This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
After checking in online exactly 24 hours before the flight (and getting SEQ 1 – another thing I picked up from this forum), I flew into Sydney from Brisbane on the morning of Tuesday Sept 7th and used the train transfer from the Domestic terminal to the International terminal ($5 one way). I found the Virgin Check in desks (Area H I think) but they hadn’t yet opened for check-in. I asked for some PE luggage tags and they were very polite and helpful sorting me out. I waited at the check-in area for the desks to open as I wanted to drop off my bag before settling down for some food. We only had to wait about 20 minutes and I was second in line for PE check in. The process was very quick and I asked about the load (just out of interest – I wasn’t looking to upgrade or anything) and was told the load was light from Sydney to Hong Kong but heavier from Hong Kong to London. After grabbing a quick snack from the cafes before security I headed through (quick and painless) and had a browse around the shops and grabbed a coffee.
We were called to the gate on time and boarding was very fast (I like the priority queue!)onto VS201 Sweet Dreamer (G-VSSH). As I had been told, the load was very light – there were only 10 passengers in PE and I think about 50 to 75 in Economy. I also think Upper was light – but can’t be sure. I was really impressed with the seat and the amount of space – especially between adjacent seats – no knocking elbows here! We were offered sparkling wine or orange juice as soon as we were seated which was great. Take off was on time and very smooth.
After take off I asked if we were allowed to move seats(I was in 19H) – only because I was seated in front of an older lady and wanted to recline fully and didn’t want to make her feel squashed – especially as there was so much room. I moved to 21F and had a row of three seats to myself with no one behind. I spent the whole flight fully reclined and enjoyed the entertainment.
We were fed promptly and I had the Beef Bourguignon with roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli. There was a pumpkin and couscous salad as well as a warm roll. Desert was apple crumble cake – which I don’t like so didn’t eat. The meal was very tasty – which was surprising having read quite a few reports of bad food on VS. Plenty of tea and coffee offered as well as alcoholic and soft drinks. We also were offered the post-meal Baileys (yum) or a Whiskey (I think).
My game plan for the long trip was to stay awake ‘til HKG and then have a shower and try to sleep on the HKG to LHR leg. I managed to stick to my plan and was well entertained by the V-Port system. Plenty of movies, documentaries, TV shows etc. The flight went really fast and we were soon served a very delicious ham quiche about an hour before landing. It was great – I could eat those all day! The service was top notch – very attentive mostly Asian crew – probably made easier for them by the light load – but still I thought they were great. I was asked to complete a questionnaire and did so – praising them appropriately. We landed early in HKG (not sure of the exact time but we had about an extra 45 mins on the ground). I had booked a shower in the Traveller’s Lounge – West Hall (which was very hard to find) as I didn’t have access to the lounges (no gold status or Upper Class travel). I’m so glad I did, HKG was sticky even in the middle of the night and I felt much refreshed afterwards and changed into some comfy clothes to try and get some sleep on the next leg. Boarding was efficient and on time once again and we had a much fuller plane for the final leg. I think there were 4 or 5 spare seats in PE and Economy seemed full-ish. I was back in 19H and after take-off and the next meal service (chicken breast with potato wedges, pumpkin and peas, profiteroles and cheese and biscuits) I settled back in my seat for a sleep. Seven hours later I woke up!! That is the longest sleep I have ever had on a flight and was very comfortable and restful. I stayed relaxed and comfortable and watched a few shows and listened to some music and played some games until they turned the lights back on and served breakfast! I had the dim sum with noodles (delicious again). They came round frequently with water/juice and also tea/coffee and made sure to offer a drink and snack to people individually as they awoke. Excellent service. We landed about 25 minutes early and disembarkation was fast. I now only carry an Australian passport so had to join the mammoth non-EU queue and it took perhaps 45 minutes to clear immigration. However, my bag came into view as soon as I stepped up to the carousel so I had no waiting around.
All in all an excellent experience. I will NEVER fly economy again and will keep my eyes peeled for an Upper Class sale next time I fly to Europe. For the first time ever I am not dreading the flight back to Australia. Well done Virgin Atlantic!
I hope I remembered everything – my trip home is on 22nd Sept (VS200) and I will post a TR then – assuming I can log in from Aus.
Also, just in case it is of interest to anyone, I used a Humidiflyer mask for the whole trip over – it is a mask with a humidifier attached to the bottom and increases the air humidity to better than the 25% normally on board. I truly believe this made a massive difference to how I felt/slept/recovered from the flight. I am not in any way associated with the product – but highly recommend it to anyone who like me suffers from terrible dryness/nosebleeds etc usually on long haul flights. They were recommended to me by a colleague who works with the Australian Olympic swimming team and they all use them for International and Domestic flying.
Sorry you had issues joining us, and if you do have any problems once you are back home, just drop us an email and we will endeavour to sort for you.
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