Virgin Premium Economy

[Emma0805]

Hiya,
I've been reading posts on these boards for a while now and they're excellent!

We are off to Florida in August with our 5 year old - none of us have been there before so we are all sooooo excited!!!!!

We are going premium economy with virgin - purely cos my husband is 6ft 4 and I'm 5ft 10 and leg room is an issue obviously.

Hopefully upgrading is worth it??

I have read a lot of posts now on other boards saying how upstairs in PE is better but when i pre-booked the seats on virgin website they would only let us book 3 seats in a line downstairs PE - same when the travel agent phoned them to try it.

So is downstairs premium economy ok too?? Or should i try to change the seats once we get to the airport??

Thanks for any help you can give
Emma

 

[Grumpy John]

If you are flying from Gatwick Premium Economy is upstairs. About 30 seats last time I flew PE, in rows of 2.

 

[The_Banking_Scot]

Hi,

With the reconfiiguration of the LGW fleet ( to put in the new Upper Class Suites) the main deck now has three? rows of PE behind Upper class and in fornt of economy.

Regards

TBS

 

[Emma0805]

we are booked for the second row of two rows of PE downstairs between first class and economy - don't know if they are separated in any way though?

Emma

 

[virginflyer]

we are booked for the second row of two rows of PE downstairs between first class and economy - don't know if they are separated in any way though?

Emma

There is usually a curtain seperating downstairs PE from UCS.

Personally I would give Virgin a call and try and swap your seats for PE upstairs.

The cabin upstairs feels more exclusive and is a lot quieter.

Downstairs PE is a bit of a no-mans land.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have looked at upgrading too, however, think the seats are in sets of 2 and with there being three of us we like to have our little boy in the middle so will probably stick to a bulkhead in Economy.

 

[Frances999]

In my opinion, PE is not worth the additional costs for the downstairs seating behind UCS - I would definitely call Virgin and ask to request seats upper deck instead. The atmosphere is quieter and you have more personalised service.

JohnnySharp - Yes, you are correct. Upper deck PE seats are in sets of two, however the downstairs PE sets are in a longer line.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Thanks Frances, think we will stick with our bulkhead, it's not as if you get there any quicker although the extra comfort would be nice, my little lad likes his 'routine' and wouldn't want to spoil it.

 

[snookhams]

We have only flown PE once (last August) and are doing so again this August - we were upstairs and it was certainly quiet, and very exclusive. It is a lot more money but as I have a bad leg (vein problem since having shingles on my leg almost 3 years ago) and am 6' tall, DH is 6'4" and eldest DS (13 yrs) is 6'2"!!!! the comfort is certainly a great factor - we have flown economy with virgin 5 times and it was O.K. , and we managaed but after flying PE once would not go back unless we really really could only afford to go if we flew economy!

 

[Emma0805]

Thanks for the replies!
Frances, can I ask why its not worth it downstairs??? Are the seats not the same?? Don't they have the same leg room??

Thanks again
Emma
xxx

 

[Frances999]

The seats are usually the same (but it does depend on the aircraft - I believe some still have the "old" style PE seats downstairs, because only the upper deck has been re-modelled) and the legroom is also the same. However, for me the a major part of the experience is the more personalised service and peace of the upper deck. Downstairs PE, to me, felt like an economy extension - same crew, same toilets, lots of noise. It may well be worth it to you, but I didn't feel like it was worth the extra £££'s when were put downstairs on our first trip.

Even if the upper-deck is full for pre-seat-requests, there is a good chance (as long as you arrive at check-in early) that you will be able to get upper deck seats anyway -- not all are released for pre-release, some are kept back for on the day.

 

[LondonMom]

Check if they lets kids sit on the upper deck - my dad seemed to think there was an age restriction??

 

[Red-Snapper]

There is no age restriction (well not last time we flew PE).

The one time we had PE seats downstairs they were actually the old style Upper Class seats i.e electronic seat recline/footrest and "sold" to us as a benefit.

I do however agree with the above that upstairs was far better.

Downstairs you are sandwiched between UC and Economy. The curtain only stays shut for a few seconds before someone barges through from economy to use the forward toilet or they start serving etc - mind u that is exactly the same as BA world traveller plus.

Also found the service to be slower - on our flight the attendant seemed to be serving upstairs and then coming down to us !!