This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Had pre booked an exit row seat in EC but earlier in the week I had called the Fc to enquire about swapping to the earlier flight. was quoted $51 to change flights and $650 to upgrade (No EC availablity). No ta.I was also advised the later flight was 'nearly empty in EC' -oh no it wasnt (more later)anyway on the Saturday I happened to be 3 miles from LGW and decided to pop in for Twilight CI and see what was on offer.
Both the desk and CI were empty and a very pleasant and helpful VS employee checked into my request. good news the upgrade was now only £249 BUT horror the flight swap was now £229 !! So again no ta. was advised to ask again in the morning as to cost of a plain old upgrade on the later flight as 'it will only go down from now'.
In the meantime I did the twilight check in and secured 25C which is about as good as it gets -main thing being first off the plane.
Anyway come Sunday and as I steer towards the desk ,i resist the temptation and stick with what I have.
I used the upstairs security which was emptier and quicker and was soon into the no 1 lounge.
now this is normally first class but sadly today I got the 'I cant really speak English' employee
I ordered a cappucino and sparkling water only to be told 'no water the machine has broken' WHAT
then a request for the Ceasar Salad got 'not sure if we do it I will ask'20 minutes later my coffee arrives 'did you ask about the salad ' I enquire 'yes'...'ok was it available?' ..'yes' (you starting to get the drift?) 'so how long will it be ?'...oh I didnt order it i just asked if they could do it'!!!!
WELL can I have one pronto please..............
a further 20 minutes, no food and final boarding called so off i go in a huff facing 9 hours without sustenance -not happy.and no one at the desk to complain to.
On reaching gate 13 there was a small queue but all handled ok and advised to go straight on board.
All looked good for a prompt departure and empty flight but oh no, I then overhear a FA saying EC is crushed -this was in response to one of many requests to 'sort seats out' so families could sit together.Eventually all 444 pax on board and then panic. 'Would the pax who changed seats from 45x please make herself known' -repeated ......3 times, each one sounding more frantic , then the Captain comes on, then the FSM starts rushing round the plane with a handbag (not his colour
)...turns out the lady had left her bag when GS relocated her, the next pax found it and of course ,major security alert kicked in. To make things worse she allegedly couldnt hear the PA. luckily they were eventually reunited and we JUST made our slot.Take off was 1.20 and we were soon headed west. Announcement made that FC were 2 down in EC and that whilst not all services would be as usual they would do thier best.
This was an understatment as the whole Fc superbly led by one fo the best FSM's I have had (a guy called D.....) worked their socks off.he certainly didnt shirk helping out dishing out food and drink and taking round rubbish bags.
All I think that got missed were the pre meal drinks (done together) and any other drinks runs, but all in all they were bloody superb and always had a smile on their faces.
On to the flight , had two very pleasant neighbours and spent ages chatting and playing games on the guys Ipad. The American lady stuck in the middle had a great sense of humour and the flight passed remarkably quickly. I never watched the IFE - which was wise as the picture was awful, like the old tellys that were not tuned in right -hence the poor mark.
landing into MCo was smooth and the doors openend at 5.05 with me being 3rd off and first to immigration and ....an empty hall. through in 5 minutes , no bags
, up onto the monorail and by 5.25 I was in my car and out the airport. perfectSo my reflection on the seat, it was pretty damn OK , if i could guarantee 25C everytime I think EC would be manageable on the E-W day flights. leg room superb, width a bit cramped but ok, food poor (cumberland pie and coro chicken sandwich) but not worth an extra £250 for a bit of grub and of course the booze was irrelevant because I am still 'dry' after 13 days -this is getting very worrying. However i must say I have felt so much better the last 2 flights for not drinking , I might just........
nah surely not.all in all a pretty good flight -thanks to a superb FSM and crew
Last edited by flabound on 31 May 2011, 15:25, edited 1 time in total.
