Up in the Bubble

[thestevied]

We flew up there in September for our trip to Orlando. Personally we loved it. There was slightly less storage space overhead but other than that was a good experience. For us the biggest pro by far was being first off the plane. We were in the back row of the bubble, think row 80, and were the third and fourth passengers off the plane. This meant we were through immigration and out of the airport in 40 minutes. This was despite there being another arrival and more passengers queuing at immigration. For this reason alone we'd fly up there again.

Other than that there's not much difference, especially if you just sit and watch tv like we do!

 

[queendisney]

We flew up there in September for our trip to Orlando. Personally we loved it. There was slightly less storage space overhead but other than that was a good experience. For us the biggest pro by far was being first off the plane. We were in the back row of the bubble, think row 80, and were the third and fourth passengers off the plane. This meant we were through immigration and out of the airport in 40 minutes. This was despite there being another arrival and more passengers queuing at immigration. For this reason alone we'd fly up there again.

Other than that there's not much difference, especially if you just sit and watch tv like we do!

did you get off before UC and PE downstairs?
We are downstairs in the dedicated PE cabin this time and as I said before not too bothered if the bubble get off before us and those in UC but do think its wrong that UC are off 4th if that's the case. We are only in PE because we want extra room not because we want to get off first

 

[Laurafoster]

When we went in Sept it was the front of the plane first (UC and PE) followed by the bubble. It was the same on the way back but i was not in as much of a rush then

 

[Danauk]

We flew both ways in the bubble in August (to and from Las Vegas). Both times the bubble was disembarked before the rest of economy. I like the bubble seats as I like the extra storage next to the window seat. I can store things in there that I might need during the flight.

 

[Mummycat]

We flew back from Florida PE in the bubble for the first time in September. Loved it and agree with other comments like the larger hand luggage being kept at the back etc. but not much of an inconvenience as the large storage boxes by the window took everything we needed for the flight. We did find that disembarking was a bit of a free for all but after waiting on the stairs for a while the stewardess eventually stopped the flow of traffic to let us out.
My husband is 6ft4" and had plenty of head room.
We travelled out in economy with extra leg room seats and found this also very good and had the same generous leg room between seats if not more then PE.
My only gripe is that due to it being a smaller area with good acoustics the man 6 rows ahead of us snoring all night was very loud and annoying
Definitely a lovely experienc

 

[thestevied]

did you get off before UC and PE downstairs? We are downstairs in the dedicated PE cabin this time and as I said before not too bothered if the bubble get off before us and those in UC but do think its wrong that UC are off 4th if that's the case. We are only in PE because we want extra room not because we want to get off first

Yes we disembarked before anyone else. Of course, it could just be a case of someone in UC being polite and letting us go through before them but we weren't held back. We walked down the stairs and were straight off the plane. Couldn't believe our luck.

 

[queendisney]

Yes we disembarked before anyone else. Of course, it could just be a case of someone in UC being polite and letting us go through before them but we weren't held back. We walked down the stairs and were straight off the plane. Couldn't believe our luck.

Blimey I wouldn't have let you off just kidding I would have been polite as its not biggie as far as I am concerned. Would not have been happy if they had held us back for all of downstairs economy though. In the scheme of things it doesn't make that much difference is you are 1st or 40th off but does if you are number 300!!

 

[gavvy]

I know I'll probably get totally flamed for this and completely "hated" but this is exactly why I think the whole rearrangement of the bubble seating is unfair. One of the reasons we pay extra for PE is so we get off the plane quicker now the folks in the bubble EC and PE are off before us in PE downstairs

The old configuration had 4 rows of economy downstairs behind PE and upper- they were always let off first, so actually the new configuration is better as there are less economy seats upstairs than there were downstairs behind PE -

The only drawback I see is there is no loo at the rear of the bubble so economy passengers have to walk through the PE section.

 

[tinks_1989]

We are booked in the bubble for our next trip. The last 3 seats on the right hand side. I hate the touch screen system I always seem to get some one who has to hit the screen rather then just tap it. All the other end of aisle seats are near toilets and my other hate is people hanging or leaning in my chair whilst waiting for the toilet. that's why I chose the bubble it is opposite the stairs but that's fine with us hopefully means we will be first down

 

[Tony Bush]

Anyone have any pics from up in the bubble, esp economy seats. I did see one and it looked kinda claustrophobic up there !

Tony

 

[bazzanoid]

Anyone have any pics from up in the bubble, esp economy seats. I did see one and it looked kinda claustrophobic up there !

Tony

Not a very good one, but...

Shows both economy and PE before they pull the curtain across. Hope that helps!

 

[flortlebap]

Seeing your photo Im wondering if it would feel claustrophobic with the curtain pulled across - there isn't much room to stretch your legs on a 9 hour flight!

Do they let you go downstairs mid flight?

 

[bazzanoid]

The toilets are at the front of the PE section so you walk through the length of the bubble to get to them, and the galley is at the back by the stairs. Never thought to ask about going downstairs midflight, i see no reason why not though

 

[poppyberry]

We were at the front in PE last month, we went downstairs to change our DS nappy as there were no changing facilities in the bubble toilets no-one said anything so you can wander as much as you like!

 

[Elise79]

No problem going downstairs as long as the seat belts signs aren't on obviously

IMHO Its quite cramped up in the bubble now however I was used to it when it was PE only. I can see why E passengers love it though

 

[bazzanoid]

No problem going downstairs as long as the seat belts signs aren't on obviously

IMHO Its quite cramped up in the bubble now however I was used to it when it was PE only. I can see why E passengers love it though

We used to sit in the bubble with TCD when they were around......

We do it with VA purely because it means we're among the first off the plane, and it proved to be a good thing - when we landed at MCO this year we were off the plane through immigration and baggage claim and walking out the doors to the parking lots within about 25 minutes of touching the tarmac....

 

[George12]

We used to sit in the bubble with TCD when they were around......

We do it with VA purely because it means we're among the first off the plane, and it proved to be a good thing - when we landed at MCO this year we were off the plane through immigration and baggage claim and walking out the doors to the parking lots within about 25 minutes of touching the tarmac....

We travelled in PE 5 weeks ago and when we arrived in Orlando the cabin crew were letting passengers from downstairs economy get off before us and as a result we had over an hours wait before we got through immigration.
I think that only passengers in UC get priority in disembarking first and it is up to the cabin crew who get off after UC. However, we were among the first off when we arrived back in Gatwick but the only problem was that all the trains had been cancelled due to the St Judes Day storm and we had to stay over until next day before we could get home!