VS015 LGW-MCO 14 JAN 13 (Upper Class)

This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Arrived at the club house around 9.30 to a very warm and friendly welcome as always by the staff, always amazes me how the girls and guys in the clubhouse remember their customers by name and the personal past conversations, last time i was in LGW clubhouse was July 2012, i was telling one of the girls i almost never made it due to a delay from my flight from Belfast, when i arrived at ch reception the lady at the desk said to me with a beaming smile 'good morning, welcome back, hope you had no trouble getting from Belfast this time'
must say i was very impressed and made to feel special, i settled down at my table and enjoyed a delicious breakfast and a latte.
time came to board my flight vs 15 (744 Hotlips) greeted at the door with a welcome back, settled in my seat (7k) enjoyed a pre-flight drink, made a few last minute phone calls just before push back a few minutes ahead of time.
after take off the uc crew settled in to what they do extremely well, taking great care of the passengers in a friendly and highly professional manor.
the food and drink on board were very good and plentiful, the ife was fantastic.
i must say the crew were once again outstanding, very helpful and friendly and also came across as really enjoying what they do very well.
arrived at mco 50 minutes early, endured the usual disaster that is Orlando customs/immigration (90 minute queue)
arrived at my apartment for a very enjoyable stay in Orlando.

time to return back to the cold and home
checked in for vs16 (g-vine champagne bell A330) no upper class on this flight so booked p.e., never flown a 330 before so i was looking forward to the experience and compare with the 744, checked in online and went to uc bag drop and was through security very quickly, boarded the aircraft and was shown to my seat (pe 18G) this is a front row bulk head seat with a world of leg room and i would say easily one of the best seats on this configuration.
i was offered a pre-flight drink and all seemed well, but......this is the point where things started to get less impressive, we took off on time and were on our way, the cabin crew began dinner service, it was not too long in to the flight that i discovered the crew were not just as 'happy in their work' as usual, one female attendant in particular had a very false, almost creepy approach but as soon as eye contact was lost she had a face on her that would sour milk
then there was the A330 its self, in pe the seats seemed fine, cabin very clean, but i do find the 330 rather noisy even at the front, i went back to economy as friends on the same flight were seated in about row 50, when i saw the economy cabin for the first time i could fully understand why the crew were not on their best form, the aisle's on that plane are a complete joke, i am tall and quite slim and i had trouble walking through the plane, how on earth the crew serve a full flight on the 330 is beyond me, this flight was less than half full and it was still cramped.
the friends in economy are by far not the hard to please type but they were telling how cramped and hard the seats were, so i decided to sample an empty economy seat for myself for a while and i must say after ten minutes that was enough. in my honest opinion this aircraft is a MAJOR step backwards in comfort and atmosphere, i was asking the crew on a 744 flight to new york several months ago about the 330 and they said it is very unpopular with cabin crew (in fact one crew member revealed to me there is a rhyme among cabin crew that went something like 'if it's not a Boeing, we dont feel like going')
i think that sums it up very well, i can only judge on my own experience and the next flight i take with virgin i will avoid the 330 in favour of the 744.
all in all my return flight on champagne bell was o.k. but not great, as for the future ? there is NO WAY i would fly in economy on a 330, on a 744 it would not bother me at all.
arrived home back to the cold and snow that is blighty this time of year and planning a trip back to Orlando for a week hopefully in april/may, and i will be looking to go there and back on a 744, done the 330 thing, didn't like it
i understand the 744 will be slowly phased out in favour of airbuses, even the A380 is coming to virgin i am told, flew one of those last year with Qantas and didn't like that either, oh well, i guess there are plenty of other airlines

I must admit never flown upper class only economy but the seats on the 330 are like sitting on wooden crates, last time I flew on one I would sit on my small pillow provided not looking forward to my flight from Man to Mco in June may take my own chair cushion
744 a much more comfy plane

Luckily now the 744s have been refurbished they will be here to stay for a good few years

Thanks for the TR.

I agree about the A330, I've done both PE and economy on that plane, and I found both to be cramped. We paid for extra legroom seats in economy, and ended up in an exit row, every time anyone walked by us, they knocked into my other half.

Also agree re: A330. I travelled PE a couple of years and thought the cabin was cramped. Didn't like it and much prefer the 747s.

[honey lamb]

Thank you for your trip reports. Such a contrast between the two flights.

One point however (and there used to be a sticky about this) - we would request in future, that you post the return as a separate report. For starters, as part of the report we ask people grade different aspects of the flight and these can be used to show overall satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) of the various experiences. You have had two vastly different experiences and in different cabins and ratings of both would have been most helpful

Thank you for your trip reports. Such a contrast between the two flights.

One point however (and there used to be a sticky about this) - we would request in future, that you post the return as a separate report. For starters, as part of the report we ask people grade different aspects of the flight and these can be used to show overall satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) of the various experiences. You have had two vastly different experiences and in different cabins and ratings of both would have been most helpful

HL

Perhaps people aren't that aware of the Ratings tracking feature in the Toolbox?

[honey lamb]

Thank you for your trip reports. Such a contrast between the two flights.

One point however (and there used to be a sticky about this) - we would request in future, that you post the return as a separate report. For starters, as part of the report we ask people grade different aspects of the flight and these can be used to show overall satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) of the various experiences. You have had two vastly different experiences and in different cabins and ratings of both would have been most helpful

HL

Perhaps people aren't that aware of the Ratings tracking feature in the Toolbox?

That's a fair point but having said that, the OP has rated the flight and has given five stars to the TR including aspects which were considered below par on the return.