VS043 LGW-LAS May 6th PREMIUM ECONOMY

[honey lamb]

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

This was the 3rd time for me flying to LAS and wanted to make it a bit more special, so I booked PE this time.
After viewing various posts I didn't know what to expect with PE with some negetive posts being reported.
T-24 we checked in and was pleased to see we got our seat requests upstairs in the bubble. Following morning went to bag drop to the dedicated PE desk where there was quite a few people waiting to check in or bag drop. Had only been there 3 minutes and was ushered to the UC desk. Bags dropped we went on through security then duty free, which had changed since we last flew 3 years ago.
At 10:05 we got told gate 24 so we made our way down we hoards of people running-god knows why plane didn't take off til 11:25. Got to the gate and didn't realise there was another serperate desk for UC & PE, so casually overtook the 40 people that ran to the gate :-)
At 10:55 boarding commenced with UC & PE pax first, and was pleasantly surprised to see we were flying on English Rose for the third time. So was interested to see how see looked after her refurb, but concerned as she was wearing the old VA livery. Anyway boarded her and made my way upstairs. Despite upstairs being a smaller cabin, there was plenty of luggage space, with a curtain seperating the two cabins. Walking through economy to PE I was shocked how small the economy seats were compared to PE. After 5 minutes being on the plane we were offered a glass of sparkling wine or juice, so no surprise I took the sparkling. Whilst getting comfortable and my partner being fascinated about seeing the flight deck the lady in front of me decided to recline her seat?! Then spilling my drink over :-( The CC noticed this and gave me another glass and cleaned up the mess and reminded the passenger infront to keep her seat up right until we had taken off :-)
A few minutes after take off we were offered more drinks followed by dinner. I had chosen the cottage pie from the menu and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the whole meal. After meal we was offered tea or coffee followed by an after dinner liquor too. I was loving this PE experience.
After dinner I started checking out the IFE. It was certainly an improvement on the last system and had plenty of choice of what to watch listen or play, but like people had said before it was more thump screen that touch screen.
After a few hours the afternoon snack arrived which was a pizza slice with more drinks. There was a gap for a few hours before the next service,so thought I would catch some sleep but couldn't as the PE was flooded with economy passengers not wanting to use the loo which I would understand but to chat to a friend who was in PE whilst the other 9 yes 9 friends were travelling in economy. After after 30 minutes the CC marched them out as afternoon tea was being served which was egg sandwiches (the smallest I've ever seen) tea/coffee and a small cake.
Around an hour later was offered more drinks again and a fab lolly. It was about an hour and a half before landing and we received our pre-ordered duty free and I started a conversation with a lovely CC member called ***** and found out she only lived just down the road from me in Norfolk. Through the 30 minute conversation I found out that 3 CC had driven from Newcastle to Gatwick and ***** had driven over 100 miles before starting her shift. I also found out that in September/October when the Dreamliner arrives all CC are to be receiving NEW uniforms!!
At 13:50 we arrived early into LAS and it took us a while to get off as passengers weren't held back so us people upstairs had to try and merge with the other passengers at the bottom of the stairs.
Once in immigration I thought with a new international terminal we would be through fairly quickly, how wrong was I. Out of 28 security channels only 4 were open for a flight of 400 passengers, appalling! After waiting 30 mins another 2 channels opened but at this point a BA flight had arrived so the hall was packed. Total time was well over an hour to get through and we were near the front of the queue. I also have to point out the CC had to wait 25mins to get through, so they didn't get the fast track treatment.
So to recap the CC were fab, plenty of drinks throughout the flight, food great, and definately worth the extra money for PE. Don't think I will be turning right on the plane anymore :-)

Good TR. Glad you enjoyed the experience.

Great to hear another positive review for PE. It's good to hear that you think the extra money is worth it

Thanks for posting ,I think PE is def worth doing on the longer flights if only for the seat

Thanks for posting ,I think PE is def worth doing on the longer flights if only for the seat

Have to agree, when I traveled as a child with my family we used to walk past the business cabins and the virgin PE seats remind me of those business seats...I always longed to be sat in that cabin!

Great TR, I'm off to vegas in September I hope to enjoy my flight as much as you.

Are the crew who live further away older? You often see BA crew and sometimes Virgin flying back up North and often when chatting they have youngish families and work part time. Much better than when female crew who had children had to quit.

Super TR Sounds like pretty good PE experience all round, well done VS Good to hear the food was good as I have had some poor meals in PE.....a Thanks for posting

Are the crew who live further away older? You often see BA crew and sometimes Virgin flying back up North and often when chatting they have youngish families and work part time. Much better than when female crew who had children had to quit.

The cabin crew that drove from Newcastle were all under 30, 2 of which are young mums. I really felt for them because towards the end of the flight they looked knackered.
I found out that CC have a 2 night turnaround when arriving at Vegas. When arriving back in the UK it's an average of a 3 night turnaround. So they complete 4 trips on average a month.
Moving onto the new uniform, the ladies will have high collar shirts with high collar jackets. For the guys the waistcoats are changing colour with a new style suit jacket.