VS016 MCO-LGW 18 Jan 09 (Econ)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

So, return flight from http://perloasis.org/ ...

Arrived WAY too early at MCO... - due to not having access to a printer, had to visit bag drop (no queue) to get a boarding card. Spent half an hour with laptop enjoying the free wifi by the airside 1 gates, before braving security. For some reason, the queue on the left side of the terminal was massive, and that on the right almost non-existent. Breezed through US security the fastest I think I ever have, longest bit of the process was repacking laptops and putting shoes back on.

Gate (85) crowded: got a seat near the desk, and people-watched. The desk was busy, what with 6 wheelchair passengers, repeated pagings of loads of folks, and random visitations to the desk by folks who probably thought they were entitled to something. Boarding was slow, largely because the 'special assistance' group before Econ loaded took forever, as there were only two people working wheelchairs.

The safety video wouldn't run once we got settled, so we were treated to an old school manual demonstration, and I lightly teased the stewardess as she came past with a 'so when did you last do one of those?' - got me a smile.

Seat (originally 60 H) OK although the guy in 60 J was not small: transpired, however, that two people hadn't made the plane, and we had to wait while their luggage was removed - I /think/ this was the couple with a teething small child who were discussing him being too ill to fly. The reason I think this is that the folks next to me in 60 F/G were part of a party split with others in 54 D-G, and they were angling for two vacant seats in 53 F/G (bulkhead).

As it turned out, they got the two bulkhead seats, so I asked the same stewardess if it was OK to move to 60 G - she checked with a guy in 49 H who'd been half promised it, but decided to keep his exit row, so there I was with elbow room

Off late (due to having to remove luggage), somewhat bumpy skies. The guy in front tipped his seat right back and kept it there, which precluded me using the netbook, so I settled for movies: Mummy 3 (turn-your-brain-off fun), Salute (amazing) and The Rocker (funny) - not a bad selection in all. Food? Ok - not that taken with the tarragon chicken, and the egg/bacon/cheese muffin for breakfast was /way/ too hot.

Landed around about the scheduled time (could have been much sooner given Atlantic winds), much faster through customs than the outward leg, caught the 0916 to St Pancras with time to spare, was home before midday in Peterborough.

Main realisation - with hindsight? I should have blown miles on PE, given my base fare was being paid for.

quote:Originally posted by Mike Whitaker
So, return flight from http://perloasis.org/ ...




The safety video wouldn't run once we got settled, so we were treated to an old school manual demonstration, and I lightly teased the stewardess as she came past with a 'so when did you last do one of those?' - got me a smile.




All crew have to do a certain amount of manual demo's per month. We had manual demo's on the way to SYD and DXB. Not too sure how many they have to do though, a FA did tell me but can't remember.

Thanks for the return TR.

DMB

quote:Originally posted by Mike Whitaker
'so when did you last do one of those?' - got me a smile.



There are some who do[:D]

Thanks for the TR

A crew member did mention some time ago that if you were flying on the last 'N' days of the month, you will get a manual safety demo. This is so that the crew on the plane remain refreshed and familiar with doing the safety demo.

It used to be just one day a month, but that was increased as the airline has grown, because it therefore became less likely you could be working 'manual demo day' for a few months running, plus there was a wide variety of configs in the fleet at one point.

Thanks for the TR. Good to hear the Y product was fairly solid, though again the variability of food is observed.

Mike

[buns]

Mike

Thanks for providing a brace of TRs that will be beneficial to many who visit the site[y]
[quote]Gate (85) crowded: got a seat near the desk, and people-watched. The desk was busy, what with 6 wheelchair passengers, repeated pagings of loads of folks, and random visitations to the desk by folks who probably thought they were entitled to something.


[:D][:D] It is good if you can get the chance to people watch in such situations

Thanks once again for posting after such a brief visit to Orlando

buns

quote:Originally posted by Mike Whitaker
So, return flight from http://perloasis.org/ ...

Arrived WAY too early at MCO... - due to not having access to a printer, had to visit bag drop (no queue) to get a boarding card.


Unfortunately, you can't print your BP when departing from MCO anyway so nothing lost.

Thanks for an interesting report and welcome home from a fellow Peterborian, I always take the train too as it's such an easy journey.

Jilly

Thank you for the TR![y]