V-Flyer

Well, after a while of lurking, I thought it was time to register and post a TR, especially as this website had a very positive effect on my flight - thanks very much!

So, after a couple of months of eagerly awaiting my trip on one of VS's new routes, the day was finally upon me and I made my way to LHR. I was looking forward to the trip and had upgraded to an exit row seat when the usual courtesy call came through from VS. Plenty of leg room to look forward to! The person at the VS call centre had assured me that all aircraft flying from LHR have the V:Port system (which from this website I knew not to be the case on the A340-300s - perhaps the call centre staff should spend a compulsory few hours on here as part of their training!) but regardless of the system, I was looking forward to a well-earned holiday. Hurrah.

Made it to LHR in plenty of time and went straight to a bag drop desk without there being a queue, where I was pleasantly greeted, my exit row seat allocation was confirmed, boarding card swiftly issued and I was straight through security. After some duty free shopping, I was at the gate in plenty of time and saw that it was Molly that would be taking me to YVR. No V:Port but there you go: it was always going to be a 1 in 4 chance! Having some time to waste, I thought I'd check out the seating plan on here and see where Molly had gone on her previous few trips. At this point, I noticed that I hadn't been allocated an exit row seat as purchased so went to speak to a member of ground crew. She was very helpful and smiled when I showed her the seat plan on my phone and confirmed it on her screen. A mistake had been made - apparently I had been allocated an exit row seat on a A340-600 but it was the smaller aircraft going to YVR. Apologising profusely, she went off to "see what she could do" and came back with an offer of a free seat in PE instead. Slightly surprised, I asked if she was sure and indeed she was, after all it was VS's mistake. I was very impressed. Thank you to this website too - who would have known what would have happened if I hadn't realised until onboard!

So, with an amended boarding card, I boarded the plane, very excited about the unexpected upgrade (I usually only do return legs in PE) and really pleased with the customer service. Top notch.

The welcome drink and newspaper (which I had already bought at LHR!) were offered quickly after boarding, which I enjoyed. And even better: I was sat next to the window and the seat next to me was free! This was turning out to be a great start to the holiday. PE was about 75% full and Economy was about 80% full - I got chatting to a lovely lady from Vancouver whilst queuing for the bathroom and she managed to take up a whole row to lie down and snooze during the flight! She seemed very pleased with the VS experience and they are apparently much cheaper than other airlines. I guess this must be as it's a developing route but it certainly felt seemed very popular with Canadians. But they are definitely doing a good job.

Shortly after take off, the drinks trolley came down (with a pretzel snack) and the crew were excellent, very helpful indeed and cheery. They were also quite chatty, which adds to the customer experience. I had chance to catch up on a few films which I had missed in the cinema, during which lunch was served. It was an excellent piece of salmon, followed by chicken and then dessert. The cute little salt and pepper shakers were fantastic! The wine was excellent. Following this, there was the tea and coffee run and the crew member very kindly made me a hot chocolate instead, which was delightful.

A few hours later was the ice cream run and a tub of very tasty and quality ice cream was enjoyed, mid film. Yum! Maybe it was just PE, but it did really feel like the food service has improved since I flew with VS last year. This was added to with the afternoon tea which was served an hour or two before landing, with a warm sausage roll, cheese and onion sandwich and the locally-sourced cupcake. These were all very tasty indeed - YUM!

All in all the flight was great - the PE experience was fantastic and I felt very relaxed when I got to YVR. This came from having more legroom, reclining seat and general feeling you get from being in PE! The crew were very friendly, with excellent, professional service and a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The only down sides were having to wander back and queue for quite some time at the bathrooms in the middle and the entertainment system - but these things happen and you can't complain! Particularly given the unexpected PE experience!

Took a little time to pull in to the stand but after doing so, it was quickly off Molly and off to a half hour ish queue at Passport Control, before heading off to meet my other half (who had flown in with BA, being an employee of them) and enjoy Vancouver!

Altogether, a great flight and I arrived feeling really relaxed. Well done VS!

Hope you enjoyed my first post! Return TR to follow...

Great TR, sounds like VS ticked all the right boxes, glad you enjoyed it

Thank you for a fine first TR What a fine recovery from VS after making an error the Ground Crew deal with the problem very positively and with a fabulous outcome for you

Very glad you enjoyed the PE experience

Thanks for the TR, sounds like a good flight

nice upgrade !!

nice upgrade and a great report,nice to know they done a ice cream run,missed out on that last year

I love the tone of surprised delight through the TR...

King of the Skies wrote:The only down sides were having to wander back and queue for quite some time at the bathrooms in the middle and the entertainment system - but these things happen and you can't complain!

Others may have a different view