V-Flyer

Hi Everyone this is my first trip report so please be gentle with me!
My parents and I usually travel to DXB about once a year and we were able to get a good deal for PE with miles and money, so Dad and I were able to surprise a happy mother when we reached the terminal! We were straight away told to go to UC Check-In (despite being PE) and the woman was thoroughly efficient with checking in my mother's wheelchair and the baggage. We enquired for the UC upgrade price, which was £1,110 each which seemed very steep so we refused!!
After a quick scavenge around duty free, we noticed they had removed the TGI Fridays very disappointing, but were able to get a quick bite at the eating house which was quite reasonable. The gate (number 32) opened very quickly at 8:45 and boarding was called soon after. The ground crew again were excellent and very friendly with the special assistance.
After embarking we were immediately offered a round of drinks, which were Orange Juice, Apple Juice and Sparkling wine which were often topped up!!We were then given the menu which had the menu choices of: Chicken breast in a parsley herb butter, lee and potato gratin with baby carrots and broccoli, Beef chilli with mixed spice, white rice and bell peppers and the vegetarian option was Woodland mushroom fresh pasta ravioli with arrabiata sauce. I chose the beef and unfortunately instead of beef chilli it was more of a beef puree with the occasional kidney bean with mushy rice . My mother had the ravioli which she said was delicious . I was surprised not to be given the gu chocolate pots; instead we were given passion fruit puddings which were very sweet but quite edible . Another small issue was with the IFE, despite being V-PORT it took the captain about 2 hours to start it properly with constant restarts being necessary. However, there was an excellent choice of films! The cabin crew were helpful throughout the flight offering drink runs with a torch to those of us who couldn't sleep and after dinner liquors. They were a real credit to VS, when we went to LAS last year they left us in the dark for about 7 hours . The new PE seats are very comfortable when upright, but when you recline and the passenger in front does it seems to restrict the leg room making it quite tricky to sleep! 1 hour before landing in DXB we were offered a full English breakfast which turned out to be a sad sausage in a tomato puree with a lump of solid scrambled egg (but the tea was lovely!) Despite, the food issues it was a very enjoyable flight and I'm looking forward to the return leg .

Great first TR, always like to hear of a good "surprise" story!

No wonder v port took 2 hours to work if the captain was working it! Lol

Thanks for the TR

It is the FSM that is responsible for starting the IFE not the Captain, but two hours is still to long, I can only assume there was an issue with it.

Neil

Thank you for the TR.

Thanks for your TR and great use of emo's your a seasoned writer of TR's already

Luke085 wrote:
No wonder v port took 2 hours to work if the captain was working it! Lol

Took the words right out of my mouth!!

Thanks for the TR Stephen, glad you enjoyed the flight.

StephenP wrote:After embarking we were immediately offered a round of drinks, which were Orange Juice, Apple Juice and Sparkling wine which were often topped up!!

You did well with the drinks - its the first time I have heard of the apple juice option in the PE welcome drinks round - and usually its just one glass of sparkling wine with no top-ups!

I hope the "sad sausage" cheers up for the return journey

Cheers

Martin

Always good to see a trip report to DXB. Where are you staying whilst you are here?

Hi Stephen and welcome to V-Flyer

Thanks for the TR

I know that being able to surprise somebody at the airport that they are travelling in a higher class, is a wonderful feeling. I do hope that mum enjoyed the upgrade

Pity that TGIs has gone from T3 - just like Frankie and Bennys at Gatwick, it may not be a Michelin Star place, but at least it provided some basic (and hopefully well cooked) stuff

Seems like you must have needed something to eat by the time you arrived at your destination

Thanks once again

buns

Thanks all for the feedback back in England now but I'm just writing up my trip report. We stayed at the Dar Al Masyaf, which is part of the Jumeirah group and was excellent, very similar to the Jumeirah Beach but more quiet and relaxing!

Thanks and congrats on a great first trip report.