This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
The terminals at Pudong are ultra-modern and despite humming with activity were clean and spacious:
When I arrived at the VS checkin queueless for UC and PE:
Bag drop must've taken all of 3 minutes which was awesome and I headed straight airside. Security here is a little different to LHR, I had to take my laptop out but not turn it on. Liquids and iPad happily remained in my carry-on.
After a few minutes of shopping for presents I walked over to the window to find G-VSHY on the VS250 already arrived:
It really is amazing how tranquil this terminal is compared to LHR:
With around an hour to go until boarding began (marked as 10.40am for an 11.40 am departure) I headed up to lounge 69 which is the Priority Pass lounge:
The first stop was the toilet and while taking pictures here isn't my usual forte I just had to snap this marvel of technology:
All the little gadgets and gizmos are amazing though I shied from pressing WAND CLEANING - I'm still wondering what would've happened!
The lounge itself is an open mezzanine about the main departure lounge and whilst nicely decorated it's a little uninspiring and I didn't like the vinyl covering the glass barrier as it's completely opaque and I couldn't see anything without standing up.
The lounge was almost deserted and had a self-service selection of pastries, noodles, steamed buns and nuts etc. None of the food however looked particularly inspriring. Wine, beer and spirits were also available.
Views from the lounge:
Dead on 10.40am boarding was announced and I headed down to find the priority lane already empty and the economy line being processed. Unlike other airports the economy line isn't at this stage handled on both sides and I was able to walk straight up and pass through easily and pleasantly bypassing the 50 or so PAX lined up. There was only 1 jet bridge attached but no queue on it thanks to the use of only 1 desk for econmy effectively throttling the numbers - it was just right!
On board and it was immediately clear that this was going to be a good crew, sparkling wine was offered the instant I sat down and it wasn't long until the passengers boarding reduced to a trickle.
At 11.15 came the announcement that doors were to be closed, we son pushed back and the safety video shown. Taxiing, we headed for the runway next to T1 and while on the move a proud captain announced that we'd pushed back and would be taking off early. In fact the 11am BA flight was obviously late as it was just in front of us whereas we were around 15 minutes early.
While queuing for the runway on came the IFE, adverts and SRB which meant that v-Port was ready and waiting before the seatbelt signs were off after takeoff. The FSM took full charge of announcements and it was clear he runs a tight ship - 31UC, 30PE, 193Y and 19 crew were announced along with some strong words about remaining seated during the climb.
Very soon after take-off pre dinner drink orders were taken along with pretzels. Leftover pretzels were offered and duly accepted as seconds. I put the headphones on only to find once again I had a faulty hadphone adaptor (20G). This time thankfully I was able to just about seat it where I wouldn't need to hold it though it took only the minutest touch to knock it out of position.
Dinner was a choice of:
- Roasted pork loin in a mustard cream sauce with diced roasted potatoes and broccoli
- Chinese fish flavoured chicken julienne, egg noddles and mixed veg
- Mushroom and spinach lasagne
Since I usually choose food from the origin I went for the chinese dish and it was perfectly acceptable (apologies for the pic, I only remembered to take it when I was almost finished!):
Post dinner I had the obligatory Baileys and settled down to a day flight movie fest. Over the next 4 hours I counted two full drinks tray runs and ice creams handed out. Then almost exactly mid-way through the flight sandwiches were handed out and a full drinks service offered, a really nice touch and I don't remember seeing this before. Another hour later fruit from a bowl was offered, again I don't recall this in the past.
With just under an hour and a half to go dinner was served, a choice of Shanghai vegetable noodles or chicken and mashed potatoes. I went for the noodles and regretted it a little as it was pretty tasteless:
30 minutes out and the seatbelt signs were on, by then the cabin had pretty much finished being secured. Landing was a little rough and once again an urgent announcement was made for passengers to sit down (at this stage we were still on the runway!
), sure enough as we entered the taxiway on came the anchors! Obviously a quiet word had been said to the flight deck to perform a brake test. After this we proceeded non-stop to the gate and the jetway was attached without delay. Arrival was 1 hour ahead of schedule and within minutes we were in the immigration hall. Blimey the queues in here were big however the EU queue took no more than around 10mins. As I headed down to the luggage hall my case was there in front of me. Exiting into the arrivals hall I checked the time - 25 minutes from gate to hall! 
So, really a top notch flight. I arrived early, feeling very fresh. The crew were extremely attentive and service was right up there.
One thing I did notice was those in row 18 getting quite annoyed at light from the galley hitting them through the curtain - I think I'm glad I've never tried to nab this row. Another point, again no stainless steel cutlery nor chrome window blind handles. 
