VS011 LHR-BOS 27 NOV 11 (Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Typical post-Thanksgiving crush in queue at check-in which was evident at PE and UC as well. Grateful for once for being Silver, we joined the still lengthy but shorter PE queue and waited. When one man tried to jump the line he was told off by two others, who later saw him do the same thing at the UC line but staff after finding he was not traveling UC nor was he Gold made him wait a bit but did see him. We were seen efficiently and kindly, our bags tagged PE.

Return flight was shown as having a number of open seats at check -in but well over 300 pax onboard and 15 crew boarded.
Boarding was particularly pleasant as Frank Boston had made me welcome in the CH as a VF guest. Note to those worried about the responsibility of gold card holders who foolishly invite a stranger to the CH, I believe that my behavior was of standard, I did not shout, drink too much nor throw things and CH staff thoughtfully offered my partner a pay-pass as well which meant he could very happily see the start of the Swansea/Aston Villa (draw) while sat at the bar.

We filed down with the CH group and joined the long Y queue which boarded smoothly, only to discover that our check-in seats had changed to one in H and one in A. Crew advised us to ask if the passenger seated next to us would mind changing and while the gentleman near me declined, my partner's kindly made the change. There was more than enough overhead bin room for everyone without the usual appeal by crew to be thoughtful about placing items which could go under the seat. Safety instructions were delivered by humans rather than video.

The aircraft had the new livery, new Y seats, V Port—and new Y menu. Very happy to have V Port (and the Y screens seemed bigger than PE?) but not as happy with film selections which still seem thin, while tv usually offered just one episode of any show.

Unlike our outward trip, crew were in evidence, clearly assigned to the Y cabin rather than an afterthought to upfront.
(edited in as have just received my online copy of well red which advises me that,"Our Economy meal experience has just got a fabulous makeover. You’ll find cleverly designed innovations and sprinkles of theatrical glamour.From a Welcome Cocktail, to food that’s served in courses to give you time to enjoy it properly, and from sweet bowls to Hot Chocolate – you’ll be able to taste a seriously delicious difference."

Hmmm...no welcome cocktail, no sweet bowl (unless it's the same old,same old sweet bowl—the one with wisdom smarties?) and no hot chocolate. Not sure where the theatrical glamour came on, must have missed it?

As I had eaten well in the CH, I was only intellectually interested to see if the last experience with the "new" Y menu would be just a bad glitch—the first hint that it might not have been was the absence of —a menu. We were given three courses—a salad and roll to start but no beverage. After a bit those were collected and later still dinner was served but with no menu and no announcement it was the usual chicken or beef or pasta—but there was no pasta. By this time I was a little hungry again (or likely bored from sitting). Offered an option to wait to see if there was any veggie alternative left after PE were done, I think I may have been forgotten and when dessert was later brought around (GU—which I know many people love but I don't at all love GU) I was offered a jacket potato which was duly delivered and consumed along with another salad. I actually thought this would have been a fine airplane meal if it had come filled with say, some cheese or black beans.
My partner had the chicken dish which looked pretty small and he counted the bits of chicken as totaling four very small ones tucked into carrots and sauce. As far as I can tell the size of the salad has increased (fine with me) but the actual meal size has seriously decreased. No cheese, no biscuits. A crew member kindly filled my water bottle for me.

Wine came in plastic cups with the meal and another made with second round of tea and water. A couple of hours later a "Skinny Cow" ice cream was served, a poor sort of pretend substitute for a Ben and Jerry's which are likely cheaper and easier to transport and keep cold but neither dreamy nor creamy despite the assertion of Nestle who manufacture it under the Weight Watchers' approval scheme . I am not sure if we were meant to have any tea sandwiches as there was no menu but in fact there was no tea served.

My seat was really quite comfortable, with plenty of leg room as the passenger seated in front of me never reclined but it looked to me as though there is less of a recline option available on these seats, a good thing. I slept well for a couple of hours, the flight was smooth despite winds that got us in early and we disembarked to the same odd autumn weather as London.

Thanks for the TR! The BOS CH is a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours pre-flight in what is a pretty drab terminal otherwise!

Seemed like a solid and relatively short flight!