LHR-PVG-LHR on VS new Premium Economy

[quik!]

quik!, great trip report - love the pictures! Never tried VS myself - perhaps one day.

You have to try, best so far! Having said that, I haven't been on many airlines, apart from mainly SQ/MH and all these were on Y

Great TR. The weird plane you see there is a fire training device

That plane is really bizarre, 3 engine jet for a 747...what a hybrid! And wings are missing!

Great trip report! I really like the Virgin branding for all of their stuff. I ahem took some of their airplane salt and pepper shakers from UC. Neat little things.

I hope you weren't sitting on the floor of the lav to take that picture! New plane or not, that'd be gross.

Also, where are the pictures of the cute VS girls? They're just as cute as the SQ girls. And their accent....

Yes, I'm extremely impressed by their strong branding, very fresh, very youth-appealing. I love everything from their earbuds, to their blanket lol...and of COURSE i didn't sit on the floor, that's REVOLTING (why am I saying this in a slightly Kim (from Kath & Kim) tone?)! I held the camera down wards, and yes I had the toilet seat down too.

I wanted to snap, but again I dare not. The one who served my aisle, was almost a mirror image of Myolie Wu she was so cute in her VS uniform And what fate we had when she was on duty again on my return flight from PVG. We did get chatting a bit and she was so amused with my broken Mandarin haha

quik! Many thanks for sharing. VS PE does really look good! Especially the seats.

Yeap, very much impressed! I don't think I can fly Y anymore

Nice! I must try VS PE one of these days.

The new Premium Economy. It does cost you a little more, but you'll stretch it

*shows the amazing seat pitch and space*

Thanks for that Quik! I've not been in the new premium cabin, it looks great. VS do make you feel like you're NOT travelling on Y if you're in Premium. Unlike BA!

A friend told me that they had wanted to call Premium "Middle Class" (and there's Upper Class) and rename Economy "Working Class"! LOL! But then they thought better of it.....

Well, it does reflect the actual class! I can't never afford the Upper Class, clearly I'm from the Working Class, just pretending to be Middle Class!

[StarG]

Thanks for sharing, quik! .

[Cossie]

Thanks for that Quik! I've not been in the new premium cabin, it looks great. VS do make you feel like you're NOT travelling on Y if you're in Premium. Unlike BA!

A friend told me that they had wanted to call Premium "Middle Class" (and there's Upper Class) and rename Economy "Working Class"! LOL! But then they thought better of it.....

[jhm]

Also, where are the pictures of the cute VS girls? They're just as cute as the SQ girls. And their accent....

Whenever I think of VS girls, I always think of this story...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4759300.stm

[Savage25]

Nice! I must try VS PE one of these days.

[9V-JKL]

quik! Many thanks for sharing. VS PE does really look good! Especially the seats.

[globetrekker84]

Great trip report! I really like the Virgin branding for all of their stuff. I ahem took some of their airplane salt and pepper shakers from UC. Neat little things.

I hope you weren't sitting on the floor of the lav to take that picture! New plane or not, that'd be gross.

Also, where are the pictures of the cute VS girls? They're just as cute as the SQ girls. And their accent....

[SQflyergirl]

Great TR. The weird plane you see there is a fire training device

[jhm]

quik!, great trip report - love the pictures! Never tried VS myself - perhaps one day.

[quik!]

Thanks for the trippie mate.
I think a variety of people here helped u in equal measure. I just nudged u in the direction of VS. But if you wanted a real MR - ie maximising mileage by going indirectly, you should've followed suggestions to go via VIE or FRA.

That I have to agree, I would've earned about 1K extra had I took LH via FRA. However, I think this didn't exactly turn out to be a milleage run at the end, due to time constraint.

You (and SQ) will be pleased to know I still want that *G status despite new KF rules!

[KeithMEL]

Thanks for the trippie mate.
I think a variety of people here helped u in equal measure. I just nudged u in the direction of VS. But if you wanted a real MR - ie maximising mileage by going indirectly, you should've followed suggestions to go via VIE or FRA.

The food looks much better than on WT+! Presentation is almost like QF domestic business.

[quik!]

Nice touch! I like the fact that most of the items given are an advertisement itself! So cute! So cute that I had to ahem...accidentally took one home *rolleyes*


What's included in the little back pack: - Pen, socks, shades (beddy eyes), ear buds (cheekily imprinted on it was 'Pardon' hehe), toothpaste (fresh), and an envelop which you can donate any of those foreign currency that you still have left and donate to charity.


One thing that they really really offered us over and over again were drinks and snacks. I was like ... I don't want anymore! Go away! Haha...anyway here's a shot of the snacks. And the premium econony menu, and Virgin's own cosmetic division. Eh, I tot that company close business alrady??


The FA then started to come to each of us and took our orders, kinda like in restaurants. After a while, our meals were then ready to be served. here I took the Shanghai Chicken or something...not that bad at all, not overly great, it's really the same as the economy food that I had in SQ/MH. So nothing much to shout about. However, the notable things here are 1) They served on real cutlery, nicely placed in folded napkin, bearing the Premium Economy logo. Nice touch I must say. 2) GU is serveddddd!!! Yayyyyyy!


Just a reminder! Again, brilliant branding




Doh!!!


Space-aged lavatory! Nice!

Next up: IFE!

[quik!]

And then I saw this strange looking bird parked in one corner...JUST what plane is this???


Just a reminder which runway we took.


Ready to soar!


See the Avis car rental sign? I used to spot from there!


Wahey, off we go...goodbye London Heathrow!


RRs


Among the items given to us. First was the awesome blanket which has a funny split at the end. It is designed so that you can slide the blanket between your neck so that you get comfy. A gentle reminder on the headphone packs!

[quik!]

Cabin experience
Fly a younger fleet screams yet another VS advertisement, and they claim they have some really young fleet, you have to believe them. the A346 that I was in looks almost new, partly because of the newly fitted Premium Economy seats. The cabin feels really modern and new and true to the advertisements. When I walked towards my seat 21K, I was glad to see the new purple leather seats - the new seats are fitted! Fantastic I thought. The seat pitch are really wide and comfortable, and it looks like any other business class seats. They also claim that the seats are equal size of business class of other airlines, and that is quite true!



Once we settled down, 2 cabin crew were dedicated for the Premium Economy passengers. They have alrady started serving pre-flight drinks, which has a selection of champagne, orange juice, and water (with lemon). Ah....bubbly as per flight drink! However, I usually avoid alcoholic drinks on board, so gave that a miss, though I do love bubbly...heh...however I'm not entirely sure if they actually served bubbly! Maybe it's just beer...


Someone else's quick to finish their drink!


Everything was new, so I just had to take some of these shots. I love the fact that Virgin's branding is very strong, using the same font across their products. This is Eurostile font or something I think! As you can see, the middle part of the seat can be adjusted for contour. Doesn't do anything to me to be honest. Hehe. The seats are AMAZING. It was so spacious I felt so free! When I recline the chair to it's maximum, my leg couldn't touch the floor, and I'm quite average at around 178cm...never felt like this before! Look ma! No feet!


Stow away!


Overhead cabin compartment


Damn, it's really shiny and new I tell ya!

Taxi-ing
So after serving drinks (twice!) and the FAs started to offer selection of newspaper, and then a hot towel to freshen up. I can't remmeber if this was done after reaching cruising atltitude or before taxing. Anyway, the runway for departure today was 27R. So while taxing, I saw a few airlines...so oh, snap!


Qatar Airways, in their Asian Games livery

[quik!]

Boarding
I was told to be at the gate early, as the boarding time is almost 1 hour before the flight. That's quite early I thought. So we went to Gate 53 and waited in a small room. I looked out at the window, but I didn't see any airplane at all! Then I realised that we were going to driven to our planes in buses. Looks like we are boarding Air Asia style! The ride was about 5 minutes, and it felt like it was really really long...everyone was wondering if we were driving all the way to Shanghai lol. And then 2 GORGEOUS VS planes were parked side by side. One was a 744, and right beside it, was the A346. I got a rush in meself when I was so close to these machines...I was in awe...!


Boarding time, Air Asia style!


4 engines 4 long haul baby!


Couldn't stop snapping!


Close up on the RRs