfast, I hate it when my routine is messed up. 
Didn’t bother using fast track security as it looked busier than upstairs security so we used that instead. Through in double quick time, didn’t have to take my trainers off and my bra didn’t set the metal detector thingy off. Which is a first. Time seemed to go by very quickly and after a quick trip round WHSmith for crisps, water and Viz it was down to the gate. Can’t remember which one. The gate number must have been up for a while as most people had already boarded when we got there. Straight onto (G-VTOP) Virginia Plain and the first time I have turned left – stopping a little short of UC though!I thought my seat, 82C, was a little bit wider than upstairs PE seats and I didn’t notice the foot rest (instead of the calf rest you get upstairs) until a couple of hours into the flight. Downstairs PE was much better than I was expecting and I would opt for this seat again on an outward journey (if rows 78, 79 and 80 were not available) but I think the sedate atmosphere of the bubble is better for a night flight. Took the sparkling wine on offer – after the first sip and gurn I found it slid down a treat. Unfortunately the entertainment system hadn’t been updated from April – and yet the seatback guide had the listing for May.
The captain gave one quick read through of what was on which channel, but he mumbled a bit and I didn’t catch most of it. Took off at 11:54am (by my watch) and were served a drink very quickly, I chose a beer but it must have slipped even quicker than the wine as I don’t actually have any recollection of it. 
Might have been Grolsch. A quick flick through the TV channels showed that the Skymap was the best bet. I would be devastated if they took the Skymap away – I’m one of those sad buggers who like to read an atlas and I always get a strange sense of excitement when I see Godthab show up on the Skymap. Just past Ireland the meal service began, I chose the Beef Hot Pot. It wasn’t great, bit tasteless really, and the Mediterranean vegetables were a joke, I counted 2 slices of courgette and a few sweetcorn kernels. Wished I’d chosen the vegetable Jalfrezi afterwards. The smoked salmon salad was nice – although I had a good sized portion of salmon the lettuce was minimal – one tiny piece of frisee, the wedge of lemon was bigger than the lettuce. The Belgian white chocolate and raspberry truffle was very tasty – normally I dislike white chocolate but this was delicious and not too sickly like those ghastly GU puddings Virgin used to serve. 
I had a glass of red which I think might have been topped up as well and a nice refreshing glass of sparkling water. The tea was a bit far behind – but still very much enjoyed – I’m a huge tea belly and I don’t think you get served nearly enough tea onboard – I once asked for a cup in economy to be told that “Hot drinks are only served at certain times” – never had the nerve to ask again… 
After the meal service my pre-ordered duty-free turned up. Nice one, got to accrue some miles from somewhere as this flight was a MpM fare and so I wasn’t earning any. There was a lot of through traffic from the economy section behind to the toilets. The CC made no attempt to stop them and the curtains were drawn very haphazardly. Crawley Town FC were onboard after their chairman promised them a trip to Vegas if they got promotion to the football league and although only one member of the team was in UC, 2 team members at a time went though to the UC bar for a drink throughout the flight. A lot of the crew passed down the aisle to the galley behind UC in a constant stream too, there was one very stroppy woman who had a face like thunder and a very aggressive attitude, it was like being back on US Airways! Fortunately she was not serving the small downstairs PE section. A very jolly man was dealing with this section but apart from meal/snack times he was nowhere to be seen. Whilst waiting to use the toilet at one point I had a quick glance over to UC and it looked quite comfy but not as posh as I was expecting, the only plus for me for the huge increase in price would be the lie-flat bed, and then probably only on the return journey. A hand written piece of paper was taped on the side of the galley in full view of anyone coming out of the toilet with the names of the UC passengers on and their meal choices and times they wanted to eat. I was a bit perturbed by that, hardly discreet and confidential.
I played blackjack on the games section on seat back for nearly an hour till I got bored – did this give me the confidence to have a go whilst in Vegas? Did it b*ll*cks!
I decided to give the Chronicles of Narnia The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a go and although I nodded off for 15 minutes at one point I was still following it – and at the end a very important scene with Aslan was drowned out by the captain making an announcement – so that was a waste of 2 hours then! Two choices of ice cream were offered; Haagen Dazs vanilla or Beechdean Strawberry (which was a considerably larger pot), obviously when it comes to ice cream quantity is more important than quality so I chose the strawberry. 
A hot wrap was offered at some point, I think it was chicken in a honey and mustard dressing; it was quite nice although it was a bit stuck to the cellophane. About 75 minutes before landing sandwiches were offered, I chose the Coronation Chicken. Very minimal filling, I had no idea chicken could be spread that thinly. Got a cookie too, that was nice and chewy. Tea was served – unfortunately in a tiny little tea cup – economy get large paper or plastic cups – when it comes to tea, again, quantity is important. I felt a bit diddled. Not nearly enough water and juice runs were made – and when they were only orange juice was offered, which I can’t drink as it’s too acidic, I did ask for an apple juice but I was told that they were only offering orange. Had a pear from the fruit bowl when it came round, my second bite revealed it was rotten – my sister’s apple had obviously been used to play tennis as under the skin it was completely bruised and brown. There was quite a bit of moderate turbulence which I quite like, it must be a similar experience to a baby being rocked to sleep, I find it soothing and relaxing. I always suffer terribly from the build up of altitude wind (please, someone tell me that I am not the only one…) – and I would like to apologise to anyone who might have been in a 2 metre radius of me – that terrible smell when we were over the eastern coast of Canada was me! I’m deeply ashamed. 
In order to prevent that from happening again during the flight I made myself very uncomfortable. 
We flew over the Hoover Dam during descent which was a nice view. The final approach into Vegas was the smoothest ever – no juddering which makes my boobs look like a scene out of Airplane! I quite missed the amusement value really.Landed about 15 minutes ahead of schedule, I think the captain told us it took us 9 hours 55 minutes, which is the fastest I think I’ve ever got to Vegas (this was my 9th visit). I managed to get off the plane before the UC passengers and most of the upstairs PE – most of the forward economy section had already disembarked though – despite the crippy tired legs from sitting down for over 10 hours I always find I’m incredibly speedy all the way to immigration.
Last year I was the first through immigration which resulted in a celebratory raise of hands and a jig, the year before that I was the second from last though. But this time, horror, an Aero Mexico flight hadn’t cleared immigration yet. It wasn’t as bad as it looked though; I think I was through immigration in about 15 minutes. A couple of Crawley Towners behind us said they couldn’t be bothered to wait for all their team mates to get through immigration (some were stuck at the back of the plane) and that they might walk with their luggage over to MGM Grand as it looked near. My sister and I quickly told them not to be fooled and to get a taxi! Our bags were through very quickly and I think we were some of the first out of the terminal – I didn’t have to share the smoking sand with anyone and the taxi queue was non-existent. Quick drive up to Treasure Island, speedy check-in there and straight up to the 28th floor to get the travel kettle on for a cup of tea and a damn good fart in private! 