Virgin premium economy advice and photos please!!!

[Lizzybear]

I think it depends on your priorities. Personally i'd rather have the cash to spend whilst were there, though I know for others this either isn't an issue or that comfort on the plane is important to them.

 

[anthony2k7]

Thank you for all your replies. We are due to travel out economy and back upper. We normally travel upper both ways but are trying to save a bit of money this year. As not flown economy for many years i am beginning to think about premium economy as not so much money as upper. It looks a bit more room than economy so I may give it a go!

I think going from normally flying upper to economy would be a bit of a shock to the system! I'd go for PE if I was you

 

[london75]

The only other thing to consider only going one way PE is you don't really benefit from increased luggage unless it's the way home you upgrade!

2 x 32Kg per person is very very generous and takes the stress out of packing to a limit!

 

[Frances999]

I often say that PE isn't great value for money (compared to Upper Class), but it's still worthwhile if you can afford it or don't want to be crammed in cattle class for 9 hours flat. On the LGW routes the planes are, IMO, showing some serious wear and tear. The in-flight entertainment also needs an urgent refit. Whilst we enjoy the upstairs cabin for the more personalised service and the better sense of space, it is getting tattier by the day and yet prices seem to be spiralling upwards. On the other hand, the LHR fleet is beautifully maintained. The purple leather PE seats and foot rests are a joy to experience and the cabin feels so much fresher and modern. The Vort system is also considerably better than the IFE on the LGW routes. It's a shame that VA aren't giving the LGW fleet the attention it deserves.

 

[UKDEB]

The big advantage of the LGW routes is that the upstairs PE cabin is a completely separate environment. On the LHR aircraft, PE upstairs usually (always?) shares the bubble with UC and it's nowhere near as pleasant, IMHO. On the LGW planes, you feel as though you are in your own little private function room, away from the normal hub-bub of commercial long-haul flights.

There are 38 seats in the upstairs cabin and, as someone has already mentioned, they're arranged in two sets of two either side of a double-width aisle (meaning you can get to the loo when the trolley is doing its rounds).

These are very old pictures (2002 and 2004 respectively, but are still representative of what you can expect. Although the seats themselves have seen better days, the covers seem to be changed regularly. The entertainment system is dreadful, but that's true across the entire plane - it's not peculiar to PE. Both these pictures are taken from the space next to the exit (roughly mid-cabin) looking back.

I think the food may be the same as in economy, but, in line with the new PE service, is now served on china with proper cutlery and glasses. These were our meals on the outbound last November.

 

[Claire L]

With the new suite for UC the LHR planes now only have UC upstairs, all PE is downstairs on these 747s now. We used to like the little upstairs PE cabin shame it has gone.

Claire

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

DD and I have just returned from a fab trip to New York, travelling PE.

We've not bothered flying PE on Virgin for a couple of years for two reasons - our friends who we've been holidaying with haven't wanted/budgeted to fly PE, but secondly and more important the standard of PE the last couple of times we flew to Orlando was disappointing compared to how is used to be, therefore not worth the added expense, IMHO.

However, Katie and I did fly PE with FC miles for New York and hurrah - it felt much better, the service was much better and the all around experience was great - back to the 'old days' with Virgin's PE experience.

Since there was just the two of us, I'd prebooked (and got) two seats on the side next to a window. I have to say if I was paying the extra money for PE and had to sit in the 4 seats in the middle I would not have been overly impressed because they seemed more cramped. Maybe they were not when sitting there, but I personally thought they were.

Until all VA planes are updated, I would only book PE from Heathrow. All our flights (Miami, Boston, New York and San Fransisco) have been out of Heathrow. I've already told DH that we'll be travelling to San Fransisco next Easter in PE!

 

[Funky_dino]

Even though I knew the Heathrow planes had the new PE sections I still chose to fly from Gatwick. I'm really annoyed with myself now for not picking Heathrow. I guess at the least having the back 2 seats in the bubble isn't too bad

 

[Frances999]

Even though I knew the Heathrow planes had the new PE sections I still chose to fly from Gatwick. I'm really annoyed with myself now for not picking Heathrow. I guess at the least having the back 2 seats in the bubble isn't too bad

There isn't usually a choice - VA don't fly to any one destination from both Gatwick and Heathrow.

 

[dtm316]

I decided to give PE a go this year and I'm travelling with them in 13 days. I am however slightly concerned by the width of the seats that people have mentioned. I'm not exactly massive but I am slightly girthy and I'm worried that I'm going to be squeezed into a seat that I paid a fair bit of cash for (mainly for the leg room ironically )

 

[Lizzybear]

I decided to give PE a go this year and I'm travelling with them in 13 days. I am however slightly concerned by the width of the seats that people have mentioned. I'm not exactly massive but I am slightly girthy and I'm worried that I'm going to be squeezed into a seat that I paid a fair bit of cash for (mainly for the leg room ironically )

I don't think you'll have a problem.. My bf is big (over 40 inch waist if that helps) and has always been fine in economy (this is flying with Virgin, Continental, Easyjet and Airfrance) with no need for a seatbelt extender and looking at the PE seats they're a bit bigger anyway

 

[Cinderella]

It really depends on the additional cost - sometimes it isn't too much more than economy and sometimes it is a ridiculous amount more.

To me, premium economy is worth it if you can get a seat in the bubble (top part of the plane) and the cost isn't too much extra, as it's quiet up there and the seats are more comfortable, so you do have some chance of sleeping.

I never noticed the food being a whole lot better though (mind you the food isn't amazing in Upper Class - it's all plane food) but they do seem to bring you more free drinks than they do in economy.

Personally, if I couldn't get a seat in the bubble, I'd save the extra cash to spend in Orlando, or if I could afford it, I might pay the extra for Upper Class, if I wanted to sleep on the flight. Trouble is, I still feel jetlagged for a couple of weeks when we get home, regardless of whether I've managed to sleep on the plane.

 

[Funky_dino]

There isn't usually a choice - VA don't fly to any one destination from both Gatwick and Heathrow.

Of course you have a choice of which airport you fly from. Esp as when you ring them they ask where you would be flying from.

 

[orangetiggs]

with virgin certian routes only fly from gatwick like the orlando route only flys from gatwick or manchester so you cant fly from heathrow, that what Frances999 was saying

Miami routes only fly from heathrow

Heathrow has the better fleet as its more business routes so they put more money into those routes

 

[Frances999]

Of course you have a choice of which airport you fly from. Esp as when you ring them they ask where you would be flying from.

If you're travelling to Orlando you don't have a choice between Gatwick and Heathrow. Your two options are London Gatwick or Manchester.

 

[Funky_dino]

I was gonna say. from the way it was phrased it meant u just fly from where they tell you.
As for Heathrow, wasn't aware they didn't fly to orlando as we haven't used VA since the 90's until last year. must be over 1o years since we last went to Heathrow, and then we used to fly to Miami and drive to Orlando as we never used to spend much time at the parks

 

[UKDEB]

Heathrow has the better fleet as its more business routes so they put more money into those routes

That's possibly true in general terms, but, in relation to the OPs query, I still maintain that the aircraft on the LGW/Manchester routes have the best PE option. My fear is that if and when they upgrade to the new PE seats on those routes, it'll lose its position in the bubble. That's what makes it special.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

That's possibly true in general terms, but, in relation to the OPs query, I still maintain that the aircraft on the LGW/Manchester routes have the best PE option. My fear is that if and when they upgrade to the new PE seats on those routes, it'll lose its position in the bubble. That's what makes it special.

I do wonder now if the infamous refurbishment will ever happen.
As the years slip by, Virgin have to weight the cost of refurb against the timeline for delivery of the A380's (or 787's in the short term) especially as the gatwick aircraft are leased.

 

[Frances999]

That's possibly true in general terms, but, in relation to the OPs query, I still maintain that the aircraft on the LGW/Manchester routes have the best PE option. My fear is that if and when they upgrade to the new PE seats on those routes, it'll lose its position in the bubble. That's what makes it special.

I disagree with this - we much prefer the PE experience on the airbus planes, despite the fact the PE cabin isn't in the bubble

The PE cabin on the airbus planes is not dissimilar to the atmosphere in the bubble - you get your own crew and the cabin is very quiet, spacious and peaceful. The new leather seats and cushion foot-rests are much more comfortable than the old tatty fabric seats found on the LGW fleet.

You can't compare the downstairs PE on LGW planes with the PE on the LHR planes, since the latter is very different not only in ambience and style but the fact it has dedicated cabin crew, too.

 

[scarletlancer]

All this shelving of refurbs because of the slow economy is a bit rich if you ask me, I haven't noticed them charging me any less because of the way the economy is affecting me

I have been PE a couple of times (admittedly only downstairs from Gatwick) and it was better than your average economy journey, but the £500-£600 per person, I was just quoted to upgrade our flights in August is quite frankly an obscenity for a slightly bigger seat and glass of pop!