VS044 LAS-LGW 17 Aug 06 (Econ)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Following on from our fly-drive trip we made our base after LA in Vegas. Weather in Vegas stayed between 102F and 108F and we hit temps of 118F on our trip through Death Valley which was an experience to say the least!.

Watched the news daily as the events of the 10th Aug unfolded. Must have been hell for PAX departing in the days following.

Finally after a great holiday it was time to check in at McCarren on the 17th. First time we have flown Virgin back into Gatwick since our very first VS flight back in 1991.

Did OLCI the day before at the hotel where our original seats 64 A&C and 63 A&C had been switched to 22 ABCD, quickly switched them back as seats at the back were still available. Double checked with the Virgin rep at the hotel as to the situation regarding hand luggage and then went out for a great last night out on the town [y]

VS044 was scheduled to depart at 16:05 but due to the increased security we were advised to check in at least 4 hours prior to departure. Arrived at McCarren at 11:30 and made our way straight to the bag drop. Cleared this inside 10 mins and had our boarding cards with seats 64 A&C and 63 A&C confirmed. Upgrades were advertised on the desk at 279 one way Econ to PE....Hmmm not what I would call a bargain.

Security was quite tight as expected with extra TSA's on duty. Thankfully it didn't take too long to get through though and we settled ourselves in the lounge and had a bite to eat. Inbound VS043 was on time and arrived at the gate just after 14:00 (Virginia Plain).

Boarding started at 15:30 and was far better than the outbound trip with UC & PE being called and then rear Y Pax [y].

Surprised to find quite a few empty seats in Y as we pushed back. Great view of the strip as we departed and turned sharp left back over Vegas. Drinks run started quickly and had the usual G&T.
No surprise to find that the food on the way back was beef / chicken / risotto. Very iffy key lime cheesecake also served, but then I guess we had been spoiled by the cheesecakes on offer at the cheesecake factory at Caesars.

IFE was Odyssey at least, not a patch on V:port but watched the usual Catherine Tate / smack the pony sort of stuff. Surprised that I managed to get nearly 4 hours sleep on the way back (just love those rear seats in Y) and skipped breakfast which was a strange hot egg and cheese concoction [n]

Flight crew were good once again and at 10:05 we touched down into a rainy Gatwick - ahhh to see rain again after Vegas!

Overall experience of VS both outbound and inbound - Very Good
Overall experience of Virgin Holidays - Very Good

Here's to next year!

Jon B

Originally posted by Jon B
Did OLCI the day before at the hotel where our original seats 64 A&C and 63 A&C had been switched to 22 ABCD, quickly switched them back as seats at the back were still available.

Good catch. I presume somewhere in the software is a 'further forward is better' rule (which we know is not the case...). I still wonder why seat requests are changed when the aeroplane configuration does not change - 747 / Airbus change I can understand but when the it's just the LGW / MAN Suite 747 ? Perhaps if they change the aeroplane at all it refreshes anyway ? Can anyone out there shed any light on this ?

Paul

[Neil]

Another good TR thanks Jon, please that both your experience of VS and VH are good (after a few negatives on both recently).

Paul - I know the change of allocated seats has been discussed in a few threads fairly recently, and I don't think anyone came to a definate conclusion as to how/why changes happen, it seems its the software that does it, personally I check mine every few days to make sure Ive not been moved.

Neil[:)]