This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
I had booked sometime ago on the VS 250 to Shanghai, and was rather disappointed to see that it was assigned a A340-300, whilst BA is putting its brand-new 777-300s on the route. Fingers crossed that Rainbow Lady might be the one for me.
Anyway. I got to Heathrow, having checked in online and there was barely a queue at midday. The check in agent whipped through the whole process in a matter of minutes and I managed to get an extra legroom seat, which I must say does make a big difference, being 6 foot 3.
Heathrow was swarming with people on the Saturday afternoon. The gate was supposed to be announced at 14.00, but it was a good 15 minutes later before it flashed up on the screen - gate 22...a small marathon walk away!
Fortunately it transpired that G-VSUN would be our ride for the day, which mean that Vera was onboard, as opposed to the not-so-fun reel on the other 300s. There was a Chinese gate agent who made announcements in Mandarin, and boarding was very leisurely, with no great rush. I must say the free magazines and newspapers were a little disappointing compared to usual. Two very cheery Chinese national crew greeted me at the door and I headed back to my seat in 53C. The flight was very full today - 241 passengers and 14 crew (I couldn't quite hear that captain's announcement as to whether there was a relief pilot on this 11.5 hour flight).
We got underway and a manual safety demonstration was performed, which I thought was interesting, as there was no problem with the entertainment system. Maybe they should do more manual ones as one of the Chinese crew didn't know her lifejacket from her oxygen mask! It was quite entertaining seeing the English crew do the demonstration when it was read out in Mandarin.
The crew today in economy was entirely Mandarin, except for one English girl who rushed onto the plane at the last minute (maybe called of standby), including the CSS. I saw a few English crew in Upper Class. I have to say that the Chinese crew were extremely efficient and quick. They did not have the charm and spark of the English Virgin crew, but maybe that is not in the nature of the Chinese (they deal with the Chinese passengers very bruskly, I noticed). Anyway, I digress from the flight.
The entertainment system was switched on and we headed off on our way.
The meal service, I must say, was very good. I had a steak pie with diced potatoes and carrots, with a (rather soft - for once) bread roll, tasty salad and a Gu pudding accompanied by hot chocolate. Not bad for aeroplane food. And I can not get enough of the Penn State pretzels.
The FSM ran a very tight ship - or plane? - and mucked in with full gusto with the service. She was serving drinks in economy and as she walked through the cabin she picked up rubbish off the floor - good attention to detail. She wasn't particularly warm or friendly and didn't seem too jovial, but she got the job done extremely well.
The crew did not scurry away during the flight, instead bringing regular water rounds and yummy danish pastry snacks (I didn't see any ice cream). There were issues with the lights on the plane as a couple of times during the night the full blaring lights came on. There were messages on the IFE that they needed to 'reset the cabin' whatever that might mean.
Glad that amenity kits were distributed, and the blankets were snug (although I don't quite understand their design with the covers for the leg, which don't quite do the job!). One thing that slightly intrigues me is why there is no Virgin inflight magazine? Is it a cost/weight issue? You look at the retail therapy and its heaviness, and you wonder why (so few people tend to buy duty free on the flights I am on).
I managed to get a paltry one hour of sleep (unfortunately the flight lands at my bed time, so sleep rather difficult!).
Before long, a full hearty English breakfast was served with a bottle of Tropicana juice. It was very substantial, and I wish they served it on East coast flights in the morning!.
The crew prepared for landing and tried to show the charity video which didn't work (instead we got the film critic again...). We landed a few minutes early into Shanghai and bizarrely when we reached the stand and the captain turned off the fasten seatbelt (with normal get-up-and-go chaos ensuing), he came back on the blower informing us that the Chinese claimed that we had gone 10cm too far forward. So we needed to get a tug to push us back. And it did. Bizarre.
Immigration was slightly choatic, as several flights landed at the same time, but luggage waiting on belt afterwards.
All in all, a very good flight with Virgin.
It seems this ticked most of the boxes for a decent economy flight, with food and service being of a good standard.
