This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
After a pretty hectic week in New York doing lots of uni work, research, sightseeing and nights out it was time to leave the big city. As it was St Patrick’s Day (which I’m now convinced is just an excuse for American teenagers to get hopelessly drunk) my lecturers were worried about the traffic and road closures so arranged our coach for 2pm. Turned out they had nothing to worry about as the traffic was nonexistent and we got to JFK in about half an hour!
Virgin check in was deserted, hardly surprising considering how early it was. There was a few check-in staff about and a Virgin representative split our group of 40 in two with half going to the Economy line and half to the Upper line. Next thing we know another member of staff comes along asks as which class we’re flying and says we can’t queue where we’re queuing and sends us to the PE line. She was quite rude about it and the lady who originally split our group into the two lines pretending she had nothing to do with it. We wouldn’t have had a problem all queuing the economy line but all the conflicting information and general rudeness of the staff wasn’t really necessary.
Finally through to the check in agent and in the queue I had been toying with the idea of upgraded again after my brilliant outward journey. I had spent quite a bit in New York on shopping and food etc. so was just considering getting myself either an Y34 or exit row seat if any were available. Got to the desk and enquired about an upgrade, was quoted $300 for PE and $1,900 for Upper. Bit the bullet and went for the PE upgrade. Upgrade processed and I was given a slip to go over to the ticketing desk to pay and be issued my new boarding card. As check in doesn’t officially open till 3:15pm I had to wait a while for the ticketing desk to open.
Once my money had been taken I proceeded down to the departures area/shopping center below. They have started to dismantle the old VS Club House already and there seemed to be quite a lot of work going on in the terminal as a whole. I was definitely envious of all the passengers enjoying the new clubhouse whilst I sat for 3 hours on the uncomfortable seats discussing my findings from the trip.
Stayed landside as long as possible as the last time I flew from JFK (March 2010) Virgin was using the B-gates and I distinctly remember the complete lack of shops airside. Turned out I need not have worried, there are a couple of shops airside at the A gates. Through security without any drama with boarding just starting. Chose to hang on with the rest of my friends who were in Economy and boarded pretty late.
Stepped onto Varga Girl and the first thing I notice is the lack of purple lighting. I didn’t realize something so simple could make such a difference to the general ambience of a cabin. It might not be the light show that Emirates offers on its A380 even in Economy but it certainly makes a difference. Sat in 22D and immediately offered a champagne or orange juice and choice of papers (FT, Independent or Daily Mail). Menus and amenity kits were also handed out at this time.
I would say PE was about 75% full, with two people also sat in 22EF. I was slightly put off but this at first as it means I wouldn’t have the space to spread my things like I did on the outbound journey. I needn’t have worried though, the PE seat offers a great amount of space and to be honest, I didn’t notice the person next to me at all. Loads in Economy weren’t too bad either; I noticed a few spare seats here and there. The usual long taxi and JFK and we were finally airborne.
Crew sprung to action and we were straight into a meal service. No drinks or hot towel service this time. The menu was as follows:
To start
Caesar salad
Your choice of main course
Braised beef and leek stew with herb dumplings
Stir-fried chicken with chili pepper sauce
Potato gnocchi with butternut and sage sauce and toasted breadcrumbs (v)
Bread
Your choice of oven-baked rolls
Dessert
Chocolate Mousse
Cheese and biscuits
Tillamook mild Cheddar served with Pepperidge Farm crackers
The food was again good, only the second time in my life I’ve actually finished a meal on a plane! Eating with metal cutlery really does make a big difference. Trays cleared and after dinner liqueurs served. Whilst I shouldn’t really drink alcohol with my travel sickness medication I thought what the heck and had a small baileys with ice. Watched Johnny English over dinner, which wasn’t very funny at all, so gave up half way through. The Baileys must have done the trick as I nodded off to sleep and slept for the rest of the flight, waking up 5 minutes before the lights came on for breakfast. Another record for me! The comfort and extra recline of the seat definitely helped.
It was nice to have a hot breakfast, as I understand this was only recently brought back in for PE? Whilst not amazing, it was certainly better than whatever I would have been served in Economy! Trays cleared and the cabin was prepared for landing. One thing I did notice about this crew was that they were far more pedantic about blankets than on the outbound journey, ensuring they were tucked behind people for take off and landing, and at any sign that people weren’t happy about this, launched into a massive story about what would happen if there was an emergency landing and how the blanket would trap them and cause a hold up in evacuating the plane. Whilst I understand this was there job, I felt the long winded story was a bit unnecessary, not that it was said to me at all, I was a good boy and done as I was told.
Circled around Heathrow for a bit then landed; we must have been one of the first flights to land just after 6am. All in all another excellent flight, even if I was asleep for half of it! I’m going to give the crew 5 stars as they were friendly in all my encounters with them, and I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say they passed through the cabin with water and orange juice regularly whilst I was asleep.
Through the e-Gates and my bags were already on the carousel. Waited around for the rest of my friends who were noticeably less fresh than me. Definitely made the best decision upgrading!
Hope you have enjoyed my first two trip reports. I will definitely be making the effort to avoid economy long haul whenever I can in the future. Hopefully build up my miles a bit more and try and score a Upper class ticket at some point and see what all the fuss is about
Next flight isn’t until the summer, giving Easyjet a go on our annual trip to the Greek Island of Rhodes. Usually fly Thomson so will be good to compare the two….it certainly won’t be Virgin PE that’s for sure!
Thanks for reading.
