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Asking VS regulars, TIA.
I’ll hopefully be booking a VS award trip MAN-MCO in the next few weeks, with an upgrade/241 voucher. Definitely do NOT want to fly from LHR. Looking at UC the surcharges seem ridiculous and from what I’ve seen on here, the seats on the MAN services aren’t even that good. Also, I’m not sure any Manchester lounge experience would make up for all this!
So I’m thinking maybe go PE both ways? We flew home from MCO in PE earlier this year and it would have been okay if not for screaming children, who hopefully will be less in evidence next time as it won’t be school holidays! As I recall, the F & B were fairly decent.
Also I think it’s better value to use the voucher as a 241 in PE as UC requires 50% more points for red members?
Came out in PE to MCO on saturday in PE. VS crew as exceptional as ever, check in had zero queue, didnt bother wasting my dragon pass on the lounge as I know how bad they are.
2 kids that I was aware of, one in front of me was quiet, the one further back had spates of screaming and playing their electronic game at full volume.But I’ve also experienced a kid screaming for the full duration of the ATL flight in UC… just have to turn the music up.
Food was a poor set of choices for my taste, google for the winter menus. As I mentioned earlier the wonderful lady looking after me raided UC for a more acceptable chicken and potato dish but it was nothing to write home about.
The PE seats are fairly wide and comfortable but I also like the old herringbone UC seats that most people seem to hate. 2-4-2 across in PE means if you’re a couple you’re fine in the pair. As single person I was lucky enough to get my preferred window and nobody in the aisle seat so could come and go as I please. Different story next week on the return as the aisle will be occupied.
For me there’s not a lot difference in the product travelling from MAN. As a couple PE is probably better unless you really want a lie flat on the return. As a single, UC is better for privacy, The lounge access doesnt factor into the calculation until they open a manchester and/or orlando clubhouse because both choices are currently poor
My advice is save your points and money, it’s a bus that gets you to your destination.
@NorthernLass There is one other unmentioned advantage of UC v PE – you don’t have people potentially sat behind you bumping your seat or in front of you and reclining into your space. I know others will say that you should just communicate with people if they are unreasonably impacting on your enjoyment of a flight but in my experience even doing so very politely can end badly. You can see why when others seem to think it is fine to allow children to use electronic devices in closely packed spaces without headphones as in @davefl ‘s example.
This is the reason why I would stump up the extra for UC – it is an additional ‘filter’ that reduces the likelihood of such negative interactions detracting from the start of my holiday (although as VS silver the additional cost is less for UC redemptions). You pays your money and your takes your choice !
That’s an interesting point GG and you’re correct but the PE seats are pretty widely spaced, the person in front of me reclined for most of the flight and it wasn’t an issue, the seat behind was occupied and not once did anyone bump me… and believe me that’s one of my main issues in economy… people sleeping or resting their legs on the table ffs!
All PE seats have the tables in the arm rests so bumping and slamming is minimized.
Thanks both. I don’t recall any bumping and reclining issues in January in PE, though the toddler screaming for 8 hours might have over-ridden all other forms of discomfort!
The difference in surcharges is pretty vast, and I may save the UC experience until we need to fly from LHR or they finally open the Clubroom at MAN.
My teenager kindly lent me his noise-cancelling headphones on the way home from GCM this summer (or parent-cancelling as he calls them), maybe I should invest in a pair of my own and not worry about how ridiculous they look 😂. They’re just very uncomfortable if you try to turn your head sideways!
We’re lucky enough to have lots of time to travel next year so the on board experience won’t make or break the trip. Planning 3 weeks in Florida and Bimini towards the end of 2024.
I’ve now got unlimited time to travel but limited funds and now unexpectedly I’m stuck for the rest of my life with the cards I hold – no provable income figure. Wanted to go Plat before I retired but that’s not an option now. 🙁
So now I’ll be cutting my cloth aaccordingly as when my points and voucher stash runs out that’s the end of my flat bed fun.
The positive is that because I’m now time rich, so can happily take stupid connections and long layovers to reduce the cost. I can also spend several days or weeks longer in places I really want to visit or revisit.
Might be worth looking Ex Dublin Fess are considerably less
Might be worth looking Ex Dublin Fess are considerably less
Going to be hard to get VS to ticket you something SkyTeam-related with a VS sector that doesn’t go via LHR ex-DUB, and even harder to use a 241… 😉
Have done PE and UC ex-MAN. Lounge (1903) isn’t a scratch on the Clubhouse, and the T2 experience is typical MAN crap.
Onboard? Decent. But I’d do PE, especially if it’s a day. Or UC on the return if you want the bed as others have said.
For me, PE is the sweet spot on VS.
PE surcharges are definitely more palatable, especially on a night flight when I don’t sleep well in any cabin!
MCO-MAN PE last night. Everyone boarded swiftly, then 5 mins to departure we’re told that someone forgot to fuel the aircraft despite the fact it had been sitting there for 2.5 hours since it arrived from LHR.
1 hr delay and lots of banging ensues as it’s fueled accompanied by the obligatory screaming/crying/coughing babies in front and back rows of PE.
@NorthernLass The wine is in cans! and only one round of drinks was provided. Food preordering was available but the menu was rubbish and I opted to decline. The link was sent out T-3 but only worked from T-1.5I’d forgo any lounges and eat at Vino (or whatever it was called) even though their wine prices are silly, the food prices aren’t and the quality was high. I’d tried to get into Outback but was told 40 min wait even though only 5 tables were occupied out of 20+
You’ll need to time it.. seasons are increasingly unpredictable. They’ve had drough during the wet season and the start of the dry season saw storms, i’ve had a mostly cold, wet, windy and grey week. Didn’t get to see a single sunset.
Ha. We have photos from last Xmas in the Keys of us shivering in our big coats and boots! Most of the trip will now be spent in Mexico though, so hopefully sunshine is slightly more reliable.
What is it with the coughing and the crying on that flight?! Exactly the same for us last January. I didn’t bother with the F & B as I wanted to maximise sleep, though the coughing and crying mostly put paid to that.
However, you can’t put a price on not having an extra day added on to the trip waiting for a connection from LHR!
I’d agree with AL that to East Coast, P/E is perfectly acceptable in daytime – it is to me anyway – done it a few times and the Virgin seats are designed reasonably so that recline/bashing issues are minimised. No ground experience to miss out on either. Pricing from Manchester to Orlando can sometimes be very strange too, with so many package seats filling economy – I remember one cash flight where (before 3-tier economy came in) Econ was about £700, P/E was £925 and Upper was over £4k – looking at that pricing there was really only one sensible choice!
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