This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
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The following morning at 6:30 I was back in the terminal and being ushered to the upstairs security lane. Thankfully at this time of day everything is quiet and I was through very quickly and off to get some duty free.
Arrived at the CH at about ten to seven and was immediately offered a drink before my haircut. I must have nodded off a couple of times during this, but a quick rinse under very cold water (apparently there was no hot) and I felt (and looked) a lot better. Time for breakfast. More OJ and a glass of bubbly were washed down with some smoked salmon, poached egg and hollandaise (very tasty) and one each of the bacon and sausage sandwiches (not bad). Had a chat with the very attentive waitress who said she had never seen the CH so full that early on a Saturday morning. The flight was called just after 9 (gate 21 or 22, I forget which) so I finished my drink and headed off to the gate, via the duty free!
I arrived at the gate just as the final call was being made and walked straight onto the plane. There was a bot of a mix up over seats (somebody was sitting in mine not being able to tell the difference between 36 K and 37H) bit in the interests of peace and harmony I, somewhat reluctantly, agreed to sit in the window seat of the row in front. That being preferable to having to sit next to the blokes wife, who seemed about to explode when she was informed they would not be sitting together! Peace having been restore I settled into my seat (I do miss the side lockers in the upstairs cabin), had a glass of bubbly and then was then offered a second one. I was not the only one to be given a second glass, but neither was a full second round offered. I wonder whether this was for AG or just random (because I moved seat without too much complaining?), anyway, it was gratefully accepted and consumed.
The captain announced the flight had 370 odd passengers and 17 crew and that we would be pushing back on time. then he came back on and said we wouldn't and that due to some sort of restrictions we had missed our slot and would have to wait until 10:45, but that they would try tom make up the time on rout. We were moved from the gate at about 10:10 and were airborn by10:45 as promised.
I had decided to go with the ravioli as the goulash came with roast potatoes, and i try to avoid these on a pane whenever possible,and the chicken breast had pineapple with it (a combination i would only consider if accompanied by a pot of that fluorescent orange glop from the Hong Kong Garden). So when the drinks round started I decided to start with the red (in anticipation of the pasta). Well,the best laid plans do sometimes go astray: when lunch was served the goulash had been replaced with chili prawns, rice and Chinese style veg (but no fluorescent glop!), so I had to sample the white as well. Oh well! Now this is something I'd never though I'd say about the food on a VS flight, but it was very good, tasty, not over cooked, had some flavour and was generally very edible. The wines weren't too bad (both Spanish and something I could have drunk a lot more of (but I behaved myself). Drinks were topped up and the cabin was cleared shortly afterwards.
Drinks, ice cream and fruit followed at regular intervals and the afternoon 'tea' was also better than on previous occasions.
We arrived about 5 minutes late and then headed off to immigrating and to collect our luggage. Not being as quick to get off the plane as normal, and waiting for my friend we had quite a wait a immigration (I must work out how to get met before immigration). My bag was off quickly so some sort of priority sorting seemed to have been done after twilight check in) but my friends took almost an hour to get off the plane and when it did arrive was a little wet leading to suspicions that the final trolley had been left on the tarmac whilst the handlers sheltered from a brief shower!
All in all this was an very enjoyable and pleasant travelling experience. From twilight check-in, through to the CH and flight there was very little that could be faulted. Much of the credit for this has to go to the excellent crew, led by a very visible FSM, who seemed t go out of his way to lend a helping hand when needed. My fried, who travelled in Y, also though the service in was better than he's had on a VS flight in a while so it wasn't just the PE cabin that was good.
David
