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Every night flight I have ever travelled on with my husband has resulted in him fast asleep and me wide awake!
The last flight we took my husband could not sleep for the whole flight and so now......now when HE can't sleep he wants a bit more room to stretch out!!!!!!!I thought the Vigin economy flight was excellent.
We cannot afford the luxury of first class tickets at this time, so I have booked the Virgin premium economy.
Can anyone who has used this service let me know if they felt it was worthwhile.
In the past we have travelled both first and business class and I know I cannot expect anything near that standard this time, but an idea of what to expect would be good.
Thanks
Andrea
Ray&Sarah
18-06-2004, 21:28
Hi Andrea,
We usually travell premium economy with Virgin, have to say we feel it is well worth the extra money, we used it first for the first time two years ago as it was my parents 30th wedding anniversary and we wanted everything to be a bit special. Having travelled premium we are very reluctant to go back to economy, the seats are larger, the leg room much better and the service a little better than economy.:)
KevinTHFC
18-06-2004, 21:31
I fly Virgin Atlantic quite a lot for business. They have Upper Class, Premium economy and economy. I would equate Upper to First class and Premium to Business Class. You may be pleasntly suprised.:)
Kevin
walden64
18-06-2004, 22:50
We booked Virgin Premium Economy for our flight last week and yes I would say it was worth it, larger seats and more leg room than economy. We also got upgraded to upper class on the way out so it was well worth it.
Michelle
We treated ourselves to Premium economy for the first time last year and it was well worth it, the seats were bigger, more legroom and the service was much better. We got chatting to one of the stewardesses who lived a couple of miles from us and she said she prefers to work in Premium even more than 1st as the passengers were much nicer there, more chatty and generally more appreciative.
We will have trouble going back to economy again but if push comes to shove and thats all we can afford then we'll settle for that to get a trip to Fl :)
SunLover
18-06-2004, 23:43
If you can afford to do it ... do it, as it does make a huge difference to your journey, but at the end of the day, 9.5 hours of being slightly cramped is not the end of the world.
We've travelled Premium, First class (upgrades) and economy with Virgin. We actually preferred Premium to First Class, because like RosieUK says, we found the atmosphere in First a little too stuffy and "proper" for our liking.
Whichever class you fly, befriend your cabin crew and they will make your journey special.
I always fly virgin premium economy for the extra leg room. Have to say though that travelling in a party with various special needs have always found Virgin most accomodating.
I have flown all classes in my time and to be honest even economy on a scheduled flight isnt
that bad, well BA is, in my opinion (sorry Julie) :)
I dread the day if we ever go back to charter flights, now they are cramped
we fly prem econonmy with Virgin - whenever possible we have sat upstairs (depends on aircraft type) we enjoy it and the extra room is worth the extra money
Tony
orlandobabe
20-06-2004, 03:23
we were upgraded to premium in Feb. Very nice! I don't know how much extra it would have been.
Well done on flying upper class. We did that once and the seats were £4125 each.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by chrisj
I have flown all classes in my time and to be honest even economy on a scheduled flight isnt
that bad, well BA is, in my opinion (sorry Julie) :)
I dread the day if we ever go back to charter flights, now they are cramped
[/quote]
I think it's down to personal standards to be honest. Virgin's ok but when you look at the overall age of their aircraft - especially those based at Manchester - they don't compare with BA I'm afraid. I use both Virgin Premium Economy AND BA's business class in my job regularly. Without doubt, Virgin's Class is Working Class. I can't remember when we flew with them last and all the games worked or there was soap in the toilets. Plus, their fleet is Ex Air Atlanta (or is leased from them - that may be changed now but it's the same aircraft which has since been re-registered as G-VBEE)
And it is well past it's sell-by date.
Magical Dreams
20-06-2004, 13:42
Whats wrong with WORKING Class?
Not everyone was born with a silver spoon in their mouth or had the fortune of a well to do business.
Some of us WORKING class work damn hard and if economy is all we can afford then that is what we fly.
Like SunLover said, 9.5hrs being a little cramped is not the end of the world.
The end result is still the same!!
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by pontelad
Whats wrong with WORKING Class?
Not everyone was born with a silver spoon in their mouth or had the fortune of a well to do business.
Some of us WORKING class work damn hard and if economy is all we can afford then that is what we fly.
Like SunLover said, 9.5hrs being a little cramped is not the end of the world.
The end result is still the same!!
[/quote]
I have to disagree the end result IS NOT the same!! You get off feeling refreshed any full of beans ready for the rest of the day!
We used to go twice a year in Economy and found the flights horrendous, we now choose to go once a year in Premium or Business class and stay longer once we are there!
We were not born with a silver spoon in our mouths but we do not do Economy any more!
Ray&Sarah
20-06-2004, 15:45
If it was a choice between not going and flying economy though, we would definately fly economy. We usually pay for the Premium upgrade and do think it is well worth it but would still fly economy.:)
We are flying Premium Economy with Virgin for the first time in August. Looking forward to going upstairs on a Jumbo.
Paul
I didn't think the premium economy was upstairs, I thought it was just up front of economy!?
We are flying it for the first time on 18th August hope you enjoy your experience, I am sure will will, it is our first trip to our newly built house and we are really excited already.
Andrea
I believe only first class get the privilege of going upstairs.
I'd love to try Premium Economy! Perhaps I will next year as a treat.
Happy holidays everyone.
walden64
20-06-2004, 21:32
Coming back last weekend Premium Economy was upstairs on the Virgin Gatwick flight.
Michelle
Michelle
Hope you had a great holiday and flight, I hope we end up upstairs then!
Andrea
Andrea,
I rang Virgin about a month ago to prebook our seats, she gave me the seat numbers 72 A&C and told me they were upstairs!!!!!!!!!!!
Have to wait and see.
walden64
20-06-2004, 22:12
Paul
We had been allocated 76 A & C and they were upstairs but on the way out we were upgraded to Upper Class:D:D:D:D. If you look at the virgin web site there is a link to the seating plan for the planes.
Andrea
Thank you, yes we did have a great holiday mainly doing work around the villa, putting a games room into the garage. It was a great start to the holiday being upgraded to Upper Class. We are due out again in 3 weeks but this time we are taking the 3 children so it is back to economy for us[msnsad]
I am sure that you are looking forward to going out in August to your new house. I was so excited this time last year when we closed on our villa.
Michelle
You naughty, naughty girl Bridget!!!! Always check the website first! Remember you always get told off by this lot!
[msnscared]
Michelle,
Where abouts on the Virgin website can I find the seating plan.
Think this is what you are looking for mate
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/our_story_our_fleet.view.do
All LGW based flights have Premium upstairs. However, you may get lucky and premium seated in rows 11 or 12. These are upper class seats with Premium service. usually only do this on the MCO route out of LGW.
Matt
Ray&Sarah
20-06-2004, 23:48
We sat upstairs for premium on flights to/from London but downstairs on flights to/from Manchester.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.
I have just checked where our seats are and yes we are upstairs, my husband and daughter will be excited!
Andea
Cheers,
We are 72 A&C out and 74A&C back, both upstairs.
Premium Economy is worth the extra just for the express check-in. You do not have to join the rest of the plane(s) in the queue !
From experience I would make sure you do not get the seats on the lower deck just between first and economy, as these tend to be noisy as they are next to the kitchen area for standard class.
Steve
We agree Premium Economy is worth the extra , have travelled last 3 occasions on PE.
In March by past a long Economy queue for check in , then at MCO straight thru immigration, baggage collection and car hire wre a breeze. We saved about 90 minutes queueing time compared to Economy.
Counting down to September!
Clive & June
alison166
21-06-2004, 18:55
Hi everyone.
Please excuse my ignorance but as I am new to all this long haul flight stuff - can anyone tell me do you book premium economy at the time of booking flights or can you book afterwards - also can you request seat numbers or are they just allocated.
Hope this all makes sense [msnsmile2][msnsmile2]
happy holidaying
Ali
imported_n/a
21-06-2004, 19:03
Premium Economy is downstairs on the Manchester plane. The front row is Row 17 which you cannot pre-book. I have to agree with previous postings it's not as good as say Business Elite with Delta. If we hadn't managed to get row 17 both ways, we would have felt that it wasn't worth the extra. You could be lucky though and ask for an upgrade to Club Orlando (Manchester's upper class equivalent). ;)
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by alison166
Hi everyone.
Please excuse my ignorance but as I am new to all this long haul flight stuff - can anyone tell me do you book premium economy at the time of booking flights or can you book afterwards - also can you request seat numbers or are they just allocated.
Hope this all makes sense [msnsmile2][msnsmile2]
happy holidaying
Ali xx
[/quote]
Ali
We booked our premium economy on the internet and we chose which seats we wanted there and then. I believe it is possible to upgrade, but I have no idea if it is more expensive later on.
Bearing in mind most flights get more expensive the nearer they get, it would think it is advisable to book the upgrade when you initially book.
I hope that makes sense.
Andrea
Be careful with the PE seats upstairs with restricted recline. They have the stewards take off/landing seats behind. Premium is much better than economy but I think BA World Traveller Plus is marginally better:)
Liz
Is BA's world traveller in between economy and business? If so why is it never available from Gatwick? Whenever I request a price it says it isn't available!!
Andrea
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by andreah
Liz
Is BA's world traveller in between economy and business? If so why is it never available from Gatwick? Whenever I request a price it says it isn't available!!
Andrea
[/quote]
It will be available from next year I think - ask Floridalover he has all the low down on BA or Julie R?