Virgin Premium economy

[a_hobden]

Hi guys

has anyone flown Virgin premium economy from manchester to orlando before?? if you have how did you find it and did you feel it was worth the higher price. It would cost me a extra £150 each way for my sept flight. Im very tempted as I will have a nice bonus from work due just before we fly which would take care of it but not sure if the money would be better spent whilst in the parks etc..

 

[Disneymad]

I prefer to fly PE and always will if I can (though this year my dates are looking horribly expensive and not sure I can justify it but we'll see). I find the priority boarding and disembarking, priority on luggage and extra legroom and wider seats very much worth it. If you can get seats upstairs in the bubble then doubley so!

However, I would say the deciding factor is whether you felt you had to make sacrifices from the rest of your trip to pay for it. No matter how much I love PE if I felt it meant I would be counting the pennies more while I was over there then I'd save the cash. Ultimately, you're just talking about a luxury for 17-18 hours or so (both ways combined) compared to the entire rest of your trip.

 

[taylor91]

hey,
my mum and dad did last year... left me and my brother in economy
(it was the only way we could all get a seat as we booked later etc)
They said it was worth the bit extra for the leg room and good service while the flight and the priority boarding and checking in made things quicker, apart for waiting for us in the 'long economy line'
Iv'e booked PE for the outbound flight for June this year for the little extras... not too bothered about the flight home as I will sleep most of it since its a night flight so im in economy for that... I'm just seeing the PE as a little luxury before the holiday
Hope thats helped a little

 

[a_hobden]

I wouldnt be making sacrifices to do it as my bonus would pay for it and I wouldnt b doing it if i wernt getting that so I wouldnt be taking any money away from food/tickets/spending money... infact after ive paid for the upgrade i'll still have more to put into the pot.... Needless to say I was very happy friday afternoon after Id been told about the unexpected bonus!!

 

[Disneymad]

Sweet! In that case I'd say splash out and treat yourself. Beware the precedent though - most people once they experience PE never want to go back Economy

 

[Twilight Terror]

Sweet! In that case I'd say splash out and treat yourself. Beware the precedent though - most people once they experience PE never want to go back Economy

Yes, as long as you can handle the fact that every flight from now on will also be PE, then you are good to go. Been there, done that, and never going back to Economy!

 

[london75]

Yes, as long as you can handle the fact that every flight from now on will also be PE, then you are good to go. Been there, done that, and never going back to Economy!

Yep, us too

 

[crabbie1]

Im probably the odd one out as I didnt think it was worth the extra although when you end up with a kids meal as they have " run out" and you have a man leaning on your seat (as we sat upstairs in row 80) talking to the air stewardess for 4 hours it sort of spoilt it. Plus we paid £220 per upgrade back in 2007. I would rather spend the extra on a hotel or spending money but thats my personal opinion.

 

[2Tiggies]

Im probably the odd one out as I didnt think it was worth the extra although when you end up with a kids meal as they have " run out" and you have a man leaning on your seat (as we sat upstairs in row 80) talking to the air stewardess for 4 hours it sort of spoilt it. Plus we paid £220 per upgrade back in 2007. I would rather spend the extra on a hotel or spending money but thats my personal opinion.

Sadly I am with Crabbie1 - partially. We did MAN/MCO in PE last year. For reasons already mentioned, yes, it was worth it, but ONLY because we got highly discounted upgrades. Had I paid the price to upgrade that they had quoted me when I booked would have been very upset. We also had a little incident with food. My DD's gluten free meal, which was confirmed by phone again a few days prior to departure, was "left off the flight" and they didnt have anything else to offer her. Not a great start as I felt too guilty to eat in front of her. We contacted VA again and they apologised and said it would not happen on the return. Well you won't believe it, but it did. I do like VA though and have to credit the Customer Service Team for dealing with my complaint on our return though.

The food is pretty much the same as economy. A few years ago there were no PE upgrades on one leg and I took extra legroom seats and the service was no different and neither was the food. In fact it was more comfortable that last year's PE trip.

But to try and be objective about it, it was an old plane so not the leather seats we expected, and had there been no dietary issues, there would have been no problem. Priority boarding and luggage collection is a huge plus though. If the price was reasonable I will do it again as we have never had a hassle in the past so if you have the cash to spend on upgrades it is probably worth doing.

Try and get the bubble though.

 

[richard_andmel]

But to try and be objective about it, it was an old plane so not the leather seats we expected, and had there been no dietary issues, there would have been no problem.

We're flying from Manchester for the first time in September. (Really hate the 3 hour journey from Gatwick.) Do they use older planes than the Gatwick flights? I fly VA on LHR to Boston a lot and know that the planes can be quite different, but have never felt like any of these were older planes. I hate older planes... It's one of the main reasons I refuse to fly Birmingham to USA on Continental.

Mel

 

[london75]

The MAN aeroplanes are the older flavour with cloth seats and slightly knackered in flight entertainment.

Still worth it in my opinion although I'm a bit miffed champagne is now cava (on an £800 ticket, why can't they add on £5 and still give me champagne).

Priority boarding, being in the bump, your own toilets for 30 odd people, dedicated cabin crew, massive aisle to wonder around in, good service, comfortable, spacious, quiet, the list goes on.

 

[tigger137]

We're flying from Manchester for the first time in September. (Really hate the 3 hour journey from Gatwick.) Do they use older planes than the Gatwick flights? I fly VA on LHR to Boston a lot and know that the planes can be quite different, but have never felt like any of these were older planes. I hate older planes... It's one of the main reasons I refuse to fly Birmingham to USA on Continental.

Mel

For the Orlando route they use the same 747s from Gatwick and Manchester.
From LHR to Boston it's usually A340-600.

I believe all the A340s have vport which is a much better IFE (in flight entertainment) than the Gatwick/Manchester 747 fleet.

Have to admit I'm puzzled by your dislike of 'older planes'. The Continential Birmingham-Newark flight is on a 757. But how do you know it's an 'older' plane? Boeing built 757s until 2004 so it could be a newer plane than one of the A340-600s you've flown on.

Now if you said smaller or single-aisled planes, that I could understand.
Personally I prefer twin-aisled aircraft and I particularly like the 747.

 

[tigger137]

Beware the precedent though - most people once they experience PE never want to go back Economy

Too true.

 

[a_hobden]

Thanks guys!!! looks like PE from now on lol!!

 

[scoobydooby]

Accepting at the off I appear to be the exception to the rule I have flown both economy and PE on Virgin from Manchester to Orlando and I would NEVER pay the extra money again. The leg room wasn't enough more; the food was the same but served on crockery; the person sitting in front of me was just as obnoxious and seat tilting; the children were just as bored; the in-flight enterntainment was the same. And.... I could see first class from where we sat at the front of PE which looked fabulous and just made me sooooo green with envy because we're never flying first class. I would note that I really liked marching to the front of the queue at the bag check at Downtown Disney but that wasn't worth the £1,600 extra for our family of four. I'd spend the money on something different, or save it for my next trip. Just my opinion though.

 

[TCO]

It was perfect for us last year. we were on our honeymoon and decided to upgrade at the airport for the cheap price. We got brilliant seats near the emergency exit so had stupid amounts of leg room. Even though the entertainment system was broke it was great just being the 2 of us.

This year it's cost us about 220 each one way but we are just doing it for the outbound journey

 

[bristolphil]

Accepting at the off I appear to be the exception to the rule I have flown both economy and PE on Virgin from Manchester to Orlando and I would NEVER pay the extra money again. The leg room wasn't enough more; the food was the same but served on crockery; the person sitting in front of me was just as obnoxious and seat tilting; the children were just as bored; the in-flight enterntainment was the same. And.... I could see first class from where we sat at the front of PE which looked fabulous and just made me sooooo green with envy because we're never flying first class. I would note that I really liked marching to the front of the queue at the bag check at Downtown Disney but that wasn't worth the £1,600 extra for our family of four. I'd spend the money on something different, or save it for my next trip. Just my opinion though.

spot on, thats what i think too.
although we did get upgraded to first class once as our premium seats were double booked on the day.

 

[richard_andmel]

Have to admit I'm puzzled by your dislike of 'older planes'. The Continential Birmingham-Newark flight is on a 757. But how do you know it's an 'older' plane? Boeing built 757s until 2004 so it could be a newer plane than one of the A340-600s you've flown on.

Now if you said smaller or single-aisled planes, that I could understand.
Personally I prefer twin-aisled aircraft and I particularly like the 747.

It's not the age as much as how knackered they usually are. I haven't flown Continental in years for this reason. I have always felt they use their crappiest planes out of Birmingham to Newark because they are the only direct flight to the US out of BHX. The staff were always very good, but planes were knackered and the entertainment system was lame. Not to mention none of those planes offer PE of any sort.

I have no problems with little planes though.

 

[torsie24]

I have flown PE a few times and I do think it's much nicer than the economy cabin.

That being said in either case you get to Orlando/London in the same amount of time, and I get just as bored!

For our upcoming trip our budget is a lot bigger than a standard holiday would be, but even though we could afford PE or even UC flights this time I just can't justify loads of extra ££ that could pay for something whilst we're in Orlando.

Our flight prices aren't released yet, but unless there's some amazing deal we are flying out economy (I'm always fine on out flights, I never want to sleep and the excitement keeps me happy!) and back PE - I'm a misery on the way home, and the extra space and quicker luggage collection will be a lot more welcome.

We'll ask at check in about space in the PE cabin as my parents will be up there no matter what seat we're in! Charming!

 

[mitchfishguard]

thank god my flight is going on saturday from manchester. me and leander are flying pe upstairs. you cant deny that pe makes the holiday that little bit better by actually looking forward to the flights instead of dreading them.