This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
But the security point looked as chaotic as check-in. However, I was directed towards the expert traveller line and whisked straight past all the chaos and crowds which was a pleasant surprise as was the big Christmas tree.
I still had a couple of hours before boarding so had a yummy steak at Outback and took advantage of the free wi-fi (which was unfortunately quite slow). Boarding began about 6.50pm and the boarding area was very empty. Once on board, it transpired that there were only 140 in economy and that the forward economy cabin had been blocked off, which is why my seat had been reassigned. As a result I had all three seats to myself. The exit row in front of me was empty and a party of three who were seated further back asked the cabin crew if they could move there as one of them was feeling ill. The cabin was so empty that it wasnt a problem but it was slightly suspect as when members of the cabin crew came round to ask if she was well enough to fly, she replied, Im fine. Further back, a couple seemed to throw a wobbly requiring the attention of a couple of the crew members.
We took off on time and the captain announced that the flight time would be just under 8 hours. Headphones and amenity kit, which was different to the one given out on the outbound were handed out as was dinner which comprised pasta salad with peas, chicken with potato wedges, beans and carrots and a chocolate sponge with a coffee cream topping which was all perfectly fine. The other mains were beef casserole or four cheese tortellini.
IFE on this flight was Nova in my outbound trip report I remarked how it was strange going back to a non-AVOD system. Well using Nova was strange for going to a non-AVOD system that didnt even have a menu to navigate through. Having said that, there were no playback problems as there had been on the outbound. Only managed to watch Four Christmases and a bit of The Inbetweeners and Family Guy before I had to take a snooze which lasted all the way until breakfast which was the egg and cheese muffin with or without ham although the crew member serving had a mind blank when trying to describe the options which raised a laugh all round. Descent into Gatwick was smooth although the captain mentioned that although it wasnt raining, it was about -2C, a stark change to the 28C that I had left behind. Immigration was quick and I only had to wait about 5 minutes for my bag before heading off for the train and home to North-West London just over 90 minutes.
All in all, another good flight with no major complaints. Sure I would have liked an AVOD-capable IFE, but since I didnt actually use it for the majority of the flight, it wouldnt have made much of a difference. How did these two flights compare with my recent trip to New York in BA WT+? Not directly comparable of course. Online check-in I found slightly smoother and easier on BA although there was no real difference once getting to the airport. Terminal 5 was a great experience and so takes the edge although there was nothing particularly wrong with Gatwick. Food was pretty much comparable with neither really standing out, perhaps apart from the Gu pot. BA wins on the IFE just because it was AVOD (although I know not all BA planes are AVOD-equipped) and it is just so much better when you want to use it. If comparing against V:Port then not so sure which would win. As for cabin crew, both were professional and attended to their duties, however, I felt that the Virgin crew were just that touch more personable and eager to go that extra mile if required. Next confirmed trip is to Chicago in late June (for an exam unfortunately) so Virgin or BA? At this stage I would still prefer to fly Virgin but well just have to see how prices compare and how the strike pans out.
Jonathan
