This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Early rise for us and drive down to Heathrow. Very quiet on the roads being Xmas morning. Parked in business parking and then checked in at 6.45am. Check in was quite. Though we used Upper checkin with our gold cards, we would have been better to use Premium. Normally with our baby we've been given the bassinet seats each time. However now baby is too heavy for bassinet so bassinet seat not guaranteed. However these seats are useful purely to get the extra space for the baby. When booking and on follow up calls, booking agent had said as flight is busy better to reserve two seats together (to at least guarantee we are sat together), then we would normally get allocated bassinet seats on checking in, unless there were more deserving cases. When checking in we mentioned this, the agent seemed a little confused and said they weren't two seats together in bassinet position. Then we said fine let's keep our pre-reserved seats which we were happy with. But then our boarding passes showed us in the bassinet seats anyway...
Made our way swiftly though the security lane and then to Clubhouse. Clubhouse was quite busy for Xmas morning but still lots of room. Before seating I booked haircut and wife massage for later in morning. Only one hair dresser on duty so limited availability but fitted me in no problem. I wondered given it's Xmas morning whether they would be hair dresser on duty, so was pleased to have a wash and trim.
Sat down behind in a quiet area behind the glass panel overlooking planes. Breakfast came. Took baby for a walk to the play area then upto the loft and the outdoor deck. She also loved the swinging chair. As this area where we were seated was quiet, we could let the baby have a little run around here without disturbing anyone.
Went for haircut at 8.30 then wife for massage. After this had a lovely sausage sandwich and Virgin Redhead. Very nice.
Left for gate and then boarded straight away. Wife's seat was a little worse for wear with broken arm rest (the bit that lifts where the tables in folded away for storage). Parts of seat area (magazine rack) looked like some sticky solution had been spilt on it.
Crew came around and gave us baby seat belt and new special life jacket for baby which has been recently introduced. Also said to ring for anything required for baby if seatbelt sign was on or we couldn't move.
Flight looked very busy. There was been some G availability a few weeks ago, but we were too slow in taking advantage.
Took off a little late - 10 minutes or so. Flight time was as expected about 11 hours and 15 mins.
Baby fell to sleep at take off and slept for about 2 hours. This was her only sleep of the journey but always nice to get the flight off to a good start when travelling with a baby.
Pre-dinner drink was served, then came dinner. Most people including myself opted for the Xmas dinner. It was very tasty, nice turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes etc. Very tasty indeed. As normal with a baby, especially a sleeping baby it's very tricky to eat so we had to share one table and use central arm rest for drinks etc. Always good and a relief when the plates are collected. The crew heated up baby meal post the normal meal time as she was sleeping. Baby meals now designed by chef Lorraine Pascale and looked really nice and filling and our baby did enjoy.
Later in flight crew came around with ice cream, followed by tasty pizza, then also afternoon tea. Also now the menu referenced some treats available in the galley. I understand this is a new feature to compliment the Wonderwall offer in the Dreamliner. In the treat selection they had cookies, choc bars etc in a small basket. Very nice little treat later in the flight. Was not really pointed out by crew to the passengers so the treats weren't really taken up by the other passengers.
Throughout the flight the crew were excellent. Always ready to fill up baby bottle with milk, and entertain baby. Crew were on top of the game and seemed a good Xmas spirit on board - crew making the most of the day despite having to work.
Once baby was awake rest of journey was spent entertaining her and keeping her busy, occupied and as quiet as possible. I took her for a walk around the premium/economy cabin which was fun and most passengers thought was cute. After we passed half way, remaining time of this long flight seemed to speed up and hours passed by quicker. Tried to entertain baby with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the entertainment system.
Despite being a day flight in Premium all the blinds were closed and it became dark like a night flight so people seemed to sleep easier. When walking thru Economy with baby it was more like a day flight with blinds mainly open.
Arrived on time. Being at front of Premium cabin we departed quickly after Upper - noted a few passengers in premium who seemed to be friends of a crew member who not only spent alot of time in Upper during flight but were also allowed to pass through galley as soon as the seat belt sign went off and then stood at front of Upper passenger queue to depart so were first off.
Quickly through immigration and then baggage before boarding taxi ride to Beverly Hills hotel.
Overall smooth flight, with the great food and cabin crew being the highlights.
Last edited by Virgin AU Flyer on 02 Jan 2015, 16:52, edited 1 time in total.
