VS027 LGW-MCO 2 JUN 15 (Premium Economy)
Posted: 13 Jun 2015, 15:57This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
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We arrived at Gatwick the night before and chose the Bloc Hotel to spend the night. This is a great hotel and we booked a VIP room for £15 extra. The room was fantastic (with Armani fittings to!) and had a view of the runway for me to sip bubbles too. No place to get food or drink in the hotel, but the Giraffe served its purpose -however the M&S downstairs is great and would have done to be honest. I would strongly recommend this hotel for room, location and view above almost any at Gatwick - especially as in the morning you could see 3 VS 747's parked outside as if on parade, a great view!
I visited twilight check in to ask about upgrades and as I suspected I would need to upgrade out of my Virgin Holidays ticket (H code) to use points for an upgrade. A load check showed at least 6 seats remaining un UC so with hours to go I was confident of an upgrade - with either miles of cash. This was confirmed by the staff at Twilight (although not the number, bit told 'lots of room') and they said if should not be a problem...
The staff here were great to be honest, friendly and jovial, which was a really good touch.
On the morning of the flight I wandered over as instructed to the VS desk with a smile and a spring in my step. Called forward I asked if there was any chance of an upgrade, using miles or cash or some kind of combo. The staff member took my passport, tapped away at about 3 keys - passed me the passport back and said 'nope, you have a package deal - we don't deal with package deals' and looked away. I know this is not true, and that there was room still available. She was to be honest, rude and dis courteous and made me feel really crappy along with Mrs Armstrong. It was as if we were second class citizens... Now, either a training issue or an attitude issue.
Still, we wandered over to the PE desk deflated somewhat to be greeted by a wonderful agent. Although she could not help us she did a great job of talking up PE and the flight.
Now, being VH regulars we got tickets to the CH - so we hopped over there at around 8:00am and were turned away as we are only permitted 3 hours on these tickets... Again, this was a little upsetting and disappointing, especially as after a 30 min wait we were 2 of 6 people in the CH. A little use of discretion could have been used here - but I do understand. If we are in 30 mins early the next person is 45 mins early and before you know it people take the rip! We were informed of an hour delay, but once in the staff said we could have the extra hour as its against the schedule, not the actual time of the flight. So, hard for me to really moan...
The CH is a lot smaller than LHR - but the staff there really make up for this. After a shave (for me!) and head massage for Mrs Armstrong and a few glasses my worried left me from the morning and I chilled out a little. By the time it was boarding I was very relaxed shall we say... The staff here really make up for the size of the CH, they are fantastic, they really are and this is a great place to chill out and celeb spot too! We saw a few that I had no idea who they were and another CH member was physically star struck by Patric Viera when he walked out - to a comical level...
Boarding was a breeze and the welcome drink delivered almost immediately once we sat down (the last two in PE to be seated) which got some looks. The CC did however notice us and give us a drink which I thought we may have missed.
Push back was very fast after boarding with el capatian giving apologies. Flight time was to be bang on what was expected, but told there would be some bumps along the way.
Mrs Armstrong is a vegan so for the meal that was served almost immediately post takeoff she got a vegetable pasta dish. She also got a very tasty looking fruit salad and roll with vegan spread. I had the exact same for vegetarian along with cheese and crackers - no fruit bowl, but a cake to go with. Honestly, this was a lovely meal and I will go with the Vegan as first choice if flying from the UK (not from the US however, see other trip report!)...
In flight entertainment was as always spot on - VS really do knock this out of the park.
The CC did about 4 drinks runs on the flight for PE and ECO in the bubble, I did have to decline one as the mix of CH, Night before and wine and brandy started to take a toll and I didn't want to get drunk..! This may have accounted for the 3 hours of shut eye I got on the flight.
Life in the bubble was great - I will always take this option when flying PE. Cabin was huge (or felt it!) and CC were almost a constant. They entered the flight deck about 20 times. I think this may be due to keeping 2 people on the deck at all times post other incidences - or because they like to chill out there? They did make this journey a lot. I noticed some PAX stopping them on the trip back to place orders and they didn't seem to mind this.
Landing at MCO was so smooth I almost didn't realise we had landed. It was crazy how smooth it was so credit to the pilot who also avoided almost all the bad weather and turbulence.
On landing the bubble was let out after the UC and PE cabin below us but ahead of ECO - so a half jog to the terminal and the self scan passport control we were out of MCO in about 35 mins.
All in all a great flight by VS only let down by the 1 person at ticketing who really should have done more IMO. Even as a courtesy offered me a price or looked into this? But a straight lie is not good enough and the manner of this was really poor. Debating writing to VS to discuss this further - not to try and get anything, but to get a message over to them that PAX are a little wiser to how things work and they should not assume that us mere mortals cannot understand their systems...
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