VS075 MAN-MCO 2 OCT 11 (Premium Economy)
Posted: 17 Oct 2011, 19:32This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
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I specifically chose the new Airbus for this trip, mainly to see what all the hype about. Not only that but there were rumours of people from Hull on the prior days MCO's so we played it safe..
We’d dragged mini out of school for this trip, as logistics for both our works meant it was likely the only time family hols could be taken before Feb next year. School agreed, so no guilty feeling, and we knew the overall worldly knowledge gained would outstrip the actual learning experience missed at school, her knowledge of the Simpsons and perils and visual reminders of a junk food and fizzy pop diet did need re-enforcing.
About a week prior to trip, we’d had some devastating news from close family, to the extent there was a risk the trip may need to be cancelled, mrs NH had to fly to Spain and we would need to re-convene at MAN the evening before departure (as had planned a night at Bewleys/ parking etc anyway). This set up meant that yours truly had to pack for the whole family…
.A frightening thought for us guys out there…Lists were emailed back and forth and the night before the advantages of Skype were evident as a held up items of clothing to the screen asking “is this it 
” only to be shot down in flames! 
I packed up the car and myself & mini made the Trans Pennine trawl, timing being ideal for the arrival of Mrs. landing into MAN, her flight was early, so all arranged to meet at Bewleys…checked-in, dumped bags and went out, a detour via David Lloyds for emergency haircut, and then onto Trafford Centre for tea…A much more civilised way of spending the late afternoon/early evening.
I’d not been able to OLCI mini again…
this becoming tiresome, so would need to do at MAN in am. Maybe because she is a child…although more likely due to mixed surnames on our booking?The morning arrived, check-in area seemed less chaotic than of late, and had short wait for PE desks, chk-in complete and row 19 chosen, 18 had already gone, although think this was a wise move (see later).
Decamped to The Escape Lounge after security, for some light breakfast and a seat. Before long upped sticks & made our way to gate, right at the far end of the terminal, this I prefer as it is an additional excuse to walk some more energy out of mini. We decided to board early as needed to grab some locker space.
The a/c was pleasant enough, underwhelming, we’d flown a lot from LHR so the leather purple set up was well known to us. Being a 3 we tend to sit in the middle and this is where I was glad we’d not gone down the row 18 route…as the extra area in front of these seats was used as a constant cut-through, as CC tried to keep curtain closed on right-hand side of A/C. The flight was full.
IFE was extremely good, didn’t really use any of the plug-in options, the touch screen system did work fairly well, although did stick a couple of times when trying to flick through. Resolution and sound very good
The flight did seem a lot bumpier than any other trip we’d done, possibly weather and not the smaller a/c?The Front Loos….
As above, the right-hand curtain was attempted to be kept closed as much as possible, and intermittently the left-hand side. This in turn meant those on the right kept scooting across row 18’s leg area…
There was a good few tentative approaches into the secret curtained area, usually followed by a quick return and a glimpse of an orange hand pointing towards the rear loos like some sort of weird puppet show. Some however seemed a bit savvier, and held their ground, to find the loo in full operation. It has to be agreed that the layout is stupid and very badly planned.Another point of interest there are 4 reading lights above the middle seats, but only 3 seats, so to turn the extra one off, you need to stand and press a small button next to it to turn it off. The lack of overhead locker space was constantly being moaned about when we boarded as stuff was frantically crammed in.
Meals and service were usual PE offerings, and of no major note. Kids pack offered, but handed back so mini offered her child’s miles bonus. Immigration and luggage reclaim very swift with Richard Branson himself handing us our bags and priority offload for both pax and bags worked well. (Note couple of teasers in that last part…
)The Hertz AU canopy working like clockwork and within ¾ hr from getting off a/c seat we were driving down Boggy Creek Road…Would I want to do the airbus again? Bubble still a better environment; although the worn seats and associated risk on legroom & knackered IFE drives me mad, I’d probably be happy with either.
NH
