Hello and welcome to this report covering the return journey from my annual trip to the UK.
Here's the routing:
12/23/16: Virgin Atlantic 26, JFK-LHR, A340-600, Premium Economy (Here)
1/1/17: Virgin Atlantic 137, LHR-JFK, A330-300, Premium Economy (You are Here)
I booked these roundtrip flights for $750 per person - an interesting detail to keep in mind as I detail the service below!
Before heading to terminal 3, we dropped off our rental car at Europcar where we waited at least 20 minutes for the shuttle - ugh!
Eventually, we made it to terminal 3 at 9:40am. Delta and Virgin's partnership is clearly on display throughout the terminal.
Check in was in a designated premium economy line - the agent was friendly and the process took under 10 minutes.
VS allows 2 checked bags per person, so with 4 bags off our hands, the journey up the escalator to security was much lighter.
The line for security was pretty lengthy but was efficient and only took 8 minutes.
Ah, childhood memories!
Once through security, the FIDS said our gate would be shown at 10:20 (10 minutes before boarding).
You're then forced through the very long duty free snake.
Terminal 3 doesn't have "gate areas", but instead a massive central waiting area with lots of shops, and then no amenities once you arrive at the gate (bar vending machines).
Caffe Nero for breakfast, just like last year (see my report on VS3).
Right on time at 10:20, our gate was shown to be gate 16, which was supposedly a 20 minute walk.
As I was walking, my anticipation was building. For whatever reason, VS137 operates on different equipment almost every single day, mixing between A346s, A333s, and B789s. It's technically scheduled on an A333, but I was hoping for a B789. I usually check the registration of the plane I'm due to be flying on hours before the flight on FlightRadar24, but today's flight was showing as 'unknown', so I was really going in blind.
Please be my flight, please be my flight, please be my flight.
It was only about 5 minutes walk to the gate - I'm not sure where 20 came from. I guess I forgot to take a picture, but your boarding pass is scanned outside the cordoned off area at the gate. There was a line for premium passengers, which was empty and we went straight through. They weren't even letting the economy passengers in yet.
Ah, no B789, but this will do (much better than an A346!). Today's plane was G-VSXY, A 6 year old A330-300.
The wonderful gate "area".
Boarding started right around 10:35, with J and W passengers being invited to board at the same time.
My seat, 24A, was the exact same physical seat as on the A346.
On the seat was a pillow, blanket, cheap headphones, and a bottle of water.
The biggest advantage of the A330s versus the A340s is the entertainment. However, (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) I thought VS A333s were equipped with wifi. I checked 4 times throughout the flight and a network never appeared.
Legroom and width are very similar to a U.S. domestic first class seat. The seatback pockets are also much bigger than those on the A346.
Printed on the back of the seat, near your knees. Kind of an awkward space if you ask me.
Seat controls.
Hidden below the seats were two (very dirty and sticky) AC power ports. I just stuck with the USB port.
Next door was a DL Skyteam 763.
And once he pushed back, another DL 763.
Menus were also waiting on the seat. If you look closely, these were the December menus (flight was January 1).
Orange juice or champagne was offered prior to pushback along with a newspaper. The friendly FA told us that he had never spilt the drink tray on himself, but he had on other passengers - whoops!
Flight time was announced as a quick 7 hours as we pushed back at 11:30 - right on schedule.
We began our taxi at 11:36. Some spotting pictures from my phone.
Are we at Heathrow or Toronto?
We departed on runway 27L at 11:49 - 19 minutes behind schedule.
The moving map on this entertainment system (versus the A346) is much better.
Pretzels and another drink were offered before the first service started.
I opted for the pork chili. The tray as delivered.
The main was pretty good overall, or at least, as good as an airline meal inundated with rice can be, haha. As advertised, I did need to "hold onto my sombrero" - it was spicy!
Everything else was very "meh" and lacking in flavor.
By the end of the first meal, we had made it to here.
I went through the movie selection (which is massive) and settled on this. I only got through half of it - it was terrible!
One thing I really like is having the dual functionality of the screen and the remote.
I played some poker instead and then went to sleep for a few hours.
Making progress!
Soon enough, it was time to eat again. The tray as delivered.
The scones were distributed hot from a basket. I LOVE scones, and as I made a comment about it to my mom, the FA asked if I wanted an extra one. Yes, please!
The three sandwiches were all decent.
The two mini dessert things were also very good.
That's pretty much everything all that happened until landing. Some pictures of the cabin and on approach to JFK. Premium economy was filled 48/48 seats.
We touched down at 13:50 local time, exactly an hour early.
Of course, that was too good to be true, as our gate was occupied until 14:15.
Immigration was busy! Based on my timing, 35 minutes was pretty close to accurate.
That wraps up this report! Thanks for reading, and if you feel inclined, leave a comment - I love reading and responding to them!
I should be back to the UK sometime within the next few months, so look out for new reports coming soon!
-Daniel
Thanks for this FR.
For the price paid this is great value for money.
Otherwise there is nothing really fancy or hype in this VS premium economy.