VS095 LHR-YVR 16 JUL 13 (Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

After requesting seats (43HK) just before the 90 day deadline I was determined to have a go at grabbing the biggest non profit prize on V-Flyer....Seq 1. As we had booked a combination of rewards, companion and revenue tickets I had 3 booking references with which to check in with. So as the time ticked to OLCI 24hrs, I continuously refreshed the page until it was green light! I was right in the middle of the process when my phone rang, I checked the number and DAMN! I had to take the call..........in the end seq 10 onwards was the poor fruits of my labour

On travel day we drifted down a quiet M4 arriving in good time for bag drop with two lovely agents. Boarding passes issued, bags tagged as PE (Silver travelling in Y), security tackled and onto the No.1 Lounge. It was our first time a the LHR T3 No.1 (used LGW before) and I must say I was very impressed. Very spacious, well laid out with plenty of comfortable seating. Food and wine was excellent and we took full advantage until we were called to gate 13 for our flight.

G-VFAR (Molly) was our ride to Vancouver today, which meant Vera Reel and no on demand :-(. Didn't realise that the A343 was soooo tiny, looked smallish on the seat map but after flying on 747s it was kind of cute!

Gate lounge was empty so no priority boarding required, my friends were greeted by name but we weren't. Loaded very quickly with a couple of strangers (who were loud), we had 238 pax & 14 crew on board. Flight time seemed quick at 9 hours and 11 mins. Taxied for around 15 mins and then took off to the west....

Settled in, menus handed out and drinks service with smiley and friendly CC. Very good to have a bit of warmth from the crew instead of someone just doing there job.

Chose the steak & mushroom cobbler for dinner....big mistake.....served with bland potatoes and carrots, the 'cobbler' was pretty tasteless, though there were a few lumps of meat in there . The worst meal I'd had for a while but thats just y I guess! The main course was accompanied by a bread roll and Waldorf salad. Now my meal looked ok but Mrs P's pasta looked awful and tasted as bad as it looked . Apparently the curry was the one to choose then! Usual Gu dessert, this time lemon, served with tea or coffee.

Just settling down after dinner and there was a little commotion a few rows behind us. A gentleman was complaining at the temperature of the cabin and, even though the CSS offered blankets etc, the pax was not happy. After 10 minutes of raised voices the pax accepted 2 blankets an a move of seat! When you hear raised voices these days on an aircraft you tend to have a look round to see whats going on and if it is serious. Had a little joke with the CSS after who seemed in good spirits!

Once again the CSS was called back to the same individual about an hour later as he was feeling ill. The CC cleared the area around him and the CSS checked him out. This was quite sensitive situation which was andled superbly by he FSM & CSS. I heard the FSM talk about contacting the medical assistance on the ground.......very much hoping that we do not get diverted, selfish I know.......

Just had 'high tea' - the usual cheese & pickle finger sandwich with the most sugary looking banana & toffee cupcake. Good news as the poorly pax settled down & bought some duty free therefore there was no diversion! Also heard the wife saying that her husband may feel better in upper class

Anyway, we started our decent, had fabulous views on the way in and landed 15 mins early. Slight disembarkation delay as the air bridge would not line up but then we were off. Thanked the crew on the way out and tweeted VS about the great service. Never been through YVR before and thought it was a lovely airy airport. Through immigration super fast (no queues), bags up in 10 mins and through customs to the exit for our cab to Downtown.

So, in summary, our flight can be broken down to:

Crew - they were friendly, warm and a credit to VS
Food - pretty poor even for Y cabin
IFE - Vera reel - decided to read and write TR instead
Seat - quite acceptable

Great TR. Shame about the food. Seems they can't get heat and taste working well on the same plate.

I have read a few recent TR's and across the cabins it seems like the staff are doing very well.

Enjoy your time away.

Just had 'high tea' - the usual cheese & pickle finger sandwich with the most sugary looking banana & toffee cupcake. Good news as the poorly pax settled down & bought some duty free therefore there was no diversion! Also heard the wife saying that her husband may feel better in upper class

Ofcourse he would feel better in UC lol brilliant. Bet the CA hadnt heard THAT line before lol some people.

So, in summary, our flight can be broken down to:

Crew - they were friendly, warm and a credit to VS
Food - pretty poor even for Y cabin
IFE - Vera reel - decided to read and write TR instead
Seat - quite acceptable

Thanks for the detailed TR. yes it does seem that the CC have been good recently.

Thanks for posting PM,shame about the food,I guess you knew what to expect on the IFE front so no shocks there, seems like the cc managed to pull things out of the bag to make the flight ok for you which was good to hear and as for 'my husband would feel better in UC ! Unbelievable ,have a great holiday
Blacky

Great trip report. The food in economy seems to have got a lot worse in the last couple of years.

Out of interest, roughly how much does a cab cost from YVR to Downtown, and do the cabs take cards?

thanks

Great trip report. The food in economy seems to have got a lot worse in the last couple of years.

Out of interest, roughly how much does a cab cost from YVR to Downtown, and do the cabs take cards?

thanks

Not sure about the cards but the cab fare for 6 of us was $32 from YVR to the waterfront side of Howe Street...I thought that was great value

Thanks for the TR, not a bad flight but poor food does seem to be a recurring theme lately. I wonder if your "he'll feel better in UC" pax try this on regularly!

Out of interest, roughly how much does a cab cost from YVR to Downtown, and do the cabs take cards?

thanks

I've just returned from my second trip to Van, and 32 - 36 dollars plus tip is about right for a cab from YVR to downtown, and as far as I know all cabs will accept card payments, but it's such a low fare you probably won't need to.

Bretty