Virgin Premium Economy

[Stefy]

Hi guys

Has anyone travelled PE on Virgin? Is it worth the extra and are they always the purple leathery looking seats?

Thanx

Stefy x

 

[Lisa1976]

Hubby and I flew PE with Virgin in January (we had Ruby Tuesday and the normal red material seats) and to be honest I wouldn't bother wasting my money again to pay for the upgrade (this is just from my point of view). Yes it was nice to be in the "bubble" and the extra leg room, but really thats about it.

Hubby and I are pooh shaped so thought we would benefit from the wider seats, which is one of the reasons we paid for the upgrade, that and we had always wanted to try it, but we found out when we got there that the arm rests don't move and this made it a little uncomfortable.

I personally wouldn't pay the extra again and would be more than happy to fly economy having the set of two seats at the back and save my £400 or so that we paid to upgrade so that I can spend it in Orlando

As I say thats just my opinion.

 

[wideeyes]

I think it is a personal decision, I was going to fly PE however changed my mind as I realised we did not need the extras such as extra leg room, increased luggage allowance. As there is three of us we would prefer to sit in the rows of 3 that are in economy. The £1000 saved has gone towards next years holiday to upgrade us at the yacht club.

 

[Boss Hogg]

Definitely a topic you'll get very different views on.

Personally I think it is worth it. Especially on the MCO route where it is upstairs. I'm quite tall and the extra leg room is a real bonus to me, as is the ability to stand up in the cabin at any time and not be in anyone's way - the cabin crew can even get by with the trolley if needed. You also get a much better service upstairs due to the ratio of crew to passengers.

This coupled with the fact that you get a dedicated check-in and quicker baggage claim (most of the time anyway) make it a service worth paying for in my eyes. That having been said, it can be quite expensive, so that is always a consideration I guess.

BTW as of yet, to the best of my knowledge, the new seats are not on the MCO route.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

As Matt says you will get different opinions.

We flew back PE in 2006 last time we went, the seats were not leather.

This August we are flying PE both ways, upstairs to Orlando downstairs on the way back.
To be honest we are doing it purely because Joshua couldn't get comfortable at all in Economy seats, especially when trying to sleep. So we figure bigger seats and more leg room gives him a better chance.

I have heard it is better upstairs, more peaceful and the service more personal, though I would ideally like a row of 3 seats for us.

However, whether we would fly PE on future holidays after this year I don't know, it just adds too much onto the cost of an already expensive holiday.

 

[wayneg]

All depends on what you feel about spending more money on a flights and what you feel about economy.
Personally we sleep about 7 hours each way in economy, we are lucky enough to sleep anywhere and don't care about the food and service so the extra for PE would be wasted on us (last August I rang out of curiosity, just for return leg it would have cost £900, £300each upgrade 1 way, almost another economy round trip).
In economy we can go 3-4 times a year if we went PE we would have to cut to once or twice a year.
On the other hand my Brother won't fly in economy, only PE or business.

 

[Pinklepurr361]

I flew back in PE in April. I wasn't impressed at all. Sure, the bubble was nice and the extra legroom appreciated but the food was horrible, the crew inconsiderate and I was kept awake all night by a noisy fellow passenger who decided he wanted to hold a lively debate with the crew! I complained to VA and got 10,000 miles compensation but I would think very carefully about whether to pay extra again...

 

[irenep]

Another one here who does not think it worth the money. Flew back PE last year and had seats in the bubble. It was nice and relaxing but definitely not worth the nearly £1000 (4 of us) premium. Yes, one thousand pounds for 8 hours in a slightly better seat - but still didn't sleep well.

I could have had 4 nights at The Grand Floridian for that!

I would only do it again if it was really cheap or a very special occasion.

 

[Neoshoegal]

I'm a nervous flyer so for me it was a big difference and well worth the money.
OK, on the way out we did have 2 screaming toddlers the whole way (a total of 9 and a half hours due to delay) which was horrendous (I really wished I had some duct tape). But I like the less people around me, the shorter line at check in and that alone is worth the extra money for me. Don't really care that much for the bubbly as I don't drink it anyway.

 

[jockey]

I love PE, the dedicated check in, the extra luggage allowance and sitting upstairs swing it for me, It really takes the stress out of travel especially if travelling with kids . We last travelled PE in Nov 2007 and they did not have the purple seats

 

[Boss Hogg]

The other thing I would say is to play around and see what the best price you can find is. Naturally, it is massively dependent on when you go, and often times whether you're in VA's Flying Club. We rarely pay more than £600 each return for a PE flight, albeit we are paying £700 in November. Think that this is then a much different situation to those already quoted where people are saying they're paying £250/300 each leg just to upgrade.

 

[Soopafly]

Our flight in December is £395 I think return in economy and another £400 each for the upgrade both ways. I like the idea of dedicated check in and boarding and departing quicker then economy (hopefully it means we could get to security before the masses) but at the same time I don't like the look of those red chairs. I cant see them being comfortable at all. 2 questions though, what is this "bubble" you guys are talking about and do you think we should upgrade now or wait until nearer the time to see if it is cheaper. I know it's a risky way of doing it as the seats could sell out but to be honest I think I am willing to pay extra just to have less people around me.

Thanks

 

[Boss Hogg]

The "bubble" is the upstairs section on a 747.

Personally, if you are happy with that price I would be inclined to do it now. For two reasons, I'm not sure that it will get cheaper the closer you get and also there is a chance PE will fill up.

Red chairs are pretty comfortable, in fact I always think they look better than the new ones

 

[Soopafly]

Are they made of the same material etc as the economy seats with just a bit more room? I don't really want to sit in a row of threee really, also one of the reasons for wanting an upgrade is so we can be seated together with nobody next to us. I usually end up with the person who constantly needs to get up and pee sitting next to me which makes my flight hell lol.

I know what you mean about the price and seats filling up which is why we just want to get as many opinions on a recent trip as possible. I heard Virgins service is terrible now

If you had a choice of upgrading for both legs of the journey or upgrading from POFQ to the wilderness lodge which would you choose? Just curious

 

[Boss Hogg]

Are they made of the same material etc as the economy seats with just a bit more room? I don't really want to sit in a row of threee really, also one of the reasons for wanting an upgrade is so we can be seated together with nobody next to us. I usually end up with the person who constantly needs to get up and pee sitting next to me which makes my flight hell lol.

I know what you mean about the price and seats filling up which is why we just want to get as many opinions on a recent trip as possible. I heard Virgins service is terrible now

If you had a choice of upgrading for both legs of the journey or upgrading from POFQ to the wilderness lodge which would you choose? Just curious

Think the fabrics are the same, so effectively a larger seat. Being upstairs would get you two seats "alone", although I'd still recommend picking the seats online and checking in early to maximise your chances of achieving two together. Upstairs is much roomier and has a more open feel here are a couple of pics:

I don't subscribe to the fact that the service is awful nowadays. I think they have scrimped on some of the goodies they used to give you, and some of the aircraft are somewhat tatty in places, but we have always had good service, in the main, from the cabin crew and have always been well looked after, so I can only take as I find.

Not sure what I would do in the debate on flights or accommodation. Both have options which mean you don't need to do either.

I would probably say the flight though, having never stayed at either resort - so both would be something new for me.

 

[Soopafly]

Thanks for the pics. To be honest I'm not loving the idea of an upgrade now. I just worked some things out on the disney site and I think the only other resort we could upgrade to is the Animal Kingdom. I guess we still have time to decide but I think we might just leave it and stick with what we have and save the money instead. Thanks again for the pics, has helped alot.

 

[Stefy]

thanx for all the replies guys much appreciated.

the pics are from the normal red chairs that are just slightly bigger than econ? they look alright, but i doub DB would go for them. Does anyone have pics of the purple ones? Its a shame we can't find out what type of aircraft we will be on.

If we do decide to upgrade we will have to do it over the phone as the site is really weird, sometimes the upgrade option doesn't even come up. Do you think we can request upstairs if we upgrade?

 

[Claire L]

The refit for the LGW/MAN planes looks likely to start in 2009 now. So unless they swap in a LHR plane for technical reasons then you will get the red seats and not the new purple leather seats.

Claire

 

[Pootle]

I don't subscribe to the fact that the service is awful nowadays. I think they have scrimped on some of the goodies they used to give you, and some of the aircraft are somewhat tatty in places, but we have always had good service, in the main, from the cabin crew and have always been well looked after, so I can only take as I find.

I agree with every word of the above

Hubby and I are pooh shaped so thought we would benefit from the wider seats, which is one of the reasons we paid for the upgrade, that and we had always wanted to try it, but we found out when we got there that the arm rests don't move and this made it a little uncomfortable.

And I definitely know where this poster is coming from My friend, who needs a seat belt extender on some flights, has difficulty getting out from a window seat because of the fixed armrest - especially during the return flight when the seat in front is (understandably) full reclined. Even though ours might also be fully reclined too, it's almost a sideways 'limbo' movement to get out

OTOH when travelling with DH (both of us tall and well padded ), we like the bubble area of PE and for us it is worth the extra cost.

 

[Frances999]

I find PE cramped enough, so would never go for economy. It all depends on how important the flight is and how much you want to spend without cutting into other areas of your vacation. As for the seats, the MCO route definitely only has the red fabric seats. VA seem to neglect the MCO route and leave it with all of the worst planes - from our experiences, the planes have been tatty and worn, with the worst IFE, and the seats aren't anywhere near as comfortable as the new purple leather seats (which don't have the annoying 'joined-on' footrest that the fabric seats have, but rather you get given big leather cushion foot rests which can be moved around). It's good to hear they are eventually starting a re-fit.

As others have said, definitely go for upstairs if you do upgrade. Much quieter and you won't be sharing cabin crew with economy.