V-Flyer

This is my 1st Trip / Flight report so be nice

This was our 1st time flying PE and also 1st time to Orlando.

We found our way to LGW after flying into LHR the previous night from NCL (not a brilliant way to start your holiday having to jump across major airports - but thats the joy of trying to get from NCL to LGW these days) Please Mr Branson bring your little Red Fleet to NCL.....

Anyway, stayed at the Hilton at Gatwick South, very pleasant hotel, clean room, great for an overnight stay.

Arrived at the airport via the tunnel from the Hotel, straight to bag-drop and through security very quickly, I like going to desks that have no queues.....

We had pre-booked access to the V-room (also 1st time), lovely place to sit and relax with a bit of breakfast before flight, I much prefer the peace and quiet instead of the hustle and bustle of the main terminal. Our flight was called on-time and away we went for our 1st experience of PE....

As some of you may have seen I have been studying the seat-maps for this journey (bit of an obsession I have - may need therapy at a later date), I had reserved and managed to hold on the seats 19A/C (at this point....) the good seats I was imformed to get - as early exit off the aircraft at MCO.

We got seated quickly, both me and my husband enjoying the extra seat pitch and commenting on the cabin etc as you do when its your first time, nice glass of Bucks Fizz in hand...

Then Oh No!! it happened....the "I'm sorry madam...." chat from a member of the cabin crew, yes all my hard work at securing these perfect seats was gone......a family with a disabled child had arrived at the gate without informing any staff that they had a special needs child, and they needed our seats for the child (something to do with the seats being at the rear of the cabin and no seats behind - they secured a harness type thing for the child), the cabin crew were not very happy with this family as they had no previous info regarding any special help needed). We moved without any hassle (really didnt have a choice) got moved to the 2 very front seats on the right hand side of the cabin (14H/K) oh no I thought directly next to the toilet and staff area, but really couldnt argue, it wasnt the cabin crew's fault, and they did look after us well the rest of the flight and gave us a complimentary bottle of champagne when we left.

The flight was mainly un-eventful, and the seats were actually better than I thought, plenty of leg-room (not that it matters to me at 5ft 1 tall), but got a foot-rest which made all the difference to me (short legs!!). The toilet thankfully caused us no problems, although I would not like these seats on a night flight as the staff were constantly opening and shutting the cupboard next to the seats.

The meal was beef, chicken or pasta, we both chose the beef, I must admit I'm not a fan of air-craft food and have now decided to take my own, it was ok, but nothing fabulous!! although nice to have "proper" cutlery, not plastic. Drinks followed then later before landing a snack of a sandwich and small chocolate desert (I actually enjoyed the sandwich more than the beef dinner!!)

Would I fly PE again - Definitely, it was an improvement on E anytime, but as I said I have now decided to take my own snacks on board (this has a lot to do with the horrible meal we had on our return journey) see seperate report.

All in all in was a good experience, now bring on San Francisco and Las Vegas in September - Ive already started my seat research

Having to move after settling in would've been very annoying, but at least you didn't let that spoil the experience.

Very nice first report - thank you for sharing it.

Thanks for your fine inaugural TR. Shame your careful seat research came to naught, but as you say couldn't be helped, not VS's fault and it does sound like the crew tried to recognise the fact that you'd helped them out.

Yes the staff tried. It wasn't their fault at all, one of the staff told me that the family had just turned up for their flight at the gate with no prior warning that their child had special needs or was in a wheel chair, there must have been some lack of contact between ground airport staff and cabin crew. Surely the family must have booked luggage in? etc.

She told me it happens quite a lot, especially if the passengers haven't reserved their seats early and haven't made arrangements to sit together etc, they turn up knowing that others will move because of their disabled child, sad but true situation. I felt a bit sorry for the staff, but annoyed at the family, they didn't even thank me for moving, and they knew we had reserved those seats, but hey-ho thats flights for you, nothing guaranteed, and it turned out ok in the end, not so sure i'd be as happy if seats had turned out badly