VS028 MCO-LGW 27 NOV 13 (Premium Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

The return from my week in the sunshine.

My outbound trip report is here for all who missed it.

I used my mobile connected to the wifi in the magic kingdom to check in at T-23:59 and managed Seq1 (both ways this trip ) and then went to downtown disney on the morning of the 27th to ditch my bags so I didn't have to drag them to the airport.

On arriving there at around 9am there were 3 staff in red VS polo shirts at the desk and one sat at the end of the queue line with the scales to weigh bags.
This one member of staff seemed like the only one working and was a bit shocked when I said that my e-ticket was in the bottom of my suitcase and so I was not keen on finding it for her. (The first time I have ever been asked for my e-ticket ) so one of the staff from the desk came over and took my passport and checked me in with no problems with no searching my bag for a piece of paper.

Bags were soon tagged with UPPER and placed in to the back of a truck. And an invite to the delta lounge issued with GOLD CARD written across the front of it.

After a last few hours in the sun by the hotel pool it was time to board a magical express to the airport. Where for some reason the driver didn't know the A side drop off area was closed so it was to the B side we went where I fought my way through the endless BA checkin line in to the main terminal.

There were long lines at all of the TSA search points with wait time signs up saying that there was a line for 15 mins to get through.
At this point I was glad my AU card would get through priority security with only a 5 min wait.

And then on to the tram and over to airside 4.

After a quick look through duty free (as requested by my family back home) I went up to the DL lounge. Which as others have said on here is very basic but does the job for a quick 45 mins on v-flyer with a drink before going down to gate 81 where Ladybird G-VAST was waiting for me.

As others may have seen I was joined in the lounge by a very loud ITV presenter who was on the BA flight (clue). All you could hear in the lounge was her voice.

Boarding was pre announced as those who need assistance first then by seat row number. At which point the whole of the UK started to huddle around the gate .

And it seemed that "special assistance" included everyone over the age of 55 and under the age of 11 (so about half of the plane was let on as special )

Once upper was called I was at the front of the line and swiftly onboard and in to my seat with no use of my name at all and just a your in 18K which is...... At which point I told the crew member it was on the other side in front of the toilet (surely the crew should know 19 and below is left and everything else is right? )

Pre flight drinks provided and manual safety demo completed for an on time departure and we were swiftly off to the north flying up towards Boston and NYC before the Atlantic crossing.

For those of you who like to know the menu.


Starter.
Smoked salmon with lentil salad.

Mains.

Beef provencale with mustard mashed potatoes and savoy cabbage.

Chicken curry with basmati rice.

Five-cheese ravioli with chunky tomato and fresh basil sauce

Bread.

Your choice of oven baked rolls

Dessert.

New York Cheese cake

.......

Rise and shine.
Full English breakfast
Scrambled eggs, bacon, pork sausage, tomato and sautéed mushroom.

Full vegetarian breakfast
Cheddar cheese omelette, potato rosti, and tomato

Served with tea or coffee.

The flight was a very quick 7 hours and 30 mins, and every time I was close to getting a bit of sleep I was woken with a Ping and a few bumps. Nothing too bad but enough to be slightly annoying when you are attempting to sleep.

On arrival in to LGW the FSM held back the Y cabin and the right side of W as J we're let off the plane then the upper deck and then the right side of W mixed in with the whole of Y please VS let ALL of the lower deck premium cabins off before the rest of the plane.

All in all a good flight but nothing special. And compared to the outbound this crew were not as good but that is common for VS it is dependant on the FSM and CSS as to how the crew work and ultimately how good the passenger experience is going to be.

My next 2 flights are on Little Red (sat in the T1 lounge now to go up to MAN) and I find that they can get a more consistent onboard experience with the check in agent already out preforming all of those at LGW and MCO/downtown disney. (A little chat goes a long way to making a good experience better)
If little red can do it why can't the mainline crews??

Thanks for the TR and in particular the menu !
How irritating to have to put up with a loud speaking presenter. It is bad enough in that lounge with all the US businessmen seemingly shouting into their phones especially since it was made smaller.
Boarding and disembarking did not sound good experiences. But at least you felt that overall it was a good flight !