Virgin Premium Economy

[pwwhitehead]

Thanks to all your reports I decided to book PE with Virgin this October to Orlando. I always fly Virgin. Could you answer the following.

Are the seats upstairs from the economy area where I usually. Or are the seats located on the same level as economy, but in a differant area.

Also how many rows of seats are there. In economy you have the cente row then two rows next to the windows.

Thanks

 

[Tony Bush]

Premium economy is situated upstairs on Virgins 747-400's

There are around 12 rows of seats all configured with two seats either side of a wide central aisle.

Tony

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Originally posted by Tony Bush
Premium economy is situated upstairs on Virgins 747-400's

Tony

Almost true, but not quite.

I have just called up Virgin to check Premium Economy avalability for wheelchair users. I want to fly Gatwick to Orlando in the Autumn. I need assistance getting onto the aircraft and cannot get into and out of regular seats, I can't climb the stairs (illegal anyway under flight rules) and I can't afford first class.

Virgin Special Assistance informed me that there are a small number of PE seats on the lower level as well as the ones upstairs for passengers who cannot climb the stairs.

Andrew

 

[Martin S]

A slightly different Q: are there any restrictions on taking young Children into PE ? I will be travelling with DW and a 2yo DS and want to go PE - disappointed to hear that they dont do 3 seats in a row.

 

[Kev Harrison]

No restrictions as far as I know. My wife and I are taking our 2 year old also, and at time of booking I asked if it's a problem taking a 2 year old upstairs and they said none whatoever.

I just think it will be easier travelling with a baby in a bit more space, and probably easier for her to sleep as well.

I am like you and are slightly dissapointed that we can't sit in a 3 but it's worth being seperated just to sit in premium.

 

[Martin S]

Thanks for the info Kev, would be interested to hear your experiences when you have been and any top tips for keeping the little one amused during the flight !

 

[Kev Harrison]

Premium is well worth the extra expense. I am 6" 2 and just to be on a plane for 9 hours and still have space to move is a godsend. I am also a very fussy eater and last time we flew there was nothing for me to eat and our stewardess gave me her own food - now thats service !!.

Last time we flew economy I was crammed in like a sardine and it took me nearly 9 hours to learn to walk again afterwards.

As for little one's, well it's our first time as well, so we are driving down to Gatwick at a leisurely pace the day before and staying at the Hilton and using twilight checkin the night before. Hopefully this will mean 2 stress free parents, which in turn we hope will mean a stress free and happy baby. I think maybe because we'll have so much looking after of her to do the flight will probably pass us by, also I guess because the flight is quite long, at some point they must sleep. At least coming back is a night flight.

 

[Kev Harrison]

An afterthought.....

Failing that the overhead lockers could quite easily house a small one

 

[pwwhitehead]

Thanks for all your replies

 

[JohnW]

PE has 5 rows of seats upstairs, two either side of a central aisle. These are seats 70 thru 74. They recently introduced some seats downstairs in the section immediately behind Upper Class. There are three rows of seats either side of the plan next to the window with an aisle and then a bulkhead at the side, so there is still a lot of privacy. These are seats 75 to 77.

On a 747-200 the premium seats are downstairs toward the front of the plan, behind a section of Upper Class seats. These are in a 2-3-2 configuration.

 

[richard3330]

Just to clarify about taking younger children, we also took our son when he was 2 and the service and space was exceptional compared with economy. He had a bad ear ache on the way home and the stewardesses were extremely helpful and assisted brilliantly with a cure. PE is well worth the upgrade when travelling with younger children to make it a lot less stressful journey!!

 

[bubblefactory]

We upgraded at check - in from Manchester to Orlando Oct 02.

From Manchester you get the Air Atlanta lease plane in which PE is downstairs behind upper. The seats were 2-4-2 across.

The kids loved it ( age 6 and 18months ) , the little one had her own Virgin 'booster seat' so she could sit in her own seat.

The best bit was the nice Lady check - in supervisor who said when I enquired on the upgrade "pay for the 4 adults and I'll do the the kids free" !!

It is well worth the extra comfort especially with kids - we came back in economy and it just wasn't the same.

I have gone for PE return now for my Oct 2003 booking no hesitation.

 

[kazzie]

You had a result with the kids going free,that would have been too tempting to turn down

But once you have a taste of it,you're hooked!

 

[bubblefactory]

On the entertaining young ones theme we always take one bag of hand luggage just for the kids .

We pack a small selection of toys , books , play doh, jigsaw , coloring book crayons etc.

it is surprising how much variety you can fit into a small bag if you choose carefully

It is also very useful to introduce your child to headphones before the flight then they can get the most from the quite good childrens TV channels on virgin.

With a couple of meal breaks and a nap thrown in ( always remember the bedtime toy if it is small enough ) the flight usually goes quite well.

We had a very good flight with the kids ( 6yrs / 18mth ) in Oct 2002 - a little forward planning gives a lot of peace in flight.

I have always found the Virgin cabin crews excellent and helpful when you travel with kids.

 

[richard3330]

Bubblefactory: Just out of interest (if you don't mind saying) how much did it cost to upgrade to PE at Check-In? - I didn't know you could do this.

 

[bubblefactory]

I don't mind at all posting the cost.

When we arrived at the airport there was a massive queue for check in and we had aready discussed an upgrade but virgin couldn't upgrade us over the phone because we were on a WDW holidays booking ref.

we went to the Virgin info desk at the back of MCR airport and enquired there with the supervisor who quoted £319 per person.

I said is that per adult ? how much are the kids? ( they get reduced PE in the brochure ).

It was at this point ( with my little princess smiling cutely at her and me waving credit card ) that she offered ;

"these are the last six seats in PE and they are the best ( they were bulkheads ) pay for 4 adults and the kids go free!

So we did the deal at £319 per adult one way.

we were then whisked to the PE check in ( no queue ! ) and had an excellent flight.

 

[Kim Styles]

Hi Kev Harrison,
We took our DS, then two and our DD, seven, on the Orlando flight. I was armed to the teeth with amusements, sweets etc. We actually did'nt need them all. My son was so amazed by the whole flying thing and the TV that the flight went really well. My DD spent the whole time glued to the TV and we did'nt know she was there! We are doing the trip again in April, DS is now four and may be less easily pleased! I have to say neither of them slept from about 6am UK time until we got to our hotel in Disney at the equivalent of 2am UK time the next morning!!!

 

[pwwhitehead]

it would appear that you get a better dael booking PE at the time of booking the flight as opposed to a upgrade.

For October trip this year I was quoted £418 return for economy and £940 for PE reruen. A differance of £322 each ticked return.

Not bad a they charged a lade over £300 for a one way upgrade. Plus as a frequent flyer with Virgin I get extra points