VS017 LHR-EWR 4 OCT 14 (Premium Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

My OH and I were traveling back to the States for a few weeks. Checkin at T3 was swift and friendly for once, something that always seems hit or miss. We were directed to the temporary setup for the private security line, which honestly is not that bad at all. You kind of walk through the main screening area and snake around to the separate Virgin only lane.

We headed straight for the CH and it was mostly empty when we arrived around 17:15. Clubhouse burgers and wine were ordered and the CH slowly filled up. Service was good, although we didn't get the chance to eat the entire dessert as it took a while to arrive (not that it was that good anyway!).

Called for boarding and straight on the plane. PE was more than half empty, probably around 12 pax in the whole cabin. Flight time 7.5 hours with 161 pax and 13 crew.

Meal choices were Beef Stew, Chicken and Potato or Vegetable pasta with bleu cheese. I opted for the chicken, despite not being very hungry after the CH. It was pretty decent, actually. One thing I noted that seemed different was the absence of menus being passed out beforehand. They just brought the trolley around and ask what you wanted. Maybe this is standard in PE, have not flown this route in PE in a while.

EC was nearly empty with everyone enjoy 2 or more seats. UC, however, was mostly full. The service, while unobtrusive (to put it nicely) was rather slow. Dinner trays sat for a while, drinks didn't get cleared with any urgency and overall the crew just seemed to approach this flight with a rather lax attitude. My OH's armrest was broken, the top came off every time you opened the thing; I almost fell over trying to use it to get into the aisle. I asked the crew to fix it -- never happened.

Flight was smooth, immigration swift and I think we were out on the curb 20 minutes after touching down. Must be close to a record for us.

I'd say another perfect VS flight, with the exception of the (edit: PE) crew.

Thanks for the TR , surprising given the light load that the service was lacking in efficiency , if the armrest was bothering me I think I would have moved given how empty the cabin was .
What was the below par dessert in the clubhouse you had ?

Thanks for the TR , surprising given the light load that the service was lacking in efficiency , if the armrest was bothering me I think I would have moved given how empty the cabin was .
What was the below par dessert in the clubhouse you had ?

I really wanted a window seat to rest my head and only middles were available. And of course, naturally, the armrests don't move.

Chocolate fondant. Wasn't warm and rather tasteless, to us at least. Maybe because we didn't have the time to properly enjoy it.

Thanks for the TR.

Of all the annoyances, I think it would be lack of clearing away that would be the most irritating for me. It's not even as if you can return the empties to the bar.

There have been a number of UC flights (including the last one) where menus have not been available. I've always presumed this to be because they haven't been loaded rather than wish to not hand them out.