VS011 LHR-BOS 3 FEB 11 (Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

This trip came about after a rather bad day at work, which resulted in me taking time out to look around for a getaway. The Virgin Atlantic sale had seats to Boston for about £340, and I was thinking of booking them and using priceline to get a hotel.

Before I took the plunge I decided to check out Virgin holidays, expecting them to be more expensive. So you can imagine my supprise and delight to find that th 4* Omni Parker in the center of Boston on the same dates was £360, all in, On calling even the agent was supprised at the price and had to check to make sure it was correct, I even got the flyingclub discount which saved another £20 each!

So Having booked into the Premier inn Bath road the night before, we arrived on the hotel hopper rather early at 10:30 am as we wanted the extra legroom seats. The check in area was fairly empty at this time and we walked straight to the desk, 51AC were booked and £60 handed over.

The last time I was in heathrow must be 6 years ago or so, and apart from the nice new Virgin check in the rest of the airport was just as I remembered I.e a mess! I dont think I have ever flown through either heathrow or gatwick without some sort of work going on!

I had booked the serviceair lounge so we headed straight there, I was supprised how small it was for such a big airport, but anything must be better than sitting in departures.

Flight was called an hour or so before departure, I knew it was going to be rather full as the previous 2 days flights were cancelled due to a snow storm. On arriving at the gate there were frequent calls asking if anyone wanted to take a bargin price seat in PE or UC, By the time I half decided to go for PE the seats had gone - I never did find out the price.

The Airbus 330 still had Oddissy entertainment, which is a shame as I was looking forward to V port. I can liv with the films being on a loop, but 3 of the channels were unwatchable due to poor picture or sound, it seems these days the branding has run far away from the reality of the product you actually get.

I got a bit of a shock at meal time when my pre-ordered Kosher meal arrived! Im not Jewish and did not order it! but it had my name and seat number on it so after asking to check it was mine I took it. I have to say it was rather nice, I did feel a bit guilty knowing they cost a fortune.

I was disappointed that the ice cream was not served by a ladey swishing the curtains and sleeking down the isle in red high heals, but still it was rather nice even if it was thrust in my face with a napkin!

The rest of the flight passed I was glad of the extra leg room, they look exactly the same as the other seats till you sit in them, Def worth the £30, Much better I think than the exit rows as they are much more narrow.

Arrived in Boston bit late due to long flight, had 3rd degree off the immigration chaps this time as he was for some reason convinced I was there to work, by the time I got through my bags were waiting and we were off for 4 nights in a very cold but fun Boston!

Sorry bout the ramble

G

Thanks for the TR hope you had a good trip

Thanks for the TR!

That's an amazing deal and great value! It would have been interesting to see what they were offering the PE and UC upgrades at.

Agree with you on the servisair lounge, I expected more!

Hope the trip was good and look forward to the return TR!

Luke

So you can imagine my supprise and delight to find that th 4* Omni Parker in the center of Boston on the same dates was £360, all in, On calling even the agent was supprised at the price and had to check to make sure it was correct, I even got the flyingclub discount which saved another £20 each!

Result..

The Airbus 330 still had Oddissy entertainment, which is a shame as I was looking forward to V port. I can liv with the films being on a loop, but 3 of the channels were unwatchable due to poor picture or sound, it seems these days the branding has run far away from the reality of the product you actually get.

So true lets hope this year's promised improvements happen to ALL the fleet in some shape or form.. bringing things back into line..

Arrived in Boston bit late due to long flight, had 3rd degree off the immigration chaps this time as he was for some reason convinced I was there to work, by the time I got through my bags were waiting and we were off for 4 nights in a very cold but fun Boston!

Sorry bout the ramble

G

Sound slike a nice break...enjoy and thanks for TR

NH

Thanks for the TR - it's always good to know that the bargain breaks are still out there!

Great report thanks. The hotel prices on the VS site ( for Boston) are really good compared to the other sites. I am considering Nine Zero, The Lennox, Onyx or Omni Parker for June. How was the Omni Parker ? Did they stick you in a dodgy room commensurate with your rate?

Doc - I have stayed at the Lennox and the Onyx both are good but I'd go back to the Lennox like a shot.

I got a good deal of the VS site last November and had a fantastic room in a great location and the free wifi was great!

Gavin - you may have got a kosher meal by accidently rolling over one of those pick list boxes. happened to me 10 years ago when I booked a UA flight via expedia - turned out I had booked a baby meal! The check-in staff spotted it and queried it ans it was even listed on the manifest but luckily they had plenty of spare grown up meals !

Hope you had a good time in Boston. Its a great city

Thanks Tonty

The Lenox was also recommended by a work colleague. May be a little tricky to get from there to where I need to be in the mornings but it is top of the list

Thanks Tonty

The Lenox was also recommended by a work colleague. May be a little tricky to get from there to where I need to be in the mornings but it is top of the list

I should be on commission for all the recommendations I give for the Lennox !

It's two minutes walk to the green line subway.

Free bottles of water and turn down service choccy too (if they dont get snaffled by a travelling companion!

Choccy !

Hi

I loved the Omni Parker house, the location was good and I joined the loyalty programme before I went and was upgraded to a delux room. I beleive the standard rooms only have 1 double bed.

The hotel itself is full of history and despite its age was very nice inside, I would def go back.

G

Damn fine TR, Gav. Out of curiosity, what did the kosher meal comprise of?

Hi

I loved the Omni Parker house, the location was good and I joined the loyalty programme before I went and was upgraded to a delux room. I beleive the standard rooms only have 1 double bed.

The hotel itself is full of history and despite its age was very nice inside, I would def go back.

G

Thanks Gavin -may be staying there yet as The Lenox is no longer on the Virgin list. Probably thanks to Tonty's recommendations!

Thank you for the great TR.

We stayed the Omni Parker before and we loved it, the location is really good. Mind you it did help that our room wasn't ready for us when we checked in (someone was still in it), an hour later and it still wasn't ready so we got upgraded to a suite!

Hi
the kosher meal on the out bound was a salad, a beef stew with rice, a choc cake, a massive bread roll, a mint choccy and the tea cup. Everything was sealed and i had to break the seal brfore they could serve the tray.

Coming home.it was a meatloaf type thing which was not so nice, but there still semed to be more on the tray than a standard y meal

Hi
the kosher meal on the out bound was a salad, a beef stew with rice, a choc cake, a massive bread roll, a mint choccy and the tea cup. Everything was sealed and i had to break the seal brfore they could serve the tray.

Coming home.it was a meatloaf type thing which was not so nice, but there still semed to be more on the tray than a standard y meal

Interesteing TR - thank you.

I'm intrigued about you getting the (10%) FC discount from VH.....I thought that only counted if you book a pacakge,

You booked just the hotel, if I'm reading it right, and still got the FC discount? Is that correct (I'm not doubting you, I'm querying whether you should have got it according to the T&Cs)?

Hi
No I booked a package as it worked out with the discount a little cheaper than VS wanted just for the flight alone. I basically got the hotel for free by going through Virgin holidays compared to VS.

G