This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
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that we weren't able to be seated together. So Mrs D got her aisle seat (71C) and I bagged 74A. Whilst the table at 74C is welcome, the overheads in PE are WAY too small even for laptop bags and 74A has
plenty of space behind it for stowing bags and benefits from the side cupboards.
Upstairs to the clubhouse and we realised that door to door had taken a respectable 70 minutes despite Fast Track being 5 lines deep. As has been mentioned stickers are no longer used - flashing the Gold Card is all that is now required (We managed to avoid the shoe carnival as it was backing up so much they just waved us around it).
The Club House wasn't too packed funnily and we staked our claim and I got down to the serious business of trying to get my new Blackberry to work with my email. We've worked out that if I can do my email on it I can leave my computer at home for some trips! Soon enough treatment time came around and Mrs D headed to Bumble whilst I headed to the Cowshed. I'd opted for a manicure as I'll be back in less than a week and can have my shave then. Mrs D went for the Wash and Blow. As ever the service was efficient and polite although the front desk seemed a little disoriented. In such public facing positions you'd think they'd learn to plaster smiles on and keep them there, not scowl markedly at comments made to them by colleagues. No complaints about the people actually doing the work though.
Afterwards we repaired to the Bistro for some food and drink - Clubhouse Burger for myself (with an interesting mustard and tomato sauce side that was more mustardy than I remember having before) along with a Steak Baguette for Mrs D. Final fag for Mrs D then boarding was announced and we started a leisurely stroll to Gate 20. Well we STARTED leisurely. It soon became apparent that we were behind a hundred or so schoolgirls who seemed to be headed in the same direction but with no concept of travelator etiquette. So we hared down the outside and overtook them before the second travelator set. We carried on power walking until we hit a HUGE queue at Gate 20. The Priority Boarding banner beckoned however and we skirted the queue and stood by the sign. And stood by the sign. And stood by the sign. Regretfully the ONE person checking the queue 2 metres away elected not to bother looking back to the priority boarding sign and no one else was in sight. Well - it's not as tho' tensa barriers are rocket science is it? Slipping it to one side Mrs D and I joined the tail end of the checked queue and closed it behind us. As we waited to be checked through boarding announcements started with an invitation for Upper Class and people with babies/young children. As we approached the podium the announcement changed to Premium Economy and as we cleared the announcement changed to Economy row by row. At no stage were Flying Club ANYTHING invited to come forward. Yet another classic lack of consistency at this stage of boarding.
On board we were surprised to find the cabin fairly empty and it took a while to fill up. The seats were the old style. As take off approached an announcement was made to the effect that ALL mobile devices INCLUDING THOSE WITH A FLIGHT SAFE MODE must be turned off when the doors were closed and kept off for the duration of the flight. As I wanted to play with my Blackberry I wandered back to the
Galley and remonstrated with the FA that the wrong announcement was being used. He initially said that I was wrong and that if that was what was said then that was the rule. Again I queried this explaining
that the rule had been changed a couple of months previous. Humouring me he said he'd double check with the FSM. Being a pedantic so and so I cheated and called LRoM who confirmed that the rule was 'put into flight safe mode before being turned off'. So I did this to be on the safe side.
Drinks were served in the traditional PE Champagne thimbles and then the Captain announced a delay whilst paper work was completed. Then a further delay because the air bridge could not be detached.
Eventually we pulled away and made a slow progress to the runway. Take off was painless with only a few 'moving/sliding' noises evident at the other side of the cabin. Shortly after take off the traditional FSM followup PA was made which included the helpful information that mobile devices WITH A FLIGHT SAFE MODE could be used AS LONG AS this was set before the device was turned off. Not a lot of help to the poor unfortunates who don't have LRoM's mobile number.
Additionally we were informed that the v:port system was fully operational for this flight but that we should allow 10-15 seconds for our choice to be selected and not to repeatedly press the same button as this (allegedly) would cause our v:port to shut down. Interesting programming.
After a hot towel run (and no papers offered) the initial drink run was efficiently completed. As I can't remember if this menu has been reported the menu was
STARTER
Penne pasta salad with mozzarella and pesto
MAIN COURSE
Roast chicken breast served with potato and leek gratin and green beans (490 KCal)
Beef and ale stew served with mashed potato, broccoli and carrots (255 KCal)
Grilled vegetable lasagne (260 KCal)
Soft oatmeal cob roll
Gu Chocolate and raspberry pudding
Butlers secret mature cheddar served with crackers
The food was 'fine' for me, less so for Mrs D - for me no real complaints and the FA ensured drinks were kept topped up. The 6 year old child in front of me who had reclined ASAP continued reclined during her meal service (as did her mother) but a quick word with the FA had them upright for the meal service at least. Mrs D (2nd row in PE remember) asked for the vegetarian option but was told it had run out? Presumably service starts downstairs?
Throughout the flight UC and PE commingled their toilets with no attempt made by crew to prevent it - to the extent of one crew member stepping aside as a PE visited the UC toilet. But the toilets were kept spotless. I didn't have to resort to my 'paper towel on floor' trick when entering.
Fruit and drinks were ominpresent on the shelf over the stairs and the final food service - tea/coffee and 'Gu Brownie or Apple 'something''. The Green and Blacks had obviously run out as Mrs D got it.
Throughout the flight there were only a couple of spots of turbulence although Mrs D's efforts to sleep were somewhat hampered by the person behind her kicking her seta repeatedly when she reclined. Turning to expect a child she found a grown woman who apparently believed that interfering with the normal operation of cabin equipment wasn't an offence. Mrs D politely remonstrated and the woman, scowling, desisted.
The fullness of the flight was evidenced by the off duty staffer seated on the jump seat!
Having completed my work I watched another '30 Days' documentary and then finished watching Casino Royale on my laptop. The V:Port offerings didn't appeal too much. Finally on approach I gave up and packed everything away and started reading.
A painless landing about 10 minutes late and a long taxi to stand. Mrs D was ready and squeezed back to be with me and we were about 6th off the plane. We power walked to immigration only to see the infamous 'Air India' queue - 5 lanes deep already. 50 minutes later we were seen by a somewhat surly immigration officer who eventually melted enough to wish us an enjoyable stay. Over to belt 4 and IMMEDIATELY picked up our bags (well after so long ALL the bags were either on the belt or to one side) and breezed through customs... off to Dollar on the Air Train and one relatively painless drive later ensconced in our favourite hotel to find we've been upgraded to a club room and our friendly barman has been sacked for drinking on the job... Back on Monday morning on an empty VS18...
. Hence not seated together. Once on board the exit rows had been assigned to a French family INCLUDING two minors! So the minors had to be moved in any case but we weren't offered 
