Premium economy LGW

I'm flying on VS33 in a short while and was a bit lucky with a premium bond and so for the first time ever decided to upgrade to premium economy. If I get a choice what seats are preferable and is the V lounge a worthwhile option.

[Neil]

Hi and welcome,

Regarding the V Room, this is something that is only for passengers booked with Virgin Holidays, if you have booked direct with VS you cannot book it. It you have booked with VH then it does get good reviews.

Not sure when you are flying, but currently there are 2 different a/c types flying ex LGW because of the refits. If it is an old style then any seat in the bubble would be good, if it is a new style, then personally I would choose one of the pairs of seats downstairs, again all are good and the cabin is only fairly small so no real bad seats..

Neil

Thanks for that Neil, it is a Virgin holiday so may well book the lounge. Are there any special arrangements for checking in. When you say bubble you mean the upstairs, you see I'm a Premium E. virgin!

If you are with Virgin Holidays then I would recommend the vroom. We always book a lounge at LGW and think that the vroom is very good, especially if you have kids of any age. The food and drink offering was excellent when considering the entry fee.

I have just booked my next virgin holiday and after a bit of haggling got entrance to the vroom chucked in for free.

Regards best seats in PE I think if you're used to flying econ (which we are) then there are no bad seats. There have been some reports of food choices running out so if this is important to you then sit further forward. When we flew PE in the summer they allowed UC and downstairs PE off before PE upstairs so again if getting off quickly is important then that might be a consideration.

Whatever you choose I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves, like us, PE was a real treat and we loved every minute of the whole experience.

Thanks Neil,
I'm on a Virgin holiday so may well do the V lounge. Is it possible to find out what plane I'll be on to check if it's a refitted one. Are there any special desks for premium customers when checking in? I presume by the bubble you mean upstairs?

[mitchja]

All airports have separate dedicated VS PE check-in desks.

Depending on when you fly (90 days or less you should be able to pick your seats) go to manage your booking and enter your details,then view the seat map,if there are economy seats and pe seats upstairs in the bubble then the plane is a refit,if its just PE seats upstairs its one of the old planes,,I am flying out in 75 days but no seat map is available, I think this is because the LGW planes are still getting refurbished,if this is the case for you then you will just have to wait until olci is available 24 hours before your flight

Thanks Tippetttowers, some useful information there. Thanks to everyone else who contributed to my post. You do like abbreviations, I think I'm working them out, not sure about olci. I have tried to book a seat but it said that due to the refits it would not open until 24 hours before flying, I shall have another check just to make sure. Online check in just got it.

olci is online check in....if you put your curser on the highlighted text it tells you

We are also booked on VS33 for 16th Nov. We have always travelled PE and spent many happy hours in the bubble. This will be the first time with (hopefully) a refit, the odds are looking good, by that time the last AC should be well on the way to being completed, all we have to do is dodge poor ol' VTOP, which seems to spend most of it's time based at MAN or going to BGI. In light of recent comments we will probably aim to relocate in one of the twos downstairs. we have been there on several occasions since the bubble was redesignated and it has always worked well. We always use the V room at LGW, it is the best (imho) of LGW lounges and well worth the money.
Bit peeved that we are unable to select seats yet, but this option is not even a possibility with BA - though we found the 777 to be a bit better than a 747.
Hope to see you in ANU Jerry - and hope your luck with the bonds rubs off!

Thanks Penny, if you check the last sentence in my post "just got it". Also I'm using an iPad and it doesn't do what a cursor on a pc would do.