VS076 MCO-MAN 23 DEC 11 (Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Our week floating round the Caribbean on a rather large ship, followed by 2 weeks of theme parks & shopping flew round all too quickly & we found ourselves at Downtown Disney divesting ourselves of our luggage in order to avoid the later airport scrum. The check in staff were running late, so it was almost 9am by the time we said goodbye to our bags & headed off for brekkie.

We were returning on the A330, having flown out on a 747, but knew from the fact the seat map was unavailable for weeks beforehand, that the flight would probably be full.

We were allocated 50 b/c/d. Wasn't bothered as we planned to try & sleep most of the way home anyway.

We noticed that all the cabin crew were self decorated in Christmas attire as they boarded, which was a nice touch. We boarded on time & got our first look at the A330.

First thing I noticed was that in addition to being a fair bit smaller than the 747, my knees were resting on the seat in front. I am only 5'4" and have never come remotely close to "kneeing my neighbour" on the 747. Master-F, at 6'0"ft was performing amazing contortions in order to get comfortable - again, he has always be comfortable on the 747.

The cabin crew meandered round with menus & headsets - my side of the row receiving them some 10 minutes after my hubby & son.

The meal was served & I can only say it was VILE . As I said, I have never been a fan of VS food, but Mr-F refused to eat it & that has never happened. The salad was diferent to what was listed on the menu, as was the desert. Drinks service was painfully slow & the cabin crew (particularly on my side of the aisle) were slower than a 3 legged tortoise. It meant that my family were eating (or not) at different times.

Once the meal was cleared away - tea or hot chocolate was offered. No coffee...what's that all about? The cabin crew made many trips to the galley for coffee whilst trying to smile through gritted teeth.

And so to sleep......or not! As we attempted to get a few hours rest, Mr-F looked across to me & I across at him. Both of us asking the same question. How on earth is one meant to sleep when the person behind is prodding and poking at your headrest in order to navigate the IFE???

The little "treasure" behind Mr-F continued his assault on the screen for some 4 hours, I got off lighter with around 3 hours of the woman behind me poking me by proxy.

About halfway during the flight, the cabin crew came down my aisle with water or juice. They ran out as the got to the guy on my left....went away and never came back! They never bothered with Mr-F's side at all. When I went to the galley to ask for 3 ojs', for the first time EVER on a VS flight, I was made to feel that I was being a nuisance.

Thankfully, it was a short flight - less than 7 hours after take off, we had attempted to digest breakfast (some butter with the croissant would be nice) & were coming into land - (the front half of the plane being given sweets before landing, whilst the back half was left without.) Just as well it was a quick flight, as much longer & the kid behind Mr-F was going into orbit without any help from Virgin-Galactic!

We have vowed to not set foot on the A330 again - unless there really is no alternative. It was cramped & uncomfortable. I cannot believe that no one thought of the annoyance a touch screen IFE system could cause to the person in front. The cabin crew were the worst we have ever had on a VS flight, by a country mile & although that wasn't a fault with the aircraft, it just compounded a poor experience.

Sorry to hear your bad experience, it's never fun to have darling little ones behind you especially when they insist on kicking the seats and just in general aren't well behaved.
By the way I think I was on that same flight but in PE and had a great experience, I guess we got the good crew members.

[buns]

Mrs F

What a sad experience VS are proclaiming the 330 as the bees knees (pun intended ) but your very helpful TR goes to show that the seat pitch is not something to look forward to and the poking the state of the art IFE may not be so good after all.


Of course not have a crew that were on the ball, did not help either

Once again, thnaks for sharing your experience - it will be valuable to those planning that trip to Disney

buns

Thank you for the TR, sorry to read it wasn't a good experience.

Thanks for the TR. Shame the service let you down. Would you recommend extra leg room seats on the A330 then?

By the way I think I was on that same flight but in PE and had a great experience, I guess we got the good crew members.

Interesting that on the same flight the experience is noted as so different ... can that be solely down to the crew on different aisles?

You'll no doubt be delighted to learn that the new 'JAM' IFE system is going to be the one fitted to the whole Gatwick/Manchester 747 fleet when it's re-fitted this spring/summer!

Mrs-F - thanks for posting your TRs.

Sounds like the return leg VS CBA bug strikes again...and I know from personal experience how it is when different members of the family get their meal service at such different times. It shouldn't matter, but it seems to make everything difficult somehow...

And, yes, it is all about the crew (unless IFE not working, food not loaded etc which they can't do anything about).

Also, once something annoys you about the service, it just seems to exacerbate the niggles from there - you notice everything and it just builds up...

You'll no doubt be delighted to learn that the new 'JAM' IFE system is going to be the one fitted to the whole Gatwick/Manchester 747 fleet when it's re-fitted this spring/summer!

I am obviously completely chuffed to know this IFE is going to blight the 747 fleet as well. So much so, this year we will be crossing the Atlantic by Ship & only flying back....I intend to book the flights home very soon, so that we can try & nab some seats at the back of the plane - so no one is sat behind us.

Thanks for the TR. Shame the service let you down. Would you recommend extra leg room seats on the A330 then?

I am only a 30" leg & I was "snug". So yes, I would recommend extra legroom. This, however, will do nothing to solve the problem with the headrests being continually poked due to the IFE.

First of all, thanks for the TR I am wondering if anyone from VS reads these excellent, honest and open TR's?? If they don't then they are missing an awesome opportunity to see what the passengers think - both postively and negatively.

Your flight sounds horrible with not very many positives to take from it I hope your next one is far better

We travelled in premium economy in December, after our flight out on a A330 we changed our seating on the way back to the last row because on people navigating their way through the IFE with a heavy hand!

I emailed virgin to let them know about this, as on a night flight you don't want someone prodding the back of your seat

Thanks for the TR Mrs-F, shame about the poor service - no excuse for that. Did they announce that they were short of crew, or was it just CBA attitude to use Concorde's expression?

What I don't understand about the VS touchscreen IFE is that I have flown many times on Virgin America with their excellent Red touchscreen system and yet I have never been aware of any pokey-pokey activity behind my head. Is the VS version much less responsive so people are forced to bash it to get a response? I'll get to try the VS version in April when I head out to Orlando for a conference, but until then its all 346s for me.

Thanks for sharing your TR with us all. What a disappointing experience with the crew and the IFE. Let VS know about your experience.

JAM is going to be installed on the LGW/MAN fleet of 747s this Summer as we know.

In terms of VS reading our TRs, I would certainly say they do especially as it is such a valuable resource from generally loyal people......

Jon

Mrs F, as mentined in my private msg, I am so sorry for your not so nice return flight. We crew can be slowed down during the meal service, and here is a very typical scenario. Enjoy

Mum: What did you say it is again?
VS: Chicken and rice, beef and veg
Mum: What is the veg?
VS: Not sure, <<walks three rows behind to check>>
VS: Peas and carrots
Mum: Oh Billy doesn't like peas
Billy, it's peas with beef. Do you want the chicken and rice?
Billy: Don't like rice
Mum: Do you have any children's meals?
VS: Did you order one?
Mum: No, at least I don't think so. Can you check?
VS: Goes to galley to check manifest. Can't find it, no doubt other crew member checking
Three minutes later still searching. Ah there it is stuffed behind the orange juice
VS: No, no child's meal ordered. What would you like Billy?
Billy: Don't know. Don't like anything.
Mum: Stop whingeing now. What do you want
Billy <<shouting> Nothing. I don't want nothing.
Mum: Just you wait until we get to Orlando you miserable little .....
Tiffany what do you want?
Tiffany: Can I have the chicken with peas and carrots
VS: It is rice with the chicken
Tiffany: I don't like rice. I want peas
VS: <<getting irritated to say the least> CHICKEN AND RICE OR BEEF WITH CARROTS AND PEAS
Mum: <<to husband>> What are you having Rocky?
<<mum pulls headphones off Rocky who was oblivious to everything>>
Mum: ROCKY WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Rocky: What did you say it was again?
Mum: What did you say it was love?

Time to go and bang head against lav door

I kid you not, this is a very typical conversation, and multiply that by six for each meal service. It can slow down the service, as you can imagine. But again Mrs F, so sorry about your return flight.

Thanks for the TR. Shame the service let you down. Would you recommend extra leg room seats on the A330 then?

I am only a 30" leg & I was "snug". So yes, I would recommend extra legroom. This, however, will do nothing to solve the problem with the headrests being continually poked due to the IFE.

Thanks for the advice. I think that's what I might do.

Maybe touchscreen IFEs only make sense in UC where there's no headrests to be prodded when navigating

[Darren Wheeler]

Or other passengers show respect to the person in front anD "touch" not incessantly "jab"?

A great pity that VS did not listen to all the warnings and expression of concern about these touch screens made on this site well BEFORE they were installed.

If only VS would do some market research with their customers before they finalise new developments. Just hope they do better with the new UCS.

Mrs F, as mentined in my private msg, I am so sorry for your not so nice return flight. We crew can be slowed down during the meal service, and here is a very typical scenario. Enjoy

Mum: What did you say it is again?
VS: Chicken and rice, beef and veg
Mum: What is the veg?
VS: Not sure, <<walks three rows behind to check>>
VS: Peas and carrots
Mum: Oh Billy doesn't like peas
Billy, it's peas with beef. Do you want the chicken and rice?
Billy: Don't like rice
Mum: Do you have any children's meals?
VS: Did you order one?
Mum: No, at least I don't think so. Can you check?
VS: Goes to galley to check manifest. Can't find it, no doubt other crew member checking
Three minutes later still searching. Ah there it is stuffed behind the orange juice
VS: No, no child's meal ordered. What would you like Billy?
Billy: Don't know. Don't like anything.
Mum: Stop whingeing now. What do you want
Billy <<shouting> Nothing. I don't want nothing.
Mum: Just you wait until we get to Orlando you miserable little .....
Tiffany what do you want?
Tiffany: Can I have the chicken with peas and carrots
VS: It is rice with the chicken
Tiffany: I don't like rice. I want peas
VS: <<getting irritated to say the least> CHICKEN AND RICE OR BEEF WITH CARROTS AND PEAS
Mum: <<to husband>> What are you having Rocky?
<<mum pulls headphones off Rocky who was oblivious to everything>>
Mum: ROCKY WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Rocky: What did you say it was again?
Mum: What did you say it was love?

Time to go and bang head against lav door

I kid you not, this is a very typical conversation, and multiply that by six for each meal service. It can slow down the service, as you can imagine. But again Mrs F, so sorry about your return flight.

I empathise with you. As a passenger I can get VERY annoyed with parents (usually fathers) who immerse themselves in their own little world whilst their kiddies wreak havoc.

Perhaps a spot of hot coffee spilt in the lap area................

A great pity that VS did not listen to all the warnings and expression of concern about these touch screens made on this site well BEFORE they were installed.

If only VS would do some market research with their customers before they finalise new developments. Just hope they do better with the new UCS.

The touch screens are not the problem, Bill S. It is the touchers (pounders) that cause the fuss. These screens are really sensitive and a 'touch' is literally all that is needed to make your command(s) work. Less punch and more touch would seem to be the order of the day.

Remember, all touchscreens are not equal.

There are resistive and capacitive, resistive is based around two thin pieces of glass touching, so pressure needs to be applied to achieve an effect. They are usually single touch as well (you can't do the pinch effect that android or iphones need).

Resistive also has good and bad implementations, needed to be pressed lightly to work, and others needing jabbed. After a while some of these might need pressed hard to work...

Capacitive screens are based around warmth of the fingers and are multi touch too. These would need far less prodding, and I think shouldn't fail in the same way as resistive.

So if the new IFE are using low end resistive screens, then there might be a bad back prodding experience to come in the future... Not sure what Vport is though...

[Darren Wheeler]

V-Port isn't touch screen in any shape or form.

JAM is the Panasonic eX2 system but I can't find in the blurb whether it is resistive or capacitive, although my money is on capacitive.

[Darren Wheeler]

And does anyone make non-touchscreen IFE anymore?

I think it was about 3 years since I've seen Vport (though will see it next month), couldn't remember much about it...

How long before thats refurbed out on the LHR routes?